Miss Matilda

It has been a month now since we lost Miss Matilda. I still miss her terribly -- she and I went everywhere together and she was my constant, tiny companion. That dog was always finding new and creative ways of causing trouble. No surface in the house was safe -- she had the agility of a cat and the smarts of a bad dog. Her nickname, in fact, was Bad Dog. We all miss her, but we are grateful for the time that we had with her.

Our dear friend and Grammy-winning designer Sally took this photo of the entire Donoghue Nation for Fido's article in Chicagoland Tails. Both dogs are looking at the camera because Sal balanced a slice of cheese on her shoulder while shooting.

Isn't she sweet? She looks very noble in this photo.









Our new house came with a fabulous feature -- a dog-washing bin. Actually, it is a laundry tub, but Miss Matilda fit inside perfectly. She hated getting hosed down. She was such a tiny thing - at bath time, you could see that beneath all of that soft black cocker fur was just a tiny little runt dog.


Tilly Willy just got her haircut. The groomer gave her a Winnie the Pooh bandana but didn't stop there -- she added the humiliating detail of matching blue and yellow ribbons in her ears. As cute as she was with her Pooh-bear accessories, Tilly didn't realize how ridiculous she looked growling menacingly at a toy, another dog, or one of us, with dainty blue and yellow ribbons in her ears.


Tilly loved playing with Dave. He would hold one end of a toy (usually Lefty, a stuffed zebra with but a single limb) while Tilly, snarling and growling, would hold the other end in her chompers. Sometimes he would lift up the toy, suspending her in mid-air as she held tight with her teeth. In this picture, she is just loving him. Very sweet.