Just over four years ago, the dog I had before Poley needed to be put down. She had liver problems and had been on pulse therapy with a steroid to try to help her keep her weight up, but finally she just gave out. It was really awful for me. She had been with me for years, through the birth of my son, my divorce, and so much more.
About 8 or 9 months later, I started to feel the absence of a little buddy and started to look for a dog. I had decided on either a Japanese Chin, or a Pomeranian, and was looking around for the right guy or girl.
At the company I worked for, they had a very large cyber bulletin board, and someone on it was looking for a home for her "pomeranian". She said she felt it didn't get enough attention, so she was looking for the right home. I knew I wasn't going to be breeding, just a companion for me and number 5, so i wasn't terribly stressed about pedigree. I was a lot more interested in personality, training, etc. She lived quite near The Chief's work, so I arranged with his old owner to have an overnight visit to see if he would work for us. After one night, i called her to tell her that I wanted one more night to make up my mind. It's hard to tell because they spend some time exploring and he did hike several times, but I thought it was just Lily's old scent bothering him.
My son was pretty much in love and wanted to keep him, and I called her to get the papers she claimed to have and his vet records, but she never answered another call from me. Good thing I was keeping him, or what would I have done? She claimed he was a pure breed pom, with regular vet visits etc, but I do doubt her a bit now. He was very poorly socialized, didn't stop hiking without retraining and a wee neuter and was extremely aggressive. The Chief and i hypothesize that he was rarely out of his kennel. We've had to work with him very hard to teach him to be the nice boy he is now (well, the chief worked hard). We named him Napolean because he was so aggressive, and has that fluffy butt that reminds me a little bit of those white jodhpurish pants worn back then. He really is a very good boy now, but occasionally does go back and try to reassert himself as the boss of the house.
I'm not convinced he's a full breed pom, as he is quite a bit bigger than the standard, his muzzle seems quite a bit longer and his nose and eyeliner is not as black as it should be, so I dunno!
Also, to answer Donna, I have never spun his fur, but his undercoat is like angora.
Oh yeah, and he has a wee buddy that John had before we were married who is a papered pom, who was a stud before we got him (the breeders were good friends of ours, but they had a bad accident and stopped breeding). Prince wears diapers because he has an anxiety tinkle problem. I make his diapers out of hand towels that get lined with papers. Somebody has to take care of these two hot messes! (it's me)
Poley sleeping.
Princey looking really afraid of the bobbin of singles I put next to him.
Poley trying to camouflage himself into the couch
Prince's face and Poley's butt
Poley playing computer games with Daddy.
Hey I'll have some actual knitting photos tomorrow. I'm working on some Christmas knitting.
Update on my dad too: He quite suddenly stopped being able to speak and is wobbling (not exactly shaking). He is still bleeding internally, though as of yet, they haven't found where, he will be undergoing angioplasty as soon as they can get his blood counts up, which is tough since they still don't know where the other bleeding is (obviously). The Chief saw him yesterday on his way home from Ohio and said it rattled him a bit. He is very frustrated with the speech problem. He has had two Cat Scans that show not damage in his brain, no stroke or aneurism, so we are hopeful that the restoration of full blood flow to his brain will take care of this, but it's pretty upsetting and scary. If you pray, please say a word for him, if you don't, please keep a good thought. Thanks for the very kind thoughts and words. They really are appreciated and I know that "the blog" doesn't produce them, people who come and visit do, so thank you so much.
Your dad is in my prayers.
ReplyDeleteBoth doggies are just adorable! Amazing story about the adoption there. I can't believe that person never called you back!
Will add you and your dad to my prayers.
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