Sam and Maggie

2/16/2014

It's likely while you are reading this, that your dog(s) and/or cat(s), are somewhere in the house lounging around on the sofa or your bed, which is a particularly favorite place to sleep!

We have two dogs: Maggie (the lab) and old Sam (the Westie) who we love and care for.  The love between a dog and his person is very strong and dogs are also fiercely loyal.  Over the years, we have owned 3 yellow labs, Daisy, Susie and now Maggie.  Labs are great dogs, and not prone to barking (thank goodness). When Maggie jumps on the sofa in the evening, it's a bit more difficult to get her to fit between Jeff and I, but somehow we always manage.  Maggie is 9 and because she's a big dog, her longevity isn't expected to be as long as smaller breeds.

We have also owned several Westies: Devon (super great dog), Abby and now Sam.  

We adopted Sam from Westie Rescue when he was 7.  We believe, but can't prove, that Sam spent a lot of time in a crate and not socialized a great deal.  When Sam arrived, he was full of piss and vinegar. He had a nasty attitude and we went spent several months working with him so that he would learn it was not okay to bite the hands that feed you - literally.  He snarled a great deal and was a very unloving dog and it was all we could do to not send him back to Westie Rescue, because he was difficult.

That was then and with gentle handling and lots of love, Sam, who is now 14, is a great little guy.  He can't jump on the bed anymore, so when you pick him up, he still has to give us some attitude while we put him on the bed.  Sam has cataracts and has trouble seeing, so there are nightlights in the hallways..  I also have a cataract and have sympathy for him, because I can no longer just read anywhere.  Nope, now there has to a bright light directly aimed at the book.

We both know that our lives would be simpler if we had no pets, particularly when you want to travel.  Boarding is based on pounds ($$$) and Maggie is a big girl!  At most, the dogs might be boarded once a year - we don't do much traveling.

Because we didn't have Sam as a puppy who we could train, he gets a bit yappy when he's in the yard.  If we're home, a slight rap on the window and he bounds back into the house as fast as he can.  Statistics say that Westies live somewhere between 12 and 16 years.  Since Sam is 14, he's somewhere in the middle of the statistics.  We're keeping our fingers crossed that Sam will be with us for more, not fewer, years.

I have to tell you that life is good, very good indeed, when I'm sitting on the sofa and he's beside me snoring lightly.  I get so much peace from just having him there and petting him.  Life doesn't get better than that.  

We love our dogs very much, even when we're picking up dog hair!  Both dogs love us and the bond between the four of us is a beautiful thing.

P