It's A Dog's Life

The Old Man has always loved dogs. Through the years, I've had several. Before there was Hobo, LuLu, and George Henry, there were much earlier versions. Here's the rundown.

My earliest memory was of Jake. Jake was my dad's bird dog. I can't recall whether or not he was worth much for hunting, but when we partnered, we were good for a laugh according to Mom.

Jake taught me a lot of useful skills. I'm told (and photographic evidence proves it) that when I was asked, "What does Jake do?" I didn't respond with the typical "Woof Woof". Noooooo, not me.

After Jake, came Bootsie. Bootsie I vaguely remember. Funny how things stick with you. What I remember most about Bootsie was his habit of spending hour after hour chasing his tail. He caught it once, bit down, and then yelped like a banshee.

Bootsie eventually gave way to Brownie. Brownie was unremarkable until he was hit by a car. He wasn't badly damaged with the exception of his tail. It never again wagged. It just hung there like a roll of flypaper. Fast forward a few years. Then came Pedro. Pedro had the most acute hearing I've ever seen. At the time, I had a small motorcycle that I used on my paper route. Mom & Dad would be sitting on the front porch catching the cool of late afternoon. Suddenly Pedro would bound up from his snooze and bolt out to the end of the driveway. He knew the sound of my cycle and would hear it long before mere humans. Never failed......he was always waiting.

Folks had a little different relationship with dogs in those days. In a small rural town like Bedford, the vets were kept pretty busy with the larger farm animals. Dog owners did a lot of the minor "patch-ups" for our pets. We'd use disinfectant on cuts, flea powder as needed, and bandages where necessary. We pulled ticks off them with needle-nose pliers, and fed them whatever was left from our own supper. Occasional treats included, ice cream, cookies, and cheese. I never saw a dog that didn't like cheese. Sometimes we would overdo the sweets. Our dogs would then come down with the "hypers". Brownie, for example would react to sugar, bouncing around like PeeWee Herman after a 6-pack of Red Bull with a Vault chaser.

I would be remiss if I didn't say a simple "Thank you" to Jake, Bootsie, Brownie, and Pedro. You all played a part in my life that was appropriate for the time. We are all products of every experience we have had on our life journey, and I learned from you all.