Sunday, February 20, 2011

The Terriers Two


What a week!  The temperatures here have varied from plus 11C to minus 25C, up and down, up and down.  The big thaw lasted for 3 days and nights with strong winds to pick up melting moisture so that we lost about 1 1/2 feet of snow....YEA!!!  It has frozen solid again so the dogs can finally run around on the top of the snow in the yard again without getting lost.

After Nellie passed last August, I was so heartbroken that another dog right away was not even considered.  Funny how things happen though....it was only days after she passed that I get a phone call from a man living 400 miles away.  He was a breeder and my name had been given to him by another breeder that I met at a dog show early in the summer.  I told her I was not interested in a puppy but rather wanted to adaopt an older dog in need of a home whenever I was ready for another dog. (we knew at that time Nellie was not going to survive as she did not respond to any treatment or medication in the previous 4 months) Would I be interested in a Lakeland Terrier, a young dog that needed a home???. Well as it turned out he lived 20 minutes from my older sister and we going to spend the Labour Day weekend with her in Sept........  we decided it was too soon but we'd look anyway.

To make a long story short....we went , we saw several dogs that needed homes and came home with 2 Lakeland Terriers. (neither one was the dog he originally called us about) In the above picture...Bogie, is 9, (on the left) and came from an elderly lady who had been hospitalized...terminal.....and Bella, was one of the breeders own dogs, a show dog that didn't work out -she is 7.  They wanted to find a home for her as they wanted to breed more dogs and didn't have the room or time to devote to all of them.

They are terriers....lively, inquisitive, alert, playful...well Bogie is, Bella only plays outside with her giant ball and inside with a squeaky toy.
They both have issues(what dog doesn't have some)....but we are dealing with them with retraining.  Smart dogs, somewhat stubborn, but sweet.  Bogie is a real snuggle bunny...he is on my lap as soon as I sit down...even at the computer, responds to training with treats soooo easily, comes when he is called, sleeps against me at night...in fact follows me everywhere and is somewhat anxious when I leave him to go to work but gets over it quickly. Bella is a real watch dog...alert to any comings and goings in the neighborhood and alerts us.  She sleeps downstairs by one of the doors and is not a lap dog.....she prefers to lie beside my husband on the couch...not with me at all.  They get along well except when Bella barks too much, which neither we nor Bogie like...so he snarls and nips at her and she stops.  He is the boss after all! They are easy to groom, easy to bathe and go next week for their first haircut since we got them.  NON SHEDDING DOGS...love them!!!  I still get tears in my eyes and a sad heart when I think of my little Nellie but the wee doggies (15 pounds each) Bella and Bogie have found a place in my big heart already.  I can't imagine life without a dog or two to share it with.

4 comments:

Jan said...

I'm glad you found these two, they were meant to be even if you didn't think you were ready. We dog lovers need our dogs, don't we.

Kath said...

Hello Eileen, thankyou for joining us over at Hillside, how lovely to meet you. I very much enjoyed the story of how you came to adopt your 2 beautiful Lakeland terriers. As you know, our 2 were from a shelter too.
I shall enjoy reading more of your Blog, I think we have a lot in common. Blessings Kath in England

Tina said...

I just found your blog and like what I see here so will come back! I can absolutely understand how you felt with the doggies, been there done that! I was grieving about the loss of our big girl for so long until I saw two pictures on the web of that little dog of which I immediately knew she was it! She was a rescue from Greece and had to be sent from there and we practically knew anything about her exept gender and age but it was the perfect fit. As Jen sais, I am sure she was just meant to be ours. Go visit my blog if you want to see her and the rest of the gang.
Hope this will be a better year for you than the last one and have a great time with the doggies. Tina in Germany

Eileen said...

Lovely posts from ladies all over the world...I'm thrilled and love reading blogs of like minded people...makes the world a smaller place doesn't it!