Talk about rags to riches:
Pottomus came to ASTR several years ago from the state of Utah with a reputation of being ‘ungroomable’. At that time he refused to tolerate brushes or clippers or the hands that hold them. Time and thoughtful training has since turned that problem around, allowing Potto to cut a striking figure while wearing a spiffy international orange flotation device at the bow of the boat. One lucky dog!
Visit the Aberdeen Scottish Terrier Rescue news site for more rescue tales.
Things were a bit hectic this week at the Scottie News world headquarters and, well, there’s no other way to say this than we completely forgot about Westie Wednesday, so, instead, we’re bringing you a special Westie weekend edition.
Hamish the Pub Dog, a three-year-old Westie, and his one-year-old Scottish Terrier companion, Maggie, lead the life I dream of, lounging around a charming pub and blogging while the humans closest to them whip up gourmet food.
Two readers write:
Ann,
We’re looking for some advice. We have a 6 year old Scottie (Pinecone) who likes to rule the roost. He’s great with kids but aggressive with some men, and other animals (though usually not dogs). He has a typical disdain for cats.
We’re introducing a kitten into the family and we’d love to hear from you. Any advice you could give us would be greatly appreciated.
Steve and Mary
Ann replies:
Good luck!!!
But seriously folks:
Regular readers know that a kitten arrived at the Scottish Terrier and Dog News headquarters early in August. Basically, it was hell, with animals constantly tearing through our largely open-concept house, barking like crazy and preventing me from getting anything whatsoever done from brushing my teeth to blogging.
Admittedly it was not a good idea to introduce the kitten into the mix when I was the only human around and I was out at work most of the time, but there are complicated family and in-law reasons why it had to be this way and I will mercifully spare you all the details.
By the end of week one and after grovelling apologetically to the neighbours about all the noise, I called up Bridget’s sometime dog walker and sitter and begged her to take my dog away for the two last days I was on my own and at the office. Luckily, she obliged.
Once there was a trainer/babysitter/supervisor on the premises full-time, things improved dramatically. Our kitten, Penny, is quite brave and stopped cowering in the basement and began standing up to Bridget. Bridget now understands that aggression on her part may result in a painful swatting, but still believes it’s a risk which she must occasionally take, especially when she is being unmercifully taunted. After almost two months, we live in a state of uneasy truce, with at least one daily breach, but that’s a whole lot better than constant rocket attacks.
So, Steve and Mary, all this to say, I hope you will have someone at home to supervise and that you don’t live in an open concept house. And, seriously, good luck.
As for us, the next step is to set up a secret nanny cam to find out what goes on at the Scottish Terrier and Dog News headquarters when there are no humans on the premises. (Wonder if I can do that with my new iPod?) And, oh yes, I’ll also try to take a photo of the girls and post it.
Do you see the new url? Or do you still see the old blogspot one? Please let the Scottish Terrier and Dog News know.
Thank you.
Last week, I received an email from someone going by the name of beer drinkman and looking for a Scottish Terrier in the San Francisco Bay area. While I had some misgivings about this correspondent’s name and grammar, I nevertheless posted his message. Readers generously offered up lots of helpful advice but beer drinkman never responded. I emailed him to let him know that his question had been answered many times over. Here is our correspondence:
Hello,
Please read my blog. Our readers had a lot of great suggestions. It would be nice if you could come back and let them know you’ve seen them.
Bests,
AnnB
Scottie News
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read your blog? i just wanted a telephone no. where i could get a puppy.
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Yeah, and you’ll find that by reading the blog.
Ab
That was the last I heard of mr. beer drinkman. Maybe he’ll come back and give us the names of some hot new microbreweries.
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Talk about rags to riches:
