My Blog

            How do you do?

My name is Ch. Lady Marguerite Elizabeth Diana of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Yes, that would be after the Royal Family. Sometimes I permitted my last caregivers (CG’s) to call me Peg. I’m a Cockapoo.

In case you didn’t know, a Cockapoo is a very special breed—part Cocker Spaniel and part Poodle. That gives me all of the excitement, fizz and sizzle of a Cocker and the brains of a Poodle. Which means I do as I please at very high speeds.

And just because I’m small doesn’t mean I’m not the meanest, toughest, fiercest fighter in the neighborhood. I’ll attack without provocation, barking at the top of my lungs. If they turn on me, I admit, I turn and run, yelping and howling for help. I’m little, after all. And a lady.

            Which doesn’t explain why my previous caregivers (CG) dumped me on the side of the road. Perhaps, a time or two, when the two small CGs pulled on my fur, or yanked my ears, I nipped at them. Jeez! It wasn’t a hard nip, no blood or anything, but they squalled like I’d taken off their arm. And when visitors came, I nipped at them, too. I was protecting my territory. I don’t think the lady CG liked that at all.

  So, one day, my CG’s took me for a ride out into the country. They opened the car door and pushed me out and drove off. I ran and ran and ran trying to catch them. But they never stopped. I thought they would come back. But they never did. Finally, I curled up in the grass to wait, hungry, cold and tired. I felt very sad.
The next morning, I felt something sniff at me. It was a black dog named Shadow out for a walk with its own CG. To my surprise, the new CG picked me up and carried me through the woods to a big house. She washed and dried me, and then showed me to the CG she calls Papa. He took one look at me and named me Ragamuffin! What? Wait! Please! Where is the respect?

            It has turned out to be a pretty nice place. No mini-CGs to pull on me. A black-and-white cat to chase. And another that thinks I am her protector because I chase off the black-and-white. A dog door that I can go in and out of whenever I please to bark at deer and possums and raccoons. Haven’t met a skunk yet.

I did have to fight Shadow for a spot under the CG’s desk when she’s working. Stupid Shadow backed down, of course. The CG didn’t like that. She said that was Shadow’s place. So I sleep in the big comfy chair behind her. And at night I get to curl up in bed between the CGs.

            I also get all the snacks I can eat. I’m good at begging and looking mournful. Any time the CG’s go into the kitchen, I know that if I jump up and down, they will give me whatever I want. They are such suckers! I have them well trained.

The lady CG takes me and that dumb Shadow for walks every morning. We get to run after squirrels and sniff the neighbors. Shadow is friendly to everyone. I’m not. The CG thought I wouldn’t be able to keep up because I have short legs. She was wrong. I can move fast. But I stay close beside her, and I’m always looking back to make sure she is nearby.

        As soon as we get back from our walk, I race back and forth in the house, demanding a car ride. Finally the CG groans and says, “okay, okay” and she takes me and that idiot Shadow for a ride. At one place a drawer opens beside the car and we get snacks. At another place, the CG brings bags and bags of goodies to the car. I tear into them as soon as I can, even if the CG yells at me not to. Now she brings us snacks to eat on the way home. That way I’ll leave the bags alone. Such a sucker.

 So, even though they call me Muffin, life is good.

And the training is going well.