Reggie, the Queen

One spring evening, most likely a pizza and wine night at my house, my sister, sister-in-law and I were sipping and chatting at my kitchen table. My seven-year-old son excused himself into our conversation-- some of you might use the word “interrupted”—and was excited to show us his daily journal filled with stories about his dog, Rex, The King.

         “I didn’t know you had a dog,” my sister said with quite a bit of surprise since she visited my house most days.

         “Just go with it,” I said then sipped.

         For the early years of my son's elementary school life he told tales, and journal stories, about our dog Rex, The King. They were wonderful narratives: What did you do over the week end? “Played catch with my dog Rex.”  Best part about Christmas vacation? “Playing with my dog Rex.” Who’s your best friend? “My dog Rex, The King.”

         The only problem was that we did not have a dog! When he turned 8 years old, and the last of his three older sisters went away to college, he cried, "I have no more sisters left." So, we finally brought a dog home for him.

         But, then we had another conundrum; we couldn’t name HER Rex, The King. I called my father, who had named the two Great Danes we grew up with Thor and Bacchus, for some help. To him it was simple, “If you can’t name her Rex, The King (which is funny …since he named me Kyle) name her Regina, The Queen.

         Reggie, which soon became her nickname, could not be any smarter nor any sweeter. She could not be any more well-behaved, nor have any more personality. And that is not just me talking! She graduated from Pre-school "First in her Class" and was dubbed "Little Miss Personality." She then moved on to Post-graduate and literally kept up with the big dogs. Because Reggie was such a dream pet, two of my daughters and two of my sisters adopted puppies. None of them, as ideal as Reggie (I’m not biased or anything!)

         Reggie is an apricot beauty, svelte and sleek with velvet-like fur and half-inch long eyelashes that emphasize her expression-filled eyes. Her mother was a white Poodle and her father a Cocker Spaniel, making her a Cockerpoo, a mutt. Yet, she has always believed she was a show dog; she stands like a prize-winning Standard Poodle, she runs around like a Greyhound on a racetrack, and she jumps like an Olympic Jumper Horse. Now that she is into her 14th year, no one is going to let her think that she is anything less.                                                                                                                           

         I’ve told my children many times over, “If I had Reggie first, I would have had four dogs and no children.” My son graduates from college this month so that means for a while now Reggie has been my sidekick, my travel companion, and my wine buddie, thanks to her I never have to drink alone. 

         Fun Fact: International Cabernet Sauvignon Day is always the Thursday before Labor Day! And, this year it falls on her birthday August 31th, 2017. She hits the right Thursday one out of every seven years. So, in dog years, that means every year is International Cabernet Sauvignon Day on her Birthday, right?  Works for me!  Reggie and I… the perfect pairing.