Reba & Coco

We got Reba & Coco one February night. We had just lost our two loyal friends Tippy (21) and Reda (9) at the end of 2005. Tippy obviously died of old age and Reda died shortly afterwards of Cancer. We were devastated. At first we didn’t even want another dog. After a while we decided that we needed a dog, being that we live on the farm and a dog is a great asset, both for company and also for security. I told a colleague of mine that we were looking for a dog and could she keep her eyes open for us. She responded that her friends dog just had puppies at the beginning of December and she would see if there were any left. As luck would have it there were four left. My husband and I decided that instead of getting just one dog we would get a brother and a sister, that way they would have company and someone to play with. Now back to the February 2006 night. Michelle and two friends showed up with two adorable little bundles and we fell in love on the spot. My husband took the brown one and said “Your name is Coco” and so it was. It took me a few days to come up with the perfect name for the black female. I watched her and observed her behaviour. I found her to be loving, energetic, funny, smart and talented. I named her “Reba”. Yes, after Reba McIntyre, and she has lived up to her namesake. In the spring we invested in an underground containment system to insure their safety and that they do not get into trouble with our neighbours. It was so worth it….the pups get to run on 51/2 acres and have fun all day long and they are waiting at the roadside when we return home from work. They are visibly excited to see us with their tails wagging and running back and forth with excitement for us to get out of the car and greet them. It is all about unconditional love and they sure have the market cornered there. Just to be on the safe side we put them in at night incase of coyotes prowling at night. We would not want to risk their health and safety in any way. They certainly are very busy dogs during the day. When we get home we find all kinds of things on the front lawn. We find shoes that have been lost for years, collars from former pets and who knows who else, milk jugs, boards, rope, binder twine, branches, chewed up hoses, and even sometimes an entire small tree that we had cut down and piled for burning. They have even taken to removing our patio lights and putting them where they want them. They even chewed up my husband’s favorite saddle blanket. When I noticed it all chewed up and the stuffing falling out all over the place, I knew that my husband would be angry so I quickly picked up all the incriminating evidence and hid it. My husband was coming to the barn right about then so I had to hide it quickly. He did not find it then; however, a few weeks later he came across the pieces of his horse blanket. The jig was up I had to fess up, but by that time, he had cooled down and the puppies lived to chew another day and maybe even another saddle blanket. Needless to say, my husband is much more careful about what he leaves within reach of the pups. Not long ago our grandchildren were out to the farm for a visit and our 11 year old grandson took his shoes off outside like a good boy, however, he left them there and did not bring them in the house where they would have been safe…..you guessed it….the shoes were gone…..after searching high and low Devyn found one of them…..it was all chewed up….not much good for anything. Devyn learned a valuable lesson that day and also shares a painful experience with his grampa. Even though they eat us out of house and home and chew everything in sight, come charging out of the tall grass when we have a skittish horse on the lead and almost cause a wreck, harass the cats and generally get into more mischief than their share we love them dearly. It is like being young and raising children all over again. People tell us that they will grow out of it……what we want to know is…………WHEN!!!!!!! Anyway, that is the story of the everyday adventures of living with Coco & Reba. Every day is always different and they never fail to entertain us. Life is certainly not dull with them around. Oh yeh! The black female is Reba and the brown male is Coco. CUTE AREN’T THEY!!!!! Linda & Ken W Balgonie, Saskatchewan