MEMORIES OF JOJO

Fifteen years builds up quite a catalogue of memories and Jonathan and I have spent the weekend recalling much of the joy that Jessie and Jojo brought into our lives.

Letting them go has been tough. As I come into our bedroom Jojo's bed is still here - and I can't bring myself to let it go just yet. I can still smell the sweet scent of her newly washed coat in the room and last night I lifted her bed close to me and sniffed what was left of our Jojo.

TEDDY CUDDLES

Jojo was so very laid back - lazy I think! She could wander around the garden sniffing and then just decide no, she wouldn't bother peeing after all! When she got the message that she wasn't returning to the house until she did, she somehow managed to do it! Jojo could go almost 24 hours without toileting - I really think she just felt it was easier to hold on until the next time. She definitely didn't like getting wet - we've known her get to the door and, if it was raining, just decide she wasn't going out in that! She walked so gently and stately too - head held high, paws just skimming the ground - if it's possible for a dog, I'm sure she went on tiptoes. On the stairs she just seemed to glide up - almost like a rabbit in slow motion.

PRINCESS AND THE PEA!

Jojo certainly wasn't one for cuddles and nursing - always off on her own, happy just to be in her bed, or cushioned on the settee, or curled up on a mat....... until the last couple of years and then she seemed to want attention. She actually looked to be petted and stroked - loved to have her throat and chest stroked and would have sat all night for that. How often have we told her that she had missed out so much all those years- but then that's just how Jojo was. In some ways she was a very timid wee dog....she always held back and let Jessie take the lead, was never one for jumping up and when she did, she calculated her jump and leapt gently with precision.

GORGEOUS GIRL

Jojo was a rottweiler! Hard to believe now but this gentle little blonde Lhasa Apso terrorised me! Once Jonathan was out of the house her whole attitude changed and she let it be known that she was now in charge! When Jonathan worked early shifts I found it much easier some mornings to leave without breakfast rather than stay and fight with Jojo. Soon as I appeared she became totally vicious - like a different dog! She barked, snarled, bared her teeth and countless times her teeth were so close I could feel them on my legs. Nothing I could do, or not do, deterred her....... I tried the SuperNanny 'naughty step' approach by closing her in the boiler house but I ran out of time and had to bring her in before I left for work. I tried the water pistol shot but ended up with Jojo and the kitchen floor completely soaked. I tried a rolled up newspaper which she just tore to shreds with her teeth. In all of this poor Jessie would dash in, barking and nipping Jojo in the legs to distract her - which often had Jojo turning on her.

Jojo hated being brushed with a passion. Her coat was finer and I think perhaps her skin was more sensitive than Jessie's so I always tried to go carefully with her but, the nature of a Lhasa Apso's hair is that it requires much brushing.....not best news for Jojo! For a while we managed with Jonathan holding her while I brushed her, then I resorted to wearing gardening gloves to protect my hands and we managed somehow.

Jojo mellowed - she lost her hearing about 2-3 years ago and she just became the most wonderfully placid, docile, loving little dog. In all of that time we never heard her growl and she looked for, and enjoyed, attention. I wish there had been something we could have done to get her to this stage earlier in life.

Jojo was a stunner.......we see many Lhasa Apsos around town now........and we have yet to see one as pretty as our Jojo.