Last July, the Scottie News published a tribute to Teresa and family’s beloved Tallulah.

Sadly, Teresa — who said that “some of the remarks we received on that tribute really warmed my heart” — has lost another cherished dog in March. She writes:

Last week, we lost the second of our three girls, Taffy. She was 15.5 and really slowing down, but the end was very sudden. After she suffered two grand mal seizures in three hours, our wonderful vet met us in his office in the middle of the night to help Taffy over the bridge.

She was the dowager queen of our household, the rescue who came from a puppy mill to enrich our lives. I think of her as the embodiment of love and patience overcoming the worst start possible to a life. From the day we met her, she melted into our touch. She was a “leaner,” as if she could not have enough human contact, and the only one of our three with a true Scottie “a-rooooo.”

She’s in the middle of the picture above just as she plopped herself in the middle of our lives and hearts. Our blondies are gone and missed so very much. We are blessed that our Ruby-girl, at 12, is in great health, and praying it stays that way for a long time.

RIP, Taffy.

The William Secord Gallery in New York is pleased to present for sale over 60 etchings and original pencil drawings depicting Scottish Terriers by the renowned animal artist, Marguerite Kirmse (1885-1954).

Born in Bournemouth, England in 1885, Kirmse studied both music and art before moving to America where she developed her talent for the visual arts, creating drawings, pastels and oil paintings. Her love of dogs and her artistic talent were a winning combination and by the 1910’s she had established herself as an important canine artist.

Kirmse’s love for the Scottish Terrier was solidified when she met and later married George W. Cole in 1924. Cole was an avid Scottish Terrier fancier and for a time the president of The Scottish Terrier Club of America. Their Tobermory Kennels bred and exhibited many different breeds including Airedales, Irish Terriers, English Setters, Pointers, and of course Scottish Terriers.

To view this new collection of Scottish Terriers etchings and drawings, please click here.

To view the entire collection of works by Marguerite Kirmse that are available for purchase click here.

Thanks to Monica for spotting this and sending it along.

See more Scottish Terrier art.

Scottie News would like to give a plug to the Scottish Terrier Health Network, source of much valuable information. Here’s part of an especially touching post:

On Saturday we all went to Clumber Park. You may have noticed a post with pictures. What I didn’t mention was that whilst passing by a young couple with a very large dog (Leonberger type) she very loudly muttered “ridiculous”. I very nearly stopped and challenged her. When she sees a human being, being pushed, carried, wheeled or helped, does she think “oh my, how sad” or think “I feel so sorry for them” or, “I trust there’s hope for that person” or would she automatically think without any understanding of why that human is in that condition loudly mutter “ridiculous”.

So, why do you think she should mutter “ridiculous” when walking past me with my scottie in a stroller. She knows nothing about why he’s having to be pushed. She’s brave enough to mutter “ridiculous” but not humane enough to ask why.

Read the entire story

Notice the Scottie sculpture next to the pillar

ABC reports:

Diana Andrews opened the front door of the Hilton Head Island home she shares with her husband, Arthur, around 5:30 a.m. Saturday to take the couple’s Scottish Terrier for a walk. Instead, she found herself face-to-snout with an alligator.

“I was in bed and heard her open the door and then scream and then heard the door slam,” Arthur Andrews told ABCNews.com. “I went running out and looked outside.”

“The dog couldn’t have been two feet from the gator’s mouth when my wife grabbed him by his tail and pulled him back into the house, so she had to get that close too,” he said.

This story reminds the Scottie News of a Westie Wednesday almost two years ago when an older gentleman staged a daring rescue and saved his Westie from the jaws of a vicious alligator.

The opening of the George W. Bush presidential library last week has caused a spike in news about the late first Scottie, Barney.

First off, there are some new photos of which the Scottish Terrier and Dog News especially likes the one of the Prez and Barney out fishing in Texas.

Uh oh, no lifejacket. Guess Texans don’t do that.

A portrait of Miss Beazley was also unveiled. Scottie News like its abstract qualities and finds it a little less sentimental than Bush’s Barney painting.

In other Scottie presidential news, NBC reports that “comedian Bob Hope used to tell an anecdote about Franklin D. Roosevelt housetraining his Scottish terrier, Fala, on the Chicago Tribune. It was a reference to Roosevelt’s greatest hater, Tribune publisher Robert R. McCormick, an orotund aristocrat who considered the New Deal indistinguishable from Communism.” Never heard that one before nor had I heard that Fala got a bone for breakfast every morning.

It’s a good life being a president’s dog.

More than 90 amazon reviewers give these pads a rating between four and five stars

If you have a dog who suffers from itchiness, you know that it’s not just excruciating for the dog but for you as well. That’s why I took note when a reader made a long comment a month ago that recommended Douxo products. I’m reproducing it here and I’ve added links to the Amazon products mentioned by Laurie. Otherwise it’s exactly how she wrote it.

Douxo products were a godsend for our Scottie Duncan, who came into rescue with terrible, untreated skin issues that had progressed to blackened elephant skin on his legs. He was miserable–always biting at himself, open sores: the worst case of untreated allergies his veterinary allergist said she had ever seen.

