Van Buren lost his beloved dog less than a month ago, and last Tuesday he sent me a photo of their new pup, along with this lovely note:
I know what you mean about yesterday not being a good day. We lost our 15 year old dog, Kendall, on June 5. On the 26th we picked up this pup, who is officially Rosalita, but I’m going to call her Rosie.
She is doing fine, getting settled, and has accepted my offer of spoiling her rotten for the next 15 years.
Rosalita, who they call Rosie. Circle of life, it seems. I asked if he would be willing to write a little something to introduce Rosalita, and he did.
?
Stories of Kendall, Jackson, Fiona, and finally Rosalita
by Van Buren
When the lockdown began, we had three dogs.
Kendall was 14, a Cavachon, and as sweet and mellow as any dog ever. Kendall was a musk ox disguised as a little dog. The other dogs hated the cold, but she loved nothing more than slowly plodding through snow, nose to the ground.
Jackson was 13, a Miniature Schnauzer/ Maltese mix, who was equal parts feisty terrier and affectionate lap dog. We had had both dogs since they were puppies.
We also had Fiona, a twelve year old Lhasa Apso that we had rescued when she was 6. Fiona had been a breeder in a puppy mill, and had no idea how to be a pet, but by copying Jackson’s every move, she caught on fairly fast.
For seven years, she followed Jackson around. When he ate, she would eat. If he wanted to go outside, she wanted to go outside. And so on. To this day, she is nervous about being touched by people. If you pick her up, she has the endearing habit of shaking herself as though trying to dry off. One of my sons says she is ridding herself of the taint of human flesh.
Within a week of the lockdown, we had to take Jackson to the vet, for what turned out to be the first of a long series of visits as his organs began failing. He finally passed in September. I have had eight dogs in my life, including my childhood, and he was the one I loved the most.
Since Fiona was so attached to him, we assumed she would be affected more than Kendall by his passing, but she barely seemed to notice. She simply started following Kendall everywhere. Kendall, on the other hand, very clearly knew something was wrong. There is a picture of Kendall and Fiona in the calendar, taken the day after Jackson died. Kendall is in what we thought of as Jackson’s spot. It was like she thought that was the most likely place to find him.
On Halloween, we had to rush Kendall to the vet. She had been coping with Cushing’s disease for years, but now her liver was enlarged. With medication, she more or less held her own, but she was losing weight, seemed to have dementia, and was becoming incontinent. I wasn’t going to repeat all the tests that we subjected Jackson to. I brought her to the vet the day after Memorial Day to ask his opinion.
The vet said he thought it was time. She was down to 16 lbs. She had been 25 a year earlier. We waited a few days until a vet could come to the house to euthanize her, just as we had done with Jackson.
That night, Fiona began barking. The only way to get her stop was to bring her into our room. She refused to be left alone, and woke up every night around 3.
She needed a companion. Thus, the frantic search that ended with the adoption of Rosalita last Saturday. Rosie is a 4 month old Dachshund and….who-knows-what mix. She is doing great adjusting, with the bizarre quirk – and I am curious if anyone else has ever had a dog do this – that she gets furious when Fiona eats.
Rosalita frantically barks and growls. It does not matter if she has food herself. She does not seem to mind if Fiona approaches her bowl. But if we give food to Fiona, she goes nuts.
As I finish this, Rosie and Fiona are sleeping at my feet, lying back to back. Fiona stays downstairs and sleeps through the night, as she has done every night since we brought Rosie home.
? I think this will work out.
eclare
Welcome to Rosie! Thanks for the pix!
Another Scott
Thanks for the stories and the pictures. It’s wonderful that they all have their own personalities.
Our Ellie is a mutt. She has a strange gait and her right rear leg points out from an old injury (broken pelvis and smashed femur – probably from being hit by a car or something as a puppy). She’s a great joy, but goes nuts when we’re on a walk and a motorcycle or loud truck goes by – lunging and spinning and barking with her tongue sticking out about a foot. It’s like a switch trips…
Enjoy! And remember the good times.
Cheers,
Scott.
Mary G
Rosalita wins the greatest furever home. I am so sorry you had to let Jackson and Kendall go and that Fiona was so affected. Rosie isn’t a replacement, but another heartbeat in the house will help you heal. She looks like a border collie to me.
Josie
Border collie is a good guess. Of course, we will need many more pictures as she matures to be sure. Sorry about your losses, but glad you found another sister for Fiona.
Van Buren
@Mary G: That is what I think. We are going to do a DNA test, just to satisfy our curiosity.
VeniceRiley
Awww. my fianceeeee was just saying to me how she is Barney sad today. Her elderly scottie that passed recently. She came by some of his things she had stored in cupboard and it brought it all back. He had a difficult personality as well, having been abused. She did rescue him and give him a best life.
That’s a weird kink for sure. Can you feed them apart?
Another Scott
Agreed that she has a border collie look about her. Apparently they can be talkative.
https://www.houndgames.com/border-collie-barking/#Border_Collie_Puppy_Barking
Good luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
susanna
What a fabulous tribute to all your dogs who live/lived the life with you. And what handsome pretty doggos.
Welcome Rosalita!
skerry
Welcome, Rosie!
I have a 12 y/o Cavachon, Luke, who is really slowing down this year. He’s a lovely dog.
Betty
So sorry for your multiple losses and am happy you found Rosie. I wasn’t familiar with the Cavashon breed what adorable little furballs.
