RE: [gardeners] Wednesday in the garden

Margaret Lauterbach (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Thu, 05 Jun 2003 08:59:22 -0600 

Sparty was traumatized by my use of a wheelchair and crutches, and I think 
this precipitated severe health problems for him.  He developed diabetes 
and Cushing's disease, barely able to stand when I convinced        Chuck 
we had to relieve his suffering and have him put down.  He was only about 6 
years old. Empty water bowls are heartbreaking.  The next day we went to 
the Humane Society, and all they seemed to have were pit bulls, German 
shepherds and puppies.  I asked at the reception desk if they knew where 
the Nampa pound was, and they came unglued that I wasn't going to adopt one 
of theirs.  Then they admitted they had sent a lot of their adoptables to 
Petsmart that day.  We went there, and across a crowded room, Chuck saw a 
scruffy terrier.  Age 5.  His age and ours, or either, made this a no-cost 
adoption.  Then we found out he should be groomed.  $40 every two 
months.  He's a wire fox terrierXother terrier (I think Jack Russell), who 
had been fed out of the refrigerator because he helped me look in the early 
days.  It took several days for him to get interested in the dog food we 
put down for him.  Humane Society said he loved other animals.  He tries to 
attack the 200 lb. St. Bernard next door through the fence, and attacks the 
television screen if any animal such as pandas, horses, dogs, cats, bears, 
dinosaurs, or even President Clinton or the Pope are on.  Sometimes he 
changes the channel, sometimes he turns off the set.  We renamed him 
Tathers (the supposed name of a canine protagonist in Dion Boucicault's 
19th century drama, "The Shaughraun" and he likes his name), because I 
didn't like his original name (Norman is not a dog's name).  It should have 
been "Tatthers," but Chuck never learned to sound out words properly, in 
spite of his Ph.D.  That's something he should have learned in first or 
second grade.  He's a character.  Sparty was a love, but a lot more 
predictable than this guy.  Margaret L

>What happened to Sparty (?sp), Margaret?