She began Duncan on allergen shots after a Rast (skin prick) test: don’t let anyone talk you into the blood test, which does not work for most (any?) dogs. The injections definitely did help Duncan; eventually he had one shot a month.

The Douxo products in conjunction with the shots, though, pushed his healing to a new level. We used the pads (available at Amazon.com: Douxo Chlorhexidine 3% PS Pads) for small areas and ears, and also the DOUXO Seborrhea Spot-on (available in a large and pricey box at Amazon, but in a smaller, more affordable box of 5 at 4petsusa.com), in combination with various medicated shampoos.

I did not think the other Douxo products (shampoo, spray, etc.) worked well for Duncan. These two products we used help the skin rebuild its protective layer, which makes the skin less susceptible to bacteria, yeast, and fungus. Duncan also eventually got cold laser treatments once his allergies were under control, to help heal his terribly damaged skin. It eventually became totally smooth (no more huge wrinkles), white, and in most places most of his hair grew back, too.

The best thing: he no longer scratched and bit at himself, and we didn’t have to use either prednisone or Atopica/cyclosporine, both of which carry significant health risks (prednisone can lead to Cushing’s, which is not unusual in Scotties anyway; Atopica/cyclosporine is an immune suppressant, which is how it works to stop allergies, but this also can leave your Scottie more susceptible to many cancers).

I hope this helps someone! I’ve had four different Scots with allergies. We do use a holistic vet for light allergy problems–currently one of our Scots has mild seasonal allergies, and she gets a glycerite elixir of Passion Flower, Linden, and Nettles. Dried Nettle Leaf (NOT root, which is for a whole different condition!) in powder form (the “cut and sifted” is not fine enough–get the powder) really helps for itchies (works better in my estimation than antihistamines and with no bad side effects). Nettles are also generally very nutritional and our Scots happily eat the powder sprinkled on/mixed into their food. Buy organic in bulk for best product at the best price: you can usually find Frontier Nettle Leaf Powder Organic on Amazon.com; you can also get it on Frontier Herb’s own website. An eighth to a quarter teaspoon twice a day should help with itchies. I’ve used it for years (have had 8 Scotties in my life) with no ill effects.

Hope this info helps someone–Scotties are the best!

Not just another casting couch

Here’s Lana turner with a Scottie puppy. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any back story and she doesn’t seem to have been a Scottish Terrier owner in real life.

The Scottie appears to have had only a cameo role

A poodle costarred with Jayne Mansfield in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, often wearing accessories that matched the actress’ outfits. The Scottish Terrier, however, is a bit of a mystery. All we can guess is that he (or she, in keeping with the times) may have been the poodle’s much shorter love interest.

Finally, Martha Stewart, dog lover but not a Scottie person, shows how to have a perfect bed.

At Martha’s photo shoots dogs are allowed on the bed

Read through the Scottie News‘ famous Scottish Terrier archives.

No, this is not an April Fool’s joke. The Scottish Terrier and Dog News‘ campaign to raise money for a book failed.

I’m not sure if the funding goal was too ambitious or if I didn’t market it enough, which I definitely didn’t, or if it was all of the above and more. In any case, that’s it for now although I may try again at another time.

If you bought an advance copy of the book, many, many thanks for your support. I do not have the list of who you are so I can’t thank you personally or I would.

Tou also should have been refunded by now, but if anything went wrong with the indiegogo operations, just let me know at scottishterriernews@gmail.com.

Scottie News has a spring deadline for raising book funds. Plant the seed now and have your book by summer. Click photo for details.

If you’ve been reading our newsletters lately, you’ll know that Scottie News has a funding campaign under way to write a book all about Scottish Terriers.

CLICK HERE TO SEE CAMPAIGN AND ORDER YOUR BOOK

One of the options we’re offering readers is to pre-order the book and have your dog be a muse. So far, we have two muses, which is fantastic because at this time last week, we had zero muses despite the total muse-worthiness of Scottish Terriers.

The first muse is Tim’s 9 year old rescue, Scotty MacBones, whose owner passed away but left no provision for Scotty who was left alone for two weeks. He was walked and fed by the woman’s dog walker, who was the one who saved him and got him to the New York Scottish Terrier rescue who found him a home with Tim and Gina. “He’s got some issues, mainly fear based. But he’s made great progress and has wedged his furry self firmly in our hearts ,” they say.

Comment detectives and long-time readers may remember Tim’s late dog, Bucca, whose tribute can be read here.

Our second muse hails from Australia and that’s all we know for now.

We’ll get both muses’ photos up as soon as we receive them.

You can make your dog a muse and get a great Scottie book by joining our indiegogo campaign. In fact, if you want your Scottie can even be on the cover.

The deadline is the first day of spring. If we get the funds, it’s full speed ahead with the book. If we don’t, all money is automatically returned and you haven’t spent a cent.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOUR BOOK AND MAKE YOUR SCOTTIE A MUSE