Pets & Health
October 2, 2022

Always a very avid dog lover of mostly the larger breeds, I suddenly found myself completely in love with a Yorkie I would see daily in the window of the local pet store.  Not ever having bought a dog from a pet store, I would stop and look in the window never going inside for over a week.  I would see her with her litter mates & she was the only one who would always come over to the window to see me.  It was love at first sight for me!  My wife was skeptical, as we still had one 105 pound male Akita at home.  She was not sure how welcoming he would be to such a tiny little puppy with a huge presence.  After a couple of weeks of daily visits to the pet store, (just me), my wife & I were off for the weekend camping in the mountains.  My wife had listened to me plead my case for all this time, & on the way to the mountains, she caved!  She said, okay, if she is still there when we get home, it was meant to be.

I was ecstatic!  I couldn’t get home fast enough. While my wife was still unpacking from our weekend trip, cleaning out the cooler, etc… I was off to the pet store to rescue my new little dog!  I was overjoyed when I arrived & there she was, patiently waiting for me to take her home with me!  We named her Polly and after a bumpy introduction to our Akita, we were off to the mountains, once again, to get them on neutral ground.  That introduction quickly became the beginning of a very short lived friendship & mutual respect. What a pair they were, pals to the end, a 3lb Yorkie puppy & a 105lb Akita!   Short lived as that following spring we lost our Akita to bone cancer, we were both crushed. Our little Yorkie puppy suddenly had some big shoes to fill as she stepped up to the top dog position.

Always having Akita’s in the past, we had quite the learning curve of all of the dos & don’ts of small dogs. We now have a plethora of information for pet care.  Especially that little one! Our now 10lb Yorkie was the light of our lives, for fourteen years.  She had many health issues early on, & we learned a lot from her.  What to always have on hand while traveling with her.  How to take care of her as small dogs are very different in their needs than the larger breeds.  She did win over my wife, after she spent hours training her & actually taught her to fetch!  She eventually would become my therapy dog, after I was diagnosed with NHL.  She would stay my side after chemo treatments & after surgery, my wife would bring her through the ER up to my room, after all the ER staff was done petting her of course, she was quite the little dog.  I would take her on 4wheeler rides in the mountains, to my favorite spot.  My wife would tease me about taking the dog on a sunset ride up the hill while she cooked dinner! Ha

With all that being said, you can only imagine how many toys, beds, blankets, and accessories we have for her!  Spoiled like no other, she deserves every bit of it.  Don’t they all? After all, they are very much a part of the family, showing up on Christmas cards, Birthday cards to loved ones, & so on.  It’s no different if we go camping, they go, so they need their gear too!  Same thing applies if we go canoeing… they need their life jackets too! With your pets health and safety in mind, always be Wize when you choose their gear!