Rygel is such a little man. Around here, we often call him Sir Rygel.
He got his name from the television show Farscape, after Dominar Rygel XVI. From the day he arrived at our house, he lived up to the name. Tiny in size but enormous in confidence, Sir Rygel has always believed the world revolves around him. He is part Pomeranian and part Boston Terrier, and we absolutely adore him.
Kaya, on the other hand, had absolutely no idea what to do with this tiny creature. She is part Labrador and Border Collie, not much older than Rygel and enormous by comparison.
The poor girl was both patient and completely bewildered.
Rygel would climb all over her, twisting her fur into little “teats” as he searched for milk that simply didn’t exist. Kaya would glance over at us with an expression that clearly said, Would somebody please explain this little guy to me? Whatever should I do?
Meanwhile, Sir Rygel remained completely convinced that if he just kept looking, he was eventually going to find what he was after.
Bless Kaya’s heart. She tolerated every minute of it.
Starfire, my Karelian Bear Dog, was an entirely different story.
Sir Rygel toddled over with the same plan in mind.
One low growl later…
That experiment was officially over.
At his first veterinary appointment, my daughter and Rygel were standing next to a woman whose dog had recently had puppies. The moment Rygel caught the scent of milk, he instantly started crying. The mother dog invited him to come nurse.
Rygel’s weaning was clearly not going well, and he wasn’t getting any opportunities to nurse to his heart’s content. Thankfully, over time his desire to nurse faded—much to Kaya’s relief.
Starfire, on the other hand, had very firm boundaries. Nursing was out of the question, and sniffing her butt was absolutely forbidden.
Only she was allowed to sniff butt being the head dog!
Eventually my daughter moved out taking Rygel with her. His absence left quite an emptiness in the evenings but we still had him daily. My daughter dropped him off every single day before she headed to work and picked him up afterwards.
Every day was a circus with those three dogs.
Rygel was tiny enough to scoot underneath the coffee table, where he considered himself completely untouchable. Kaya and Star would race around the table while Sir Rygel stuck his little head out and snapped viciously at them every time they ran past. In his mind, he was absolutely terrifying.
One day, however, he made a mistake.
His tail was sticking out from under the table.
Kaya spotted it and grabbed hold, trying to pull him out. I quickly made her let go before anyone got hurt.
This chaos happened regularly, often while I was in the kitchen on a phone call or video call. I could never have a quiet conversation with those three around.
So much madness… and I enjoyed every moment!!
Another moment that still makes me chuckle happened when Rygel dashed into his puppy bed tent during another episode of madness in the house of dogs barking and chasing one another.
Kaya ran over to the puppy tent. Sir Rygel was fiercely protecting his domain, snapping ferociously at Kaya from inside his little fortress.
Then Kaya did something I never expected.
She picked up the puppy tent—with Rygel still inside.
I absolutely cracked up laughing.
There was Kaya swinging the puppy tent around while Sir Rygel stuck his head out, growling and barking as if he were still the mighty protector of his kingdom. Kaya, meanwhile, looked quite pleased with herself.
Of course, I had to make her put the puppy tent down. I didn’t want Rygel getting accidentally hurt.
I only wish I had thought to video it.
My daughter often walks Rygel down to our house every day instead of driving. On rainy days or during spring breakup, there are puddles everywhere.
Sir Rygel will have none of it.
He insists on being carried. Getting his feet wet is simply unacceptable.
Going potty during these times can become quite an ordeal too. He will often wait until he reaches my yard, or he will sneak underneath the trampoline at my daughter’s house for privacy, of course.
At night, he insists that my daughter protect him at her house. She has to accompany him outside while he takes care of business.
At my house, he has the girls to protect him.
After all, even Sir Rygel must have a security team at all times – especially when he is the most vulnerable.
Rygel likes his quiet moments too.
Nap time, for example, is very important in Sir Rygel’s world.
Before my husband Dave passed away, Rygel and Dave would snuggle together on the couch. The girls would lie on the floor as his protectors, of course, allowing him to rest peacefully while stretched out on his back.
Now that Dave is gone, Rygel has decided that I am a suitable substitute.
When 1:00 pm rolls around, he starts his routine. He runs to the bedroom, runs back to find me, and does everything he can to encourage me to take a nap.
Of course, I can’t say no to him.
The girls often follow us and lie on the floor around my bed, continuing their important duties as Rygel’s protectors.
