Max and me
“Dogs are our link to paradise. They don’t know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring — it was peace.” – Milan Kundera (Author, The Unbearable Lightness of Being)
I keep saying that someday I’m going to make a photo album of all the dogs that have been part of my life. That might take a few pages for a dog lover like me and also for how I passed on that dog loving to a couple of my children. So besides the dogs that have been mine or my husband’s, I have quite a few dogs I’ve loved that belonged to my daughter, my sons, or my grandchildren. But tonight I’m thinking more about the dogs I claimed as my own.
After Jodie, my cockerspaniel, go old and passed away, it was time for a new dog. Jodie had been a wonderful companion and walking dog and the only dog we actually bought. Out in the country here back some years ago, a person who wanted a dog could find somebody else who wanted to give away some pups. And that’s how I got Max. My husband somehow found out about this guy whose Retriever had a date with a Labrador that resulted in twelve pups. So we drove out in the country, found the guy’s farm, and took a look at the pups in his barn. Do you know how hard it is to decide on one pup when twelve are running around looking cute? Well, believe me, it’s not easy. I had one picked out when all at once another little fellow caught my eye when he stormed out of one of the corners and into my life. I picked him up and that was that. We didn’t have the greatest ride home since Max didn’t like riding and lost his supper in my lap. I don’t know what it is about dogs I get, but they never like riding in a car.
But Max settled in here on the farm and started walking with me when he was so little that sometimes I felt sorry for him and carried him home. When he was about six or seven months old, he disappeared out of our yard on a stormy day. Totally disappeared. Gone. I walked the farm looking for Max with the other dog we had at the time, a sweet runt of a Brittany Spaniel named Sam, short for Samantha. We didn’t find him. I was sad. I think Sam was too. I thought Max was gone. I didn’t think he ran away. I thought someone had stolen him. I still think someone stole him. He was a friendly fellow who liked people so he wouldn’t have been hard to catch. But then three days later, I heard something at the back door and there was Max, ready to be fed. He’d found his way home from who knows where since he never did tell me where he’d been. But I kept to the idea that someone had stolen him and that they had taken him to have a truck dog. At the time, lots of guys liked having a dog in the back of the truck when they were driving around. But remember, Max wasn’t a good rider. He always got sick when he had to ride in a car. With that thought, I figured whoever took him decided they didn’t want him and the good dog found his way home. I was happy. Sam was happy.
Max was a good dog. He loved to go walking with me and he would get so excited that he’d try to hold my hand when we started off on our walks. He wasn’t a gentle hand holder, but that was one of his few faults. He lived to about ten when suddenly he broke down and couldn’t walk. I brought him in the house and nursed him but he was never able to stand again. Nothing for it but to let the vet put him out of his pain. I cried and cried over that dog. We had already lost Sam too, but I wasn’t without a dog for long.
Oscar
Max introduced me to the sweet nature of labs. So, when someone needed a home for a chocolate lab that was full bred and already maybe two, I said okay. I’d take him here on the farm. His registered name was Coffee W. Crutcher. That ended up Dub. Dub was a dog magnet. Every dog in the neighborhood liked to come visiting Dub. Sometimes when we went walking I’d have four or five neighbor dogs walking with us. Dub was an independent character. Maybe because I didn’t get him until he was older, he never seemed to be all that interested in pleasing me. But again, he was a good walking dog and we did a lot of exploring here on the farm together. As he began to show some age, my husband decided I needed another dog and found Oscar online. A lab mix. He belonged on the farm and in my heart from day one. I’ve written several posts about Oscar and how he was odd in some ways but a perfect dog. Here are two of the links, Odd Dog Oscar and My Very Good Dog Oscar if you’re interested in reading them. His only fault was getting bone cancer when he was seven and heading off over that rainbow bridge years before I was ready to tell him goodbye.
So that catches me up to Frankie and Marley. Good dogs too. But no Oscar.
Thanks for reading my dog stories. I think I could write a hundred of them about all the many adventures and misadventures I’ve had with my furry buddies, and then I could talk about all my fictional dog characters too. But you might get tired of dog stories. Maybe I’ll find more dog pictures and have a caption game for a new giveaway this month.
