Meet Crew Member: Dottie

We are delighted to introduce the Lolligag’s newest crew member, Dottie. Captain Mark and I have been “cat” people for a long long time since our family dog, Muffin, ran away from home in the late 1970’s leaving us all heart-broken and devastated. When planning and preparing for this trip, we very reluctantly and sadly for us but happily for the felines found homes (thank you Nina) for our two cats who literally and undeniably HATED the boat.

During our journeys we have met and seen many boaters who have pets aboard and the animals seem to actually love living on the boats. This made us (me) sad about not having our cats with us but neither of us was sad about not having a litter box on board. So we resigned ourselves to the knowledge that we would get a critter when our trip was completed.

Everything changed when we met Dottie for the first time at our daughter Beth’s house last summer when we were home for a visit. I must admit for all three of us, it was love at first sight. Beth rescues Pugs and it seems the older and sicker the Pug, the more Beth loves them. So following the passing of her most recent Pug rescue, Buddy, Beth decided that she would NOT rescue any more dogs – for at least six months. WELL, it did not surprise anyone who knows Beth that less than two weeks later, she announced that Dottie had been rescued. Beth selected Dottie from the “pound” because she looked so much like Muffin. As Beth soon discovered, Dottie is indeed a perfect dog = for OLD people. Dottie does not play well with others and favors her “only child” status. Most notably, Dottie is very protective, loyal and does not share her owners well so when Beth served as a rescue/foster home, Dottie did not welcome the Pugs or any little children who visited.

As much as we can tell, Dottie is a Cairn Terrier/Lhasa Apso mix and has the cutest and best features of each breed. It was all that we could do to restrain ourselves from taking her last summer but we all agreed to wait until October when we returned to Lionville before allowing Dottie a trial visit to our home. A wonderful transformation occurred as the bond between Dottie and us cemented immediately. She loved having us entirely to herself and we both fell hard for those huge brown eyes and constantly wagging tail. She adores spending her days sitting on Captain Mark’s lap only interrupted by their long walks all around town. We have found that she does not like going into pet stores as she thinks she will be left for grooming but loves having her hair blown dry following a delicious bubble bath.

Not that she is spoiled or anything like that BUT we did have to purchase a new bed…we have had the same bedroom suite since we were married (42+ years ago) that included a standard double bed. After four nights of the three of us sleeping in that small area, the frugal Captain Mark readily agreed that we needed to upgrade to a queen sized bed and all three of us have been much happier ever since.

While Beth and Chris are very disappointed that Dottie does not live at their house any longer, they quickly admit that Dottie has it made as the Lolligag’s newest crew member.