Our toy poodle, Coco, passed away last August after 11 years with us. This left us with Bandit our 11 year old JRT whom we adopted some 6 years back. So we thought about adopting another dog. We figured Bandit would enjoy the company as well. So we put the word out.
When Noah’s Ark Cares told us they had a young sweet male JRT for adoption, we were thrilled & excited to meet him. He had been abandoned by his previous owner.
 Checking female dogs out on the internet!
And so D-Day came when we took Bandit down to meet Russell (as he was called then) in neutral territory. Russell is much smaller compared to Bandit who is short-legged, long bodied, broad chested & a tough cookie…very muscular (seriously ! he is not fat. Fat dogs cannot jump as high as he can).
 Bandit & Gambit
The first meeting was good, no aggressiveness which signalled that we could move on to the next step, taking them both up to the apartment. The nimble dance of rear-end sniffing & circling ensued. I was a little nervous as I was afraid that Bandit would turn on the smaller dog. Fortunately, just little growls from Bandit when Russell became too enthusiastic.
 Gambit & BanditAnd so we decided to keep Russell for a few days. By the first day we were already charmed by his sweet nature & my two teenaged children were already tossing names around. But we had to be practical & ensure that the two dogs would get along before we made the decision. Bandit had to remain Da Top Dawg…he gets petted & loved first so that he will not feel usurped.  MINE! NO! ITS MINE! Featuring our stars on the Left: Bandit, Right: GambitPoor Russell was very anxious when he was left with us & he quickly latched on to me. His anxiety resulted in major backend reaction. This little dog could fart like there was no tomorrow ! He gave off silencers…the worst kind ! Bottle this & we could smoke out Mas Selamat & Osama in no time.
Despite the smelly emissions, we were won over. He was named Gambit, in honour of an X-men character. If I had my way, he would have been named Kentot. And thus Gambit came to live with us.
As his confidence grew, Gambit’s playfulness emerged. And being much younger than Bandit, loves to play, gambolling all over. Tug o war with a towel is his favourite game which he plays with us humans.
Tug of war with the towel!
He tries to coax Bandit to play but his lordship won’t. There’s this hop-bump with nose-hop-yip from Gambit onto any part of Bandit’s body. Bandit bestows on him the most disdainful look & walks away. Gambit is undeterred…tries again. And so his lordship gets annoyed. He growls softly & when Gambit doesn’t give up, growls louder accompanied by short barks & when Gambit really pushes it, Bandit snaps, literally. His snaps don’t connect & you will see Gambit give this huge bunny hop away. But he comes back for more & we just shake our heads & roll our eyes at his foolhardiness.
 Sharing is caring...Hubby says it is payback time for Bandit because he used to annoy Coco by trying to get her to play & she being a hoity-toity French Princess (in her mind), would growl, snap & daintily show him her flufty behind. And like Gambit, he would still not give up. We wonder if Bandit experiences déjà vu in moments like these ? Gambit is not only sweet natured but very bright. He learnt where to pee & poop rather quickly & also knows basic commands. Despite his small stature his bark is rough & gruff. We laugh at it. It is not loud, just hoarse. Like Rod Stewart with a sore throat.  Gambit in his down-stay modeHe likes to sit on our son or daughter’s lap while either one of them is on the laptop (he’s the lapdog) & gets his paws on the keyboard. Our daughter has one-sided conversations with him which goes like this.....eh don't close my conversation (her msn chats).....eh why you highlight the text.....I cannot see the screen, can you sit quietly & read.....don't you dare fart on my lap....are you sleeping ? do you dream ?  Lap Dog! Bandit on the other hand, is too big for a lap cuddle (his butt will hang over) but he lays his head down on any part of your body that he fancies & uses his nose to push your hand to demand his petting fix. He shoves Gambit out of the way deliberately though he pretends like “ooops didn’t see you small fart”.  Welcoming us home everyday without fail..Bandit & Gambit now sometimes share the same bedding though they each have their own, rump to rump, not quite nose to nose yet. They share the same toys & eat together. They are becoming accustomed to one another; Bandit being more tolerant so long as Gambit is less annoying. They won’t be BFF yet but it is looking good. As he gains more confidence, Gambit’s malodorous silencers lessen. Or maybe it’s the food…we don’t really know. We still get the occasional whiff. And the next time we have visitors over for dinner, we can say it’s the dog. And it really won’t be an excuse.  Many kisses to my newfound family!Please don't forget to check out the 2 videos below. We're so lucky to have him (: Gambit came trained!Some fun doggy time with Bandit and Gambit!**Article, pictures & videos kindly contributed by Mrs Jen-Wee Almodiel 
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