Doggone it (part 1)

Random thoughts that sometimes stick in my head.

Was out walking the old mutt again last night when I was pondering all of the dogs I have known/had since I was a pup. Not to get melancholy, but my dog is getting long in the tooth and I was trying to recall all of his attributes/quirks and started pondering about all of the other dogs I had in my life. Now, that's not to say I have been a dog-only person. In the past 50 some-odd years, I have had/owned (or been owned by) 3 cats, one rabbit, one canary, several fish and the occasional turtle or two. However, on the canine side of the gene pool, I have had/known 4 dogs in my life each with their own unique personality. I had 2 as a youngun and 2 as a growed-up person and like to feel that they each helped me become a better person.

#1 - My first dog was a mixed breed my brother got when I was very young and we named him Pebbles. We all shared his attention but he was really my brother's dog and his favorite past time was to chase cars. Bad habit to get into as that was how he was killed. I was very young and impressionable so I do not recall much of him aside of his boundless energy and wet tongue. He used to tag along with my brothers and me when we went down to the bay to do fishing/crabbing.

# 2 - After he was killed our parents felt sorry for us and got another dog (1/2 Cocker Spaniel & 1/2 Water Spaniel) and we named him Peanuts. Beautiful dog that took to water like a duck. He was a good all-around hunting dog that we played with a lot. We were living in New Jersey and had a huge spread of woods behind our house we would always play in and the dog loved to wander through the woods with us. He was a smart dog and loved to chase squirrels whenever they appeared. Of course, being the only pet in a house with three boys, he got his share of abuse. He was a good dog but we wore him down a bit and he was a little bit cranky when he got older. He used to love kids, but as he got older, whenever young kids would come over to our house, he would slink away and hid out under the beds upstairs. He lived a very long life and was highly active until the end. He was supposed to be my brother's dog, but my dad wound up taking care of him most of the time (there is a lesson here). When we moved from Jersey in '72 and had him shipped down via plane. I recall picking him up from the airport in his wooden kennel (none of those fancy plastic, high-tech version) and he had been barking his head off the entire flight. Poor dog was almost horse from barking and took him a week to get his normal voice back. Of course, he loved Houston and loved to swim in the bayou at the end of our street. By this time, both of my brothers had gone off to college so it was just him and me and we had a blast exploring the woods/paths along the bayou. He was very independant and you never needed a leash for him as he would follow you around the block. He was an absoluet nut for water and any time we were within 1/2 mile of any water, he would be in it. After I left for college, he would still tend to sneak out of our yard for a swim on occasion only to wind up coming back home wet and happy. I will say that, even as he got older, he felt he was a player and would try to "romance" any females in the neighborhood (even though his plumbing was fixed). As I came home from college, I would note that he was getting older and a bit hard of hearing but he still never lost his spirit. While we were in the Army stationed in Germany, my mom told me that he got out of the yard and wandered off one day on one of his daily jaunts to the bayou and never came back. They scoured the neighborhood/bayou for days but never saw any sign of him. I like to think he passed away peacefully, but reality tells me he may have encountered one of the indigenous wildlife down on the bayou.

He was over 17 years old and a great dog and it broke my heart to hear he was gone.

Next round: purebred.