Dog Tales

This is Blackie the Bear Dog, and Buddy after a long hot walk this morning. The vet says that Blackie is part lab and part chow, I think he may also be Native American. He hates to have his picture taken, and the ONLY reason we snapped this one this morning........he was hot, tired, and I held all 97 pounds of him down while Rick took the photo.

He was just waiting for me to open the door and let him get to the air conditioner!

Blackie was one of those dogs that no one wanted. Can you imagine?

He has been with us about 10 years, and our vet thinks he is around maybe 12. He lived through heart worms, and he is my dog.

In the mornings, he doesn't get up until I do. He follows me to the sofa, and loves to let me hug him and tell him that he is my favorite! He follows me to the bathroom, and waits patiently, and

heaven forbid I try to close the door, he opens it! When I am on the computer, he sits by my side, and if he decides that I have given the glowing light too much of his time, he nudges me and demands some petting. When I am in the kitchen, and we have a very small kitchen, he lies in the middle of the floor and no matter how much I fuss, he will not move.

Charlie is another of our dogs, that no one wanted. He and Blackie are friends, they meander and ramble together. They are both old, and neither one enjoys running anymore. But Charlie talks, and Blackie prances and they both claim ownership of me. The other dogs are Rick's, but these

two, are mine! Sometimes when I get home from work, they meet me at the car. Charlie barking, telling me the day's tales, and Black prancing and nudging. We take a walk every morning and since the horrid heat hit in June, they walk only about 10 or 15 minutes and they head for the house.

Buddy was my mom's dog. While my mom was in the hospital, Buddy bonded with Rick.

When it became apparent that she would not recover, she made me promise that we would care for Buddy. He is a strange little dog, maybe because my mom actually named him Baby.

When her dementia raged, she would wrap him in a blanket and treat him like a baby, I suppose he remembers that. But then there were days(found this out as the sickness progressed) when her rages were uncontrollable that she beat him with a curtain rod. Poor Buddy. But after he bonded with Rick, he came to live with us, and he has been king of the castle ever since.

There is Astro, another dumped dog, also abused. He is kind and sweet and a magnificent animal. He reminds me of a race horse, all sleek and muscle. He doesn't really claim either of us. He weighs about 98 pounds and thinks that he is Buddy's size. Every morning as we drink our coffee, he tries to sit in our laps. He actually bonded with our niece, Samantha, but he has to live with us because we have a fenced yard.

Then, there is Taylor the Dump Dog. She is Rick's also. He found her at the dump, in really bad health. But she came home with him and blossomed into quite a dog. But, a year or so after

she came to live with us a really strange thing happened........we had gone out of town for 2 days.

It was in the heat of the summer, much like now. She got out of the fence and disappeared.

A couple of days after we got back, Rick was looking for her in the woods and he heard a strange sound. It was Taylor, she had gone into a rabbit hole and gotten her head and upper body stuck. She was in horrible condition, no food or water for almost a week in 100 degree heat, plus the trauma of being stuck upside down in a hole. Rick had to dig her out of the hole. She now has an eating disorder, she weighs 120 pounds. She is part Pitt Bull and sweet as a baby.

What can I say, we take the ones no one wants or cares for. And we receive unconditional love.

If we just leave for an hour and come back home, it's as though we have been gone for months.

Nothing quite like sitting here at the computer, and being nudged and chastised for not petting

a big baby. My mom would not let us have dogs when were growing up, I have made up for it big time! I cannot imagine my life without dogs, I hope I never have too.

So thanks for letting me share my stories about them tonight. If any of you ever drop by, I can assure you, you will be licked and nudged until you can't stand it. And no, you cannot take any of them home with you!