Pepe Gone

The French Lady who bought Pepe later sent me a photo of him in 1973. How I hated that woman for taking my dog! But of course, she had no idea when she bought him that it would cause me so much grief. And she most assuredly gave him a much happier home than we could have. So yeah, I'm over it. But I still don't know how a Mom could do that to her kid.

The next Two

July 1972. From Left: Jeff holding Collette's puppy, Tabatha, holding a few of Collette's puppies, Me with Lady and Pepe.


After we got through our first Christmas without Dad, Mom started looking for a male and female Poodle pair. She told me I could pick out the male myself. I had been reading all about Poodles, and decided I wanted a brown one. Mom wanted to get another silver female. We drove out to Spring Valley and Mom let me pick a little brown boy out of the litter of 3. The Mom was chocolate and the father was an albino of all black German breeding, as weird as that sounds. I named my boy Pepe.

Mom then drove to Lakeside and picked out a really cute silver female. This puppy was different from Collette's silver puppies. This one had the lightest (almost white) markings on her face, dots above her eyes, a bar across her chest, and legs. The rest of her was black. (She did finally clear out to the lightest platinum silver, but what she really was, in fact, was a silver phantom mismarked color) Mom named her girl Lady.

I never really attached to Lady, because I spent all my spare time training Pepe. He was so obedient and smart, I actually trained him to be a seeing eye dog. Since Mom basically said that Pepe was my dog, I invested hours and hours over his puppyhood training him and playing with him. I kind of ignored Lady. One day I came home from school and headed straight to get Pepe's leash, so we could go out and walk the neighborhood. Mom stopped me and told me that Pepe had been stolen.

After crying and going through all sorts of grief, I started making signs to put up everywhere. I got on my bike and went riding all over the neighborhood, looking for the evil dog-napper. But I did not find him. The loss of this dog was devastating for me. I looked for him every day after school for months, and after a few months it finally dawned on me that he was never coming back.

Then one day, I came home from school and there was a little brown poodle on the couch with Lady. He was clipped in a fancy trim and I didn't recognize him, but he remembered me. It was my Pepe! I was so happy I grabbed him up and hugged him tight. I told him I was never letting him out of my sight again! Coincidentally, Lady was in heat and ready to be bred. And Pepe was bred to her the next day. Then, two days later, I got home from school and once again, Pepe was gone. I was beside myself, but Mom told me to just accept it that he was stolen again and would never come back. The wound was ripped open again and I spent days in disbelief, searching for my dog. But this time, I would never see him again.

My heartache was eased slightly when Lady gave birth to 2 of Pepe's sons. Of course, I knew we couldn't keep them as a stud dog, and they were sold. But the day the puppies were sold, my Mom sent me to her desk to get the receipt book. I opened up the book to get to the next blank page, and accidentally stumbled upon something that opened my eyes and forever changed me. A receipt for the sale of my Pepe to a French woman, for $50. and a one-time use for stud services. Mom secretly sold my dog, and didn't even have the guts to tell me!

I learned that day that I'd better not get too attached to any of the animals because any of them could be here today and gone tomorrow. And I learned that I couldn't trust my Mom.

Circumstances Change

We got Gidget and her puppy Samson sometime in the summer of 1971. Gidget was a fertile Poodle, with a wonderful disposition--unless you left her alone in the house. Then she transformed into a raging lunatic. She was sold along with her pups soon after this Christmas photo was taken. Our first Christmas without Dad. His yellow chair behind me is empty.



I really liked these two puppies. The black one that you can't really make out is Susie, Collette and Fala's runt daughter that was raised by Fudder the cat. The apricot one is Samson. He was a couple months younger than Susie, and you can see how big he already was. Both of them were sold the week this photo was taken.

_____________________________________________________________________________________
After Fala was sold, mom picked up a white female and her apricot male puppy. Gidget and Samson were really cute, and a nice change from the silvers, greys, and blacks that I was used to having. Mom had planned to keep the Apricot male to breed to Collette, but like most of Fala's puppies, Samson grew and grew. His paws were big for his body size, and he just kept growing. Although he was a really pretty (and quite rare in 1971) apricot, Mom didn't want a big male to use for breeding. So Samson was sold.

Not long after Fala, Samson,Susie, and the rest of the puppies were all sold, my Dad suddenly died of a heart attack. Things instantly changed, Dad had been the sole breadwinner, with Mom's puppy and kitten money being a supplemental income. Now, things were different. Mom would be getting a Social Security check. And her health was not too good. She didn't think she was employable, so her lawyer told her to get another female poodle and a male so she could have a litter or two a year to bring in a little under the table money.

A tiny white poodle moved in across the street, and Mom immediately solicited his services for Gidget and for Collette. This little stud was lacking AKC papers, but not virility. Collette had 5 puppies and Gidget had 7! 12 puppies advertised as "Stocking Stuffers" at Christmas time made our first Christmas without dad tolerable. One of them, I remember, was sold to the parents of Lew Ayers in La Jolla. Now, I didn't know who that was. (still don't) I just remember Mom bragging about it to her friends.