Van Buren
@VeniceRiley: I think we have to try that. Feeding Fiona first did not work, feeding Rosie first was no better. I am just not going to let Rosie see Fiona eating for the time being.
Van Buren
@Betty: I highly recommend them. There are a few others in our neighborhood and they are all sweet.
MazeDancer
Wonderful, sweet story. Clearly, you are good at giving pups long, perfect lives. May this continue with Rosie. And, may we assume, some day, Lucky Pup 3.
Nicole
Rosie is adorable! Wishing you many years of joy with her. Funny about the food issue- maybe she fears limited resources?
Today I saw a Xolo ( Mexican hairless dog) in the park- my daydream dog as I think they’re adorable. Dog was on a leash, and fixated on two unleashed dogs- looked like mixes, but whatever they were, they were big and muscular. They were not on the leash, against the rules in the park. The Xolo started barking obsessively at them, and the owners should probably have taken their dog right out of the park, but the big mixed dogs were ignoring, so okay. Until they stopped ignoring. They weren’t demonstrating any aggressive behavior (yet) but the Xolo clearly was. One headed towards the Xolo, presumably for an introduction, but the Xolo was barking and pulling against the leash pretty hard and I was very worried a fight would break out. I clucked to the big guy to distract him, and he came over to me instead. Super sweet and friendly dog, but man, was the owner mad at me when he came over with the fucking leash that his dogs should have been on IN THE FIRST PLACE. Put the dog on the leash and walked off without a word to me.
That said, you don’t do things to expect a “thank you,” you do them because they’re the right thing to do. And while the Xolo was clearly the dog reactive one, it was on a leash and a good 40 pounds lighter than the other two. I don’t think the big dog would be the one to start a fight, but he certainly would be the one to finish it.
But again, super sweet to me, so maybe he would have been just as polite with the other dog. Probably best no one had a chance to find out, though.
quakerinabasement
@Josie: Those markings certainly suggest border collie. That seems like a…ahem, challenging…task for the sire, either way. What a beauty, tho!
WaterGirl
@Nicole: You did good.
eclare
@Nicole: You did the right thing.
Ann Marie
It’s awful to lose two pets so close in time, but I’m so glad Rosie found you. I hope she and Fiona become best friends.
The Moar You Know
Yeah. I have. I hesitate to share but you should know about this. It’s called food aggression, it’s exceptionally difficult to train them out of it, as it’s a behavior that typically gets formed around five weeks when a pup is not fed properly, and it can be extremely dangerous to both other animals and humans in the house. My suggestion is to find a trainer that has worked with this specific problem before and get started now before she gets any older or bigger.
I sadly have personal experience with this.
Nutmeg again
oh, my. I so sorry for the losses, and so appreciative of you for all the rescuing and family-making. Rescuing a dog from a breeding farm is a special thing to do. As far as the angry co-eater, I’ve seen it in dogs who had starving times as neglected pups. I hosted my niece’s otherwise charming dog, who had been scooped from a South Carolina roadside near to death from starvation, internal parasites, and fleas. He was basically a lovely fellow (although always a poop eater, yuck), but he did have a fit when I fed my then-Newfie, as well as himself. She was as gentle a dog as you could image so, who knows. Anyway, all the paw prints.
Nicole
@WaterGirl:
@eclare:
Thanks. I feel fine about it; I just get so frustrated with willful leash violators. There’s a guy in the neighborhood with two big pit bulls who frequently visits our local bodega. He says “STAY” to the two dogs when he enters and they sit outside and wait for him. And they’ve growled and barked at my (very dog-reactive) dog when we pass by, but they do not budge from that spot outside the bodega. That guy, I give a pass to. But most people are very unrealistic about their dogs’ actual recall abilities. And I just don’t understand putting your dog in a situation designed for them to fail.
Jean
Rosie does look like a Border mix, and she has an adorable face. We rescued a Border mix who was part of a litter held at the Sheriff’s department. Two vets believed he’d be about 25 lbs, thinking he was part poodle. Totally wrong. He was 65 lbs. He was a gorgeous Border mixed with something larger, chestnut brown/white. Simon was the most gentle, sweet dog we ever owned. He would lie down on the ground if we passed a little dog and just toss his head to play. He passed when he was 13. He did need plenty of exercise, but we both loved our long walks and playing ball in the yard. I will never forget him, and at the same time, I love our two rescues, Milo and Marcie, adopted separately 4 years ago. They are small mixed terriers and we are blessed to have them in our lives.
TomatoQueen
I’d never taken on a feral until poor old Luca, a tabby abandoned during the worst of the Great Recession, so was unfamiliar with and really unprepared for Behaviors, which kept manifesting throughout his life, particularly aggression toward me. This was terrifying to live with, and I assume was related somehow to early life experiences, none of which were particularly good–the abandonment just made me angry & that was why he came to live with me. Merlin is watching over me somehow as I learn to take care of Blackjack, his near twin, down to the funny adjustments he makes as each boundary between him and people is crossed. He’s only three and has spent the majority of his life in one shelter or another, with little opportunity for bonding, so it was most gratifying when he started spending a lot of time nearby in his new bed, which has a soft cushion and a sturdy felted hood. Today he asked me directly for his dinner by standing up and putting his paws on my knee. MEW! he said. I think I have a lap cat.
What I hear about Border Collies is that they need a job. Keep ’em busy, they say.
These are lovely pics of lovely pups, and that last one is just gorgeous.