My naughty Puppies

I have always loved dogs, but since I came to live in Arizona I have had quite a collection of them, thanks to sizable backyards.
My first was a miniature schnauzer who roamed into my back yard with no collar on, no tags, but nicely groomed. I fed him and reluctantly did my duty and advertised finding him in the local newspaper. No one claimed him so Luke became pet number one.
He was quite a character, would play with his stuffed duck and loved car rides. A short while later my younger daughter asked me to temporarily keep her one year old Border Collie as the dog was very timid and she had young kids visiting for a month. The month came and went and Dolly became a fixture, pet number two. She and Luke got on very well. Luke did not cry any more when I had to go out and leave them in the house as Dolly was his companion. Not only, since he was male, albeit neutered, he soon asserted his authority over Dolly and left her in no doubt who was the master! Unhappily,I did not enjoy him for long. He got cancer and as it became worse I had no option but to put him down. It was the first time I ever had to do this and I never imagined it would be so gut wrenching.

Dolly thrived and her herding instincts came very much to the fore when the grand kids and their friends would come and swim in my pool. She would watch them intently and as soon as one of them got out of the water she would gently nip their heels and make them jump in again. The children soon caught on and they would run around the pool's edge laughing and calling out to her and she would chase them one by one till they were all in the pool once again.She was by far the smartest pet I have ever had. She lived till she was about ten years when she got sick and finally had to be put down to relieve her of her pain.Another tragedy for me.
Soon after,having Dolly, my younger daughter decided that I really did not have a decent guard dog and at one visit to the vet, she found out that he had his daughter's German shepherd waiting for a new home, since the daughter was at University in Tucson and could not keep her
Her name was Mokey and she looked so pleadingly at us that we did not have the heart to leave her and so she became pet number three.

So for a time I had three dogs of different sizes living with me. If you think Mokey became the alpha dog, think again. She turned out to be as timid as can be and Luke soon asserted his dominance over her too.Some guard dog she turned out to be!
After Luke died I was down to two pets but not for long. Again, my younger daughter who would come visiting with her collection of dogs, she had an Aussie heeler mix called Pete who used to be pestered unmercifully by her favorite puppy, a Jack Russel Terrier, who was and still is a real terror. One day he categorically refused to go back home with her and comfortably installed himself in my house. So now I was again back to three. The three of them got on very well together, each with his own character and funny foibles. Pete was lazy and when we would go out for walks, he would walk perhaps fifty yards, then sit down and wait for us to return, when he would trot back in feeling very good about himself.
One day, he even refused to walk that much but chose instead to wait for us in the shade by the fence. there was no moving him! Both Pete and Dolly went to doggy heaven within a very short time of each other, yet another sad period.

This time elder daughter came to the rescue. We went to a private breeder, not a puppy mill, to look for a miniature schnauzer puppy. This lady's dog had produced a litter of four puppies of which two had already gone to one owner. I could not decide whether to get the boy or the girl and then started worrying about leaving the other one alone. yes, you guessed it! We returned home with two little bundles of fur. And that s how Max and Lucy came into my life, my family's life and to all who came to my house.

Max and Lucy are now two years old and the naughtiest puppies you can find. they do everything in twos. They run in tandem, they sit side by side in perfect alignment, they eat together, in other words, they are inseparable . They love socks and shoes and hiding them in the back yard.
But their biggest pleasure is chasing after bunnies, of which there are plenty, especially in spring and summer. Given half a chance they will tear off and chase them till they finally give up as the desert rabbits are extremely fast. No amount of calling them has any effect. They do come back, but after I have given chase and yelled myself hoarse.

I think, I shall need the Dog Whisperer for these naughty two.