Our pals

Mikey

Mikey Mouynés –aka Mikeyviris (pronounced Mikeyveerees)- our English Cocker Spaniel, was Daniel’s 6th Birthday present, almost 7 years ago. From day one, he became part of Daniel’s group of friends, and you could find him pulling the kids in skateboards or roller-blades or just hanging around like another one of the guys. 

To say that he’s unique is such an understatement! Twice he got himself trapped in the fridge, while sneaking to get some goodies, and more than once he has fallen into the pool while being distracted by Skippy -the cat-, a bird, or just because…

It took him –an Englishman, you see- a while to understand the Havanese sense of humor, but after a few weeks of total perplexity when Lola arrived, he joined in and now participates in their “original” Hav games, adding his own “vocal” participation to the fun. Being a hunting dog, he’s quite a natural at howling. It took him some time to teach his Hav pals to follow instructions (not naturals in that department), and now you may hear the most terribly out-of-tune chorus “serenade” us once in a while. A good guy by nature, with an unmatched heart and tenderness, Mikey is real easy to trick, or ask Lola and Candela about it!

Alejandro

Formerly known as “Alejandra” –until two “tumors” grew on her private parts (Yeah, right, you should have seen the Vet’s face when we took “her” to get checked) - Alejandro just appeared at the front door of Allegro, our store, on the eve of the Chinese New Year, celebrating –yes, you guessed it- the Year of the Rabbit! With that coincidence, and the fact that he chose us, we took his arrival as a good omen and Alejandro came to live with us at our apartment. Yes, back then, we were living in an apartment with Alfie, Mikey, Puki –the hamster- and Ale, the rabbit.

Alejandro has made us reconsider all our previous beliefs about bunnies being sweet and fluffy babies you have to protect. Smart and savvy –like the great Bugs- Alejandro became the sole owner of the apartment’s laundry area and now of our new house too. He’d rather eat spaghetti than the cliché carrot, and ice-cream –just eaten on celebrations- drives him nuts. He comes when called, loves to be pet –he pushes your hand to keep going should you dare to stop-, and he lets Mikey – the hunting dog- know, in not so tender ways, that he rules in his area of the house.

Skippy

The only one that stayed out of the … 3, 5, 10? cats that Daniel has “rescued” since we moved to our new home -and that, for that matter, we have had to look for a home outside the Mouynés Zoo-, Skippy has taught us that being a cat does have its strong points. Being confessed dog-people, it took an amazing cat to win us over. It was really sweet to see Nicole and Daniel win his trust, one day at a time. Ale’s best friend, it shouldn’t surprise you to find them snuggled together. Maybe it was Alejandro who told him not to be scared –when he arrived tiny and traumatized- to just relax, because he had arrived at a great place.

But the Havanese started to come in, one by one, and Skippy –as cool as a typical cat- decided that he’d better find a more suitable place to take his afternoon naps. We found that out when our neighbor called us to let us know that the cat was taking his breaks in their bed! “I’ll talk to him” –my husband calmly responded, displaying a cool feline attitude unknown to us all!

TOP

Before we get to our pals´photo album, we would like to share with you this story about Mikey:

When Alfie, my 14 year-old companion and Mikey’s partner, passed away, Mikey cried during 3 consecutive nights. No matter what we tried to do to appease him, he would just howled, the most heart-wrenching sound you’ve ever heard.

Alfie always slept in our room; he was always by my side. Mikey would choose between my son’s or my daughter’s rooms, sometimes changing his mind in the middle of the night and driving them crazy!!! Well, after Alfie’s passing, he adopted me. There was no power on earth that would make him leave my side. Not only did he sleep with us, he would follow me around wherever I went.

In the meantime, while looking for a companion with all of Alfie’s traits, I discovered the Havanese. It was love at first sight. I had to wait for months -that seemed like the longest time- for my first baby Hav. Mikey waited with me, laid down besides me in my office while I did my research, sent emails, and watched as many pictures of Havanese as I could find.

Charlie was born in Arizona on April 11, 2001, the same day that Alfie would have turned 14. Not only that: he was black with white markings in exactly the same places of Alfie’s markings! When I saw his picture, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

That night, for the first time in more than 5 months, Mikey went to sleep with my son.

TOP

Photo Album of our friends.

Here are some cute pictures that we want to share with you.  As our Mom has started more and more to play with her digital camera, we bet you'll see plenty more photographs of Mikey, Ale and Skippy in the near future.  Click on the picture to enlarge, and enjoy!

TOP