Gidget would have been a great keeper, if she hadn't suffered from what we now call separation anxiety disorder. If you left her alone to even just go up to the corner grocery store, Gidget would start in on destroying the house. She chewed on the wooden furniture legs, the upholstered couch and chairs, she scratched deep grooves in the solid oak dining room door. And then, when she was locked in a carpeted room, she actually ate the carpet away from the door jamb and then threw up huge amounts of it later. Mom sold her along with her puppies, and we were back to just Collette and Tiny.

Collette

Collette was the ultimate mother dog. She not only cared for her own babies, but she also cared for kittens. These two kittens, Sunny and Fudder II, were way too old to be nursing, but Collette didn't mind.

I think she always thought she needed to pay back Fudder the First. Here is what happened. Collette and Fudder the First were both pregnant at the same time. Fudder had 3 kittens in my brothers closet. About 3 or 4 days later, Collette had her litter. She gave birth to 6 puppies. two of them were very tiny, and the big chubby ones pushed them out of the way. The two little runts were not strong enough to nurse, and were pushed by the others away from Collette's warm body. I took Collette out to go the front lawn to go potty, and Fudder, hearing the squealing puppies, left her brood to take a look. She took one of the runts by the scruff of its neck and hauled it back to her nest in the closet.

I saw her leaving with the puppy as I was bringing the dog back inside. I put Collette back in her basket and took off to retrieve the puppy, but Fudder hissed at me and actually chased me into the living room, cornering me in front of the TV set. Then she went over and stuck her nose in the basket and pulled out the other wimpering runt. I didn't follow her that time. Mom said to leave them be, since they were probably going to die if they were still in with the other puppies. We had to sneak them out a few days later to get their tails docked, and Fudder was not pleased at all to return to a couple of agitated puppies missing part of their tails.

Four weeks later, the kittens started tottering out of their dark closet nest. The little black puppies followed them. And Fudder taught every single one of those babies to use the litterbox. At six weeks, we re-introduced the runts to their littermates, and put a litterbox in the playpen. The bigger 4 puppies started mimicking the runts, and soon all 6 were using the litterbox.

Mom advertised the puppies as litterbox trained, and they sold like hotcakes.

After that incident, it seemed like Collette was grateful, because all of Fudder the First's future babies were welcome to the canine milk bar anytime Collette was lactating.

Like a reciprocal arrangement, or a professional courtesy between mothers, it seemed.

First Litter

Collette and Fala's litter, after they were weaned from their mothers. These puppies were litter box trained by the two runty siblings when they left their cat family and returned to their real brothers and sisters.
We set up a play pen in the kitchen, next to the washer and dryer. One of the biggest males used to like to climb to the top of the playpen to watch me mix up their meals in the big brownie pan.




Fala, Collette and the six puppies. I lobbied hard to be able to keep the littlest girl, and for a while I got my way. I named her Susie. Fala was such a happy dog. If you made eye contact with him, he'd sit up on his haunches and wave his front paws. He was doing this in the photograph.

____________________________________________________________________________________
Now that Mom found her pedigreed Poodle, she now needed to find a male to breed it to. Mom really did not like male dogs. She said they lifted their legs everywhere and couldn't be housetrained. so she set out about the neighborhood looking for a male willing to be of a few days service to Collette.

Turns out, there was a cute little black poodle just around the corner. His name was Buffer and he didn't have any papers. But he was good enough for a first litter. Collette had two little babies from that breeding. A boy and a girl. They were pure black. I don't remember getting too attached to them, because they were sold by the time they turned 6 weeks old. Mom didn't get all that much for them, because they didn't have AKC registration. But, it was a good test breeding. Collette was a great mother and the puppies were healthy.

One Saturday, Mom was going through the Heartland News when she came upon an ad for a charcoal-colored toy male poodle for sale. He had his papers, and he wasn't neutered. She rushed out and bought him for $25. I fell in love with this dog immediately. His name was Fala Brandi-B-Bomb. During the time Fala was with us, I made him my pet. He was so obedient, he didn't need a leash. When we kids walked up to the market to get a candy bar, Fala waited patiently outside for us to make our purchase and return to him. He also knew my school schedule. Around 2:30 every day, he scratched at the door. Mom let him outside, and he walked to the corner, sat down, and waited for the 3:00 school bell to ring. My school was 3 blocks away, and I could see that little dog waiting for me as I headed towards home. Fala was the ideal pal. And he never once peed in the house.

When the time came, he was bred to Collette. She had 6 puppies from that breeding. There were 4 boys and 2 girls. Two of these puppies were the ones raised by Fudder our cat.

I shouldn't have become so attached to Falla. Mom sold him the same time she sold his six litterbox trained puppies. The puppies (4 of them) were growing too large to be sold as Toys, and Mom didn't want to raise Miniatures, so Fala had to be replaced by a smaller male. Plus, my dad, who didn't want a houseful of dogs, didn't really want him around either. I was heartbroken. It wouldn't be the last time I would have to say goodbye to a really wonderful pet.

