For the answer to this headline you can read this interesting piece on how the canine species we know as “dog” became our most trusted animal companion. Here
or
You can just watch the interaction between a 2-year-old from Minnesota and the neighbor’s golden lab. Here
My life wouldn’t be the same if I had never met all the dogs we’ve ever owned or known, my grandparents white shepherd Boy, our first dog Bugle the beagle, my cousins basset hound Punk (who climbed onto the roof of our house once and started howling like basset hounds do till a kid came to our door and told my mom there was a dog on the roof howling, one of my brothers had to crawl out on the roof to get him back into the house) Jones the best mutt beagle and bird dog ever and cat and rabbit chaser extraordinaire, all of our German shepherds including Chico our garage and shop guard dog who once made a cop jump about 3 or feet into the air when he was chasing a bank robber next to our gas station until my dad called him off, all the miscellaneous dogs and strays who wandered into our lives, my kids dogs Buddy the collie who loved to herd my kids around when they were little, Snickers the mutt who absolutely hated cats, Sam our female golden retriever who chased shadows and light reflections and was an excellent frisbee catcher, our current goldie Indie and one yellow tabby cat Finn whose safe now that Snickers is gone, Snickers would’ve hated Finn. My wife once caught Snickers shaking a big white cat to death once in the back yard and yelled at him to let the cat go, that poor cat took off like greased lightning when Snickers let it go. And the one tall tale my son told me about Snickers letting a mouse go out of a large glass jar he’d put the mouse into, sure Thomas like dogs can really open lids on jars and let mice out. He needed his dogs, Buddy being his best friend from the time he was 2 till he was about 14, they were best buds.
I loved my yellow lab, Daisy. Been gone for 22 years, still miss her.
Me and Tex are gonna take over the world. I know this cuz he whispers it in my ear late at night….
Does Tex talk to you in a voice sounding like Orson Wells like The Brain from Pinky and the Brain did? “What are we going to do tonight, try and take over the world.”
No geoff, he sounds more like Edward R.Murrow describing a blitzkrieg from London
Do you know how you are going to the Good Place when you die?
The closer you get to the end of the tunnel, the louder all the barking gets
Lazlo’s sidekick Angus-the-dog, intend to roam the west and I get to see the sunrises and sunsets, and he get to smell all the smells
1. Thinks very highly of me. That deserves respect
2. Keeps hawks away from chickens
3. Doesn’t eat chickens
4. Retrieves eggs without breaking them
5. Plays fetch only with 2 balls in one mouth
6. Scares off solicitors and can be trusted with a newborn
7. Keeps a body or two warm at night
8. Keeps a person on schedule
9. Keeps a person exercised
10. Plays dead with shot command
11. Always interested in what’s going on
12. Keeps the kitchen floor clean
13. Soft and cuddly
14. Smells GREAT (most of the time) – “dog smell” is a great smell
15. Always mindful
…
I could probably fill a book.
Anonymous, you made my wife cry.
Dogs are better people than people are. ‘Nuff said.
I just read this with my chiweenie Taffy in my lap with her head on my heart gazing up at me. Dogs make my world a better place.
Dogs and Muzzies hate each other. That’s all you need to know.
“Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.”
― Roger A. Caras
Yup… to all of the above!
I have three dogs sitting outside with me under a big old Oak tree, at the moment.
BFH painted a beautiful portrait of them, which is on the Pet Portrait link.
Phil, Mitchell, and Bella. Good dogs.
Try to be the person your dog thinks you are.
Don’t know why, but God keeps sending dogs my way. I’ve never considered buying one that was bred for profit.
Don’t know why God or dogs show me so much love. I just accept it, return it, and am grateful for every bit of it.
I keep telling myself “After this one dies, I won’t need to shop-vac all this damn fur any more”.
Then another one comes along that gives me the choice, once again, to ignore it and leave it to it’s deadly fate or take it in.
After decades of this, I’m pretty sure I couldn’t take the hole left in my life if this didn’t happen.
Thank you God for all the gifts I never deserve.
“Love rarely touches the reasoning parts of the brain. It touches the dreamy parts, the devoted parts—it touches the parts we sometimes call the heart. For many thousands of years, it’s there that our dogs have lived.”
MacDuff and Lily Blanca (and I) concur. In loving memory of Daisy, April, Fido, Maggie, Lady, Gypsy, Jamie, Miss Caledonia, Molly, and Rags. I’ve always had dogs in my life, and my life has been richer for it.
Another dog story. We adopted Rags, a miniature Schnauzer from a teenage girl who was going off to college and couldn’t keep him. Rags was a diabetic who required daily insulin injections. He also developed severe cataracts.
We had his cataracts removed and when we brought him home, watched as he ran outside and stood for an hour, just looking around at his newly bright world.
