GYPSY

Her name is Gypsy. She is a Yorkshire Terrier. She stands about four inches at the shoulder and weighs a total of four pounds. She is one year old and she has found her way into our hearts. She is one of three that we have. The other two are Papillons, Gus and Finnie. They are both older and larger than Gypsy but she seems to be in charge of both of them. She plays incessantly with Finnie but she sleeps with Gus a lot. She was a ''foundling'' in that Willa ''found her'' in a side ditch where someone had thrown her away. She was about three months old when Willa brought her home.


We had two dogs before Gypsy came into our lives. Gus the wonder dog and Finnious Foghorn Farnsworth from Fillidelphia. Willa owned Gus when we met and she swears that the only reason I married her was so I could call Gus mine. (not true, I married her because she makes a really good pan of biscuits) Anyhow, Willa was looking on the computer one day and she found a lady down in Winston Salem that bread Papillons and she listed a picture of a big eared, doll face puppy named ''Finnie''. Willa showed me the picture of ''Finnie'' and said ''Aint he cute as a button?'' ''Gus would probably just love to have him to play with I bet''.............''Baby girl, Gus is eight years old and kinda crankie and set in his ways. He would probably eat that puppy for breakfast.''.............''He is still mighty cute and Gus is getting old and he may die and we would not have a dog to love.;'' …......... I could see this was like arguing with a fire plug................. The subject kinda dropped from conversation...
A few weeks later Willa told me she would be gone for a few hours. She said she was just going to ride down to Winston and just ''LOOK'' at the puppy. Yeah sure …... That is like a sailor ''JUST LOOKING'' into the window of a house of immoral women with a hundred dollars in his pocket....


''You gonna take money?''
''Nope, I am just going to LOOK.''
''You gonna take the Pet Carrier Cage?''
''Nope, I am just going to look at the dog, not buy it.''
''Yeah ,,,,,,, sure,,,,,,, take some money and the Pet Carrier so you can save a trip.''


Four hours later Willa was back home with a little ball of fluff singing ''Happy Birthday to me''......... Yeah sure........
''SUPPRISE''........... and Happy Birthday. Finnie is your birthday gift from me....................''Aint he cute?''
Gus gave him the ''sniff test'' and decided to ignore him. This was not possible because the puppie was full of piss and vinegar and wanted to ''Play''. Before long he and Gus were fast friends, playing chase and rolling on the carpet. I would have never believed that Gus would have reacted to the new puppy the way he did. I guess he was lonely and we didnt know it.


We looked at other Papps on the computer. Cute puppies and we decided that we did not need another dog. Some campgrounds limit your ''dog count'' to two and no more. Three would be a problem in some of them. About a year went by and Willa was going over to CVS to pick up some meds for me. It was the edge of dark when she left for the twenty minute turn around. She was gone maybe ten minutes when her headlights swept the living room window. Hummmm?..... I heard the kitchen door close and Willa stepped into the living room with a ball of ''fluff'' held between her breasts and large tears in her eyes.............
''Someone threw her away and they aint getting her back.''
''What the heck are you talking about and what is that awful smell?''
She held out her hands and revealed a tiny Yorkshire Terrier. Button eyes and matted coat and a cute nose. She may have weighed two and a half pounds, maybe. She smelled like a skunk. Gus and Finnie were all over Willa trying to get a look and a sniff of the new toy.
''I saw her beside the road up here at the truck terminal. She ran when she saw me stop and when I got close to her she just froze and cowered down and closed her eyes. We are keeping her and no one but NO ONE will take her away from me.''
''You suppose we could give her a bath?''
I bathed her in the basin in our bathroom. I was careful to hold to her when I drained the water lest she go down the drain.
''If she is ''chipped'' we will have to return her to her rightful owner.''
''If she is ''chipped'' we will buy her from her owner that threw her away.''
I dried her off with a fluffy towel while Gus and Finnie looked and sniffed. I carefully let them close to her and they gave her a good going over and were satisfied she was no threat.
''She is gonna need a name.''
''How bout ''Fluffy'' or ''Button eyes'' or ''Tiny''...............
''How bout ''GYPSY?''
I took her up to Petsmart and they checked her for a ''chip'' and found nothing. Immediately I had one installed with our name and address on the information chip. She was our dog now....... The vet said she looked to be maybe three or four months old by looking at her teeth. She had been spade and her tail clipped. We gave her the appropriate shots and got her 'tag' for rabies.
Gypsy had been neglected and abused it seems. She would not eat out of the food dish or drink out of the water bowl. For a couple of days she would neither eat nor drink. We bought different dog food and Willa bought one of those water bottles with a ''straw'' in it. Nope still would not eat or drink.
Gus has the habit of taking food from the food dish and carrying it to the living room, dropping the pieces on the carpet and eating them one at a time at his leisure. In this process he dropped one piece of food outside the bowl and walked away. Gypsy immediately sniffed the food and ate it. We also found out that if we would dribble water on the kitchen floor she would lap that up. Hummmmmmmmm....... Gypsy didnt understand a ''Food Dish or a water dish............... It took some time for her to understand that the food was hers also and she finally started eating and drinking like the other dogs. In time she overcame her shyness and became best friends with the two guys. Though she was less than half their size she wanted to ''One of the gang'' with the guys and she would run and play and wrestle with them. Due to her size they could easily out run her in play so she learned the art of ''Ambush''.. She and Finnie played together the most. Finnie is a ''long hair, show coat'' dog with a tail that rolls over his back and the hair touching the floor. Gypsy learned the art of ambush where by when Finnie went running by the recliner she would leap out and grab him by the tail. Now his tail does not touch the floor any more but he loves her and they play almost constantly. Gus will join in sometimes in a game of ''wrestle'' and Gypsy would get hold of one of his ears with her baby teeth. You could hear him yelp all ovet the house.


Gypsy celebrated her first birthday with us a short time back and she is now a full partner in our family of dogs. She sleeps with Gus and she plays with Finnie and she thinks she is ''one of the boys'' even thought she is a girl. Last winter we went to Florida and registered at Long Point Camp ground. As we registered the lady asked how many dogs and I said two Dogs and one Kitten. She looked over her glasses and asked the breeds of the pets and their size. Two Papillon dogs, eight pounds each and one Yorkshire Terrier kitten, four pounds. She smiled and told me to bring my Yorkie Kitten by the office for her to see it. She said she just love Yorkie Kittens. We stayed there for five weeks and love it.
Gypsy is a part of our family now. She is fully integrated with the other dogs and has made her a place in the dogs as sometimes ''boss dog''. She is house broke and she loves Willa. When Willa is laying on the sofa Gypsy will hop up on the arm and then up on the back of the sofa and touch her nose to Willas cheek when Willa says ''kiss kiss''. Gypsy is a most delightful dog and money could buy her from us.
Willa and I have made a pact that may sound strange to the average person. When one of the dogs dies we will have it cremated and keep the ashes. When one of us dies we will be cremated and our ashes mixed with our puppies ashes. When we all die including the dogs our ashes will be mixed together and buried in a large urn in the cemetery where we have a plot and we can spend eternity together. I have made a proviso in my will that this will be carried out as stated with funds provided to cover all expenses. There is also a nice lump sum cash reward to the person that carries out our wishes. I can think of no nicer way to spend eternity than with the lady I love and the puppies I adore.


Nuff Said I Guess......................