How Much Is That Doggie In The Window???

"the one with the waggley tail?" And I could add "the adorable short legs and long ears"..*VBS* The picture is of my mom, and one of my favorites. I still carry this one in my billfold, altho it's been exactly 40 years since it was taken. We(Fred and I) were living in Michigan, he was teaching in the "thumb" area. It was the springtime end of our first year...1965-66. We wanted a dauchy puppy. There is a good kennel in my hometown of Chippewa Falls, WI. Paintcreek Kennels, my mom knew the owner well. She picked out the puppy for us, and our baby was air freighted to Michigan. What a thrill to get her crate from the plane that brought her!
This pic is my first look at my little darling. And she was a darling. A red dauchy with some black on her.
She adapted well to our life style and got along well with our elderly cat Sam. We lost Sam to old age within the next year, and a new kitten, Jinx was added to the family. He teased the dickens out of Maggie, mostly by occupying her doggie basket all the time. I have many pictures of her and of them, but they are in slide form. Hope to do something about that this year.
1967 turned out to be one of those "worst of times, best of times" years. The loss of Sam, the new joys of Maggie. We added a brittney spaniel and applied for adoption in Saginaw. We moved to a farm house about 1 miles out of Mayville, MI. December of 1967 brought our darling baby girl. She arrived on Dec 21st. and was just past 3 months old. No problems at that age. We had a chance to buy a house on 2 acres on the other side of Mayville, and jumped at the chance, even tho it was January. Our move was followed by a full blown blizzard which stranded us with out milk for the baby. Friends brought us some on a snowmobile..LOL.
February brought a phone call in the early morning hours, my mom had died suddenly from heart failure.
We later learned it was congestive heart failure, her lungs filled in just a matter of hours, and all help came too late to save her. We made arrangements, packed up the baby(friends took the dogs), and set out on the 12 hour drive to WI. Things were about what you'd expect driving in early Feb. across country for a funeral.
Jumping ahead to summer '68, baby was crawling, and loved Maggie sooooo much. She'd crawl over and grab at her. Unfortunately, by then, Maggie was older and not happy with being grabbed by tiny fists. Especially her ears or tail. She woke up snapping at the baby. Broke our hearts, but we knew that it was just a matter of time and she'd connect. Either with the babys face or hands. We agonied over it, and got folding gates, but the puppy in the sun, asleep, was a strong lure for DD..*S* We decided to see if my Dad, so recently widowed would want to take Maggie as a companion. He did, and we were thrilled. We drove home the summer of 1968 with dogs in tow, for a visit. When we left, only Missy, who didn't mind being outside most of the time, left with us. While we were gone, the neighbor boy accidently let Jinx out while feeding him, and he was hit by a car. Sometimes life just leaves you reeling...trust me, I know.
And so on to pics of Maggie a bit older. Picasa just would NOT load the picture above or a fourth one in black and white. That's the reason for the two part post..*VBS* More disjointed than I had hoped for..LOL