In the previous post, Dogs In My Life – The Early Years I ended it with a question, “if you were to ask me what my favorite dog breed is I would not hesitate to say German Shepard Dogs, but is it really my favorite”. That is really more of a statement and the question was more reflective. We have had several dogs of different breeds that we miss, they were great dogs.
By the end of the summer of my high school graduation, I was married and had my own dog. He was a Brittany Spaniel named Duke. He was a very loyal and protective dog. I drove a Baja Bug and seemed to always be working on it. I would open the doors and Duke would jump in the back seat and lay down. If I was young again, I would like another Brittany Spaniel. We moved into an apartment where dogs were not allowed. My uncle agreed to keep him for us, but Duke kept jumping the fence. My uncle also had problems with people stealing his firewood. The time he had Duke my uncle did not lose any firewood! Duke however kept jumping the fence and running, he would always come back, until the last time. We do not know what happened to him.
Our next dog was our first German Shepherd Dog. We named her Heidi. She was a great dog, good with kids, well mannered, but hated little dogs. We would keep finding her in the front yard when we came home. The neighbors told us as soon as we drove away she would jump the fence from the back yard and go to the front door and lay down waiting for us to return home. We moved to a new neighborhood and we believe our new neighbor poisoned her. It was a very sad time for us.
We picked up a Black Cocker Spaniel named Scruffy. He was a true lap dog! Which was okay since he was so soft and fluffy. He accidentally got run over.
We had a beautiful Collie named Matt. My grandmother was always bringing dogs home, rescuing dogs seems to run in our family. She gave him to us one Christmas. He was stolen from our yard just months after getting him, with no trace of him anywhere.
Somewhere we acquired two Australian Shepherds. The black one was a male. We think someone picked him up and took him, it was two or three months later while driving a different way to or from church my wife said, there is our dog. We stopped opened the door and called his name. He came running and jumped in the van. He was glad to see us. He was a little thin and scraped up but he seemed happy to be reunited with us. We were happy to have found him. My wife swears our neighbor behind us ate him! They were always cooking goats in their backyard.
The red Australian Shepherd as a female. She had one litter of puppies. We lived in “horse country” and all the puppies found homes. She was adopted by our grandfather when we moved to a smaller home. Not that the home was smaller, the yard was smaller and the fence was in disrepair.
We took in two Golden Retrievers, a brother, and sister named Minnie and Mickey, to keep them from going to the pound. They were almost full-grown, but still mischievous young dogs. They both would jump our five-foot fence and run around. We had to put up an electric fence to keep them in. We were supposed to only be keeping them until a permanent home could be found for them. Mickey came back. The two dogs together were too much for the new owner to handle. We ended up just keeping Mickey. He eventually calmed down and became a great dog. One day we came home and found him dead in the backyard. There was no obvious reason why. Just a day prior he had been seen by a veterinarian and we were told he was in good health, it turned out he had diabetes.
My wife rescued a shepherd mix her name was Abby, she was a sweet dog and very good with our kids. We did not know until later that she was blind. She would run into things, mostly the kid’s backpacks from school that got dropped in the middle of the room. One of my son’s friend’s mother fell in love with her and asked to adopt her so we gave the dog to her. A few years ago my wife received an email announcing Abby’s death. Abby had lived a long life, we are guessing 15+ years.
I kind of stole my daughter’s dog from her. Jennifer received a little puppy her boyfriend picked up from the shelter. The puppy was a Finish Spitz and Jennifer named her Angel. Jennifer graduated from high school and left the house. She moved into an apartment that did not allow pets, so we kept Angel. Angel would lay at my feet and follow me around everywhere I went. She was a great hiking companion. My daughter eventually asked for Angel. I jokingly said, she could not have her back. Jennifer said okay, now that I think back on it, Jennifer may have thought I was serious. Sorry, Jennifer if you felt that way.
My wife brought home the ugliest dog we have ever seen, we called a rat dog. It was a Chinese Crested named Einstein and the name was very fitting. Now we have had two more Chinese Crested dogs since Einstein. Chinese Crested dogs may be odd-looking, but Einstein was ugly! He eventually died of old age.
My wife said we had a white shepherd, it sounds familiar but can not seem to really remember anything about her. She said the dog was adopted by a military family.
My nephews and nieces came to live with us for a while and they brought a Pit Bull named Sandy with them. Now I hated Pit Bulldogs at that time. Sandy only had three legs and she hated me for some reason. She just added to my reasons to hate Pit Bulldogs. I have come around to not hate the dog breed. I have met several Pit Bulldogs that have changed my mind. Actually almost all the Pit Bulldogs I have gotten close to have been friendly and well behaved. A couple of years after the oldest nephew went back home with Sandy we stopped by to visit. I was sitting on the deck Sandy came up to me and forced her head under my arm to get me to pet her. I have always looked at the moment as her apologizing to me for her hating me.
We bought a Beagle and named her Lucy. She is a tri-color and the tip of her tail is white. When she would run around in tall grass her tail acted as a flagged showing us where she was at. She is still with us, but she is getting pretty old.
Shortly after getting Lucy, my wife brought home a mutt. We think she just might be a boxer mix. Her name is Jasmine. She does not play fetch but she tries to get the ball before the other dogs. She harasses the dogs as they run after the ball. She is still with us, she is pretty much as old as Lucy but is aging better than Lucy.
My oldest son pick up a Chinese Crested named Molly for his mother. She had a few trust issues we were slowly getting worked out. One day she bolted down the street and a dark-colored SUV swerved to hit her and killed her.
My son made it point to find another Chinese Crested for my wife. He found Zuess our third Chinese Crested. He is aging better than our first Chinese Crested.
My son wanted to get me a German Shepherd Dog so he rescued one from a high kill shelter in California the day before she was to be killed. What a shame that would have been. She has been and is the best overall dog we have ever owned. Now she does have her issues, but then so do I. The shelter named her June but we renamed her Leah. We think she is older than the shelter said she was. She is doing very well but we have started to give her supplements for her joints. She is so well behaved and loved.
My other son and his wife lived with us for a year. When they moved they could not take their dog with them. So we inherited another dog. Nova Luna is a German Shepherd Dog and Husky mix. She has one white eye. She is a unique dog! They rescued Nova Luna from a shelter in California.
That is not all but this post is starting to get a little long.
Think about the dogs that have graced your life and tell us about him or her in the comments below.
Mark Coulter
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