Our First Purebred Poodles

A summer photo of me taking Tiny and Collette for a bike ride. Looking back, I am amazed at a couple of things. 1. That the dogs didn't jump out of the basket and break their legs, and 2. That there are hardly any cars parked on the street. If you go to Eagle Street today, you usually won't find an open spot. Back in the 60s and 70s, most families had only 1 car, and all the old ladies on my street didn't have any cars. Today, everyone has at least 2 vehicles.



Musette and Tiny. These two dogs hated each other, and would try to kill each other any chance they got. A vet suggested that we muzzle them and let them fight it out without using their jaws. We tried it and they nearly dropped dead with exhaustion fighting anyhow. The plan didn't work, and Mom found a good home for Musette a week later.


Collette, Tiny, and Tiny's final puppy, Nopey. Tiny was about 11 or 12 years old when she had him. Nopey was an accident, and we never knew who the father was, since we never saw Tiny sneak out to meet her suitor. We didn't even think Tiny could get pregnant any more. Mom advertized Nopey as a "Toy St Bernard" and we had hundreds of calls. We could have sold dozens of Nopeys.
_____________________________________________________________________________________



Our first two poodles were a mother and daughter. The mother's name was Musette Smida, and her daughter's name was Nicole Collette. Musette was a large silver miniature from American and English lines. She had been bred to a tiny toy Champion from the famous Sassafras kennels in Topanga Canyon California. This sire's name was Ch. Sassaboy of Sassafras. They had two female puppies, Suzette and Collette. The owners kept Suzette, and we ended up with the other two.

Musette and Collette were both very sweet and friendly dogs. They liked kids, even putting up with my 2 year old brother and sister. They didn't mind our Manx cat either. The one problem however, was one that couldn't be remedied: Musette and Tiny hated each other. They couldn't stand even looking at each other and immediately went for each other's throats. Collette, who got along with everyone in the house, stood back and watched her mother and Tiny attack each other at any opportunity. After a particularly bloody battle, my mother realized that we couldn't keep both of those two alpha bitches. and Tiny had seniority. So Musette had to go. Once she was gone in a new home with no other dogs, Tiny was happy once again. Collette had no desire to challenge Tiny for the title of Alpha, and there was never a problem between those two dogs for the rest of their lives.

Of the two Poodles, Collette was by far the least attractive. Coming from a long legged mother and a short legged father, Collette took some traits from each parent. The results were not pretty. She had a long Miniature head and muzzle, short Toy ears and neck, a long thick body, and short, squat legs. Her body shape resembled a Basset Hound more than a Poodle's form. She was steel grey, and had large flat feet. But she was smart, calm, and sweet. And with that long wide body, it was a given that she could carry many puppies.

How it All Started

Tiny in her favorite spot--at Dad's feet. When he was relaxing in his leather La-Z-Boy, Tiny settled in with him.



Tiny's puppies from a Toy Poodle sire. One was white and the other turned silver.



Tiny, the family pet. She loved everyone in the family, and was always participating in some way in our activities. A poster dog for hybrid vigor, she lived to be about 15 years old, with no problems except for a bout of eclampsia with one of her litters.


_____________________________________________________________________________________
It all started back in the early 1960's. My Mom was a shrewd woman who was always looking for ways to make an extra buck to help keep her big family fed. In our family, you were useless unless you contributed. That not only included the humans, but also the animals. So, the cats and dogs were expected to labor for the good of the household. For them, labor meant, well, labor.

When I was born, I joined a family that already had a mixed breed dog named Tiny. Tiny was a small mostly white dog with a tan mask and ears, and a round tan spot on the base of her spine. Her plumed tail curled up over her back, and she stood about 13" tall at the shoulders. Mom said she was a mixture between a Poodle,Spitz, and Shetland Sheepdog. Tiny was an interesting hybrid because she rarely produced a puppy that resembled her. Mom soon discovered the beauty in Tiny's genes was almost magical: Tiny's puppies generally resembled their sire, almost to the point where they could "pass" as purebreds.

When bred to a Chihuahua, Tiny's puppies came out tiny, round-headed, fawn-colored, and shaky. Bred to a Dachshund, the two resulting offspring were dark brown, shorthaired, with long ears, bodies, and muzzles. A shaggy cream-colored Lhasa Apso sire gave Tiny 3 long-haired cream and tan fluff-balls. A silver Poodle father produced 4 curly-haired black puppies that started turning silver with their first clipping at 6 weeks of age.

Back in those days, before it became politically incorrect to breed your pet, Mom supplemented the family income by having a litter or two a year. It was never difficult to sell these cute little mongrels. Mom easily found homes for the puppies, by selling them for $25.00 a piece, or taking something in trade, like a used bicycle or books of trading stamps. People who already had one of Tiny's puppies came back for another one to add to the family.

Those Poodle-mix puppies were such a hit with the customers that Mom soon realized that if she were to have purebred AKC Poodle parents, she could sell the pups for a much higher price, and with dad getting laid off from his aerospace job every year or so, every extra buck counted. So, in 1968, Mom started looking around for an opportunity to buy an AKC Poodle. As luck would have it, she found a pair of females in the classified ad section of the local Heartland News.