Ourpets

The senior canine member of our family is Buddy. He's a "pound puppy" who came into our lives on June 28, 2001. Well, Buddy was the only dog there who wasn't barking his head off. He actually didn't make a sound - just sat there and looked at us. We didn't want a big dog and we wanted one that was already housebroken. Well, I guess we're 0 for 2 on that. He's medium sized which isn't bad, just bigger than we were thinking. He also wasn't housebroken when he arrived, but he is very good now.

His health has improved quite a bit since the first summer when he had a cough all summer. He still is a very fussy eater and much prefers people food to anything. He has spent several years training us about what he will and won't eat. We have finally found a kibble that he will eat - sometimes. Usually it's mixed with canned food and some people food like chicken. He doesn't like dog "cookies" and turns his nose up at those. He will eat dried chicken strips and greenies - that's it for treats. He only gets those when he eats his dog food and they are gone in about 1 second flat. Oh, he also loves the tuna sandwiches from 7/11 Stores here and recently, he has taken a liking to split pea soup. Go figure.

He's doing better on the car sickness. It's rare that he gets sick now. He seems to prefer Janet's car to June's new Civic. Janet has a Buick Century. He seems to know that June's car is now for long trips and Janet's is for fun things like trips to the bay. He's not one to put his face out the window and let the wind blow through his hair. In fact, there are times when we go to take him for a walk and he refuses to get off the top step of the stoop because it's too windy for him.

Neither of us has ever had a dog before that needed to be clipped regularly. We wondered what he would look like without all the hair, especially around his face so when we finally took him to be groomed, we told the gal to cut it all away. What a mistake that was! He was UGLY. Every time he gets a haircut, he looks different, but we can't go near him with scissors or clippers. As soon as we go near him with clippers or try to do anything else, he puts up an incredible amount of yelping and yiking. The groomers claim he is not a problem but we really wonder... After the last short haircut Janet bought him some sweaters. He seems to like them and he's very good about letting us put them on and take them off.

Oh, by the way, he tells us his name is really Botticelli Mendelssohn Trotsky, Esq. but it's ok with him if we call him Buddy. We thought for a while that he was a labradoodle when Janet saw a TV program about a mix from Australia called Labradoodles. They started crossing Labrador retrievers and poodles in the 80's. The result is a hypoallergenic dog that can be trained for service dogs. We got a calendar of Labradoodles and he does look a lot like several of them. Since then we saw another program including cockapoos and he looks like them too, only more long legged. The labradoodle is more exotic, but he probably really is a cockapoo. We have had it pointed out to us that he looks like the dog in the movie "Neverending Story." He does too! I take him for walks around the neighborhood, Janet takes him for walks on the beach and at Mingus Park. Sometimes we both go to the beach and let him off his leash. He runs as fast as he can between us in order to get a treat. It gives him some good exercise without killing us!

In October 2008 June spotted a stray in the neighborhood when she was walking Buddy. After 2 weeks he was still down around the Alzheimer's Center and getting skinnier and skinnier so she and Janet coaxed him home. His name now is Sandy and he has won a place in our hearts and our home. Buddy doesn't like him much and lunges at him from time to time. Sandy shrieks if Buddy gets too close but Sandy is fast and a good jumper so most of the time he easily eascapes. He's some kind of terrier mix and with that goes a streak of stubborness and an ability to run faster than we can grab him. If he gets out of the house, he takes off down the street but usually returns in about 5 minutes with a very self satisfied look on his face. If we go out looking for him, and find him while we are in the car, he will run over and jump right in. That seems to be the best way to corral him - chasing him only gets us tired out.

In 2014, some months after Janet's niece, Laura, passed away, Laura's doggie, Maggie came to live with us. She is a shih-poo mix and quite adorable. When she first entered the house, she growled at Buddy and Sandy and that set her up as queen of the roost. They left her alone. This is funny because when I take her for a walk, she acts afraid of every dog she meets, especially if they are bigger than she is. There are now some that she is used to, but this behavior still surprises me.

In early 2015 we finally had to say good-bye to Buddy. He was around 15 by this time and in failing health. Janet asked our vet to come to the house to put Buddy to sleep which he kindly did. Buddy was always so terrified of the vet's office. We gave him the best life we could and loved him a lot in spite of himself.

When Janet passed away in 2015, I had our pets' ashes mixed with hers. So Loki, the elkhound we had when we moved here, Buddy and Max the first were spread with her ashes in Sunset Bay. I kept a container of those ashes (including some of hers) to be mixed with mine and the pets who have passed since then.

After Buddy passed, Janet wanted to get another cat so we went to Kohl's Cat House on Valentine's Day. The lady there suggested a cat for us who happened to be another orange tom cat - now neutered with a clip of his ear to show for it. They called him Elvis because he was very vocal. We thought we'd call him Rudy for Rudolph Valentino and it being Valentine's Day. Well, we couldn't remember Rudy so we tried Elvis, We couldn't remember that either and since he looked a lot like our other cat, he became Max the Second. He's a pretty loving guy and, as it turns out, a good hunter. The problem is he often brings in his kill alive and lets it go in the house. I've gotten pretty good at catching garter snakes and putting them back out but usually have to resort to glue traps for the rodents. He also catches birds, even hummingbirds! I've given up all hopes of having feeders for the birds anymore. Usually, the birds are dead but once in a while one is still breathing and I try to put it in a safe place outside and hope for the best that it will fly away.

Sadly, our pets do not often outlive us and in the summer of 2016, Sandy developed anal gland cancer and I had to put him to sleep.

In December of 2021, I took in a little dog as a foster but adopted him soon after. His name was Squeekie and they told me he was a pom-chi. He seemed too big and his fur wasn't that long so I had his DNA done. Sure enough, he was a pom-chi. A small percentage of shih-poo showed up too because I hadn't taken up the water bowls before doing the swab. LOL

He was a good little guy, but as you can see by my use of the past tense, he's no longer with us. In early December of 2022 I took Maggie and him to the beach to run. I had taken them once before and he had a great time! He met a chihuahua to play with and they tore up and down the beach but as soon the chihuahua's owner knelt down, the dog came back to him and so did Squeekie. I didn't want Squeekie to get too sure of himself when loose as they had told me he would run away. But he seemed so devoted to me that I highly doubted that. However, I waited a few weeks for a second visit.

Both Squeekie and Maggie had a wonderful time on that visit. In fact, I hadn't seen Maggie run that hard in a long time! But, that night, Squeekie fell ill. I thought he'd improve the next day, but it was not to be. When I got him to the vet's, she told me she thought he had leptospirosis which is very hard to treat. I would have had to take him to Springfield with no guarantees and a huge charge of around $4000. I knew Squeekie wouldn't understand why I took him someplace and left him and with no guarantees, I decided to let him go. I hadn't had him quite a year, but I gave him lots of love and he gave it back. I'm just very grateful Maggie didn't get sick too.

So, once again, at the end of 2022, the house was down to two pets - Maggie at 13 and Max at probably around 9 or 10.