Dougal, pictured on the left in the Christmas photo, joined the family in March 2001 when he was four years old. He was released to a shelter because the original family could not break him of peeing in the house. I was supposed to transport him from a shelter around Baltimore to the Westie Rescue Vet. I brought Lucy along for the ride. The two cuddled and played all the way back to College Park. Rather than taking him to the Westie Rescue Vet, I took him to mine. It turned out that Dougal had a urinary track infection. A round of antibiotics cleared it all up for he has never peed in my house.
Dougal’s original name was Snoops named after Snoops Doggy Dog. Somehow the name of a rap singer did not seem fitting for a scottish dog. I started calling him Dougal, after a character in a Diane Gabaldon novel, The Outlander. He and Lucy are great together and they keep each other company. Westies, on a whole, are known for their high energy and clown-like antics. Dougal is a real layed back little guy and a cuddle pup. He holds a Canine Good Citizen certificate. His Westie characteristics come out when he enters the garage. We have a detached garage that is primarily used to store the lawn care equipment and other such tools. Each time my husband opens the garage door, Dougal plunges under the opening door in hopes of catching a rat. He has, on occasion, done so. It is amazing how he does it. One time I saw him catch a rat, shake it, and throw it down. Before the rat could run away, Dougal picked it up again, shook it which broke its neck. He danced around in the back yard with the rat in his mouth as if to show off his trophy. He usually leaves me gifts like that on the back stoop. One time he brought a baby opossum in through the doggy door and dropped it at my feet. It was not dead… only playing opossum. My husband found another use for a snow shovel, yuck!
