I will try to tell Rattagan and Cameo's story. So let us take a trip to Newport, NC, back 11 and 1/2 years to 1997. I lived way back in the country, the nearest neighbors to me were the cows in the pasture. There were other people on the dead end street we lived on, my ex and I. We were walking back from his parents house, who lived behind us, and I saw a tiny little puppy in the neighbors yard she was running and playing while her owner filled the bird feeders he had in the yard. I went over to see her and I thought it was a Chi. My neighbor immediately said No, it's a Rat Terrier. Well I told my (ex)husband that I wanted one so we found out where they got her. They bought her from a breeder in Havelock who breeds show stock. My neighbors told me that they wanted a male but the next male they had wouldn't be ready for four weeks so they got one that was ready to go when they went to look at them. Well I got directions and off my then husband and I went. It was only 10 minutes from my house. Well Mr. Don, the breeder, was happy to show us his pups. We met both parents, his show dogs. They had a litter of three, two females and one male. They were all so sweet and tiny and I didn't know how I was supposed to pick one. So I picked up each one to see how they would respond. The little females just laid in my hands and slept, they didn't move, nothing. Now this in February and in NC its cold in Feb. so I was wearing a warm fuzzy sweater. I picked up this adorable little guy with three little spots across his rump and a spot on his wittle head. I have long hair and it was down in the cold weather, this little pup climbed up my sweater and curled on my shoulder, all tangled in my hair and fell asleep. I knew right then that I had found my pup. I named him Rattagan, from the children's movie, The Great Mouse Detective. Four weeks later, I went back and brought my very first Rat Terrier home. 11 1/2 years later, and I wouldn't trade him for all the money in the world. Then in October 2006, I packed up Rattagan,(Ratty for short), and moved to Miami Florida, where I moved in with Phil and his Mom after my ex brought me down here and deserted Ratty and I. Phil had never owned a dog of his own and seemed very pleased with Ratty and his manners. He was even able to teach Ratty some new things. The old saying that "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" is bull hockey. Ratty was never leash trained and he learned to walk on a leash in a matter of minutes. Smart little buggers these guys are. Then I started talking to Phil about wanting a pup so Ratty wouldn't have to be home alone when we went out. He said if you want one you can have one. That was in November of 2007 when he found this site and I joined because of Ratty. That is how I discovered Ratbone Rescues, right here on rat-terrier.com. I went poking around on their website and saw NEW Florida Nursery. I looked and saw a beautiful little girl puppy that reminded me of Ratty when he was a baby. The spot on her side was on the opposite side as his, and all I could think was "Mirror images" of each other, bookends so to speak. With one picture that little girl stole my heart. I called Phil and told him look out, incoming email. He looked at the link I sent and said apply to get her. I did and was appoved in December right after Christmas. On January 11th we made the trip to Fort Pierce where our little one was transported in a big rig for us to pick up. I knew she was named Cameo by the person who sponsered her spaying. What I didn't know at the time that I started posting about her on here was that Nora, our very own training moderator on r-t.com was her sponser. The name suited the little girl so much that I couldn't bear to change it so instead we gave a full name, Cameo Nora. Nora said we could drop the Nora part but I said that was a no go, I wanted her named after the person who cared enough to sponser her since she couldn't have Cameo for her own. Now Cameo is 9 months old and I can't even remember what life was like without her in it. Because of this site and RBR I have the most precious baby in my life. The story of how Cameo's life began is a long one too. But her Mom was pregnant in a shelter and due to be PTS, RBR pulled her not thinking she was close to giving birth because Miss Molly was so thin. 24 hours after Miss Molly was pulled and being transported to Florida, she had 5 puppies. Thanks to RBR, Miss Molly and all her pups were saved. I can't thank Mr. Don or RBR or RT.com enough for bringing such joy and happiness to my life. Life without these little ones wouldn't be worth living in my opinion. But because of Cameo and her story, I decided to see if I could become a foster home for other Ratties in need. So now I am very proud to be part of two wonderful Rattie groups, rat-terrier.com and Ratbone Rescues. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it! |