By Sayte Holland McComb

I didn’t know what to expect, but when she came running,

I squealed “Mookie!” And Mookie became Mookie. Then she became “Moo,” which progressed to “MooMoo,” which then became “Little One,” when compared to her 86-pound Airedoodle sister, Beatrice, also known as “Bee,” “Bea,” “BB” and “Hush!” or “Drop It!”

I had a puppy! For the first time in over 20 years, I had a puppy, a decision not made lightly. Between rescue, foster, and owner, I have had relationships with eight Wire Fox Terriers. Any place we lived seemed empty without one.

Even though Bea did her 86-pound best to fill the void, she couldn’t do lap sitting or Zoomies without damage to something, often my thigh bone.

So it was time for my husband and me to recall puppy duties and protocols. Unfortunately for us, this house was not built with potty-training in mind, so that went slower than we would have liked. To raise my recollections, there was rock eating, which terrified me. Soon I had picked up every rock in her area.

Soon enough, her fetish appeared. Pine straw. She loved it. She chased it outside, brought it inside, chased it inside, then grew tired of it and just left it, going outside to find another. She looked oddly like a Wire Fox cat with really long whiskers. The vacuum cleaner moaned while both dogs attacked it.

Things in our home were getting back to normal. Necessary items were placed up high and barking became the music of every day. Usually at the most inopportune time.

Beatrice taught her (Moo) to bark at EVERY dog and walker who passed the house, and we live in a very dog-friendly community. We had the distinct feeling we were referred to as “that house with the giant, scary dog.”

Now life feels complete. Double craziness has returned to us and it is quite a comfortable feeling, mannerisms that drive a non-Terrier person crazy. Zoomies, for instance, require us to take a stance against walls for our own safety.

Life, once again, couldn’t be better.

This article original appeared in the Spring 2021 edition of the All Things Fox Terrier newsletter.