Bingo is a black miniature poodle, weighing about 15 pounds. Jose was an apple dome Chihuahua, weighing about 4 pounds. Jose would get up in Bingo's face and bark, until Bingo laid his head against Jose and cried. Bingo is the most laid-back dog that I have ever owned. Jose just died (June 1998). Apparent heart attack. Jose's son, Skeeter, looks just like him, except for a less severe stop, but has a much quieter disposition. Skeeter is one of three young pups that we raised that have had trouble with hypoglycemia, and had to be specially fed to survive. The other two are Jean-Pierre, a white poodle, and Prince William, a Yorkie. These dogs are now almost one year old, and none of them weighs more than two pounds.

Bambi is another apple dome Chihuahua, a spayed female. She is the only one of our dogs that is a biter. She waits until a stranger starts to leave, and then nips the ankles.

Candy (not shown) is a 13 year old toy poodle. When she was younger, she was a deep red, as was Flame, but they have now faded. Candy can get out of any cage that does not require an opposed thumb to work the latch, and she climbs the chain link fence around the dog yard to get into the house. (We have several doggy doors, one of which is left open for the cat.) So we now just let Candy in the house all the time. BTW, while not in this picture our cat TC (named after an old TV cartoon series called Top Cat) often shares my lap with the dogs. Another cat, Twerp, shares the dog yard with the house dogs, eating dog food and generally playing well with them.

Other house dogs are Tasha, an orange Pomeranian, Rosie, a black Pom, Charlie Brown, another black poodle, and Fergie, a Yorkshire terrier (named after the former Duchess of York). We used to have a Yorkie male we named Prince Andrew, but we have moved him on to another breeder. Our Yorkie male is named Sammywell Small, after the Yorkshireman who allegedly delayed the battle of Waterloo. (This is an old Yorkshire tale, which in the early 40s was recited on radio by the blind pianist, Alec Templeton--"Sam, Sam, pick up thy musket!").

For a period of 3 months just before I retired there was an urgent need for a short term replacement magistrate in Upshur County WV, where I lived. The former magistrate resigned in order to run for sheriff and I was appointed because the appointment of an attorney obviated the need for 6 weeks of schooling in the law, and my practice was so concentrated in the Bankruptcy Court that I would have no conflicts between my practice and the magistrate office. Often I would get called out to the office at night, usually on domestic conflicts, and would arrive to find that both sides had brought a 'team' with them. I got in the habit of bringing Charlie Brown in with me, and since he is a very outgoing dog I left him with the 'teams' while I talked to the 'combatants', and he really defused many hostile situations. I also used to go to the jail on Saturday mornings to see if there were any overnight arrests that needed processing, and I brought my Bouvier de Flanders, Socrates with me on these visits. That was apparently the high point in the week for many of the inmates, who used to like to talk to him. (Socks is now with a breeder who has a female Bouvier).