Dogs..............................

And then there were two. Again.

Dogs. Cats. Pets.

I have always had animals. First it was cats. We always had cats growing up.

Then I got a cat 2 years before I had my daughter. That cat lived about 19 years. She had a cat stroke one Saturday night.

Two of my brothers had dogs. They were Irish Setters and they were beautiful dogs. One was Tommy and the other was Ian.

Ian died and shortly after that Tommy died. They were buddies and I think Tommy was heartbroken when Ian died.

When I first got married my husband had a German Shepard. Her name was Sandee. She was hit by a car on the road we live on.

We also had a Border Collie named Rocky. He was a great dog. After Sandee died we got Maddie. She was Rocky's sister. They were a year apart. So for many years we had Rocky and Maddie.

Then Rocky ran into a tree and broke his back. He was playing with another dog that was a brute. We had to put Rocky to sleep because we couldn't fix his back.

Maddie was very sad. While Rocky was still alive we got Otis. Otis loved Rocky.

Otis and Louie were two when I had my son.

Otis was my special dog. He was a Jack Russell. I treated him like a baby. He went everywhere with me. He even took two plane trips with me! He never said a word, just slept the whole time we were flying.

So Rocky, Maddie and Otis were all friends.

After we put Rocky down, we got Louie. Louie is Otis' brother. They were just 7 months apart--same parents. Louie and Otis were buddies and I think Louie is missing Otis. It makes me sad.

When my son was 3 months old, my Aunt died. She had three dogs. One mixed breed and two Jack Russells. We inherited those three dogs when my boy was 9 months old.

We had to find a new home for one of them. The other one was older and didn't do well around my boy.

So we were down to four dogs.

Then Maddie started getting sick. It was rather sudden. She was 12 when we had to put her down. The little dogs missed her I think.

Then my special Otis died. I miss my Otis.

He loved my son. When we first brought the baby home, Otis stood on his back feet and looked into the carrier and licked my baby!!! Every time my boy would cry, Otis would be right there looking at me. It was almost as if he was telling me to do something for the baby!!!

I really really miss Otis already. And the two dogs miss Otis too. and my boy misses Otis too.

So we went from 2 dogs to 3 dogs. Then 2 dogs again, then 3 dogs again. Then 6 dogs, then 5 dogs, then 4 dogs then 3 dogs.

Now we have 2 dogs again. And we are not getting any more dogs. Two is the limit anymore.

It seems a little more quiet in the house now. Otis used to greet me at the door. Sophie just barks and Louie never comes to the door anymore. He only came to the door if Otis did and he rarely barked. Odd for a JRT, but my two boy JRT's were mellow Jacks.