A friend and his wife retired from full-time day jobs, and his wife now breeds dogs. My friend helps…primarily by playing with and falling in love with all the puppies. He seemed surprised at an observation I made of him today. “Do you realize that every time you talk about the puppies your entire face lights up?”
And it does. He breaks into a smile so broad and genuine that you just know he feels pure joy from those pups. And you can’t help but smile along with him as he tells you of the latest puppy adventure.
A dog can melt the heart of a mere mortal.
When my children were three and six, I came home from work one spring day to find them playing outside on the swing set. They called out, “Hi Mommy!” Our childcare helper waved to me, and the dog, a Jack Russell Terrier, stood up and wagged hello to me.
I remember asking myself, “Do we have a dog and I’ve forgotten?” Because we didn’t have a dog at the time.
Kelsie, as it turned out, seemed to enjoy living at our house rather than at her own. Her owners would eventually show up to retrieve her. Then a few days later, she’d show up again.
Just a few days ago, my daughter and I came across a school writing assignment notebook that she had kept in first grade. Here’s what she wrote on April 2, 1990: The same dog came. Her owners came to get her. Oh and her name is Kelsie. I loved her.
A few years later we did get our own “pound puppy” from the animal shelter. My daughter gave her the ferocious name of Cupcake.
Cupcake quickly adapted to living in the country. She was never leashed for walks since she got plenty of exercise running in the fields and swimming in the pond. When my husband bush-hogged the fields, Cupcake ran behind the tractor, pouncing on the field mice that had been stripped of their hiding places.
Dogs grow old too soon; far sooner that we’re ready for them to go gray in the muzzle, to plod up the stairs instead of bounding up them, to hesitate when it’s time to jump up on the back seat for a car ride. It’s almost as though they’re deliberating about whether or not they can make it.
A loved dog becomes part of the family. A loved dog has her own funny stories and happy memories that become intertwined with the human family members’ funny stories and happy memories.
I believe loving a dog is its own special blessing; we’re better people for having had a dog love us back.
To my readers: Do you have a favorite dog story to share?
I have two stories. When I was at work, one of my employees came in with a box that was found in the parking lot. It was a puppy. He obviously was abandoned. We wrapped him up and gave him some water. I called my husband to come and get the dog. His reply was “we don’t need a dog “! After he picked up the dog and was taking him home, he called me. “This is the cutest dog ever ” . I replied “So do you want to keep him? ” . He replied “Of course I’ve named him. He’s my buddy.” That became his name, Buddy!
After Buddy went to heaven, and the kids are getting older, it was time for another dog. We drove to West Virginia, where there was a woman who worked with all the veterinarians in the area and had puppies for sale. She had every variety imaginable. There was one mixed beagle who stayed to himself. As my boys negotiated who they wanted, my youngest son, Andy, said that he wanted that bugle over there. So Bugle Boy came home with us.<3
I’m always fascinated by the names people give their dogs. When I register at the vet’s, I scan down the list to see who has been there before us; not the people, you understand….the dogs! The “Bugle Boy” story is so endearing. Thanks for sharing, Judy.
You know, after having a total of 16 dogs in our family through the years, you would think I would have a favorite dog story to tell. And I do have a few – but the funniest dog story involves our son’s dog, Joey. He is a “shelter dog”- part shepherd, part collie. Joey has always loved children, and everyone within a 2 mile radius of their home knows Joey. When he was about 3 years old, some neighbors who live about a half mile away were about to dedicate their new in-ground pool. Joey could hear all the commotion and laughter, so he took off for their home. And guess what – before anybody else could jump into the newly dedicated pool, Joey jumped in first. I’m sure there were some astonished looks from the owners, but one little girl turned and said, “Look! It’s Joey Henderson.” I could say that he made “quite a splash” that day. The owners of the pool were very gracious and brought him home later. Joey is now 10 years old, mostly deaf, has a slight limp to his gait, but still wanders off occasionally to some neighbor’s house. Our son says that you may see a car stop at the top of their driveway, a door opens, and Joey jumps out. The UPS driver has even brought him home on occasion. What a sad day it will be when nobody brings Joey home anymore.
I have told “Joey” stories to many people and never fail to get a laugh. You left out the part about the UPS guy calling and asking for Joey Henderson. Or the fact that when UPS makes a delivery, there’s always a dog bone left on top of the package. We love you, Joey!
My story doesn’t have anything to do with any of the many dogs who have lived their lives with us, although I have a lot of those too. Instead it is the story of a very neglected dog in our neighborhood whose name was Zeus. Unknown to the “owner” as well as each other for a while, several people in the neighborhood realized this dog was not being taken care of properly. Thus, including myself, we were secretly getting food and water to this poor lonely critter. I remember walking down our side street where he could see me coming to visit and, after a time of learning what those visits meant, he would get so excited because he knew I was bringing something good to him and I would always say, “Hey Zeus,” upon my arrival to his pen. I do think he thought that was his name, and I do think Jesus was listening at those times too. Again, unknown to each other, attempts were being made to get this wonderful dog out of his horrible situation. It wasn’t until freezing weather hit that action was finally taken that worked. My husband was arranging to get some straw for his pen and we were starting to think of bringing him up to our garage as an even better alternative when I went down to give him some food and he was gone! My first thought was the “owner” had finally gotten some brains and decided to take him inside. However, it was barely an hour when I found out one of the neighbors had finally been able to locate a “rescuer” who was able to “buy” him and get him to her group of rescued animals. That was when I set out to spread the news to my family and friends that this dog needed a “forever family.” And it worked! Thank you, Norma, and I love that his new name is Riley Cramer Thatcher and that I get to see him in pictures almost every day, including the second one above, and lots of times in person! He couldn’t have found a better “forever home!”
Yes, we do love the big guy….idiosyncrasies and all! He was a tad upset to learn that of the 184 breeds recognized by the American Kennel Club, Bluetick Coonhounds came in at #123 in 2015. Although that is up from #130 in 2014. That’s OK. Who needs to have the most popular dog? (Labs. Go figure. Just kidding, lab lovers.)