Do you like reading dog stories? Like dogs showing up in the novels you read?
Comments 10
Ann, I loved reading about your dogs! I love dog stories and stories that have dogs in them and pictures of dogs on book covers! In my family growing up, we always had black labs. They were the best dogs and so sweet! Shortly after my husband and I were married, we got an English Bulldog we named Ivan. His full name on his papers was Sir Ivanhoe the Valiant. He loved scrambled eggs with cheese, pizza, and chocolate chip cookies. We didn’t know then that chocolate was dangerous for dogs, but thankfully, nothing happened to him. He also enjoyed going for walks. He was a cool looking dog and everybody loved him. He even got his picture on the front page of the local newspaper while wearing a colorful sweater in preparation for cold weather. Many years later, we got a shepherd/husky mix from some friends. She is our dog we have now and her name is Misty. When we first got her, she tested positive for heart worms and had to go through all that painful treatment. Now every month, we give her Heart Guard and she loves it! She enjoys walks, belly rubs, Taco Bell, and pizza! All our pets have always been such a joy!! How thankful we are for them!
Author
Loved reading about your dogs, Lauren. Sounds like the ones you’ve loved have had happy lives. That name for your English bulldog was great. Sir Ivanhoe the Valiant. Sounds as though the name fit. I know someone who has English bulldogs and they definitely would fit names like that too. I hope Misty keeps walking with you and enjoying belly rubs and pizza for many more happy years.
I’m a cat person, but I love dogs too. And I certainly love dog stories. I always feel that when you receive love from an animal is an extra special gift from God.
Author
So true, Donna. I love that quote or meme you sometimes see that says God waited until last to make the dog and then He gave him his name spelled backwards because he was going to be man’s best friend. 🙂
I am a dog person, but since my husband is allergic to dog and cat dander, we don’t have a dog. However, when we first got married, we took a Schnauzer/Poodle mix–a Schnoodle–pup from a litter our good friends’ dog had. We named her Puppy because she responded well to the sound of the letter “p” and to nothing else we tried to name her. She was an affectionate dog, a great watch dog, and an excellent companion for me since my husband traveled a lot for his job. Puppy caught a peeping Tom and alerted me to unusual sounds like the water’s having boiled out of a pan on the stove and to anyone approaching the house. She lived to be 16.5 years old and was a wonderful dog.
Author
She does sound wonderful. Poodles are often very intelligent dogs and Puppy must have gotten a super load of intelligence. I’m glad you had her for so many years but I’m sure you were sad when she passed on.
Dub had that kind of name since I tried various takes on his name of Coffee W. Crutcher and he ignore then all. But W of Dub worked.
Thanks for sharing about your sweet dog.
I like dogs in stories, especially when you write about them, Ann!
Author
That made me laugh, Paula. That’s a great comment and makes me want to think up a new dog for my new story. Definitely have to have a dog or cat one. I do have a dog, a cat and horses in my upcoming story, Along a Storied Trail. Oh, and a mule or two too. I appreciate your sweet encouragement.
I love your dog stories…the real ones and also the ones in your books.
Have you seen the movies A Dog’s Purpose, and A Dog’s Journey? If not, I know you’d love them. I seldom watch tv unless the grands are here, but we’ve watched both of those several times. They’re about a dog that crosses the rainbow bridge, but comes back as another dog. I mention them because not long after I lost my Cookie to cancer several years ago, I met a dog named Oscar (good name!) that looked so much like Cookie. I was working and he belonged to a visitor that stopped in. Oscar walked around my desk and put his head in my lap. I cried. It was as if he was telling me Cookie was ok.
So….that’s my dog story of the day. Your posts have me walking down doggie memory lane too.
Have a great rest of the week and a fun Labor Day weekend! 😎
Author
That has me tearing up, Lavon. What a very sweet story. My daughter, after she lost one of her precious dogs a few years ago, had a visit from him in a dream that made her feel as if he’d come back to make her less sad. I’ll have to check out those movies. I’ve heard of them but haven’t seen them.
Maybe I’ll do another dog post and title it Doggie Memory Lane. Sounds like the best title ever.