I have shared pretty much my entire life with dogs, and as a result I measure my life that way, too. I only have time here to tell you about two of them.
Sandy was our first dog, sandy-colored, hence the name. She was said to be a Fox Terrier and German Shepherd mix, and to figure out when we got her, I have to count back from the Boxer. I think I was about seven when we got her, I definitely was younger than nine.
We moved to a new apartment when I was nine, and we already had Bucky, the boxer. We got Bucky right after Sandy died, and Sandy was barely a year old. So I was eight, or a little younger, when we got Sandy.
Sandy was a small dog, but she had a big appetite, particularly for furniture. My mother used to say that she would notice Sandy sleeping soundly on a chair, and when the dog got up, there would be a hole in the upholstery. That kind of proved her terrier ancestry.
All I know about how we came to adopt Sandy is that we didn't go out and buy her from a breeder, a petshop, or a rescue shelter. So I imagine that someone in the neighborhood gave her to us.
Sandy got hit by a car one day when she was out without a leash. A hard lesson for her, but we learned that we had to keep our dogs under control when we walked them.
Pips was a Beagle, and my friend from when I was a kid in grade school until I graduated from college.
Pipsqueak came from a family which had bred their female beagle to somebody else's pet. This is frowned upon by show breeders, but the parents were well cared-for, healthy and well-socialized, and so were the pups.
Beagles like to wander, but Pipsqueak always came back when I called him. He was well trained not to harm the other small animals in the house, like our various hamsters and parakeets, but he was bred to chase rabbits. This cause a problem one day at the park when he encountered a baby rabbit. He chased it in a spiral which got ever smaller until dog and rabbit met in the center. Pips stepped on the rabbit, and then didn't know what to do. Did you know that rabbits can vocalize? This one started yelling for its mother. Pips really didn't know what to do. He knew he wasn't allowed to hurt the little animal, but if he let it go, it would run and he would have to chase it again. He looked at me in desperation, begging me to get him out of this dilemma. Another good use for a leash! I snapped it on him and led him away, leaving the rabbit to return to its mom.
Pipsqueak died of cancer after a fairly brief illness. He was twelve years old.
I have shared my life with many other dogs. I'd like to at least list them here.
Bucky, the white Boxer.
Keno, my brother's German Shepherd.
Siegfried, the Schnauzer, who became my mother's dog after I got married.
Chipper, the Dalmatian, the first dog I owned as an adult.
Piper, another Dalmatian, a companion that Chipper didn't really want.
Buttons, yet another Dalmatian.
Freia, my mother's Schnauzer, who came to live with me after my mom died.
Bubba, a lab/pit mix, a true and noble gentleman who showed up one day and never left.
Xena, an emotionally disturbed pit bull.
Liam, a big blond, unknown age, unknown breed composition, but a really nice guy.
Annie, my grandbeagle, who came to live with me last year along with the rest of her family.
The rest of Ellen's web pages for Build 1. This was the first lesson.
Lesson 2, Set Up Your Router.
Lesson 3, Font Properties.
Lesson 4, Images.
Lesson 5, Margins, Padding and Tables.
Lesson 6, Put it all together.
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