My Ben was given to me by a girl who had bought him, and then discovered she could not take care of him. Ben was four months old when I got him, and the first thing I noticed were his ears. They seemed much too big for his small body. Ben was cheated by having a female for a companion when he actually would have preferred a male, but we still got along famously. He loved my son and grandsons, and his day was made when one of them were there to play with him. He could catch a ball out of mid air, had a vocabulary of over 50 words, could train another dog to go out to do their business, and truly loved having companions of all sorts. I thought my Ben was lonely while I was at work, so thought about getting another dog. I hadn’t actually gotten to that stage when a friend of mine brought me a little Bichon who had been mistreated! When I first got Pepe, he was so afraid he wouldn’t eat or come out of the corner. He’d been shut up in a closet because he wasn’t house trained (he was 4 months old!!!) Anyway, Ben took him under his wing, went up to him and nudged him out of the closet & over to the food, and kept after him til he ate. Then he trained him!! They were inseparable. I got another Bichon in 2004, and Ben went through the training process again.
Ben had some problems as a puppy that required treatment. He coughed all the time because his esophagus opening was too small. He had to have a balloon inserted down his throat to enlarge the opening. He also had bowel problems which caused his rectum to turn inside out. This was corrected by putting him on a special diet of rice, broth, boiled chicken breast and cottage cheese. Once we got him over the bowel problems, he absolutely flourished! He was the most beautiful dog I’ve ever seen. Ben would never permit the vet or anyone else to trim his nails (we did periodically, but it was a true challenge). Benjamin knew my mother was ill, and he loved to spend time with her sitting in her recliner. He’d lie beside her for hours keeping her company. The first time we took him to her home after she died in 2004, he cried and howled til we left. He did not want to go into her house after that.
Pepe died in March of 2005, and Ben never truly recovered. He began to have spells of bleeding through the bowels & the vet said it was due to his age. This finally led to his death.
Benjamin, we all miss you so much. I wish life had a rewind button so I could go back and live those years with you again!
I'll see you in heaven, Ben.
| Benjamin |
| Shirley Soper |