Shades of the Westminister Dog Show

Yesterday I watched most of the Westminister Dog Show, which has inspired me to post photos of my dogs through the years. Well - the ones I have photos of, anyway.

The first dog I can remember was called Big Red. He was an Irish setter that my family adopted after our neighbour saw a car stop on the highway near our house, open the car door and boot the dog out. Red was gorgeous, and perfectly trained. I'm not sure how long we had him or what his final fate was. I think he got sick and died. I remember lots of vet trips with him.

This is Tuxedo, a Springer Spaniel who was "my" first dog because I got to pick him. He was kind of barky but a very sweet pet. I had fun teaching him the usual tricks.


This is Squiggle, a beagle that my evil sister Carole picked out and was "her" dog because it was her turn to pick a dog or something. Anyway, Squiggle was a nice dog but spent his life tied in the backyard. He was a runner and we did not have a fenced yard, so if he wasn't inside he had to be tied.


Then we had a mixed-breed black dog who looked like a Flat Coated Retreiver, all black. I don't have any photos of Leilani because she was a dog with absolutely no brains and a need to chew on priceless antigues. My mom got rid of her pretty quick.

This is Ginger, my favorite childhood dog. I bought her from the back of a pick-up truck for $2.00 while my parents were Christmas shopping in a mall in Hamilton. Boy, were the folks mad! Dad took me to return her but the truck was no longer there. Anyway, Ginger was the best dog we ever had! She could do any trick in the book. Climb a stepladder and jump off the top through a hoop? No problem. Ginger could do it. She slept on my bed, the only dog ever allowed to do that. She read my mind. Such a wonderful little dog!


This was my first collie, Vega. Best dog I ever had. So beautiful! Utterly reliable. Man, I loved that dog and my first husband hated her. I wound up giving her away to an acquaintance when she was about 5 years old, in one of my many attempts to make that marriage work. In retropect I should have ditched the husband a few years earlier and kept the dog. I would have been much happier. I could write paragraphs about this dog! She was the perfect dog for me.


This is Daisy, a dog I got after I divorced the idiot. I wanted to get Vega back, but the acquaintance had moved - probably to avoid giving my dog back. She thought Vega was the best dog in the world too! Daisy was a nice dog but rather scatterbrained. She's the dog I had when I met Tom, so I remember her fondly for that..


This is Midnight Sonata on the day we got her. Tom and I were newlyweds and getting another tricolor collie was such a healing thing for me. Midnight was another good dog. She is the first dog I ever got who was already an adult dog. Her breeder had kept her for a show prospect until she was one year old, then decided she didn't quite have the right stuff for a show dog. She did, however, have the right stuff to be a great family pet.


After Midnight, we had a huge Newfoundland Retreiver I named Lord Simcoe. (I can't find a scanned photo of him.) He was a nice dog, but super-dominant. I had to dominate him every day in every way to get him to obey me, which was way more effort than I was expecting. It kind of took the fun out of having him.

Now I only have cats. I have lost too many dogs. Tuxedo, Squiggle and Ginger were all run over by cars. Vega I had to give away. Midnight and Simcoe I had to put down when they were at the end of their lives. I hate putting dogs down! It's just too hard.