Introducing....

Ever since we told the kids that Reggie was dying from diabetes, they have been researching dogs. What kind of dog we should get next? What kinds of dogs are good with kids/babies? What kinds of dogs need little to no grooming? What kinds of dogs are not yappy? The list went on and on.

Trenton especially spent a lot of time on the internet reading up about dogs. He once concluded that we needed a Basset Hound, but I vetoed that because we don't have a fenced in yard and those dogs although ADORABLE are hunting dogs and would probably take off. He wanted BIG dogs, like boxers, golden retrievers and German shepherds. Again I vetoed because of the fence and the poop, I have no desire to pick up that kind of poo. YUCK!

After burying Reggie, all talk of a new dog ceased. It was just too hard to think that someday we would have to bury another pet. I think I was the first one to really want another dog. I spent a few weeks looking in the KSL ads, trying to figure out a good deal and what kind of dog we would want. When it came down to it, I knew I wanted another poodle, although a bichon would have worked. I also wanted a dog that was already house trained and not over 3 years old. After searching and searching, the day after Hal had his gallbladder removed, I found 2 suitable dogs. One was a 2 year old Bichon Frise, named "Frosty". He was super cute and only $100, which is a total steal! I called the owner and asked if we could have them and they said yes. I felt a little bad for leaving poor Hal to take care of himself the day after surgery, but the "little's" were wanting to crawl all over him, jump on him and give him hugs. Hal told me to take them for a drive and check out the dog, that it would be nicer for him to have the house to himself so he could rest.

Trenton, "The Little's" and I set out to Magna to get "Frosty". When we first saw him, I was in doggie love. He was super sweet and loving, he had enough energy and playfulness that I don't think The Little's would have been too much for him. However, the old, injured, feeble old lady that was his owner decided that we shouldn't have him because he would be "too much" for us to handle. LOL!!! I don't think she was ready to give him up. I was a little frustrated because we had driven over an hour to go get this dog, I was all excited at the thought of him coming to live with us.

Soooooo, I called the next person on the list. She had a 3 year old toy poodle, "Oscar", he was $125, but wasn't neutered. Trenton and Hal both wanted something other than a poodle, they didn't want to "replace" Ol' Reg., but after "losing" Frosty, they both said that a poodle would do. I thought that West Point was out near Lehi somewhere, but I was wrong, it is WAAAAYYYY out in Clearfield. When I talked to the woman, she said that Oscar was papered, she had only owned him for 2 days, because she was using him as a "stud" for her dog, she really had no interest in owing 2 dogs and it was the same amount to buy him as it was for his stud service, so that is why she had him. I called Hal to see how he was doing and he said it would be okay to drive out there and check him out, so that is what we did.

When we got to the house, Oscar met us at the door. He was SO skinny compared to fat Reg, he has a lot more energy and he is actually more obedient and he actually knows a few tricks, like sit, stay, lay down, stand and "up" (he jumps up into your arms). Trenton decided he is the "coolest" dog EVER! And that we must bring him home.



We got a little folder with him, upon going through it we found his pedigree chart, AKC papers and a receipt from his original purchase for an astonishing $1419.83 . Like I said, he isn't neutered, so technically I could stud out his services, which is such a funny thought to me. I never thought I would own a registered dog, I find the whole "akc" thing a little strange and over the top. When so many dogs need homes, why buy from a puppy mill? Anyway, I am making an appointment to have him fixed, so that will be a moot point.

So far, he seems to be a really good dog. He has been super sweet with the kids, Addy loves kissing him. Jack likes him too. Hallie gets him to do his tricks, which she thinks is so cool! He has bonded with Trenton. He has even slept with him on his bed the last 2 nights and spends the day wanting to go downstairs and lay on his bed. Trenton is pretty excited that he has decided that he is his person. Hal is happy with him and likes having a dog in the house again. Me, I am NOT impressed with his crumb cleaning abilities, that is something that we are going to need to work on, this dog needs to ditch his manners and earn his keep! LOL!!!

Also, the huge debate is if we are going to change his name from Oscar to Max. My vote is for Max, what do you think?

Rest In Peace ~ Reggie

Reggie was our beloved fat little poodle. He came to live with us in the spring of 2004, we found him through a really great organization called Lost Paws, he was 6-7 years old at the time. So, we have had a wonderful 6 years with him.

Reggie was best known for his smile, and lovely disposition, not to mention his laziness and LOVE of the garbage and all food that was within reach. Hot dogs especially added to his curvaceous figure. Reg was a great dog, he hardly barked, needed little attention, was really good about his house training habits and he NEVER jumped up on people. He actually really liked other dogs. Once he even invited a stray dog into our house, which was so nice of him, since a HUGE snow storm was coming in and the poor stray probably would have froze to death. Reggie earned his keep by making sure that my floors were always very clean. "No crumb of food left behind!" Was his mantra.

In the weeks leading up to Reggie's final day, he had started to pee all over my house, this was not like him. I didn't even realize it was pee at first because when I cleaned it up I thought it was sprite, which was strange because we didn't have any in the house. It was clear and VERY sticky. He was obviously peeing out a lot of sugar. He was also drinking incessantly. I would wager to guess that my 14 pound dog was drinking about a gallon of water a day.

After we had him diagnosed by the vet, I just couldn't put him down, he was still happy. Other than needing to drink a lot, he seemed pretty normal. I borrowed a crate from my sister-in-law and had him in it when we weren't home and at night. This solved the peeing in the house problem, so we figured that we would just let him live for as long as he could. Even though I was getting up 2 times a night to let him out, I still couldn't find it in my heart to let him die.

The day we decided to have Reggie put down was emotionally harder than I ever thought it was going to be. Poor Reggie, he had probably had some sort of retinal bleed that caused sudden and total blindness. He was walking into walls, furniture and toys. He couldn't figure out how to go up and down the stairs. He would stand at the bottom of the stairs, stand up on the first one and then back up and try to get enough courage to climb them. This went on and on until we finally helped him up or down. It was so sad. We told the kids that we were going to take him in, they cried, I cried, Hal cried. Hal always tried to act all macho, like this wouldn't bother him, that it would actually be a relief. When it came down to it, Hal probably had the hardest time of us all. I called in the morning for an appointment, it wasn't until 3:30pm, so we sat around and held Reggie, let him have some goodies. And then Hal went out back to dig a grave in the field. Trenton took poor Reg out to play and Reggie walked right off the edge and into the ditch. This is when I knew we were doing the right thing. Trenton decided to go with Hal when they took Reggie. I am not sure if this was a mistake or not. When the got back with "the box", Trenton was bawling. Hal was bawling. It was really sad. For some unknown reason, Hal decide to remove Reggie's body from the box and unwrap him from his blanket to bury him. Not the best decision, the poor guy had nightmares and couldn't get the image of his lifeless body out of his head.

We have all missed our Reggie, we hope that he is enjoying his afterlife, that it is full of hot dogs and lots of table scraps. We know that is what really made him happiest.