DHR Create

When I was a kid growing up, we had cats. I’m not sure why, but I suspect it was because my dad was the only boy in the family and his sisters had a long line of “scotties.” Scotch terriers. They’re well known for becoming attached to women in a household with more women than men, and snotty as hell to the men in the house. I remember visiting my aunt and grandma and “Dougal” their scotty biting me numerous times. He was a “snotty scotty” and the little bastard only tolerated me because my aunt and grandma threatened him regularly.

When I got married we continued in the Rose tradition and got a cat. A persian cat named “leonardo” (I was a graphic Designer”). We had a number of cats over the years and they became part of our family as much as a cat can… you know, indifference coupled with tolerance. I was not a dog fan, and I had no interest in the species whatsoever. But that changed when my daughter, who was attending college in Charleston SC decided to get a dog. Despite us telling her it was a bad idea, one thing led to another and Elizabeth arrived home one weekend with Salem… a 2 mos. old Boykin Spaniel puppy.

As we anticipated she was too busy to take care of the dog, and Salem was relegated to a crate most of the day which as anyone who’s had a Boykin Spaniel would tell you, is not a good idea. They need a lot of exercise and without it, become unhappy, and a barking menace. And your neighbors will complain a lot. Which is what happened. You can probably guess what happened next. Yes, we felt bad for Salem and decided it was in our best interest to bring Salem home with us until Elizabeth finished school. We were now “dog owners.”

As I mentioned we were cat people, so we didn’t know much about dogs. And we now had a puppy. As any dog owner will tell you, there are a lot things you need to expect with a puppy. Including tolerance for chewing of furniture, potty mistakes, crying and whining at night and a host of other unexpected issues that pop up. One thing is certain, you never know what will happen next with dogs. Because although they are all similar, they each have their own character and personality. Which at first seems annoying but later you realize “thats just who they are,” and it becomes an endearing part of the relationship. Dogs have a sneaky way of infiltrating your life and before you know it they are a part of your life… like another child. We loved Salem.

My Co-Pilot

Salem became my close friend, my spirit animal and we were inseparable. We loved the same things… riding around in the Jeep, walking on trails through the woods and just hanging out. She was totally chill. Dogs are pretty much always positive, so when you’re having problems, your dog tends to provide a distraction, and make you realize the important things in life are simple. And things are not so bad. We can learn a lot from dogs. We spent many years enjoying Salem’s company before old age and a number of health issues signaled she would not be with us much longer. It was an extremely sad time. Probably one of the worse things that can happen to you as a dog owner. Dogs just don’t live as long as humans. You have to prepare yourself for that when you own a dog.

Boykin Spaniel Part 2

When Salem passed away we went through a period of mourning, trying to remember the good times we had with her… And I was torn between not wanting to feel that sadness again and getting back on the horse and looking for another Boykin Spaniel. After some soul searching, we decided to go for it and started looking at Boykin Spaniel breeders near us. We settled on a local breeder, and in December of 2018 we picked out our puppy from a new litter, and 8 weeks later picked “Birdie” up and brought her home. “Birdie” became the next Boykin Spaniel in the line of Rose Boykin’s.

Birdie

Since we only had Salem to base our expectations on, we were expecting Birdie to be Salem part 2… Big mistake. Birdie was nothing like Salem and the only thing they had in common was they were the same breed. Ha. Birdie is totally hyper where Salem was chill, Birdie is a lover, where Salem was o.k. being by herself. Salem loved riding in the car; Birdie does not like the car at all. It’s been a big adjustment but Birdie’s good qualities outweigh the bad and she is a very well behaved and sweet dog as people tell us all the time. She provided endless entertainment during the covid years so we’ve been glad to have Birdie, and grown used to her funny personality and endless energy. She’s become a part of the family. As someone once said: “Dogs were put on this earth to remind us how to be good people.” I couldn’t agree more.