I found my dog Tucker on the internet. I took one look at this little guy and knew I just had to have him.
It was the ears I think…
I contacted the seller and found that she lived in the Sacramento area. I told her that I really wanted her puppy, but that I would have to drive up to get him, and would she hold him till I got there. This is roughly a 400 mile trip one way! (Yeah, I’m nuts)
We talked a bit more and she asked, “Where do you live?”
I told her ‘Claremont,’ and she says, “Well, I’m going to be in Claremont in two weeks for a dog show, and I can bring him with me!”
He was meant to be mine, don’t you think?
Well, waiting was hard, but it was so worth it. When we met her there at the show she handed him to me. As I gently hugged him he tucked his little head in the crook of my arm, which is, if you haven’t guessed, how he came to be named Tucker. He was so tiny, and full of pistons and springs!
He still is
Over time we have learned that Tucker will eat just about anything he can get away with. Chicken and goose feed, pens, pencils, computer strap-tights, rulers, used tissues (gag) and CHOCOLATE, wrappers and all… Missing something? You’ll find it, in parts, under our bed!
BAD DOG!
We once found him under our bed with this stolen treasure… thankfully we got there before he had committed suicide by chocolate!
Well, the list goes on and let me tell ya, he is always gagging on it.
I recently noticed my little Tucker’s nose is going gray. Seems like he was a pup just yesterday. We had been under the delusion for quite some time now that he was only 4 years old…
The other day I asked my husband, “Why is his nose going gray already? He’s only four?” Then we sat down, and counting back, we realized he is 7 going on 8!
Where does the time go?
Life on the Farmlet 
What a wonderful story, Lynda. I know exactly how you feel. As I look at our girls it seems impossible that Daisy, our once homeless puppy, turned 6 this past spring and Molly, the one Doug found in the desert just last summer – it was just last summer wasn’t it? – has now been with us over 3 years. Where does the time go? Indeed!
BTW – it looks as though that very handsome little Tucker grew into his adorable ears. 🙂
Thanks Lindy! Yes he did, didn’t he? He really is the sweetest dog. I am so grateful that we were smart enough to go through training with him. We didn’t do that with our first dog ‘Littlewolf,” and it was a very unsatisfactory experience for him and us. We got Tucker for our older dog Sparky when he had begun to decline. We would find Sparky standing behind the couch and stuck with no idea how to get out. (doggie dementia?) Once we got the little dog he perked right up and began to run and play again. We thought up to that point that it would be any day… but then with the little dog’s energy and verve, well Sparky lived four more years!!! He was almost 15 when he finally passed.
I love(d) all my dogs, but it has been Tucker that turned me into a real dog person, and a responsible dog owner. 😉
I totally understand~ My Bosco has the same issue, going grey at 4 on his sweet muzzle. (Except he’s 9)
Tucker has FABULOUS ears!! He is beautiful!!! I love black and white dogs!
LOL…..I snagged a little dog off the highway here years ago with those crazy huge ears!. He was peeling a dead bird off the blacktop to eat. He weighed in at 4 pounds of miserable bones. Had no fur, crazy pink and white skin, ginger eyes….thought he might be a sick little Chihuahua. I took him home to die instead of getting hit on the highway or killed by coyotes.
Well…lol…. he turned into a full size, standard, sable and white, Rat Terrier by the end of the year. Named Carlos (cause I thought he was a chihuahua remember?) I finally got him rehomed in Mn with a retired couple who dote on him. The husband jogs every day with him and the wife power walks every day with him. My sister is their neighbor who still laughs as he trots by with his new owners with all his “rattitude”.
The only similar excersize he got here was trying to escape me- while in a fury- about whatever new thing he’d destroyed! OMG. What a horror show. The problem was those ears tho. And those ginger eyes. And his absolute innocence about everything. I wanted to wring his little neck almost every day….. then he’d look up at me with that face and I’d just toss him in his crate instead.
Once I actually chased him three times around the couch (I live in a loft) while my spaniels all said to him, “Man, you better stop runnin and let her catch you….. you are going to get into so much trouble!!”) Then he bolted off left, thru the kitchen, then thru the bedroom and then into the bathroom where I finally came screaming around the corner to find him cowering in the dirty clothes with those ears back………I almost died laughing at him.
What a dog. I totally loved him, just not on a goose farm. But I got him trained in obedience and polite leash walking before placing him. Lotta work that boy was!
Connie
Hahaha!
Thank you Connie,
As a pup we always put Tucker in his crate at night, and when we had to go anywhere. At first it was for ‘crate training,’ but later we continued to do it to keep him out of trouble!!! The first time we had to go anywhere at night we locked him in his crate. I think we’d only had him for about 3 weeks. Anyway, we got home later and came in to see this little B&W flash come screeching around the corner from out of the dining room and down the hall to hide… apparently we hadn’t gotten the latch completely in. That night we found a cushion from our new couch on the floor with a hole chewed into it, Bob’s briefcase with the strap chewed off on one side, and several other items that had evidence of being used as a teething ring. These dogs are scary smart and we have no doubt that he knew he was BAD that night. We began
obedienceer, people training the very next week!!! LOL! I love my little dog, and terror that he was as a pup, believe it or not, he was easily trainable. WEeeelll, except for his chewing habit that is… but for the most part we have been trained not to let things fall to the floor and leave them. ;DHe is so adorable! That sweet little face would make me want to drive 400 miles too! Time does go by so fast, especially when you are having fun 🙂
Thank you Ginger! I do think he is pretty special, but I have to confess… I was very grateful that I didn’t have to actually drive all that way to get him. So sweet to have him hand delivered don’t you agree? 😀
where does it go indeed! You know it’s nearly a year since you were here! You are making me want a doggy. : -D
Jayme I know, I was thinking that very thing! My five days there were so much fun, but way to short. As for doggies, well everyone needs a doggie! They just adore you so and live to make you happy. (Just remember to get the people er, dog obedience training, otherwise they are insufferable!)
Shhhhhh… now don’t breathe a word of this to Buddy, but as I grow older with my two, I think… Everyone needs a doggie that they can put into the sink to bathe! LOL!
I can’t believe my dogs are already getting gray. All three Siamese cats have passed away. My daugher turned 30 this year and my Dad turned 80. Where does the time go?
http://dogear6.com/2011/06/02/briefly-they-touch-our-lives/
http://dogear6.com/2011/04/08/heads/
Thanks for visiting my blog! That was very nice of you.
Nancy