The Dogs -- Again!

Most of you are aware that our dogs are a very important part of our life. For most of our married life we have had a dog as part of the family. So, I'm going to share a little history of our dogs with you.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Betty and I got a dog in South Carolina when I was stationed at Fort Gordon, Georgia. She was a little beagle and we named her "Charlie". When we returned home prior to going to Panama, which was an adventurous trip in it's own right, "Charlie" was adopted by my father, so even though she now "belonged" to my folks, she was still part of the family. Our next dog was a full-sized poodle that Daryl named "Po-Po". We adopted her while we were in Germany and then found out we couldn't bring her home so she was adopted by some friends when we transferred from Germany in February, 1973.

I was mustered out of the Army in August of 1973, so we headed back to California. We were staying with my folks until I could start working and an individual I had gone to school with, Ron Eason, lived across the street. Well, his dog had pups and of course Daryl fell in love with them. They were a poodle mix and one looked very much like "Po-Po". So we now had "Po-Po II". We had her for a number of years until we were building a pool in Bakersfield. She somehow got out of the yard and got into some poisoned meat and died. The Rosedale area of Bakersfield where we lived, was kind of rural at the time, so we sometimes had "critter" problems. Some people would place poisoned meat out to solve the problem. Well, it's not only "critters" that eat poisoned meat, so another problem was established because of stupidity. After "Po-Po II" died, the kids wanted another dog, and since my family had a wonderful little cocker when I was growing up, we decided to adopt one. Bad mistake! As pretty as a cocker is, and as docile as they can be, sometimes you may have a "cocker from hell!" And we did!!!! She was high-strung, tore up everything and chew up everything else. So, we gave her to some friends with a large ranch by Shafter, and Betty said "No more dogs!!!"

This lasted until we moved to the San Diego area. Daryl was in college and Amy wanted a dog very badly, but you know what "Mama" said. Well, Amy and I conspired and decided if we could find a small dog, like a Shih Tsu, maybe, just maybe, would could convince Betty. Well, to make a long story short, we couldn't find a Shih Tsu but we did find some people that had Llasa Apso pups. We went to see them first, then took Betty to see them and wah-la, we had a new puppy. At the time Star Wars, the Return of the Jedi was in the theaters, and Amy said the puppy looked just like the little white Ewok, so we registered her as Ewok, Princess Keinessa. Little did we know at the time, the people we purchased her from, Kay and Les ????, had named the shire Robber Baron of Kayles and the bit..(mother), Ewok Princess of Kayles. It was quite a shock when we got the paperwork back. So, how would you like some photos of our Ewok? Just keep reading.

If they think I'm sleeping in a "doggie bed", they have another think coming!

It doesn't get much better than this. It's even better than the pillow.

Hey, that's a long way down!

Now this is the way to stay warm.

Demure? Who cares if it's demure, it's comfortable!

A little more to the left, if you please.

In 1998, Betty said we needed to get another dog because she thought that would help Princess live longer. Since I love dogs, and I really think Llasas are great, I started looking around for another Llasa. I found an add for Lllasas, so Betty, Amy and I went to see them. The one Betty and Amy picked was the one that was climbing over all the others for their attention. When we got her home, naming her was kind of difficult. Amy's boyfriend made the comment that she was as active as Cujo from the movie, so I named her Kujo. The fist time I took her to the vet, I called and told them I was bringing Princess and Kujo in, so they were expecting a little bigger puppy that the hand-full I brought. They thought I was "mean" naming that cute little puppy that. It fits her though, ---not really, she's a sweetheart.

It's my first day here, but I think I'm going to like it.

I have to admit, I'm still a little apprehensive about this place.

This is alright! Just don't let the "Gators" get me.

Princess had her pillow, and I have mine.

Nobody better try anything funny while I'm guarding these legs.

We lost The Princess to cancer in 1994, and Kujo was at a lost for a little while. They were really great "buddies" and you could tell Kujo missed Princess. Having to "put her down" was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make, but the hardest part was calling Amy in Olympia to tell what I had to do. I still miss Princess, she was a special little dog. I am not looking forward to the loss of Kujo, that's for sure. but she is getting "up in years", as we all are.

Yes, were buddies.

Queen of the hill. I defer to Princess 'cause she's older.

For someone that didn't want anymore dogs, we sure have changed her, haven't we?

I hope you enjoyed today's post. As you can tell, our dogs are a very important part of our family. By the way, I still have a bunch more photos that I haven't shared. So, you never can tell when I might decide to share them with you.