She quickly settled in and we found that she was already housebroken and knew the commands to come and sit. Stay and down were not in her vocabulary though. This was soon remedied and in a few months was fully integrated into the pack.
Her major vice appeared to be a passion for chewing papper, particularly paper towels and toilet paper. we came home once and found the entire paper roll from the Master Bath unrolled through the Master Bedrooom, through the hall and foyer, into the living room and ending in the dining room. We learned to keep the bathroom doors closed when we were not home. Other than that she was good about sharing toys and playing with the other dogs, like the woobie she is sharing with Prince in this picture.
She was a talker and a clown. You never knew when she would jump in your lap and start giving sugars while just talking away. Her tail spinning behind her. She did not wag her tail side to side like most dogs, but spun it around in a circle like a fluffy propeller. I kept warning her that she would unscrew it one day and it would fall off.
She would sleep in the oddest places and in the oddest positions. Her favorite alone spot was in Apache's kennel. I guess she felt it was like a nice safe cave.
Unlike the others, she did not try sleeping in our bed at night, but would jump in to wake me in the morning with her kisses and talking, usually about 5 minutes before the clock alarm was set to go off. She often complicated the task of getting up, but standing on my chest. She was a regular four legged alarm clock.
She did not spend much alone time though. She was usually too busy and happy playing with the other dogs, primarily Mr. Dawg, Apache and Prince. That did not mean she was adverse to a good romp with the smaller pups, including Coco.
Her favorite activity besides playing with the otehr dogs was riding the car. She would perch by a window and eagerly watch the world go by, often talking to herself aobut what she saw. Her least favorite activity was bathing, and even that was not shunned too much.
I mentioned earlier that her worst vice appeared to be her penchent for paper eating, but that appearance was proven drastically wrong. During the time we had problems with Max, another darker side showed itself. She, along with Apache started joining in the attacks Max made on other dogs. They did not start the fights, but would join them enthusiastically. Needless to say this greatly intensified the problems with dog attacks by Max. After max was gone, we thought the problems were over because neither one had initiated any of the attacks and the prime initiater was gone. Then came the attack on Inky when we came home, which we stopped as soon as it started, and both Apache and Kaiser rushed in to join the attack. Fortunately, Inky was not severely injured and it was stopped before they joined in.
We began separating the dogs, but not enough and on that dark day in November when the ringing door bell drove the animals to a frenzy and they attacked poor Freckles. Apache and Kaiser were major suspects in the damage poor Kaiser sustained. Kaiser had two bite wounds, one above her eye, the other on her cheek. Not enough to explain away the blood that covered both cheeks, her shoulders and bib. We had to give her a bath when we got back from taking Freckles to the vet.
The behaviorist said not to blame the dogs. It is simply the result of a strong prey drive combined with the frenzy caused by the door bell ringers. That may be so, but I would get nervouse whenever she or Apache would give a squinty eyed look at the other dogs.
However that was rare and life seems to have returned to the pre-attack days. She still shared toys and chews and played and talked and gave suprise sugars. She resumed her normal perky ways. Prancing around the yard with her tail jauntily curled above her back. Playing, talking and just being fun. Ears perked up and smiling.
She appeared perfectly healthy and we had no warning of the impending illness. In our last picture, taken less than 24 hours before I found her lying helpless and unable to get up from the floor, she has no visible sign of being ill.
It happened so fast, that I cannot fully understand it and they still have no clear explanation for what caused her illness. They have ruled out poison, but I am not so sure. The results of the culture test have not come back, and I am not sure they will call us when they do.
You have joined the others that have gone. Have you made up with your old pal Freckles? Has she forgiven you? Is Max happy and no longer plagued by demons? I can see you romping with Tippy, Bear and Sheba. I can see you racing with Venus and all the others, though Cherie will probably be happier when Coco joins her.
RIP our little smiling talking girl with the wirlygig tail. You will be sorely missed.
