Voodoo

Birthday: 3/27/2017

Twitter: @dog_voodoo

Voodoo came to the squad as a three year old foster dog called Bu. Very overweight and with epilepsy that wasn't well managed, he was in need of more care and attention than his previous owner could give him. During his two week probation, he discovered he liked both walks and swimming, bonded with his siblings, particularly Guacamole, and joined Team Foreign Object after eating a sleeve from GR Mom's sweatshirt. On the podcast introducing him, GR Mom said he would probably be staying and on 1 December it was announced that he was a permanent member of the squad.

For reasons that may never be fully understood, Voodoo is sometimes known as Pinto Bean—a nickname of great endearment coined by GR Mom.

As the youngest dog of the squad, Voods has become the little brother to the group, pouncing on Guac to get him to play, tackling him off the ottoman and potentially taking over from Venk as the weirdest dog. He has become best friends with Guac and the two boys love play fighting together, though Guac is able to calm him down when Voodoo gets too excited. Voods also loves going on walks and will push other dogs out of the way to join GR Mom but he's a slow walker and will often stop to lie down. His weight loss has helped with this though and he likes running around the garden with Guac and Venk. He developed an interesting friendship with Manchego. Cheggs was fascinated with him and Voods responded to this, trying to get him to play with him.

As he's on a keto diet to help with his epilepsy, he's not able to have carrots and instead has a “meat carrot”, aka a piece of turkey rolled into a carrot shape, though he’ll occasionally have a piece of cheese or an egg instead. He's also able to enjoy special keto waffles now that a recipe based on almond flour has been found. The episode was not without its drama, as an eggless almond flour recipe first tried by GR Mom left the waffle iron caked with inedible goo. Fortunately the waffle iron survived, and a second almond flour recipe (with eggs) proved successful.

Despite enjoying ample keto-approved meals and goodies (including cheese snacks and strawberries), Voodoo has an obsession with chomping things that aren't food. Besides the arm of GR Mom's sweatshirt (the item that made him a member of Team Foreign Object), he's tried to eat socks, shoes, towels, ant poison, rocks, driftwood, rubber mulch, a lint roller, a flower pot, a covid mask, GR Mom's headphones, GR Mom's skirt, GR Mom herself, and multiple items from the recycling bin—especially metal cans. (Also a dead fish, though some have argued that because fish are keto-friendly, they're fair game—though very stinky.)

In hopes of educating him, a fan account under @VoodsFoods has been established to rule on which items are and are NOT Voods' Foods. Another Friend Of The Squad, inspired by the PowerPoint Guac viewed after eating a Brillo pad, developed a presentation to help Voods make this crucial distinction. Although he's now closely supervised to prevent further infractions, it's not yet clear if the message has sunk in.

In an ironic twist, Voods himself got chomped late in the evening of March 16, 2021—by a gecko. After an altercation in the street, the lizard flung itself at Voodoo's face and managed to bite him right in a vulnerable spot under his nose, drawing blood. Despite the drama, Voods and the gecko were both fine. (The gecko got away.)

Voodoo was originally scheduled to undergo surgery for a CCL (knee ligament) tear in late June 2021. Because recovery time from the surgery is 12 weeks, GR Mom invited followers to join her in a 12-week effort known as Operation Pinto Bean: a time for Friends of the Squad to tackle personal goals and projects of their choice. As it turned out, pre-surgery tests showed that Voods was anemic—meaning surgery would need to be delayed. Even so, Operation Pinto Bean began on schedule, running from approximately July through September 2021. Voods was soon cleared of any serious health issues and got his surgery July 7, 2021, returning home the next day.

On Halloween 2021, Voods showed interest in a 'chicken waffle' costume that Venk was trying on and, when given a chance, he happily wore it himself too, looking very excited to be dressed up. Until Venk jealously pulled it off him, that is.

Song:

It's Voods, Voods, Voods!

You sure are one of the dudes!

You have a whole bunch of moods!

You eat things that aren't food!