a dogs life 

       babe here is a good dog and able to sleep , just about anywhere and anytime. sometimes i think that is one reason for a dogs longevity is its abilty to snooze on demand. in the last couple of years i have tried to take naps and somedays its no problem , and other days i just lie there. it reduces my stress levels and is a chance for my back to rest some. i think its the stress that kills us more than anything. worrying about bills , food on the table , and what is in store for the future is always on your mind. so taking a few minutes for your self to just unwind , allows me to go longer. but todays discussion is not about sleep but about dogs again. 

      seems like i have been a slave to dogs for quite a while , and in my lifetime have probably fixed the dogs more food than myself . when i was younger and starting to work , one of my first chores every day was feeding the dogs. and it seems like i have been doing it daily since then. can only remember a few years of my life when i didn't have a dog. all those dogs and good ones they were , come and enter your life , then leave as unexpected as they came. 

        they have been a source of silent companionship , once attached are like constant reminders of how you should be. to accept me would be a task in itself . don't really think in some ways that i would be real hospitable person to be around. and if i was a dog would have already booked the place rather than stay with me. but she does accept me and stands by as i do stupid things , or hurt myself .and then gives me that told you so look, as she  just loves those stupid human tricks i do . but still she is always there. 

     was trying to remember over the years all the dogs i have had or were family dogs . we started with sandy , then max , both collies . and she had suzie , and suzie begat a whole slew of dogs . she was a unique dog . as she always had a couple of pups born dead, and to get the other pups away ,  she would grab the pups up by the neck and find herself another place to lay down. knowing she had a litter stashed, and not being able to find them ,  i went searching her out and she just disappeared from my sight , just over this hill.  as i was looking for her , i nearly tripped into this huge hole in the ground.  she had chosen to dig out a den  in the ground . it was dry and warm surprisingly, and all her pups from that litter survived. back in the old days before all these humans were around i could imagine a dog digging a den to have her pups in , she was of good nature and loved humans but there was also something primal about her. 

      when i was younger it seemed as if we gave table scraps to the dogs to eat and some dry food. we would have water in a bowl. and would worm them once in awhile, and that would be pretty much it for dogs. 

       now babe still gets table scraps , but instead of real bones gets fake ones and canned dog food to compliment her other meal. she eats her meal in the house and rarely grabs anything off the ground. she is a sissy but can occasionally rise to the occasion. 

      yesterday we were walking to the garage and 2 groundhogs were coming back from a tea party i guess at the mad hatters. anyhow upon seeing us the one jumps in the air as if to tell us, " here , do you want a piece of me". then the other runs for the garage. well babe was standing there holding  this piece of wood in her mouth, and looks at me and decides she wants a piece of them . i think its about time as these 2 groundhogs have tore up the inside the inside of the garage unconcerned about babe being around. 

     she runs up to the first groundhog with wood in her mouth yet , and slams the wood down and grabs at the groundhog. he turns around and nails her lip, this made her yelp and brought blood and only served to make her more mad. she wrestles with the groundhog but it disappears underneath the brushhog . the steel shell of the brushhog saving its life as babe could do nothing but look at me and bark. as the other groundhog sought shelter in the barn. 

     seeing this , it reminded me of the time we used to go hunting on the neighbor farm and we had just bought a new 65 chevy station wagon ,it was our first new car. well  we would haul max susie and sandy around in it, if there was room . sometimes they would run and follow. these dogs really never wanted for food as they were always bringing groundhog carcasses in they had killed . somebody told me once it was a peace offering by the dogs . i just figured they wanted us to cook and clean them , but we didn't and they would stink , and eventually we would seek it out and throw it over the hill. we had taken old max with us in the new car as we rode to the top of the next hill on the farm next to us. we were only going to check something or other out and soon as we get out of car max kills this huge groundhog. well when get ready to go we all pile in the new car and start down the drive to head back to our farm and there is max standing there with this huge groundhog hanging out of his mouth, on the side of the drive. as if to say hey don't forget me. 

      well dad stops and says to him you can come but you aren't taking that damn bloody groundhog. that dog dropped that groundhog right where he was standing and jumped in the car, blood still staining his mouth as he sat in seat and looked out window for the 10 minute ride home. upon getting back to the farm .

        max jumps out of the car and heads back up over the hill about a quarter mile away to grab that groundhog. it only took about 30 minutes for old max to lay down winded on the porch , his dead groundhog now a pillow for his head. yes the worst thing about dogs is they always seem to go before we do,  and leave us with nothing but memories.