Visitors to our house were always amazed that, after his dinner, Rags would come up to us and present himself for his insulin injection. No fuss. He knew.
Ronald Reagan as George Vest in “Tribute to the Dog”….best episode of Death Valley Days ever:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3BycINr-vM
Dadof4,
one of the best inventions for homes with shedding dogs (& kids) is one of them robot vacuum cleaners. You don’t need to get a fancy Roomba that talks back to the mothership, just some cheep Chinese one for $100-$150. I got 2 of them scheduled to come on every other day; it’s so nice to have clean floors all of the time.
My first dog was a pure breed Doberman with all the papers to prove his pedigree and I got him thanks to my parents at the age of 5. We had him till I was 17 and he was the smartest, most loyal, and fierce dog I have ever had.
My second dog I did not get until I was struck with cancer and needed a constant companion to keep my depression at bay and after going to my local shelter I met a 1/2 german shepard 1/2 border collie who was the only dog who stuck her paw through the bars to try to shake with me and as soon as I responded to her it was love at first sight. She picked me is how I put it and even though she was born in the shelter she was very smart and happy to come with me. I called her Lucky because I did feel lucky that she picked me and she could always tell when I was down or hurting from one of the many permanent side effects I suffered from after going through 11 months of chemo.
I have now added to my pack with a pure beagle that was a shelter queen for 4 years running because everyone kept returning her as a problem dog and she was scheduled for the kill-shot if nobody else took her.
It took 6 months worth of breaking her many bad habits, separation anxieties, and howling at everything that moves, but it was worth it to me because our little bitty beagle we call snips has integrated herself into part of our pack and follows the big dog around everywhere.
She only acts as the warning siren now because when she met up with a woodchuck in our yard she got her butt handed to her and the big dog had to come save her…lol.
Dogs are so worth the effort it takes to keep them as long as YOU are willing to be a pack leader….otherwise leave it to people who can lead.
This Texan Has Had Enough- You have a Chiweenie? *faints* 2 of my faves in one dog. Awwwww.
Give her a smooch from her auntie MJA.
ecp, I’ve considered that. But I did the math.
Well, the math of volume calculation by looking at how much I empty and how much one of those can hold.
It would fill up before the day is over. 105 lb dog, two cats.
The smallish 4 gallon shop vac needs emptying in less than a week. I would need to be on that auto-cleaner every day. More frequent effort is not what I’m looking for.
Great stories. Bless all your hearts 🙂
Dadof4,
Yea, they aren’t for every house. But around here, we save about an hour per week of manual labor hauling around a vacuum. Then when you don’t feel like it and the furballs grow, shit gets real nasty. It helps if you have compressed air on tap. Take the filters out back and hit ’em with 120psi, it takes 1 minute. 1 minute per week versus 1 hour, hell yea. The bins themselves, just shake out in the garbage can every other day, they actually pack in quite a bit. Not to mention, the underside of all beds and all furniture is always swept clean. Something I can’t do or don’t feel like moving furniture to reach with an upright or shop vac.
We found out a month ago our 10 year old Dalmatian has bladder cancer and it’s inoperable. She has her good days and bad days, but until she no longer has a good quality of life, she’s still our baby.
My younger sister passed away in 1996 and it was almost a full year afterwards before I realized that severe depression had taken over. I sought grief counseling and began the long road of taking anti-depressants. I struggled daily to lead a normal life and failed miserably. An old friend called me to ask if I would take her dog in my care because of her health problems and I said “Of course, Jellica and I are big-time buddies. This was the first dog I’ve had in many years and the relationship I had with Jellica grew at a quick pace. Without realizing six-plus years of depression began to erode. I had faithful companionship for the cost of dog food, treats, loving ear rubs, and regular veterinarian visits. Every day with her was a treasure and as the years rolled by, I wondered, how long will she be around. When she was around 12 years old, she suffered with a compressed disc that left her writhing in pain. A costly visit to an Animal ER eased that problem and gave her back some mobility. Slowly her eyes blurred and her hearing lessened. She needed help with stairs and getting up on furniture or the bed. Sometimes she would roll over while sleeping and fall onto the floor. After that, I began covering the floor on her side of the bed with old pillows to prevent any injuries. Again, I wondered, how much long will I have her. Eventually that day came. She began having erratic behavior at night as if her mind was possessed. It require medications to calm her down. On Friday, March 12th, 2013, she began walking in a hard circle in about 2 feet in diameter. Another dose of meds eventually straightened out her path and she was able to sleep calmly. The next morning when we went outside for the poddy break, she slowly began walking in circles. I couldn’t let her suffer anymore for my benefit and we made that last, painful trip to the vet.
