So, after three whole years of being called “Poodle”, my poodle now has a first name ! When we got him, he had no idea what his name was, or that dogs even had names, and he didn’t respond to anything. Since I wanted to pick out a name that I thought suited him, I just referred to him as Poodle in the meantime while I decided on his name. What happened, was that he soon started learning that dogs had names and that the poodle-word meant him, and every time he heard me say that word, he looked and paid attention; so then I really couldn’t change his name and make him go through learning all about names again. Poodle loves to be right next to me, inside or outside and follows me all around the yard if I am outside doing something. However, Poodle yearns to be an Explorer, and anytime he can sneak out the front door, he dashes down the porch ramp and takes off running joyfully down the road. We have to chase him down to get him back, and I worry that he is going to get out and get run over or dog-napped when he escapes, so Bobby has installed a locking gate on the front porch to keep him in. Anyway, one day it occurred to me that my dog thinks that he is Marco Polo, the Great Explorer; so now his official name is (naturally) Marco Poodle.
I raised shelties for a bit. They are my all time favorite dog. When the kids were out of site, I would send Shannon out to find them and the continuous barking let me know where they were.
Bless you Beth. Been there many times myself, it's only now that I'm without a pet dog for the first time in my life.
We are dogless here now too. The last loss was very traumatic but the loss of my husband's little dog, Emma makes us so sad. Do you think about getting another dog? We always adopt older dogs that no one seems to want. They last longer than we thought they would but mostly we just want to give them the best that we can. They are quieter, housebroken and mostly thankful. But I think we are just not up to another dog, especially the walking in the winter. It was good for my hubby but not sure he can do it anymore.
I dreamt about puppies a few nights ago, I chose a plump dark brown one and took him home (•‿•) That's lovely that you adopt older dogs, they are the ones that get overlooked, if I was to take a dog in I'd take an older one in, but I can't face the heartbreak again, what I do instead is support an animal charity by donating tins of dog food and cat food.
With winter coming again, both Poodle and Rusty (Bobby’s dog) are spending more time inside, and not sitting in the sunshine like they enjoy in the warm weather. It has been really cold even in the house, so I found the heated lap robe that my Sweetie bought me last winter, and i was snuggled under that and reading my book last night. Poodle came to sit beside me and discovered that it was cozy and warm, and he was really enjoying that. He sleeps at the foot of the bed, but he prefers being covered up and next to me. Anyway, I have been looking at the heated dog beds on Amazon, I am pretty sure that Poodle was telling me that he wants a warm bed for the winter.
I got a few cat beds from amazon. They are not electric because of what cats can do. But they are plush with a space blanket sandwiched inside. I had to get more than one because feral cats keep showing up and evicting my farm cat from his prized place in the bay window in the hay mow. (long story) I am so grateful I put in that wood stove 'for him' in the barnhouse. Ferals can't get in there. Mice can, though.
He is totally spoiled, same as always, @Jake Smith . Since I posted the above picture, we rearranged the living room furniture and put a loveseat in front of the picture window, so now Poodle can snooze in front of the window in luxury instead of a hard wooden table. He has his own plushy little blanket and spends the day either snoozing on the Poodle-couch or watching out through the window so he can bark at the mailman or the neighbor’s dog if he comes into our yard.