When Enzo, as a puppy, first came home with Denny, they lived in an apartment in the Leschi neighborhood of Seattle. Enzo did not like the apartment because it felt confining, especially because he was used to having access to the open fields of the farm where he was born. But there was a nice view of Lake Washington from the window. During their first year together, Enzo’s relationship with Denny grew nicely. As a matter of fact, it grew so well that Enzo questioned why Denny eventually brought a girlfriend home. Her name was Eve, and the first thing Enzo noticed about her was that she smelled sweet. The other thing Enzo immediately realized was that he was losing some of Denny’s attention. Denny seemed to always want to be “pulling” on Eve, “tugging, and biting lips.” Eve tried to assure Enzo that she would not come between him and Denny. But Enzo realized that she had already partially done that.

The trouble for dogs, Enzo states, is that they have no thumbs. Eve had thumbs and could do so many more interesting things than he could. Even monkeys have thumbs, and according to Enzo, monkeys are not even that smart. Surely they are not as intelligent as dogs are. Yet they were given the thumb advantage. The closest dogs have to thumbs are dew claws, the extra nail that hangs above each paw. Enzo thinks the dew claws should have evolved into thumbs, but unfortunately, humans often think the dew claws are not worth anything and usually have the vet cut them off when dogs are mere puppies.

After Eve moved in, she began making to-do lists for Denny that kept him busy whenever he was not at work or attending a race. Enzo believes Denny did these chores more than willingly because of the reward he received later in the day when he and Eve retired to the romping they did in bed.

After Denny and Eve were married, Enzo noticed Eve’s belly growing larger. Enzo also witnessed all the affection Eve lavished on that belly bump. She sang to it, talked to it, danced with it. She even allowed Enzo to nuzzle up to it so he could feel the baby moving inside.

Close to when the baby was due, Denny was given the chance of a lifetime to become part of a team scheduled to compete in an endurance car race at Daytona. Unfortunately, right before the race, Eve’s labor pains started. She told Denny to go, but later she regretted that Denny was not there when Zoe was born. But Enzo was there. Eve let Enzo stay in the room and watch as the midwives helped Eve through the birthing process. After the baby was laid on Eve’s chest, Eve asked the midwives to let her have some time to herself. When the midwives tried to call Enzo to leave the room, Eve told them Enzo could stay. This was one of Enzo’s proudest moments, though he sensed that he was merely acting as proxy for Denny. But that day, Eve asked Enzo to always protect Zoe.