Kibbles & Bites

Dogs do speak but only to those who know how to listen.
~Orhan Pamuk

I love dogs.

My Dogs

They have been a part of my life since I could barely toddle. I remember the first puppy my father brought home. Named for a dog in a comic strip, Scampy did not stay with us long as he had a habit of bringing inappropriate presents (snakes, trash, mud) into the house. Lady, named for LadyBird Johnson, followed. A cocker-terrier mix, she was a scamp in her own right and gifted us with three puppies after a romp through the neighborhood one night. Of her three progeny, only Snoopy stayed with us. Charlie Brown and Lucy went to live with cousins.

After I graduated from college and moved to Columbus, Ohio, to teach, I decided I needed a dog. Long story short, I found an ad for a family wanting to re-home their Welsh Terrier, and the rest, as they say, is history. I called the family, raced to their house, and fell in love with a black and tan bundle of energy. Bunker went almost everywhere with me, and she bonded with Mike and then Jason once they joined the pack.

While I love all dogs, I am partial to terriers in general and Welshies in particular. When Bunk passed, we adopted a Cairn Terrier (Think Toto from the Wizard of Oz). The day after Corky passed, Mike and I happened to go to a mall. When we passed the pet store, I noticed a wiry little Welsh Terrier with a cast on her left leg. She was batting a Basenji puppy with her cast and jumping around the cage they were in. Not a fan of pet stores, I nonetheless rescued the little character, and Kasey became part of the family.

A few months later, Mike got a job in Nashville, and Kasey, my mom, and I drove from Las Vegas to Nashville to join Mike and Jason who were already there. Within six or seven months, we adopted Decker (AKC registered name MerryLegs Black & Decker), and we had two puppies under the age of two in the house. If you think having toddlers is hard, try living with two toddling terriers.

Kibbles & Bites

Many of you probably do not know this, but I owned a paper arts store when we lived in Nashville. Many days, Kasey and/or Decker would join me at the store. One day, Kasey decided she wanted to make her own scrapbook. This is her story…