and Stanley brings us Roger

yesterday I posted about how Stanley, our lab/english setter came to help us out. today i need to tell you how Roger, our boston terrier came to help Stanley. . . and us too.

after Lacey completed high school by correspondence, tutoring, and internet class, she wanted/needed to try college. POTS was still in the picture but she had at least come to a point where she knew her boundaries (most of the time) and knew what to expect when she went outside those boundaries. (those boundaries included things like drinking enough liquids, keeping up a high salt intake, not getting overheated, making sure she got enough sleep, resting when needed.)

so Lacey signed up for some classes at our local jr. college and away she went. and Stanley, who had been with Lacey 24/7 for almost 3 years lost it. he suffered huge with separation anxiety. Dave took him to the vet and got a clean bill of physical health but Stanley was obviously not doing well. i talked to our vet's office and they suggested doggie prozac or a companion pet. well, that was not much of a choice for me. . . i'd take two dogs over one dog on medication any day. and this was Stanley we were talking about - our personal miracle worker in fur. we owed him.
so i talked with Dave. he was i think, hoping that Stanley would snap out of it and we wouldn't have to make a choice. . . but Stanley was not snapping anything. . .

in passing, we heard through the grapevine that a litter of pups had been born to Abby and Duke, Stanley's friends from where we used to live. Stanley had many romps with Duke, who lived next door and a very unfortunate one with Abby when she was puppy - she fractured a bone in her leg and had to wear a little doggie cast. Stanley did feel bad about that when we told him.

Dave said something like if we were to get another dog, a pup from them would be his choice.

i took that as a green light and called the owners only to find that no puppies were available - they were all spoken for. Ok, so much for that. so i talked to Dave about the disappointing news. Looking back, he did not seem as disappointed as i was. and he was not interested in looking for a second dog at the local shelter.

two weeks later the owners called and said a pup was now available and asked if we would want him. WOULD WE WANT HIM?????? are you kidding???? of course, we would - using the all inclusive "we." Karen did not tell Dave because she wanted to surprize him.

Her thinking. . . God's divine will. . . how could Dave argue with Him?

so two weeks later the puppy was picked up and brought to his new home. . . and we all lived happily ever after.

not quite.

Dave was not pleased and was pretty sure Karen's will got in the way of God's - Karen was not happy and did not agree with Dave's assessment of the will of God. but the puppy was adorable AND housebroken and within a couple of days there a was a noticeable improvement in Stanley.
so Roger became a Corlew dog and helped Stanley, the other Corlew dog through his separation anxiety.

so when people ask us about our dogs - we tell them Stanley is Lacey's dog and Roger is Stanley's.