Peppo, the Westie …

Our Parisian Westie, Peppo. Actually, he is 100% American and has never set his foot in Paris 🙂 But, Paris is where I fell in love with Westies. When I lived there early 2000, I would see many Westies on the streets of Paris minding their own business and quietly following their owners. Many times without the leash!

But, there was one particular Westie called Peppo. Near my studio in Odeon, one popular creperies had Peppo and he would parade inside the restaurant visiting the diners and leaving the hostess not much to do. Often I saw him outside of the restaurant entrance. With Westie confidnce, he would scan people who innocently walk by minding their own business. If he did not like any of them, he would bark at them. After he chased the poor souls, he would come back proudly to his post at the entrance. Fortunately, he never barked at me. Whew~

Back in America, when I got married, one of the first things we did was getting a Westie puppy. You guessed it right! We named him Peppo. Unlike his French cousin, our Peppo is more modest and gentle. After fourteen years with us, he is still with us and enjoying his retirement with his accidental sister Ruby. Ruby, the maltese who owns the world with Napoleon syndrome (here goes another French connection) has an identify issue – cat disguised in a dog suit. But, we still love her 🙂

Last September, our Peppo received a terminal diagnosis with tumor growing on his liver . We were told that Peppo had three to eight months. Now, it is almost a year and our gentle beloved Westie presses on. Long live, Westie! Salut to that.