Family Matters

Let me introduce you to our latest family member, Carly.

It has been over a year since Taylor died. We haven't been ready for another dog but every once in a while I've seen a dog that I thought about. Pictures of Carly (although that wasn't her name at the time)  showed up on a local website from the Save a Mexican Mutt organization here in San Miguel. She looked cute but I let it ride for about two weeks. I thought that surely by that time someone would have adopted her. Still I wrote an email asking about her. No she had not been adopted. It took another couple of weeks of tenative questions on my part and a lot of talking between Ned and me. Are we ready for another dog and all the responsibility it would bring. SAMM brought Carly by for a visit. Another couple of days of thinking and then we said, yes. So yesterday Carly joined the family.

Carly was found in Queretaro, emaciated, matted and scared. She has had a couple of months of care and she is still really thin. SAMM thinks she is a cocker and poodle mix and that she is about 2 years old. I do think there is some poodle in there but not sure about the cocker part. She is smaller than Taylor was. At some point in her life she has been housebroken and leash trained. She is really a sweet quiet little companion.

Taylor

This is Taylor doing what he did best, laying under the computer desks right next to our feet sleeping. Always in the way. Always had to step over him. He was a vacuum cleaner in the kitchen. The greeter when we came home. Our watchdog. He love to cuddle up in the curve of your leg when you were stretched out on the couch watching TV. He wanted to be sure he was in the car when it headed to Texas or Mexico. He could sleep forever in the car as long as it was moving. He loved having a bed in the bedroom but he also loved his safe-haven crate. He put up with visiting dog guests and behaved himself when he went to see family. He didn't play with the other dogs in the family because he thought that he was more human than dog.

Taylor was almost 12 years old and he was slowing down. We thought it was old age so did the Vet. But last night he wasn't just slow, he was in pain. Our Vet was out of town.....why do animals and children always get the sickest on a weekend or especially a holiday weekend. We called another Vet we had used. She met us in her office at 11:30 pm. I was afraid it was bloat which he had once before and is a major killer of dogs. She checked him out and said it wasn't bloat. She gave him some medication and painkillers and said to bring him back first thing this morning. Taylor died about 7:30 AM. She did an autopsy. He had tumors in his lungs and liver and the tumor in his liver had ruptured.

Taylor was special in lots of ways but he was also a connection with my sister who died of breast cancer. Margaret bred and showed Cocker Spaniels. Some of her friends who were connected to her breeding line gave Taylor to me. He was named Taylor in memory of Margaret and Bill Taylor who died within a few months of each other.

Taylor was an international dog.....Mexico to Texas, Texas to Mexico. We will spread his ashes on both sides of the border in some of his favorite places. RIP Taylor. You are missed.

Archive #12

Nearly everytime we are out in villages and go inside a church there will be a dog or two. Quite often we find them, like this old white dog, right in the middle of the aisle during a mass or wedding or funeral. Most of the time no one pays any attention to them and I don't think they are paying any attention to the congregation either. Just one more thing I like about Mexico.

Family Additions

We now have Taylor dog, goldfish AND birds. A friend gave us two parakeets a few weeks ago. We had been saying we were going to get a bird ever since the patio was finished a year ago. Sometimes we are a little slow. The one in the back has a bit darker blue feathers and the one in the front is just old enough to eat seeds. The one in the back is a male and we don't know yet whether the young one is male or female. They like to eat the leaves of the palm that is right beside their cage and sometimes the leaves get in the cage. They also like chard.

At times they can be a bit noisy with their chirping but I really like the little soft chirpy sounds they make sometimes. It is like they are just gossiping away to each other. At first there was only one swing in the cage and the older one took it over every night. We got another swing and now the baby has his own sleeping spot. I never see them on the swings during the day. Why do they like to sleep there?

Everyone asks if we have named them yet. No, we haven't. I haven't thought of any names that I like or that seem to fit. Do you have a suggestion?

I'm shooting this through the wires of the cage so, sorry that the image isn't as sharp as it should be.