2016 was evidently the last time I posted about our boy. Life turned on a dime and now we're in Ohio, having gone through North Caroline first from Georgia. And in all the movement, our little one has gone with the flow and adjusted beautifully. In a month he will be seven years old. He still holds my heart as much now as the day I brought him home, no, actually even more so. I love love love this little being...

Most recent of Boney

Trying to help Papa play

True love

Not a fan of the vet's

Do I really have to wear this?

What did I do wrong? Why am I being punished?

My friend Scully

My other friend Worf...

Papa loves me

I help Mama write...

OMG, He Is Almost Four!

My oh my how time flies. I missed a year writing about Bonaparte, who will, in May be a whopping FOUR years old! I can't believe it. He has stabilized in weight now at 9 lbs. His hair/fur barely sheds, if at all and has lost all of the darkness of his puppy days. He has learned very well how to stay around us when we are outside, and to come when we call him. We noticed a huge leap in his "understanding/listening" right around three years old, when I no longer had to keep a lead on him whenever I was out working in the yard. He stays, usually, within our sight and if he happens to wonder just a bit too far, he comes back when we call him. He LOVES to go for rides in the car and jumps in whenever he gets the chance, whether or not we're going anywhere! He is loving my husband being home so much more, now that he has quit his job and is in school full time, for a degree in Math.
This year also marks a new adventure for us three, Boney, my husband and me. Our house is just about empty and we are readying it for the market. We HOPE to sell before the end of the year. We are realistic in the outlook not being great, but we will hope, we will send positive energy to that goal. So, now, on to more photos of our little love. He has been so brave with all the worker folks and auction folks and numerous others traipsing in and out of our house, his territory, guarding fiercely the front door each time the doorbell rings, and chasing off the stray cats invading our back yard...

December 2015

February 2016, checking out the new dock

February 2016, sunbathing Boney-style...

2-2016, new dock celebration

More celebrating 2-2016

Ahhhh, cute boy

Emptied son's room, one of the only one who had no need for wall repairs!

And They Called it Puppy Love…

Because I am in  LOVE with this puppy, who, by the way is on his fourth name. Well, it’s not really so much a name change as using a first name instead of a last. Napoleon is coming much easier to the lip than Bonaparte. And “Napi” or “Napo” are the two we’ve been using for shorts. So, maybe he has a real name now.

Took Napo to the vet a few days ago because he was itching so much and there were no fleas to be found, for which I am very thankful! In this heat fleas would be a total disaster. Little Bit got a clean bill of health and I got lots of information about what I can do and what I shouldn't do with him. Granted, my vet, who also has a dachshund, said that she was “one to talk” when she didn’t pay any attention to the advice she was given in taking care and training her own! But I am doing my best to pay attention not only to her advice, but also the advice my friends (from whom we got Napo) gave me as well. Nancy gave me two sheets of instructions about house breaking and crate training, both of which I am doing my best to implement. They seem very common sense-icle (There’s a Joss Whedon “Buffy-ism” for you!) and we're having varying degrees of success. He’s already well on in the house breaking category, and uses his ‘pads’ more often than not. But he still slips up, even though I’m getting better at getting him outside after he eats. So far his hardheadedness is showing when it comes to going outside. He’ll pee but the pooing not so much. I feel like I’m re-inventing the wheel!

On Laydi's bed, our previous lab/border collie. Napo is so tiny!

We’ve had a bit of a rough patch, but Napo finally slept most of the night in his crate last night! This was after two distressing nights of him howling, pooing and peeing in his crate. Yesterday he slept ALL morning long and didn’t eat anything to speak of. He was so stressed out! 

Of course we put the crate in our room last night and maybe that made a difference. We shall see if he does a repeat performance tonight. It was wonderful to have him sleep and not be miserable all night, us too!

Today he’s actually eaten well and played and slept and acted like a normal unstressed puppy. He follows me almost everywhere I go, except when he wants to play coquettish and won’t come when I want him to! We’ll be working on that as soon too. Okay, I’m off to take Napo out. Have a good one…

Elvis the Mauxie

I’d like to introduce you to Elvis, our new “Mauxie”, who is such a strange mix of white (really long hair) Maltese and red (shorthair) Dachshund that we have no way of knowing what he’s going to end up looking like! (We're still "supposedly" working on his name, but this one is my husband's pick)

It took some time to make this decision and my husband has been very gracious about it as he really wasn’t ready for a new dog. Our beloved Laydi (a border collie/black lab mix) passed away in June of 2011 and we’ve grieved and missed her ever since. Therefore, we decided to wait to get a new dog.

A week or so ago, while talking to a dear friend whom we haven’t seen in about nine months, we were catching up on each others lives when she mentioned the three puppies they had and that only one was left to find a home for. I asked no questions beyond what kind of puppies they were, and found out I knew their sire very well as we’d been around when he had come into their home. He is the red dachshund. My friend had no idea that I basically sat on this information for a week mulling it over in my brain and heart. I say it in that order because I knew all the reasons we’d chosen to not get a new dog and none of those reasons had really changed except for Laydi’s death being a bit farther down the road.

So, over last weekend I talked with my husband about my desire to look into getting this puppy. He was so calm and generous about what I told him, that at first I couldn’t believe he was for real (he really does love me!). With heart pounding and insecurity about making the right decision hanging over me, I called our friend back and asked her to send me a few photos of the puppy they needed a home for. She was completely surprised by my interest. She knew the stance we’d taken on getting a new dog. So she sent the photos within the hour. Of course the little guy was adorable and I knew I had to “meet” him before being completely sure. Our friends live four hours from us in Georgia. I called on Sunday and asked if I could come up on Monday. She was thrilled, and so wonderful as to say that if it didn’t work out with the puppy, they wanted “rights of first refusal” to take the puppy back. She couldn’t have made it more attractive for me. So I headed up and spent the night. We caught up on all the family news, I saw one of their sons and their grandson, and, I met the mother of the puppies, who is not only adorable, but very loving as well. I also reacquainted myself with papa dachshund and enjoyed seeing the "parents" interact with the two puppies they had left.

The Three Puppy Brothers Livingston, Elvis and Winston

I took photos, held the little guy I was there to meet a few times, and thought through my decision. My husband had really left it up to me, and so, after a second restless night, I got up, packed up my little overnight bag and prepared to become a “mom” again. I would take “little bit” home. I would see how we “gelled” and make my final decision once I saw how he adapted to “chez nous” and whether or not he and my husband clicked.

Stay tuned for the next post: The First Night

To find out more about "Mauxie's/Moxies" and their great diversity, go to:

http://www.maltesemaniac.com/mauxie.html