Monthly Newsletters: Special Dog Editions #48 and #60

Dear Scarlett,

We did not get you until the weekend of Labor day the year you were born, but your birthday is today and you turn 5 years old. You were supposed to be a Cocker Spaniel. In fact we had gone back to Canton to buy a certain Cocker Spaniel, but when we got there, your dad convinced me to look and see if any Boxers were around.

And there you were. At the bottom of the puppy pile, and you've been pretty submissive to other dogs ever since.

Right off the bat you sat in an ant bed to pee, you had demodex, and I was kind of over reactive, so your vet bills were astronomical. You are still our most expensive pet and despite the fact that you think you are a person and are apparently going through some kind of teenage angst and not minding. I would not trade you for anything.

You have your own OCD issues, you are stuck in a room if a broom stick is laying across the threshold, you prefer it if we don't move anything around.

You have tremendous patience for Landon, and nothing in this world could have predicted how much you would love him. But you do, and that alone is worth all the vet bills I have ever paid.

Love,

Mom

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Dear Fiona,

You were supposed to be a TV. There was a sign on an electric pole on our way out of the neighborhood about boxers. We didn't find what we wanted in a TV, so when we got back to the neighborhood, I called about the boxers. You were born on July 5th, but we didn't get you until early October.

There were 3 left when we got there, but one was spoken for. Clinton chose you of the two remaining. We didn't have a crate for you, so we asked them to keep you a couple more days, so we could get the supplies needed to bring you home. When we got home that evening, Scarlett went crazy. She smelled you on us, and she started looking everywhere for you. And that's how we knew we had to go back and get you.

You actually made life a little easier for us. I thought 2 dogs would be harder than one, but it turns out you wore Scarlett out with all your energy, and that meant we had less crazy to deal with. Back then we joked that we had a dog and our dog had a dog. Now we joke that one of you (Scarlett) thinks she's a person, but that you know you're a dog.

When you came home, you had never been on grass before. And while playing on it was fine with you, you had been used to doing your business on newspapers on the floor. So in addition to normal house breaking, it took us a while to get you to do your business on the grass instead of on the concrete.

You also love Landon, but you have a far lower threshold in the tolerance department for him, so when he annoys you, you retreat. We truly appreciate that, even if you never seem to get recognized for it.

Love,

Mom

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UPDATE ON NEIGHBOR DOG:

I got home last night to a notice on my front door. Animal Control had been by, but the officer they sent only had our address, and since he didn't see any issues, he left a note to call him. I talked to him last night and he will come check on the dog this morning. I spoke with the neighbor on the other side of this woman, and she will be home tomorrow and is going to come out and speak to the police when they get there. She and her husband are hopeful that they will take the dog. They said they have seen the woman there more often that I have, but that what she does is come around at midnight with a 20 lb bag of dog food and dumps it in a bowl and fills a bucket of water for the dog for the week. I guess we'll see.