Life with Willy

My daughters kennel is 15 miles from our home and each day I make the trip in my pickup truck and it is in a rural area and normally I met as little as two vehicles on my trip. Dodging squirrels becomes one of my objectives as every mile or so one decides to commit suicide but as I swerve to miss them I am reminded by my wife who hates squirrels because they love the roots of the flowers she plants every year. I even bought a pellet gun to remove them from the backyard and as my wife spotted one I grabbed my trusty gun and as I took aim with my scope I could see his little face munching on a flower my aim became off as I told my wife that I had missed him. So you can see I am a closet softy when it comes to seeing harm coming to about anything.

My daughter has raised Boston Terriers for several years before my wife and I became parents of a beautiful bulldog. Karen our daughter also decided to acquire one at the same time. Our 12 year old Shih tzu considered our home her domain and under no circumstances would this wrinkled slobbering brown and white varmint going to move in to her territory without a fight. The stand off lasted for some time but as times heal all wounds Pepe tolerated Duchess because after all Pepe slept with us. Duchess has given us two beautiful litters and as we pampered the puppies Pepe realized a 50 lb bulldog can be a hand full if confronted by a 10 lb Shih tzu. Most of Duchess抯 puppies were sold before their eyes opened. Life around our home became routine as everyone has found their niche. Pepe had her domain, our bed as Duchess roamed the lower level.

Marshmellow is Karen抯 bully was picked the same time we acquired Duchess, having a litter of puppies whose daddy was a lawyers big bully. The barrister wanted to have the pick of the litter to give it to her mother. Marshmellow had a great litter of beautiful puppies each one was beautifully marked. As the weeks past one of the pups was being pushed away from nursing from the other puppies. As the other puppies grew this one was falling behind in size. Hoping he would catch up never materialized as the little guys head drooped and his movements were very slow as his breathing quickened. On occasions the decision is made to put down those pups that are determined unable to live long but generally this decision is made shortly after the cesarean birth by the vet. Bulldogs have a great life but unfortunately breeding is not natural and is helped along by others as well as they are unable for the most part to naturally give birth.

As my daughter and my wife were debating the fate of the small puppy I had made up my mind as I picked him up that I would take him home and nurse him and maybe we could give him special attention and he would develop into a healthy big pup like his siblings or at least give him love until he passed on. My wife held him in her lap as we drove home hoping for the best. In a few days we took him to the vet to have him checked out thoroughly to determine why he had not developed as well as the rest. As I held him the vet started checking his exam and was spending allot of time listening to him heart. After his exam he told us Willy as we had named him had a heart murmur and a rear joint issue. Shouldn抰 we have put him down instead of trying to keep him alive only to have him suffer? The vet gave us hope that some heart problems similar to Willys can live a long life if cared for. So we took Willy home with mixed feelings but hoping he would have a normal happy life.

Duchess adopted Willy as her own licking him and moving quickly to his side at the least noise Willy made. Pepe seemed to take the addition to the household in stride after checking out Willy and hoping this would also pass as Duchess抯 litter came and went. Willy was also interested in being close to Duchess and after our watchful eye they became great friends and slowly Willy became stronger and he was able to hold his head higher and higher and became very playful. Managing to crawl up a set of stairs to one of our couches he was on top of the world. Sharing our affection didn抰 seem to bother Pepe because she could spend more time alone which was just great with her. Pepe would jump on the sofa where Willy couldn抰 reach and watch him play with Duchess.

As time passed Willy grew into a beautiful dog but was becoming unable to play at any length of time. We noticed a bluing of his tongue if his activity was prolonged. To complicate things even farther Willy attempted to dominate Duchess and as he confronted her they would go face to face snarling at each other and I would grab Willy lifting him and carrying him to his cage before he passed out. We decided that it may become necessary to separate them as he was unable to be in the same room with Duchess without them becoming engaged in this face to face bloodless fight as either actual bite the other. They do spent time together as long as Duchess is not setting to close to my wife. In fact if my wife is not in the house they will sleep close to each other. As soon as my wife arrives the problem can occur.

Being spoiled rotten has its drawbacks because once you go done this road there seems to be no turning back. Willy is by any definition spoiled rotten. He owns this house but what can one do if we were to treat him as a normal dog he might and has on occasions fainted so we are forced to accommodate his dominate behavior. My grandkids and their friends love Willy because he greets all who enter our home with high fives or however many toes he has. He is very smart and holds court from a large foot stool near my recliner.

Pepe had developed a growth on her back leg when she was about 10 and a vet performed surgery and removed the growth but stated it would return. She suffered while it healed but was back to normal in a few weeks. After we brought Willy home a couple years later the growth returned and we took her the vet my daughter used and the growth was removed again and we all suffered though her recovery and was faced with the probability of it returning again. Within a year it had returned as we tormented over the thought of putting our Pepe down she became ill and from her spot on the sofa we watched her slowly become weaker by the day. Suffering had to stop so my wife held Pepe in her arms and we made the trip to the vet. I carried her into the treatment room and was told the shot was painless and within seconds she wouldn抰 be suffering any longer. He said to hand Pepe to his assistant but I said I would hold her as they administered the shot and she died peacefully in my arms.

If a person takes in a pet that person is obligated to care for it no matter how much the effort. That doesn抰 mean putting your pet on a leash in the backyard and ignoring him. Caring for Willy is not a part time job he needs to be cared for every day and it is very self fulfilling to see his response. He is very smart and without a doubt understands the English language he just can抰 speak it yet. He is 2 ?and has outlived our fears when we first took him home. I love Willy and hope he will be with us forever.