If anyone has been reading this story from the beginning, first - allow me to congratulate you on your endurance! And to thank you for your patience as the story slowly evolves. Second, I said at the outset that the story characters would be named for the 8 schipperkes I have had. Being a very doting dog person, I want to share a little information about my 8 friends. So if that doesn’t interest you, feel free to skip this post. I will list the dogs in the order in which I got them, which is not the same as their order in the story.
1. Wimsey, my first schip. She used to run up to the top of the stairs and patty cake at me as I went up. She died at age 13 of a heart condition.
2. Christie, the smartest dog I’ve ever known. She learned how to open a dog crate from the inside and there was just no stopping her. She died at age 15, also of a heart condition.
3. Sleuth, who always knew when I was coming home and would be at the door waiting for me, even though he was (in his later years) totally deaf and could barely stand up. Dead at age 16 of an undiagnosed progressive disease.
4. Millie, still alive but probably not for a lot longer as she has congestive heart failure and Cushing’s disease. She’s 12 and has had multiple health problems all her life but that doesn’t stop her from having that cocky schipperke attitude.
5. Molly, who died at age 10 of a type of aggressive cancer that small dogs aren’t supposed to get. She was given to me by a friend and was a real gift in every way.
6. James, currently age 6. When I was having cancer treatment, James knew if I needed to rest and he would curl up beside me. But if I was just being lazy, he would get up on the back of the couch and bark in my ear until I got up and took him for a walk. Somehow he could always tell the difference. My founder is named after him because James sees himself as being responsible for the household and takes a proprietorial interest in everything that happens.
7. Mojo, a rescue who came to live with us last summer. He is 4 now and eats everything. When he first arrived and started eating the soap in the bathroom, I started putting the soap out of reach (I thought) on a shelf about 14” above the sink. One evening there was a strange noise upstairs and I went up to find Mojo sitting in the pedestal sink! I have no idea how he got up there - he’s just 20 pounds, so pretty small, and there’s nothing nearby to climb on. Now the soap lives on top of the medicine cabinet where even I can barely reach it.
8. Martha, another rescue who came last summer. She was found running loose and in very neglected condition - some sorry excuse for a human being had just dumped her. Age unknown, but estimated at about 13 - 15 years. She was quite shy when she arrived but is gradually getting over that.
