No matter how little money and how few possessions
you own, having a dog makes you rich."
Louis Sabin
I have been lucky to have had lots of dogs in my life. They were almost all pretty good dogs and most of them were mutts.
My first dog, Happy, lived the good life that dogs lived in the old days. She was never fenced and wandered freely in the neighborhood, visiting and being welcomed into neighbor's homes at will. My parents got her as a puppy six months before I was born and she lived to be 14.
Trina was my first "child". We got her as a tiny puppy, a furry ball of white, right after I got married. When she was about 10 she went a little crazy. She started being so afraid of storms that she would hurt herself trying to get out of where she was and then trying to get right back in. A man that came to fix the carpet and woodwork she had destroyed during a storm offered to take her to live with him in the country. It was heartbreaking, but we let her go. My kids never did believe the story about Trina going to live on the "farm" but it was true.
There were a couple of dogs, Andy and Toby, after Trina. Andy was a stray, a spaniel mix, who came and stayed for a while and then just disappeared. We searched and searched but never found him. Toby was part poodle and part something else. The something else was part devil and we didn't have him very long.
Sasha, a Chow, was the sweetest, most loving roll-with-flow dog ever. (Well, there was the time she killed our friends rabbit when they were keeping her, but they said that it was a really mean rabbit.) She could shed her fur better than any dog I have ever known. She was always in the middle of everything the family did. She lived for 14 years and I will always miss her.
Dodger is the current dog love of my life. He is a scruffy, energetic boy who has us very well trained. Doc, who wasn't sure he wanted a dog, is now an expert on dog parks and doggy day care. The Doc and Dodger mutual admiration society entertains me every day.
Dogs' lives are too short. Their only fault, really.
Agnes Sligh Turnbull
what would we do without our dogs...mine even have their own blog..LOL
ReplyDeleteDogs do make our lives richer. Dodger is such a cutie pie, I bet Gus would like him.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading about the different dogs you have had over your lifetime Jeanie. They become part of our family no matter how long they stay with us and we do remember them with fond memories (at least most of the time :)
ReplyDeletelove how Dodger has you well trained; his "cousin" lives here and has us well trained indeed :)
betty
Dodger is so sweet looking! It was nice to read about all your dogs. My first dog when I was a child was a black poodle we named Perky. After he died we named every dog we owned Perky, which is a little strange I guess! When I was an adult I broke with tradition and named our black poodle, Scarlett.
ReplyDeleteDo you know that my husband had three dogs? They were all named Finnegan. We refer to them now as Finnegan 1,2 and 3. I told my husband he should get a dog now, but he doesn't want to since we do travel quite a bit.
ReplyDeleteDodger is just so adorable. Is he a Westie?
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely post.
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh what you wrote about Toby! He must have been a very naughty dog!
My first 4 dogs I ended up giving away to new homes for various reasons! I can't believe I did that 4 times over 15 years!
Now we have two small dogs and we love them like our own kids.
What a wonderful post! I enjoyed reading about the dogs in your life. It took me back to the few dogs I've had, and just how much I loved them!
ReplyDeleteAwww, great pictures and loving words about your pets. I had dogs and cats most of my life but we don't have any pets now. I get so much joy out of reading about other peoples pets.
ReplyDeleteYou are right...we still haven't bought into that whole "Trina went to live on a farm" story!! : )
ReplyDeletePoor Toby - dumb as anything. The only dog I have ever known that would chase cars from in front of the car!
Sweet little Sasha...we will always miss her!
What a lovely stories of dogs that have owned you... All sweet! I know I'll certainly miss Oscar when his time comes.
ReplyDeleteLove that black patch around Trina's eye! Made her very special, I bet! But she looks like she's part border collie, and as the owner of one, i can vouch for their "crazyness." Mine hasn't been sent to live on a farm yet, but I swear there might come a day...
ReplyDeleteGreat post idea! I'm a dog lover so this was right up my alley!
I share the same kinds of dog stories. Growing up dogs were 'free'. We lived by open country and they had a whole separate life out there somewhere.
ReplyDeleteWe too gave a dog to people in the COUNTRY because she started nipping kids. The 'country people had no kids. To this day...they don't really believe us. Oh well. It makes it even harder to believe because we gave a cat away...he bit my husband twice and he was NOT going to keep him. He really did go to a farm.
You my girl have had a fine family of dogs. My first was with me fourteen years.
ReplyDeleteGod bless and have a most remarkable day sweetie!!!
Loved reading about all your dogs! We had a few but none now!
ReplyDeleteAll seem like lovely dogs but Dodger sure is a cutie! I can't imagine life without dogs. And at least one cat. Right now we're a two cat/two dog family.
ReplyDeleteOh what a sweet post and GREAT title! I am trying to figure out how to scan some of my former pets to do such a post...been wanting to do this particular post for several months...
ReplyDeleteThis was wonderful...and any new pic of Dodger is a fun day for me!
I love this post. LOVE IT!
ReplyDelete