The Dogs: Nicky and Musica

Mom loves her dogs! They have given her a reason to wake up in the morning when her body would appear to prefer to go to sleep and calmly pass over to the other side. They give her companionship and something to talk about when her world is getting smaller and smaller as a result of her disabilities. I sometimes wonder if her attachment to them is keeping her here...and the thinking of my evil twin is, "Hell, I shouldn't have encouraged her to get a dog after Dad died." (At times I will refer to my not so nice self as my evil twin. Of course, negative or irreverent thoughts and actions are that of my Evil Twin.)

Nicky: The Dog with the most toys wins. A few months after my dad passed away, Mom decided to get a dog. Not wanting to deal with a puppy, we searched for an adult dog and found little Nicky, a two year old Shih Tzu. We decided to go see him but planned to look around a bit before making a decision. As we entered the house, he ran to Mom and jumped up as if to say, "Please take me home." And so she did. Mom once again had someone to boss around and scold. He has turned out to be the best little dog. He is devoted to her, sleeps with her and spends much of the day sleeping at her feet. The rest of the day, he spends playing with the many toys my sister and I have bought him. He loves making whatever noise they make and taking them outside. He lines them up and lies by them, usually resting his little chin on one of them. He usually has 10-15 toys outside and a large supply in his toy corner. Mom scolds him and tells him not to take them outside. Of course, he ignores her and never brings them back in. That is my job.

Musica: The runaway rat terrier. Musica really belongs to my brother and his wife. She lived with them happily for at least 8 years. Then one day about 2 years ago, she decided to run away from home. She is a very small dog but can really jump. To escape from her yard into Mom's yard she has to scale a 4 foot gate. At first we tried everything to get her to stay home. I took her home, my brother would come to get her but she just kept coming back. After a few months of this, we gave up and let her stay. She sits by my Mom's side all day long and burrows under the covers to sleep with her at night. She guards her if strangers come in the house so we have to shut her in another room when the Hospice nurse or aide comes. She once bit a man who came to visit and reached out to shake Mom's hand. She comes to get me if Mom falls or has a problem. The downside of Musica is that she sheds white short hair, all over which I truly hate, but she is the best "Elder" dog ever and so she can stay as long as she wants. She has earned her spot in this house until she decides to leave. Both my good self and evil twin agree on this!