Playing Fair and Being Kind

My friend Sharon is home from the hospital and I was able to visit for a few minutes yesterday. I think she is the loveliest person I know. I was fortunate to be her maid-of-honor at her wedding here in Boothbay. That was truly an honor for me.

The days have reached the winter solstice. Today is going to be short so I better get busy with this posting. I’m waiting to hear from friend Tim to see if we are meeting later for dinner in Damariscotta. Also I have a haircut appointment to get my mane down to length. I’m thinking of my road trip and I want be civilized appearing when I go.

Here is a story regarding dogs and owners. I love dogs. Not all dogs mind you. I love the ones I like. Make sense? Well maybe not. Here is my story.

 

WAGGING THEIR TAILS BEHIND THEM

My friend Nicole’s dog ran off today and is still not home yet. I told her most dogs come home on their own after they’ve had enough freedom. Domestic animals know where home is, they just choose to take advantage of the situation I believe. Some types of dogs stay away longer than others though and it is helpful to know the breed that has escaped to be able to predict when it will return. Beagle dogs, or dogs that track by scent, love to run and run. They never stay home if allowed off lead or if the gate is left open. It’s ‘see ya later, sucker!’ and off they go. Ye haw! Once they get into an area where wild creatures are the nose takes over and head-to-the-ground they go.

Some breeds are so tightly bred that their brains are pretty little in all areas except that one spot for which they are designed for. Show dogs especially can be sort of narrow minded. I remember a situation I was put in when I was just a youngster. Two guys were living in Boston, friends of my mother, I think they were musician groupies. They were partners and they had bought a house in Provincetown. They were going to go there to do a few jobs on the house and needed to stay overnight. Their dog, a young, full-size boxer needed to be left in Boston. I was hired by them to be the dog watcher for one full day. The only requirements were to keep him in the house or on a leash when I took him out for walks. Plus I needed to carry a package of tissues with me to wipe the drool off his mouth. Why, I don’t know. Keeping up appearances I suppose. I thought the drool wiping part was a bit over the top but it was their dog and I was getting paid to do it.

I guess I got attached to the dog by following it around the house and wiping the drool from his mouth when it needed it. I mean he started to take notice of me and he tolerated me dragging the tissue along his lips every fifteen minutes or so. I think he was teething. Why else would he drool so much? He was a pretty dog too. I think he came from champion lines from what I gathered when they spoke of him. I don’t remember the dog’s name. He was pretty though. Fawn coat with white markings. Quite a dandy I must say.

Well, I had him outside to let him pee and of course I un-clipped the leash. He just looked so miserable being tied to me all the time. Plus he was so pretty, too pretty to be restrained I thought. Well you can imagine how long it took him to figure out the situation and decide to go off on his own. Whoosh, he was gone like a flash and I just about had a heart attack. I chased him up the street but he was out of sight in no time. Luckily there was a large park adjacent to our property and when I got to where I could see a great distance I discovered, much to my dismay, that he was at the other edge of the earth. I mean I could see him but he was half a mile away and getting along just fine on his own, thank you very much.

I was beside myself. He was no longer under my control. I couldn’t be sure but it looked like he had found a few other dogs to play with. They all ran away together out of sight. I was defeated. I walked back to my parent’s house and went inside to brood and mope. How was I going to explain this? I lost a very expensive dog because I was stupid. I couldn’t begin to think of the consequences. About an hour later I heard the dog at the back door. His panting and laughing was so noisy I heard him right away. He was anxiously awaiting me to open the door which I did of course right away. He bounded into the house and went for his water dish. I immediately shut the back door and after he had slugged down all the water in the dish I wiped his mouth. No one ever found out about this incident.

The only other dog to get under way on me was Ranger, my last great dog pal. Ranger was one of a kind. He was savvy and intelligent all at once. I got him from the shelter here in Lincoln County. He impressed me with his size and attitude. We were made for each other. It was an instant match, the two of us. I thought I was in charge and he let me go on thinking that. There are so many instances where he had me completely fooled and never let on.

