Dogs of My High Pack: Tam Part Two

Here is Part one if you'd like to read that first. Here's my Buffy story if you'd like to read that too.

Oh boy have I been having fun finding photos!  I get a little bit sad here and there but then I find another one that makes me smile and glad Tam was in our lives.  She was such a character!

You can see in these two pics how much her fur on her face changed as she got older.  For some reason GWP puppies have a fuzzy bit on top of their nose, but as they mature all the fur ends up in their beard.   

She never really loved water as much as Buffy or your average Lab, but we did teach her to swim by swimming ourselves and coaxing her in, and if there were ducks to chase, she would go in anywhere.  Also, she always loved to cool her tummy in a nice muddy spot.

When Sally came to join our family as a 10 month old rehome, both Tam and Buffy loved her to bits and it seemed to help their own relationship too.  A happy Goldie in the house could make anyone more cheerful.  :)  I'll talk about Sally another time. It is a bit of a sad story.

Tam always wanted the next thing to happen.  I know they say dogs are happy in the moment but that wasn't true of Tam. With her it was always, "When is it dinner?"  "When are we walking?"  "What fun thing can we do next?"  She loved to be in the car and off somewhere. 

She loved social events where she could get lots of attention...

and beg for treats...

Once Rosie joined the family, we were once more five everywhere we went.  Buffy played with Rosie more than Tam did, because Tam was a bit annoyed that she had to share the love even more, but she was never mean to puppy Rosie.   

I was happy with more doggy company.  For me as far as dogs go, the more the merrier.  Luckily I draw the line at three, but I wouldn't, oh I wouldn't, if I didn't control myself.  I am happiest in a pack, even in a pack of dogs with demon red eyes.   :)

This is my all time fave pic of the three dogs together.   

Tam had to share a lot of the attention in those days. Andyroo and I had three dogs, mum had three dogs, and my sis had two, so family events were rather doggy! (And we loved it!) 

From left to right there are, in front, Rosie, Kelly, Jock, Buffy, and Kate, and the three behind are Tess, Freyja and Tam. All looking at a ball!

Tam still got the ball as much as she could.  She was a ball fiend all her life.  

As she got older she got quite woolly!

 

But she started to feel the heat in summer so we took to clipping her just for the hot months.  She looked like a Schnauzer!  It always a gave her a new lease of life and she'd be like a puppy again.

And of course she got painted quite a lot! This is the face you get if you tie a dog to the table leg to paint them: 

Unlike Buffy, Tam did age a lot as she got older. Her front feet bothered her, and then her back as well. We managed it as well as we could, but in the end we had to let her go. I think this is one of the last photos we have of her.  She looks a bit like a salty old sea-dog here but actually she was still as cheerful, noisy, grumpy, opinionated and snuggly as ever, it was her body that let her down. I do wonder if she too had Lyme.  She got tick bites that same day as Andrew and I. Perhaps that is what gave her the arthritis.  We'll never know.

 I like best to think of her as she was for all those years, full of life, fun and noise!

 

Goodbye Tammy, we will snuggle again one day!