Clara keeps racking up the successes. I don’t mean awards, ribbons, or titles. I mean socialization successes, which are far more meaningful to her. These successes mean that her world gets bigger.
A couple of months ago I posted a short brag about her progress at the vet’s office. The socialization and exposure work we have been doing regularly has been generalizing more and more. Nowadays she is less afraid at the vet than many dogs with more normal puppyhoods.
On December 29, 2002, 10 years ago today, I drove 100 miles east to meet Cricket’s foster family from RatBone Rescues at a McDonald’s parking lot. She was the most beautiful little rat terrier I had ever seen. They had already gotten very attached to her and there were tears from them and whimpering from her when they passed her over to me. I had a crate in the car but left her loose in the front seat with me (this was 10 years ago). After about 10 minutes of crying and restless behavior from her, she came over and crawled into my lap as I drove and stayed there for the duration of the drive. She had thrown in her lot with me.
When I got home I took her straight to the back yard. She went to the bathroom and it was a little messy. She crept over to me and let me wipe her butt with a kleenex. In that moment she became my dog forever more. I had thrown in my lot with her.
I had picked a middle aged dog as a potential companion for my 10 year old male rattie and because I wanted to give an older dog a chance. I had been cruising the online rescue pages. I kept going back to Cricket. She looked so demure. (What a joke!) She is the only dog I have ever “shopped” for. All my other dogs, wonderful as they all are, have ended up on my doorstep without my having much of a voice in it. I thought I was picking her for Gabriel. Turns out she disliked him, as she always disliked any competitor for my attention. So Gabriel, bless his heart, didn’t really get a friend. But I did.
The vet said she was in solid middle age, about 6 or 7 years old. Although rat terriers are known to be long lived, I never imagined we could be together for 10 years! But we have.
Here is the story of our years together in pictures. If you click on one, you can click through them all in a slide show.
Photo from RatBone Rescues, 2002
The day I brought her home, 2002
Treeing a squirrel on her first day home, 2002
January 2003 in a snow storm
Bringing me a Santa toy, 2003
I think I just said the word, “Supper.” 2005
Yawning, 2005.
Cricket looking beautiful, 2006
On the table, watching the snow, 2007
For her AKC ILP, 2008
Beautiful tucked sit at the dog club, 2008
Cricket at my office inviting me to play with her monkey
Office dog, 2009
Office dog, 2009
Training, 2009
August 2009
My mom and Cricket, August 2009
Tired after Rally practice, 2009
Digging, probably after a cicada, 2010
Happy in her cone, 2010
Covers fresh out of the dryer, 2010
Clearly on the wrong side of the door, 2010
Stalwart in the snow, 2011
Catching some rays, 2011
July 2011
On the new blanket, 2011
On a mat in the front yard, 2011
Sacked out on the pink blanket, 2011
Unscheduled visit to the car dealership, 2011
Snuggled up in my arm, 2012
Snoozing, 2012
On her warmed pillow from Auntie Marge, 2012
Looking out the front door, 2012
Rolling in the grass, 2012
Mooching in the kitchen, 2012
Cricket’s paw, 2012
Under the covers, 2012
After looking at these together, it seems to me that it might paint a picture of a quiet, sedentary dog. That was surely not the case. I just tended to take a lot pictures when she was in bed or at least sitting still. Here is a short training video that shows neither me nor my filming skills (slightly improved since then) in a good light, but you can get an idea of her high energy.
In all the training videos I took of Summer for many years, you can hear Cricket demand barking in the background. “My turn, my turn!”