He was a rascal for sure. He’d been given to the shelter three times. People found him to be too independent and fearsome looking. Just like me. Still it took me a while to get used to his tricks. I finally figured them all out but that was something we shared with each other. We liked each other enough that we never interfered when the other was pulling a stunt. We always went along with it to share the satisfaction of getting over on somebody. As I say we were a good match. One time he chewed through his rope out in the back yard and left for a few hours to explore. He never ran away, he just walked off the property bold as brass. When he came back I gently reminded him what the rope was for and retied it to his collar. Later I looked out the window and he was lying down watching the day pass peacefully. I went out to congratulate him for staying on the rope and for not chewing it through. When I patted his head he stood up and walked over to the back door leaving the freshly chewed rope lying where it was. Ranger did things like that but never in a mean way. He always did it to demonstrate his mental superiority.

During the first few days after I brought Ranger home from the shelter I drove him to an undeveloped piece of property out in the woods about two miles from my house. He’d been there maybe once or twice. I could let him off the leash after we were into the woods far enough and he would stay within calling distance. He was good about coming when I whistled. Of course I didn’t over do the calling part, just enough to keep tabs on him. He was savvy as I said and he demonstrated that he knew his way around. You might say he was an outdoor dog. I was continually marveling at his behavior. It all indicated his comfort in the woods. One time when we were out during the winter I saw Ranger break the ice on a pond with his feet to get a drink. He reared up and came down with both feet close together. It took a few tries but he succeeded in breaking the ice enough to get his drink. Another savvy bit he demonstrated was while walking along a road he would move over onto the shoulder when a vehicle approached. I never worried for his road safety. He knew about vehicles.

On this particular early walk of ours he was trotting well ahead of me on a gravel road. I saw him raise his head and stop in his tracks and then he bolted off into the trees. That was the last saw of him. I tried to find where he went and I called and whistled but he was gone, gone, gone. I returned to my pick-up and drove up and down the few miles of road in the development but there was no sign of him. I knew the area fairly well so I drove around getting out of the truck occasionally to give him a call and a whistle. I expected him to hear the truck and come running. No dice. I gave up and decided to head on home and wait and see and then call the shelter to tell them he was missing.

I got back to the house and he was standing on the back deck waiting for me. Now in order for him to get home he had to get out to the main road and trot two miles back over a bridge and take a few turns and get to the house. He did it with no help from me. Later I was at the post office just up the road. The post mistress told me Ranger had been in to see if I was there. She tried to capture him and give him some water but after a look around the office he left. He was too big to capture anyway. He would simply shake off any hand that grasped at him. I was relieved and a little in awe of this dog after this. He was really cool. He was smart and athletic and never barked unless someone came to the door and then he would shake the house to its foundation with his roar. Other than that he was quiet. He never barked to be let in. He’d stand at the door and stare at me with his wolf-like eyes. If I didn’t respond he would go and lie down and be patient.

I never saw the dog that I consider the smartest dog ever though. That was a coon dog I’d been told was quite bright and could think on its own. His owner was a guy who liked to hunt raccoon. He’s shoot them and skin them for trade and or cash. He had a pelt board to stretch the skins. Actually he had several pelt boards of differing dimensions and the board had to be right size for the coon. Well, the guy would show one of the boards to the dog and the dog would run off and find the right size raccoon and chase it up a tree. The guy would go out a few minutes behind the dog and find him at the base of a tree with the perfect size coon sitting on a branch high above the ground. He was quite proud of that dog. Tragedy struck though when one day the guy’s wife left the ironing board out on the back porch and that dog took notice and hasn’t been seen since. We imagine he’s still looking for that coon.

That’s one dog I wish I’d seen. Another dog I wish I’d seen is Nicole’s dog. He’s still on the loose. She suspects he may have followed some neighbor children home because he likes kids and that was the last anyone saw him. He was tagging after the kids. I hope she finds him because she loves that dog.