How is your dog doing? Did it survive “Dog Days of Summer?” Hopefully it’s doing well.
My son took in a Chesapeake pup found on a roadside, living on grasshoppers. The concern for this dog turned into many wild experiences. The dog grew large enough to name it Moose.
One day when my daughter-in-law was cutting the grass with a riding mower, the dog was having fun chasing the mower. She turned and the dog didn’t. He ended up under the mower. When released he ran away. When my son got home from work, Moose returned. A trip to the vet resulted in an eye returning to its socket and some teeth missing. They now had a dog with sight in only one eye. The dog remained a good hunter bounding through tall grass flushing up pheasants. The next episode involved running into the neighbor’s van and denting the door, probably caused by sight in only one eye.
Hunting offered the possibility of meeting animals in the wild, such as a skunk in its den. Moose proceeded to grab the skunk by the head pulling it out of the den and shaking the animal violently. The skunk discharged its famous odor. The next move, to remove the odor, was a rub down in tomato juice. We acquired the juice, homemade, from the in-law’s wife on whose farm we were hunting.
Another encounter involved a raccoon which locked onto the dog’s lip. Carefully the raccoon was dispatched with a shot. One of Moose’s last escapades involved finding outdated, frozen bread dough. The expansion of the dough in the dog’s stomach required another trip to the vet. Moose lived a full life with many adventures.
My experience with dogs wasn’t as exciting. As a kid my mother wasn’t interested in having a dog. The neighbor’s dog, which was a rat terrier, barked and challenged you. Maybe this dog was the reason she was so opposed.
My first job was cutting grass with an old reel-type mower at an estate. On reporting to the first day for work, I was asked to do another task first. The people’s house dog had died and they found it difficult to bury their dog. Since that time, I have buried three other dogs, and all these dogs were given to me when they were full grown.
By the time I got my first dog, we lived in the country. We had a kennel attached to an out-building, which was the perfect place for a dog outside.
The first dog, an Irish Setter, was very energetic. She chased birds out of three sloughs full of water. She would come home “Dog Tired,” lying down in a pond of water to cool down. A Black Lab and a Golden Retriever were also given to me by my daughter-in-law and son-in-law. The Golden Retriever was shocked when a gun was fired and was not a hunter.
All three dogs, plus two dogs belonging to friends, are buried in the woods in my previous backyard.