Kids & Dogs

My favorite movies include Dog movies. "Old Yellar" is at the top of the list. I still cry everytime when Old Yellar gets rabies. "No! No!" I think when that part comes up. "The Adventures of Yellow Dog", "Otis and Milo", "Homeward Bound", "Lady & the Tramp", "Lassie"...oh am I sucker for dog movies! I just can't help it. David Scott's most favorite book when he was younger was "Where the Red Fern Grows"....ol Dan and Annie. The first time he read it was in 3rd grade. I poked my head in to say "good-night" to him on his bunkbed--he was reading the book, with tears in his eyes. He still has that paperback...I bet he's read it a zillion times.

We've had our black lab, "Dakota" for about 4 months now. She's a really sweet girl. She's been sleeping all night since the first week we got her...that was a long week b-t-w. She's trained US to keep the floor picked up...or else.
I think we have half a dozen pair of flipflops with one mate. Oh and she ate one of my sunday shoes. But I forgave her--it was my fault for leaving them where she'd get 'em. She ate a wad of White Model Magic--she jumped up to the table and grabbed it, swallowing it whole before I could even get to her. And yes, it made it easier to poop-scoop--whatwith the white and all. She's ingested nerf darts, barbie shoes, and can unroll toilet paper and eat that too! She has jumped up to our picnic table and eaten the kids' sandwiches when they weren't looking...I don't think she has tastebuds. She frequently brings home neighbor kid's toys and newspapers.
We're training her to "drop it"--sometimes she does, and sometimes she doesn't. She whines like a tea kettle when she wants out of her crate--especially if there's commotion in the house...like kids running through it. She is still every bit a puppy & a bit of work...but hopefully she will turn out to be a great family member.

Monday night, Boofus fell off his bike. AGAIN. He came in the house "wailing like a coyote", as his dad says; and as we cleaned his many scrapes, Dakota came over to him to see what all the fuss was about. Immediately, Boofus was comforted, even smiling. One time Dakota walked away Boofus said, "Come back here, lil girl, I need you. You make me feel better." Awwwww...I just melted, I tell you! So she came back and stood by his side while he pet her and I tended to his scrapes & scratches. Every time she started to walk away, he would fret about the pain until she came back.

That's why every boy deserves a dog. Just thought I'd let you know.

I grew up with a toy poodle named Taffy. We got him when I was 9 years old. He was a tough little dog. Not one of those yappy poodles either. He put up with so much guff and teasing from my brothers poor thing! We loved our Taffy. When my mom took him to the "Poodle Parlor", she'd get him all gussied up with bows on his ears and painted toe nails...he looked like he could work Vegas with Wayne Newton--ridiculous.
Oh and when he came home from the Poodle Parlor, he knew he looked good! He'd run around the house at 50mph and you could just tell he felt good!
Funny story: My mom thought she could cut his hair with clippers and set about to do it one summer. So you know the little puff of hair on the top of poodle's heads? Well she trimmed too much of that puffball, and it looked like he was running-- as the top was nearly on the back of his neck! Hilarious!
When Taffy was just a puppy, we took him on a walk around our block on a leash. One of our neighbors' German Shepherds got loose and attacked our little dog--it was horrible. Taffy was in the Vet hospital for a week, at the neighbor's expense--and when he came home he had a scar down his side for the rest of his life. We were so grateful that he survived.
Another time, he saved our lives. I am not kidding. My Aunt was babysitting us while my folks were out one evening. We all fell asleep in the livingroom and were awakened by Taffy's barking.
Boy! was he ever barking! And he was running from window to window to door to door, just barking his little head off! My Aunt woke up and heard a knocking on the door, as she was unchaining the door, she thought to ask, "Who is it?" A man's voice answered, and it wasn't my dad's...she quickly chained the door up again and woke us all up. We didn't have a phone yet--we'd only been in the new house a few weeks I think; having a phone wasn't as important as it is now--so we didn't have a phone! She woke all of us kids up and had us banging on pots and pans as loud as we could, to get the neighbor's attention and to scare the intruder off. Which is exactly what happened. How grateful we were for Taffy waking us up!
Taffy was a smart dog. My dad taught him to track deer and squirrel. Dad would tell Taffy to "stay" on the back porch...then Dad would take the hide and run through the forest with it dragging behind--over and around trees and bushes--then Dad would hide and whistle as loud as he could for Taffy. Upon hearing that whistle, Taffy would high-tail it after him...following the scent over and around all the trees and bushes too...with us kids in tow after him, until finally catching up with Dad. What a celebration when Taffy found Dad!
We'd ask my dad what we're gonna do with Taffy once he died...Dad replied he was just gonna throw him in the backyard. He acted like it would be no big deal. Well, when I was 16, Taffy got glaucoma in one of his eyes and after being let out one morning, didn't come back--Dad found him on the side of the street. He'd been hit by a car. I came home from school to find my dad's car in the drive--which was unusual.
Dad was sitting in the livingroom in his work clothes, and looked so so sad. He told us what happened...and he cried over our little dog. We all did. Taffy was gone. We missed his little cream colored fur and happy little self.

Kids and dogs. That's what a mother's life is all about, isn't it? We learn to read kids minds and dogs' whines. Would we have it any other way?