Sir Rygel must check on his girls, Kaya and Star, on weekends when he spends the day with my daughter.
If she turns left when running errands instead of turning right toward our house, he has an absolute meltdown. A complete panic.
The first time it happened, my daughter thought he was having some sort of seizure and took him to the veterinarian. It turned out Sir Rygel was simply having a very strong opinion about his plans changing.
Now, she drops him off at my house before she runs errands and he spends the day.
Sir Rygel has made multiple trips to the vet over the years for the oddest things: emotional meltdowns, reactions to vaccinations, and, of course, his neutering.
Oh my.
When he was neutered, the vet’s office forgot to send pain medication home with him. It wasn’t long before Sir Rygel made his feelings very clear. He ended up back at the vet, where they explained that he was extremely sensitive and needed pain medication. We were amazed they hadn’t provided pain medication in the first place. After all, he is Sir Rygel! Poor little man that he is!
Sir Rygel has his musts also.
He must have his blue bear. His treats must be a certain size. And his canned food must be cut into small pieces for him to properly consume.
After all, one cannot expect Sir Rygel to lower his standards. He is, after all, sensitive and quite delicate in nature, as you know.
Sir Rygel has his very own cat—or perhaps it is the other way around. Perhaps the cat has Sir Rygel.
Jayce, a lovely ginger tabby, lives with Sir Rygel and absolutely adores him. Sir Rygel, on the other hand, merely tolerates him.
Jayce has a bit of a weight problem and enjoys using Rygel for his own comfort. He likes to prop himself against Rygel while bathing, completely ignoring Sir Rygel’s importance.
Jayce simply does not care.
To him, Rygel is there for his convenience. He is there to lean against, to use as a pillow, and apparently to sleep on.
Sir Rygel tolerates this indignity, but you can imagine the dismay on his little face. He even does a bit of sniveling.
After all, this treatment is beneath him.
“My people, why don’t you correct this situation?!”
Right after we got Rygel, we learned very quickly how sensitive he was—and he still is to this day.
One day, I came in carrying an armload of wood and saw baby Rygel standing there watching me. Just for fun, I blew a raspberry at him as I walked by.
The look of pure disgust that came over his face was priceless.
He turned around and immediately left the room.
Of course, I had to test whether it was merely a coincidence. When he came back into the room, I blew another raspberry.
He looked absolutely shocked and left the room again.
That confirmed it.
Sir Rygel does not tolerate such behavior. He finds such behaviour quite offensive.
He is the same way with certain other unpleasant sounds. If anyone passes gas, he immediately scrambles to get away from the area.
My son, of course, being a guy, can be quite crude some days. One day, he deliberately let out a loud fart while Rygel was sitting right next to him.
Rygel took off like his life depended on it, escaping that horrible odor assaulting his delicate nostrils, while my son nearly fell over laughing.
Poor Sir Rygel. It was quite a long time before he returned to the room.
My son refuses to babysit Sir Rygel.
Why?
Because Rygel will cry and snivel the entire time my daughter is gone when he is with my son. He doesn’t do that with us.
By 3:00 pm, Sir Rygel expects her to come get him, although that doesn’t happen very often. When she doesn’t appear, he takes up his waiting position. Sometimes he sits in the doorway, and other times he sits on the back of the couch, watching and hoping for a glimpse of his favorite person in the whole world—my daughter, his mistress.
His little forlorn face says it all: sad eyes, droopy ears, and the look of a dog who believes he has been forgotten.
Then, the moment he sees her, everything changes.
He is suddenly full of joy, bouncing around and running outside excitedly to greet her.
After the excitement settles, he goes to make up his bed and show her where she can sleep.
He doesn’t want her to leave—even if he gets to go with her.
Sir Rygel wants his entire pack together.
He wants her to stay too.
Sir Rygel, along with Kaya and Starfire, are now aging rapidly. It makes me sad, honestly.
I try not to dwell too much on the reality that one day the three of them will be on the other side of the veil, being themselves again—but young, full of energy and joy, chasing one another around and waiting for us to join them.
My Dave will be there to greet them.
Until that time, I will continue enjoying every moment with them, even though it is sometimes difficult to see how much they have slowed down.
Well, the two girls have slowed down.
Sir Rygel still has a little pep in his step, thankfully. After all, even an aging Sir Rygel must maintain his dignity. Such a precious little man, he is!!
❤️
