The Pets

The critters are all doing fine. Old Speck is doing well for an almost 15 year old dachshund. He isn’t going to be around forever and I’m afraid our time with him is short. He’s totally deaf and halfway can’t see but he still gets around pretty good. If we put anything in his way, he runs into it. At night, he sleeps on a big pillow on the floor on my side of the bed. Sometimes he gets up and wanders around and then he apparently can’t find his way back to bed so I have to get up, turn on a light, help him get his bearings and get back in bed. It’s always hard to get a good picture of Speck because he wiggles so much.

He sure is a good dog.

Speaking of good dogs . . that would NOT be Rita. Good grief . . such a little dog can cause so much trouble. She’s better with her bathroom manners but when there’s a loud noise . . I have some cleaning to do. Thank goodness the only place we have carpet is in the two extra bedrooms and I keep those doors closed.

Over the weekend Vince cut the grass. I told Vince  . . please remind me to take Rita out before you pass close to the house on the lawn mower!  🙁

That picture was taken late last night and she was so ready for bed. The blanket has a stain fromn when Vince stained a new door when we lived in Kentucky. You would think I would throw that thing out and get a new blanket for her.

She still gets on the table if one of us forgets to push our chair under. She’s a friendly little dog though and I understand that’s kinda unusual for a chihuahua.

She’s still very jumpy. Last night I had been outside with her and carried her over to shut our big gate. The chain clanked against the metal gate and she scrunched her eyes closed like she was bracing to be hit. I wish she would forget those bad memories of her previous life.

And there’s Boots! If he had a bad life before us, he seems to have forgotten it.

I know everyone loves their own cat but I’m pretty sure Boots is the best cat ever! He is so pretty and so shiny and so sweet. He loves to be held and brushed. He will sit on my lap for hours while I knit and every now and then, he’ll slap at the yarn but he’s such a sweet boy. He’s so independent. Some days he will sit on my lap for the entire day if I sit there and knit with him. Some days, he will sit with me for a few minutes and then he’ll go get on his “condo” or sit in the window sill and he keeps looking at me like “Can’t you go somewhere else and leave me alone?” Once he gets out of my lap and goes to the condo or the window, he almost never comes back to me.

He still seems to enjoy life . . he eats and drinks just like always. He can get up in my chair. He loves my neighbor and he gets so excited every time she comes over, she always tells him “Speck, you act just like a puppy.” 

We were really lucky that the two strays that ended up here have been such good pets. If only we could keep Speck healthy and in good shape for a few more years, I’d be really happy. Once I asked our vet how long a typical dachshund lives and he said a lot depends on how well they’ve been cared for. I said “Oh, good!  Speck will live to be 100!”