MY FAVORITE PEOPLE

[crazyphil]

When I was 3 my Dad brought home a little white pup with
a curly tail. I think he was a Heinz dog, as in 57 varieties.
My Dad named him Pancho. Pancho Villa had become kind of
a folk hero among common folks. A modern day Robin Hood.
After my 4 years in the Air Force, still only 21, I came home.
Pancho was 18 when he died, shortly after I got home. He never
knew dog food. He always ate what we ate.

After I married and settled down I got us a Collie dog. His
name was Lucky. We lived out a couple of miles from town in
a farming area. One day a neighbor farmer came to visit. He
told us our Collie was a natural sheep herder. He comes down to
my place, rounds up my sheep, puts them in a corner by the
house and lays down and guards them. I was so proud. But
then he said there is just one problem. I don't want my sheep
rounded up like that. I would hate to have to shoot him. I
begged him to at least give him a warning shot. He did, and
Lucky never went back.

When I was in my 40s, my daughter and son in law gave me
a pair of Chesapeake Retrievers for a birthday present. Bert and
Liz. Bert wasn't quite a year old when pheasant season opened.
At the official starting time of Noon, there were several hunters
lined up on a ridge overlooking a grain stubble field. Bert flushed
the first pheasant. I knocked it down and Bert pounced on it. He
brought it back and sat down in front of me. I held out my hand
and Bert dropped the pheasant in my hand. I looked around and
all the other hunters were watching. I was really proud.

At 86, I have had several other dogs, but these three stand
out in my memory this morning.

 

[SMSgt]

My first and most memorable dog was a Black & Tan named Elmer, after Elmer Fudd of course. That dog and I were one. My older sister alternately referred to us as her stupid brother and his idiot dog or that stupid dog and her idiot brother. Where one went the other followed, usually into some sort of trouble.

The only person the dog ever bit was me, probably deservedly so, but only once because I bit it back. The snoopy woman next door annoyed the dog during his midafternoon nap and he promptly howled at her. She took off running, and for the dog it was game on. He'd run her all over the neighborhood until I could catch him. Long story short, Elmer disappeared while I was at school one day, never to be seen again. Many years later, somewhere during my AF career, my dad happened to run into the woman's husband, who had long since moved away. The guy confessed to taking the dog out to the country to his brother's place, who also happened to have a pack of hounds. I suppose Elmer eventually forgot about me, but I'll never forget him. It's probably a good thing my dad never told me about what happened to Elmer while the neighbor was still alive.

 

[Rudi]

A good dawg is a blessing. Same with cats.

 

[Rustyt1953]

A good dawg is a blessing. Same with cats.

Amen to that.

Be it horse, mule, dog, cat or budgie. The heart loves what the heart loves.

 

[outta_ammo]

As much as we've loved our dogs—we went through breed phases: Samoyeds, Keeshonds, and currently Pembroke Corgis (a red headed Tri-color that we adore)—I'll go on the cat side. We've had many cats over the decades, but there have been three we refer to as "professional cats." These were indoor cats who were smart enough to know that they were ok to be out with us on the deck, but not allowed beyond the deck.

The first was Roger, named after Roger Rabbit if that gives you a time line (we also had a white Persian named Jessica). Next was a rescue named Bender because of the small knot on his head, He became know as B-cat. Finally, there was another rescue that our daughter named The Foof.

We miss them all.

 

[Greyman50]

This guy was my best friend for 6 years, a rescue Grey from the track in JAX. He went everywhere with me, Lowes, Tractor Supply and even the local drug store where he got his meds.He had friends everywhere, people would see me and ask where Gear was. Had him in the drug store one day, the girls and even the Pharmacist came out to pet him and talk to him. Some woman asked the Pharmacist if he allowed dogs in the store. Pharmacist lowered his glasses and told the woman, Gear has Never yelled or screamed, thrown anything off a shelf or broken anything. The looks the woman got were priceless. He would show off his large milk bone out the window of the Highlander, almost caused a few crashes as people laughed and pointed. Slept in bed with me, put his head on a pillow, folded his legs( Long) in and fall asleep. Never be another.