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Treasure's Tales

Treasure’s First Anniversary

Hi Everyone. Valentine’s Day will be here in just a few days. I don’t know about you, but this is a very significant day in my wee life. Just one year ago I came to live in my Forever home with my Forever family. I thought this would be a good time to write a letter to my best friend, Miss Barbara, at Westie Rescue.

Dear Miss Barbara,
It’s been almost a year since I lived with you. On this special anniversary I’m writing to tell you how happy I am in my new home. I remember how much you loved and cared for me, and how hard it was for you to place me so far away from you. My mom talks about you a lot and sends you pictures to show you how pretty I am. And I also remember seeing you at the Westie tea last fall. I wasn’t sure who I was showing off for – you or Mom! But you both seemed to be so proud of me, it didn’t really matter.
My most favorite activity these days is protecting my house from all the wild critters that trespass in my backyard. Every day I get to chase squirrels up the trees or across the fence. Mom cheers loudly every time I send one scurrying! And we keep them coming back by feeding them corn and peanuts. I think they like to tease me, too. Sometimes I just like to sit in my window and watch them eat. There are lots of birds, too, but they don’t bother me at all.
At night mom lets me go outside and watch for possums that pass across our fence from one yard to another. I have such great concentration, I can watch for many minutes until one finally comes out and then I bark really loud so Mom will come out with her camera and take a picture of the possum. Then, we go back inside and celebrate with a “Dogwich!”
I’ve trained my mom to take me walking at least once every day. (Even when it’s raining, and then she takes her umbrella.) She gave me a Scottish coat for Christmas, but I really don’t like to wear it outside, so I just tough it up and walk in the cold like a good Westie. She’s a really good sport about the walks, and I think I’m helping her to stay in shape!
I really just wanted to tell you that I’m really happy in my home, my parents and I love each other a lot, and being a year older isn’t bad at all!
I still love you, too,
Treasure

Treasure Takes a Road Trip

One day in the spring, my mom and dad have this great idea for us to all go on a vacation together. So my mom looked on the internet for a hotel in Fredericksburg that lets doggies stay in the room with their parents. And then one day we climbed into the car and went for a drive. This was not like our other car rides, when we went to the bank or the hamburger drive-up. No, this was a really long drive and I spent most of it sleeping in my mom’s lap.

Soon we came to a place – my mom called it the “hotel” – where we went in to a cozy little room that was to be our “house” for the night. Right next to our room was a big, green lawn – oh boy! Mom and I would be able to take lots of walks on that lawn. And our room was really nice. It had one bed for Dad and one bed for Mom and me! I’m sure that’s what they had in mind. This was going to be a great vacation.

We got back in the car and drove out to a place that had tons of flowers and bushes and lots of people walking around. Mom wouldn’t let me go very far in that place – I think she was afraid I would do something embarrassing, if you catch my drift. So we didn’t stay long.

Next, we went to visit a nice man and woman who Dad said were his cousins. They have a very nice house and Mom wouldn’t let me run anywhere inside it. I wasn’t really very happy about that and I was glad when it was time to leave. This vacation was getting sidetracked, and we needed to get back to some Westie fun time.

When we went back to our hotel, Dad said it was time for his nap, so Mom and I popped into the car and drove out to a park where we could take a walk. There were tons of places to sniff and smell and Mom let me check out every one of them! I even let her take all the pictures she wanted of me so that we could have them for her memory book.

The best part of the vacation was getting to sleep in the big bed with my mom all to myself. I hope we get to do this again some time.

Treasure Gets a Haircut

Life is good. I mean, life is really good now. I have new parents who absolutely adore me – what’s not to love? – and a yard full of squirrels to chase during the day. And don’t forget those possums at night! Now this is the good life! So why would anyone want to go and mess with it? Well, you can guess that is just what happened.

For some reason, my mom got this idea that I needed a haircut. I’m perfectly happy with the shaggy look, but for a proper Westie, that can’t last forever. So Mom calls around and makes an appointment for me to get a little trim. I heard her explicitly say to the lady, “Leave her hair long on her back and don’t use electric trimmers on her.” So this lady assures my mom that she knows how to make me look like a proper Westie and tells Mom she can leave. And that’s when I start to get a little nervous.

Before Mom even gets to the door, that lady plops me down in a cage and I’m suddenly filled with anxiety like you can’t imagine. I give Mom my very best “desperately sad Westie” look, and top that off with my “desperately sad wave of the hand”, and I think I see a flicker of regret on Mom’s face as she leaves. Alas, she is leaving me here in this cage and I’m wondering if she’ll ever come back.

In no time, the grooming lady comes for me and pops me into the tub for a bath. Then she dries my hair and starts cutting it – not with scissors, like Mom requested, but with those scary electric trimmers! Yikes! I know better than to wiggle, so I manage to get through this torture without getting nicked. For a second I think I hear my mom’s voice from another room. Great! She’s coming back for me and will take me home. But then, the door closes and her voice is gone and I think I’m falling into despair again.

A little while later – since I can’t tell time, I don’t know how much later – I hear my mom again and this time the lady takes me to her. What joy!!! You can’t imagine my relief until I see the look on Mom’s face. We get out of there as fast as possible and I see tears in my mom’s eyes and hear her say, “She made you look like a schnauzer!” Instead of just trimming my beautiful mane, she stripped me almost to the flesh and brought my mom to tears.

As humiliating as it was to be compared to a schnauzer, I take great satisfaction in knowing that I will never have to go back to that place again. Mom says she’ll learn how to groom my Westie hair first!