Dogs

So I found some pictures of my dogs that I wanted to put up here. Before I get to that, it would good to point out that I love dogs. I always have. I love dogs more than I love people. It’s easier for me to become friends with dogs than it is people. That’s just how I am. When I come home, who is happy to see me? That’s right, my dogs. The Wife might be a little happy because she has something for me to do. Mary Ruth might be happy because she wants something and thinks I’m her best shot at getting it. But the dogs are just happy that I’m home. They fight to see me. Lucy (the “first born” of our dogs) will come up and sit, just like she was trained to do. Maverick, the shortest of the 3, will jump up and stand on the arm of the sofa so that he can make sure I see him. Even Scooby, the one that tests my “I love dogs” feeling everyday, will run up and try to knock the other two out of the way so that he will be the first one to greet me. None of them will leave me until they’ve received a kiss and a pat on the head. Of the 3, I have also noticed that Lucy will wait to see if anyone else is coming in before she moves. She is the sweetest of the three. She loves to give people kisses. She REALLY loves to give babies kisses. She does the best around Mary Ruth. Lucy also got to spend the most time with my childhood dog Dach (sounds like “Doc”, aka, the greatest dog EVER). Now would be a good time to say something about Dach. I got him for Christmas in 1989. At the time he was all skin. You could pick him up by his skin and he wouldn’t care (he finally grew into his skin). Dach would follow me all over the house (leading me to start singing Me and My Shadow). If I wanted to rest, Dach would lay down next to me and sleep. If I wanted to play, Dach was ready to play. He loved to play ball. I’d throw a tennis ball down the hall and he would get it and bring it back. This could go on for hours. It didn’t matter how tired he got, if I threw the ball he would get it and bring it back. He slept in his own bed except for Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve he would sleep in my bed. He was great.




Maverick and I didn’t get along so well at first. When we got Maverick, Dach was on his last leg (he would only live 2 months after we brought Maverick home). Dach was living with my parents, but we’d still keep him at our place when they went out of town. By this point, Dach was old and couldn’t move too well. Lucy loved that, because she didn’t really like to move around too much so they would just lie on the sofa together. Maverick, though, was still a puppy and he wanted to play. He wouldn’t leave Dach alone... that was strike 2. Strike 1 actually came when we first brought Maverick home. He would wake me up in the morning by standing on my chest, and then with his nose almost touching my nose... he would cough. See, he was getting over kennel cough when we brought him home. So things didn’t start off on the right foot with us. But Maverick has since earned my love. One way he did this was by becoming a hunter. At the time, we had a problem with rats in our back yard. Over the course of one year, he had 5 confirmed kills. It was great. We haven’t had rats in our backyard in years. The other thing he did (as I have mentioned in a previous post) is started singing with me. Of the 3, he’s the one that wants to be with me the most.


Then there is Scooby. The youngest and biggest of the group. Scooby is also the first dog we’ve had that didn’t have any contact with Dach. I think Dach could have really helped Scooby. As it is... well, The Wife doesn’t want me to say bad things about Scooby on here so I won’t. But if I did, I would say that he has to be the dumbest dog I’ve ever had. I’m convinced he out grew his brain after he was a month old. He picks fights with Maverick and Lucy even though he has yet to win one single fight. He takes Mary Ruth’s toys (something the other two never did) and he runs into everything (if you are walking in front of him and aren’t careful, he will clip you). His tail is a deadly weapon, and he is just a general pain in my butt. However, since The Wife doesn’t want me to talk bad about him on here, I won’t say any of that stuff. I will say that out of the 3 of them, he is learning how to play ball. He’s no Dach, but he’s the best I’ve got right now at it. He also is the only one that will sleep in a cage. He actually likes it. And for the most part, he doesn’t really bark all that much... so he’s got that going for him.