AKA CharmerHe was officially known as "Charmer", but more lovingly referred to by several endearing nicknames. I called him "Little Mister", Mom called him her "Golden Boy", and my sister sometimes called him "Chowder Head". I'm not sure how she came up with that, but we all had a big spot in our heart for a mighty small dog. Even my husband who tried to get us all to think that Charmer was a "puss" obviously was saddened by his recent death. My Children, Grandchildren, and Mom's friends and neighbors adored him and his picture was even proudly displayed in the Veterinarian's office where my Mom found him on that lucky day. Oddly enough he had one more admirer, and that was our cat Pooh. She's not unlike other cats when it comes to her territory, but she and Charmer were buddies. She never had a cross word for him and would always go up and give him an affectionate head butt when he came to visit., which he did often because Mom took him with her most of the time. A lucky day indeed for both of them, the day Mom walked into the Vet's office. A match made in heaven we called it.
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You see, my Mom wasn't looking for a dog. She went to the Vet's office to buy cat food and fell in love with a Pomeranian. And not just any Pomeranian mind you. He was a retired show dog and stud. He became too old for what his owners had purchased him for and they didn't want him anymore. For years he was a loyal, well trained commodity for them and his thanks was to be turned away in his golden years. In his glory days, he attended dog shows, won ribbons, and ate carefully measured food either out of someone's hand or napkins so as not to dirty his beautiful coat. He sired litters of puppy's to carry on his long line of valued pedigree. But now, well now he was old. He had a little problem with his heart. Mom could relate with that, as she has had problems with her blood pressure. He had lost most of his teeth. Mom knew just how he felt, having had a beautiful mouth full of pearly whites that were now aging and trying to infringe on her ability to chew some of the things she has always enjoyed. And he wasn't as quick as he once was, another thing my Mom has noticed about herself of late. The fact that it takes her longer to do things that she had always done before with ease and timeliness.
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For those who did not know his background, one might think he was spoiled. He wouldn't eat off of a plate. His food had to go onto the floor or later when he found out that it was ok to play, Mom would put his food on a towel and would lightly wrap it up, then he would dig for it, and hide it again. But he always preferred to be fed by hand, but that's because that's how he was trained. And he didn't "do" stairs. He was carried up and down any stairs that stood as obstacles for him. Now in regards to that, I might tend to agree that he was a bit spoiled. We found out on one of the privileged times that we cared for him while Mom was away that he indeed could "do" stairs. Kendall found a very inventive way to motivate him. As he stood at the bottom of the stairs looking up, wondering who would rescue him, Kendall would reach down and very lightly touch his testicles with his shoe and the Charmer would run up the stairs quick as could be. I, of course, continued to carry him. After all, he was a guest in our house while Mom was away. Charmer had a beautiful coat of golden hair. Well, up until the day that my Mom decided he was hot. She was going to have him groomed so that he wasn't so hot in the summer. Now that I think back, I can't understand how he could have been that hot. He only went outside briefly and then he was back in the house next to Mom's side. But she wanted him comfortable in his "old age" so she had his hair cut. At first it was cute, because they cut his hair to make him look like a little lion. What we didn't know at the time was that his hair wouldn't grow back because he was lacking some hormones. As the years went on, he would lose more hair. Some people thought he looked ugly that way, but we all still loved him and he remained handsome as ever to my Mother.
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Little Mister was such a sweetheart. His warm brown eyes would stare at us intently, seemingly showing love and gratitude for having such a loving home and family to spend his retirement years with. We were honored to have had him in our family for his last three and a half years. On August 28th, 2001, Little Mister died peacefully with my Mother by his side. We buried him in her back yard along with Sam and Molly, two cats that had also lived out their golden years with Mom. My sister was right, at times he could be a Chowder Head but we loved him and we will miss him. Rest in peace Little Mister Golden Boy AKA Charmer. by Ann Lindaman August, 2001 © The first picture is Little Mister himself. The second picture is with my Mom. The last picture is of our cat Pooh! Song Choice "Carry You Through" by John Boswell : Play music back to my homepage |
