Well, it’s been almost a month since Butler went to that big dog park in the sky. I have to admit, for the first couple of days I was pretty depressed. There are always nagging thoughts in the back of my head; Could I have done more? Did you cause his illness? Stuff like that, all untrue, but there nonetheless. Lots of people in my building who knew Butler were also saddened by his passing, and of course they offered their suggestions about what to do next. Some said, "Wait a bit before getting a new dog. You need to process your grief." Others said, "Get a dog right away. It’ll ease the pain." And blah, blah, blah. One thing was certain. The next dog could never be Butler’s replacement. He could NEVER be replaced. He now sits in the place of honor with all the others, to go with me when I do.So Ted and I have been looking through all the books, looking for a breed that would be compatible with us while having a longer life span. Those of you who remember my Great Dane, Giva, know that she died of old age at 7 years, and Butler had just turned 8. It’s true that the bigger the dog, the younger they die. The dog before both of them was a Scottish Terrier named Gramps. He was one of the loyalest (and long lived, lasting until he was 16) dogs we ever had. And while he was purebred, we didn’t know enough about purebred dogs when we got him, so we could never show him (not that we wanted to). Now, after three dogs and 25 years of experience with purebred dogs, we’ve learned a lot, and decided that we’re going back to our original breed and get another Scottish Terrier, but this time a small female (less than 20 lbs) as opposed to a large male like Gramps (who weighed a hefty 35 lbs). For the past couple of weeks, we’ve scoured the internet and newspapers for Scottie puppies, and while they had a few, none of them were purebred. Then last Wednesday (the 18th), Ted called me from work and told me he’d found a female that was just the right age (4 months) and totally purebred. Only problem was that she was in Portland, Oregon. To make a long story short, on Saturday we flew up to Portland, spent the night in the city, then on Sunday morning drove to the suburb of Gresham and picked up our new little girl. She’s a bundle of energy, and we hadn’t thought about how to bring her back to Southern California. Fortunately the breeder was professional, and gave us all the information we needed (dog carrier that could fit under the seat on a plane, etc.) Now she’s here and has made herself at home with a beginning relationship with our cats (nothing dangerous), and she’s already paper trained, so that’s a relief. Her name is Torrey, and it’s pronounced TAHR-REE, not TOE-REE. It’s a Scottish name (meaning "victorious from the craggy hills") and Ted’s mother’s maiden name (as well as Ted’s and my middle name). We’ll have her until next Wednesday (the 2nd) and then we’ll take her to Pearblossom (about 75 miles north of here) to the same trainer who has trained Gramps, Giva, and Butler. There she’ll go through a one month training program (the school has a neat name; "Kamer Canine College"). We’ll pick her up around the first week of August, where we’ll re-bond with her and get her ready to leave alone in the apartment while Ted’s at work and I’m at school. It’s been a complicated summer, but things are starting to look up.
Furthermore, we leave for Europe on the 3rd, and will arrive in Barcelona on Friday, one day before the cruise sets sail for the Mediterranean. I’ll be sure to send reports on this blog while there, and look forward to sharing the pictures with you when we get back to school in September.
In case you haven’t received the message, your grade assignments for summer are on the SAS blog at the Hollywood High School website. Just go there, click programs, choose SAS, and the assignments will be there for your particular grade. Please be sure to complete the assignments before September so that you can go back and edit it before turning it in (are you listening, Carlos and Jon?) Oh, and one more thing. Thanks to all who sent their condolences regarding Butler. He was worth it. So, until next time, ta!
