Albannach
JUSCOT Skye of Tokomaru - Skye
Whilst Nisea and Nessie lived their lives mainly as solo dogs with human companions and the occasional furry friend, we decided in Nessie's later years to bring her a Scottie companion. Judy Sargent came to the rescue, and we were lucky to get Skye (officially Juscot Skye Of Tokomaru). Nessie would only live one more year, but that short year was lived to the full by both girls; Nessie had the patience of a saint but was also accomplice in mischief at times.
"Skye, you have been an adorable companion to Nessie and your turn has come to be the leader of the pack. Kudos to you for maintaining your role as the matriarch, it is not easy every day. You live up to the reputation of the Scottie, aka stubbornness; don't change, we love you the more for it."
JUSCOT Queen of Hearts - Isla
When Nessie passed the rainbow bridge, young Skye was only one year old, and she was feeling lonely despite all our efforts to keep her busy. We called Judy again, but no puppy was available. Until a month later, when, out of the blue on a Sunday morning, we get a phone call from Judy telling us she was at a show in Porirua and would have a 5-month-old girl if we were still looking for one. We have never been so quickly out of our pijamas and on the road as on that Sunday morning! One and a half hours later we were in Porirua and met little Isla. Was she destined to be a show-dog? Probably, but it wouldn't have been her thing.
"Isla, I like your independence and true Scottishness above all. You can be the fiercest when it comes to the neighbour's cat, our chooks or those poor hedgehogs, yet you are a very loving girl with a hint of mischief. You deserve the name Judy gave you, Queen Of Hearts"
Skye (left) - Isla (right)
A NEW ARRIVAL (SKYE) AND NESSIE'S LAST YEAR
Our Nessie was getting older and a bit more solitary, so we thought that a young companion would keep her on her toes; we were also conscious that few Scotties made it past their twelfth anniversary and the difficulties to find a puppy in New Zealand, so we contacted Judy again to be put on the waiting list. Within a year we got the phone call letting us know that a girl was available.
A first for us, we welcomed our new puppy at the airport; it took her all of 5 minutes to adopt these new people and a surprise was waiting in the car, a mate called Nessie. We settled on the name SKYE.
Nessie wasn't too sure what to make of that new arrival. She wasn't off-putting, rather curious, with that typical Scottie attitude of "I am only remotely interesting but still need to keep an eye on it from the side". Within a couple of hours she has completely accepted Skye and even her sleep with her.
Little Skye was a handful. Right from the start she showed signs of a strong will and that life was going to be on her terms, which, at the time, was mainly around playing tug of war for hours with her two favourite toys: orange foxy and the plastic doll-stick. Foxy had lots of squeaky things in it and the mere sight of its face drew her nuts: she had to attack it and shake it! After two and a half hours of this regimen, it was time for a sleep - welcome to us, we were also in the middle of extensive renovations.
TERRIERS AND MUD
Clay soil is not ideal for drainage and in winter our place turned into a bog. A paradise for terriers, little Skye loved it, Nessie not so much.
It started with a muddy snauzer but very quickly turned into a full blown mud face-mask and sticky fur, which always resulted into a trip to the bath which she wasn't so keen on.
During the renovations we decided to get rid of all the carpets and replace them with tiles whilst the fabric sofa was replaced with two leather sofas to accommodate a growing family. Best ideas ever, we never regretted either choice.
Oh, and a new Sabco bucket and mop ;-) We now had paw marks on the tiles every time they ventured outside.
LOSS OF A BEST FRIEND
Nessie was aging gracefully. Despite the big age difference, her and Skye were good friends and spent a lot of time together, often working as a team when it came to opening treat packages - also with their friend Lola the chicken who thought she was a dog, everyone waiting for my hands to drop something.
Nessie was that soothing force that moderated Skye, whilst Skye was full of energy and want of adventures which often got Nessie back onto her feet and off on a wander.
Last photo together
One Sunday morning in July 2019, Nessie refused to eat and a couple of days later came the dreadful news: cancer. Her passing was a horrible time for the family and Skye was suddenly feeling very lonely. We gave her a lot of time to play with her, tug-o-war having always been her favourite, but despite all our efforts, she was longing for furry companionship. We called Judy again but no puppy was available. The following week we seriously considered adopting a dog though our preference would have been for a Scottie. Then ....
HERE COMES ISLA
Sunday morning we get a phone call from Judy: she was at a dog show in Porirua and had a five month old girl for us. We got dressed as fast as possible, picked up Skye, drove down to Porirua with as much anticipation as if Christmas had come and soon we met a young bundle of joy with adorable eyes and a very active tongue and we were all over the moon. Judy was most likely trialing her to become a show dog but ultimately decided to keep her sister. Isla - as we named her - had a lovely shape and head, a nice nature but even the most basic concepts of obedience were just not her thing. At the time of writing this, Isla is 4.5 years old and hasn't changed a bit: she does what she wants, when she wants it :-)
Isla really had a sweet nature, always wanting to please us as well as Skye. Both girls went on well from day one, Skye being the dominant one but without conflicts. Skye was 1.5 years old, Isla 5 months, so both were still juveniles and time was mostly spent together doing all sorts of mischief. They also started to copy each other's behaviour - Isla's favourite, still to this day, is to lay on her back to get a belly rub.
This is also the time when the girls found a new interesting game: jumping and laying on "dad" when he came down to their level. Not sure dad realised what this means to dogs, the habit has never ceased and there are now 4 very demanding Scotties in the daily 1 to 20 minutes routine.
WHO IS WHO
As time went on and both girls grew older, it became increasingly difficult to recognise them especially when they were due for a groom. New collars were the solution, red tartan for Skye and blue tartan for Isla. There were some subtle differences though: Skye had a longer head and tail whilst Isla's back was shorter and her tail sat higher.
THE WATCH TOWER
With some scrap wood, Paul built the contraption below. Two platforms with artificial grass which the girls could jump easily, and a hiding hole at the bottom. From a Scottie's point of view, being so close to the ground all the time, this was to become their favourite spot. From there they could suddenly keep an eye on their territory and the surrounding area.
Favourite games
Tug of war and catching mice in the chicken's grain sack (the mouse escaped but was caught by ... a chicken).
Isla (left) - Skye (right)
Daily Routine
Making sure the humans know the hierarchy
RANDOM PHOTOS
(Use arrows to move to the next picture)
