Mike and Rose

I am the animal lover in the family. I dragged home several over the 20 years of our marriage. Mike grew to love the animals. Well, maybe not the cats. Most definitely, not the cats. But he tolerated them because he loved me. But in spite of his protests, he grew to love the dogs.

Rose was probably our biggest challenge. She was willful, stubborn and had a mind of her own that no amount of cajoling or threatening could change. And she was naughty. Just because she could. But she also was one of the most lovable dogs I have ever had.

Rose had lived in a kennel with a run for all of her four years before I got her. She was a breeder dog and knew only her owner who fed and cared for her. So living in the city was a new experience for her. She was distrustful of people, and although she learned to walk on a leash, it wasn't her favorite thing to do.

Rose's stubbornness manifested itself most on her daily walks with Mike and Buster. She would decide that she just wasn't going to go where Mike and Buster were going, and would simply sit down, brace her front legs, and refuse to go any further. Mike had to pick her up and carry her a ways, set her back down, and then she would walk with them. Until she decided she didn't want to. Again. I would kid Mike about taking Rose out for a "drag."

In time, Mike did a wonderful job of socializing her. As he walked Rose and Buster, he often stopped to chat with people he met on the trail by the river, or on the downtown streets. Rose got to the point where she would go up to people and let them pet her without trying to sink her teeth into their hand, which was the goal. Mike would often come home from their evening walk, and tell me about some young lady or other who stopped to pet Rose. I kidded Mike that he just walked her because she was a "chick magnet." But his walks with her were the reason that her personality changed from being fearful of people to enjoying meeting new friends. It is thanks to Mike that when, after he died and I found that I was unable to give Buster and Rose the time and attention they deserved, she was able to easily make the transition, along with Buster, to their new home with a loving couple who could spend the time with them that I couldn't.

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She never lost her stubborn traits, however, and often was a trial to Mike. After Mike's death, I had the occasion to talk with our vet. He laughingly recalled a day when Mike and Rose stopped in at his office, which is four blocks away from our home. The vet said that apparently Rose had been particularly stubborn that day, and Mike's first words to him were, "I hate Yorkies." While going through some recent photos, I came across these three taken a month before Mike died. This was typical of their morning play. I'd say that he didn't hate Yorkies all that much.