At 16 years and nearly 3 months old, Jellica, the angelic cannine who saved me from the depression of losing my sister, died on what would have been my sister’s 50th birthday. But do not be troubled by my story. What I gained from this long relationship, was a stable mind and many fond memories. I am stronger in the heart for having this dog in my life, so yeah, dogs are awesome!
Ben Franklin is reported to have said – The existence of beer is proof that God is real & wants us to be happy. – ( other sources say BF never said it) However, if you change the word “beer” to the word “dogs” in that sentence it would be an even more true statement.
The only problem with dogs is that they don’t out live us. I try to justify the emotional pain from their passing as a message from God that our departed companion has shown us how to be a friend & a reminder we are supposed to love our fellow man more than we love our furry friends that are too soon gone.
I’ve been blessed to own some amazing mutts. Working dogs. I use to have a male Chessy that would pretend he was asleep when my wife kicked off her shoes on the back deck after working in the back yard. As soon as he heard the door close he would jump up, grab her shoes and go hide them in the back yard. Haul ass back up on the deck and pretend he was asleep.
Fucking dog. He died of cancer young. A smiler. Made my day after work. I could recount many others. Great dogs. I think they are all connected. I’ll enjoy seeing them again when the time comes.
Dogs make life worth living.I made a collage of all the dogs in my life that hangs on the back door that leads to the wheelchair ramp. And I still miss each and everyone of them. Sadly, its getting close for the 14 year old Pom to be added.
@riverlife_callie – ” We had his (Rags) cataracts removed and when we brought him home, watched as he ran outside and stood for an hour, just looking around at his newly bright world.”
Off topic.
But, that pretty well describes what a submariner does at the end of a submarine patrol. After two + months locked inside a steel tube not being able to see anything more than 30 feet away at most & the majority of time what you see is less than ten feet away. The first thing you want to at the end of the patrol is get outside, look at distant mountains or the sky & appreciate distant sights & appreciate all the empty space around you. I know there are a few ex-submariners here & I’m confident they will agree.
There is a story about a dog named Bacchus that served with two submarine crews during WW2, French & British, I think. I’m not sure how they managed that. WW2 boats were much smaller than modern boats.
@MJA July 21, 2018 at 9:55 pm
> 2 of my faves in one dog. Awwwww.
Are you MAD!? They’re MONSTERS! They’re crazed PSYCHO KILLERS!! They’ll bite the toes of dogs six times their size!!! When they’re hanging over the edge of the sofa!!!! Because they’re SIX TIMES THEIR SIZE!!!! And when the others are standing, so the toes are protected by the floor, and their soft underbellies are far overhead (again… six times their size), those wee beasties will stand on their own hind legs, brace a front paw on the other’s front shoulder, stretch up, and gnaw at their throats! Not really on (six times their size!). But still, a mouthful of fur! And, as James Comey will tell you, “It’s the intent that matters.” They’re HORRORS!
ecp – #12!!!
Marvelous thread.
@Bayouwolf, I brought Charley, a 5 week old red heeler, into my life in May 1996.
He was two handfuls. I understand instinct after living with that dog. At 4 months, he was herding me by nipping my heels. He was abandoned by his mother at 3 weeks and did not have any type of dog interaction, but he knew what to do!
As he matured, I realized, he was actually a little man in a dog suit. He had a perfect sense of comedic timing, an unlimited interest and focus on any object that could be perceived as a ball-pumpkins, watermelons, etc., and a decided sense of propriety.
At 8 years old, he was diagnosed with an immune-mediated form of arthritis. During that treatment, he lost the sight in one eye, but he was still game. He could still catch a ball, over the shoulder, running away, better that any major leaguer-because he caught it in his mouth.
One day when I was home for lunch, this dirtbag carjacker jumped my fence and ran through the back yard, to get away from the cops who were chasing him. Dumbass, because my half-blind, arthritic dog chased that guy over the neighbor’s fence. Charley puffed up like a lion. The cops wanted to search my yard, but only if I contained the dog. It took him a couple of hours to settle down.
In January 2011, his blind eye ruptured and all we knew about it was a little yelp. After a trip to ER, he got an infection and had to have a second surgery. I knew he was gonna be all right when we went outside, in the cone, and he was trying to bark at the crow sitting on the telephone pole.
On February 20, 2013, he walked outside and collapsed. I picked him up and brought him inside and he died in my arms. For over 16 years, he was my pal. I still think of him, but with a smile instead of the tears.
Charley is in my heart forever.
@Agatha Kakalogical, Thanks for sharing your story! We’ve both had amazing companions who had a major impact in our lives. Dogs are the greatest antidepressant!
I made an error in mentioning the date of 12th of March. It was the 15th, in case anyone was a fact checking me.