My life truly has been a series of dogs. I like to take a trip down doggie lane from time to time to think of all my lost loves from my past. I will start with a short list of the dogs I grew up with and I will move on to the dogs from my adult life.
Childhood Dogs
I wish I had a picture to support the list of my childhood dogs. I am going to try to go home and look for old pictures of these dogs and if Mom and Dad have any old pictures of our pooches from dog days gone by, I will post them at a later date.
1st dog from childhood that I recall was a dog named Scooter. He was a short legged dog with a long body and long curly hair. Imagine a dachshund mixed with a border collie. I remember him being a sweet and spirited little thing and loving him very much. His life ended too soon as he was hit by a car that was leaving a family picnic at our home. This was the first real loss I suffered in life and I remember it being very tragic. I remember crying for hours in the living room with my Sisters and Brother. Scooter left a permanent path beaten on the grass in the backyard where he would trail up and down the path to the back door of the house. I know that all of my dogs have left a permanent trail in my heart and that each of them will always and forever be remembered fondly. On a happy note, I believe that Scooter was just the beginning of appreciating and loving dogs. What I did not know at my young age was that there would be many dogs in my life and that they would each bring purpose and passion to my life.
2nd childhood dog was a white Maltese named PeeWee. He was very small but he made up for it in intelligence and personality. This dog was really my Mom's dog. She taught him all sorts of tricks. He was a sweet little dog and he was loved very much by the entire family. PeeWee loved people and charmed most who visited.. Mom taught him to say his prayers before dinner. I guess you could say he was a "Eat, Pray, Love" dog. PeeWee did other tricks too such as lay down, roll over, play dead, sit, dance and jump up. Mom took PeeWee to the veterinary clinic one day to have his shots. She left him there while they gave him his shots and routine physical. He got sick from the shots and said they would have to keep him for observation. We had a beach trip planned so we left town. When we came back our Dog "Peewee" had died at the vet's office while we were gone. The whole family was distraught by this loss and we did not know if we should be angry at the Vet or mad at ourselves for leaving town while he was sick at the Vets office. As an adult I realize that the circumstances were out of our control and probably the reaction that PeeWee had to the shot was out of the Vets control as well. But this might explain why I have such separation loss anxiety when I have to leave my dogs. Mom said she would never get another dog. This loss crushed her as it did the rest of the family. But she stayed true to her word and she never did get another dog. But Dad was always trying to bring home another dog and one day he did.
3rd childhood dog was a Basset Hound names Molly Brown. This dog was my Dad's dog but he said he got her for us. Molly Brown was a cute Basset Hound who's belly seemed to hang almost to the ground as did her long and floppy ears. She was amusing to watch walk around. One day while I was out in the barn to check on Molly Brown I made an interesting discovery. Little did I know that I would learn a bit more about the birds and the bees that day. When I arrived in the barn another dog was on top of Molly Brown and he was going to town. Somehow I thought they were doing it all wrong, but I guess not because Molly Brown got pregnant that day and I would later get to witness her pups being born. Talk about a belly hanging to the ground. Molly's tits hung to the ground and she looked miserable. I don't remember how Molly died. I believe that she got sick one day and had to be put down. I think that my parents did not tell us much other than she was ill and passed on. Mom vowed there would be no more dogs and Molly was the last dog that I remember having while I was living at home. I would miss Molly's long silky ears to stroke and the way she ran in a slow lumbering way that was so cute and less than graceful but I was sure there was a place for her in heaven.
Little did I know that these childhood dogs would be just the beginning of my life's journey with dogs.
I will continue the series of my stories on "My life has been a series of dogs" so stay tuned for stories about the dogs from my adult life.
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