Charlie announced this week that we are going to get a Boston Terrier puppy to groom as Booger’s replacement when the time comes.
Booger is 12-1/2 years young and probably has another year or two of treadwear left on her tires. Healthwise, she is in good shape, only suffering from arthritis as far as we can tell. Booger has been a great dog and we hope that her remaining life is mostly quality time. We are in no hurry for her to go to heaven.
Baby, who is now 2-1/2 years old, has really benefitted from Booger’s teaching. She is a wonderful little dog and the two of them really enjoy each other’s company. They spend a portion of each day hassling each other over toys, wrestling on the grass, and racing each other to the door when someone rings the bell. It is so much fun watching the two of them interact; they really love each other.
And, so, we have begun to dread the inevitable, when Booger passes over the Rainbow Bridge and Baby is left alone without her BFF. We both think that Baby will be miserable when that happens. And of course, so will we; Booger has been part of our lives since The Great Recession.
Yesterday we bought, sight unseen, a 9-week old Boston Terrier puppy from a breeder in San Diego. We planned to drive to Barstow on tomorrow to pick up our new dog “Bella” and bring her back home to her adoptive Momma (Booger) and older sister (Baby). We anticipated lots of sniffs being exchanged and curious investigation of each other.
The cost was only $400 for Bella, which is a fraction of the amount that most breeders are asking. Charlie cut the deal over the phone and I asked, “How many legs does it have?” It sounded too good to be true.
Two days ago Charlie and I were researching Boston Terrier puppies for sale on the Internet. There were few available in the West, and that skimpy number all came with expensive price tags, i.e. from $2,400 to $4,000!!! We could not believe it; we paid $800 for Booger and $900 for Baby years ago. Prices have skyrocketed due to the pandemic. People are staying home more, are probably bored stiff, and are taking on more pets. Animal shelters in many cities have been emptied, which is a good thing, and prices for backyard-bred puppies are high.
Our good friends, Dan and Peggy Quinn, referred us to Bookoo.com, a site where they found their Boston Terrier puppy “Katie” last year. Katie is a little pistol, and can tire out Baby, which is quite a feat. So, if Bella has the same genes as Katie, it’s going to be a circus at our house.
I figure that we have four solid months to get Bella in shape before I have my right hip replacement surgery (on Oct 5th). By that time, she should be mostly housebroken and trained to stay in the backyard with her two buddies. I do not want to be chasing her down the street on crutches or cane.
Call us idiots, but here we go again!!
UPDATE:
We are idiots; the $400 Boston Terrier sale was a scam. We forwarded a $200 deposit to the seller …and then the games began. By the time we had wasted a number of hours jousting with “James” it finally became apparent that he was a phony, that there would be no Boston Terrier puppy, and our $200 was in the wind with James, who was probably laughing his ass off in a café shop in Lagos, Nigeria.
“If it seems to good to be true, it probably is!”
Needless to say, Charlie was crushed. I haven’t seen her this disappointed since our wedding night.
So, Prince Charming got on the Internet this morning, hooked up with a legitimate breeder’s rep, and we found a 6-week-old Boston Terrier hatchling in Ohio named “Lisa”. The price tag was quite a bit higher than that of “Scammy”, but that’s what you get when purchasing an AKC-registered dog in a pandemic.
Charlie paid for this little cutie from her tax prep and Covid-19 bailout funding work on behalf of clients, so it was her money to do with as she pleased. Evidently, she really wanted a lifetime companion for Baby, and now she’s as happy as can be.
Little “Lisa”, a name that will be changed to something beginning with a B, will be delivered to us in early June. For some reason, the the name “Bella” leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Maybe “Belle” would work?
Booger, Baby, Charlie and I can hardly wait to house train our new guest.