| Patches came to live with the Mayuiers’ family because for some reason, people always offered us Dalmatian puppies. |
| This had just occurred with a coworker who was trying to get us to take a 9 month old female Dal who was unsocialized and untrained. Mom found an ad in the Gazette for a year old spayed female Dal for sale for a reasonable price. Mom and Dad went out and looked at her and found a beautiful girl who was living with an elderly woman. Her children had purchased this very active puppy for her and it wasn’t a good match. That very morning, Patches did what she liked to do, she went visiting all over the neighborhood by herself, running at the fastest speed she could! During that run, she injured an eye (it healed well thank goodness!) We should have taken that as a sign, but she was good natured, laid back, had a beautiful coat and markings, and gait that was natural, and opposite of Holly, so we took a chance and got her for Matt. |
| Matt and Bethany were at 4H Adventure Day at Miracle Camp, when we drove up in Grandpa’s truck with a puppy sleeping on the seat. When the kids came out, we brought her into sight and Matt was so excited -- finally a dog of his own! We came home, Holly greeted her as though she would tear her up, but they became fast friends. And the adventures and misadventures with two Dals began. |
| Patches, although very laid back and not excitable, was very cunning like a fox. She appeared to be dozing or snoozing but never missed a trick. For the first year or two, we had multiple episodes of the “I’ve got to go for a run –SEE YA” blues. She would run full out for hours around the neighborhood, we had so much trouble corralling her that often, we’d take Holly to catch up with her and broadside tackle her to get her to stop. Eventually, we had her Radio Fence trained and broke that habit, but every now and then she’d find a wild hair up her backside and take off for a while. She was fond of sleeping in the sun, sleeping in the cool moist dirt which really was a bummer trying to keep her coat white. |
| One fair, Matt made her costume that of the AV example of a “spot remover.” We actually painted her with shoe polish to cover her spots. She was good in the obedience ring and in showmanship; however agility wasn’t really her thing -- she was too laid back to work hard to get over the jumps etc. It was always fun to watch her and Matt because although she moved a little more slowly than Holly, she loved to work the ring, her tail wagged all the time. |
| Two of her favorite things to do were, sleeping on a fleece bed in front of the fireplace, and from that vantage point, terrorizing the cats just every once in a while. For many years our cats were completely declawed until, Gizmo and Rocky -- they showed in CFA and needed their claws -- she learned a hard lesson with them. |
| Patches was following the pattern of later years that we had learned with Holly. It became very difficult for her to climb the stairs, and occasionally she’d forget where she was. This past February, we believe that she was part of the many animals in our country that suffered from exposure to contaminated animal feed. She was aging, however, all of a sudden, she became fearful and emaciated even though she ate well. As it became more difficult for her, we had to make that difficult decision to free her from her health problems. Patches of Black IV had been part of our lives for 14 years, it was strange to finish the winter season without a Dalmatian sleeping in front of the fireplace, it had been a reign of 17 years. Boomer was so lost; we inherited a red brindle Dachshund to work as his grief counselor. |
| We were so blessed to have had this gentle, cunning, closet athlete who loved only to have her head cradled in your hand. Patch -- you are missed. |
