Dot`sThoughts

More Animals we have owned.
Prince was a Collie/ German police mix which gave her both the gentleness of a Collie and the protection of a Police dog. There was a time when we had a family in our area whose boys were always looking for a fight with someone. So, I would take Prince with me for protection and walk to meet my daughter ( 16 at the time) as she walked home from her job in the Hosp. caffeteria. Walt used to warn me that those boys wouldn`t care if I was a woman. I knew prince would protect me, so I didn`t worry. You see even when I was fooling around with my teenage boys, if they tried picking on me, Prince would jump up on me, turn her head towards the boys and growl at them. Inorder to fool with the kids, I had to first put Prince outside. We didn`t have the leash laws here back then, but Prince never left the side porch unless she was following one of us. But he would go straight home if we sent him back. We had him for close to 14 years. Then she got into a fight protecting her food dish from the neighbors dog. The other dog bit her on the neck causing an abcess so bad that the vet said it needed an operation, but Prince was too old to live thru the op.
Then there was Flopsie, our little beagle. She first belonged to a daughter , then her hubby brought home another dog and she didn`t want two dogs. I told her I didn`t want the other dog, but I would take Flopsie. A granddaughter named her that because she said her ears flopped. We had her over 10 years. She was almost blind and couldn`t climb anymore and I was carrying her up and down the porch. Finally I could see she was in too much pain and I had to take her to the vets. It broke my heart both times- with Prince and with Flopsie. After that I never wanted another dog, till Sassy changed my mind a few years later.
Then before those dogs there was Champ. His mother was my oldest daughters mineature Police dog. But his father must have been some large dog as Champ was one real strong puppy and at 3 months of age while I was walking him out to tie him up, I got just as far as the porch when a neighbor walked by with his dog. Champ took off on a fast run carrying me flying thru the air and dumping me on the driveway between our two cars. he was already getting to be a big dog. I had to dig my hands into the ground to halt him . Then shortly before he was a year old, he snuck out the door when one of the kids opened it. Off he went on a fast run- up the road and crossed the main road into the woods. My youngest son and a cousin went running after him. About 10 minutes later the nephew came running and told me Ron needs something to hook on Champ to bring him home. He told me to hurry as he didn`t think Ron could hold him very long. Later I heard champ had run over half way around the large pond in the woods and everytime the boys got near him, he would stop look at them and run the other way. Nephew told me that Ron took a flying leap in the air and managed to land where he could grab hold of Champ. We kept Champ for about 4 years and by then he was the size of a small pony- tall and broad. He must have had a very large dog for his father. Walt was afraid of him because of his size, but he was as gentle as could be. Only problem was he was so large and heavy that when he leaned against you, there better be something behind you to lean against or you were going down. Then the youngest moved out and I knew that if he ever got loose again I could never catch him. So, I knew a fellow who wanted a large dog and he had plenty of room for him to run in. He came down with his teenage son and when I looked out later I saw how well his son and Champ got along. They were having a great time playing together, so I gave Champ to them.
Then there was the shaggy dog that was killed by a garbage truck in front of our home and then there was the little dog with the curly tail that was killed by a fellow driving the bread truck to our store. It was no mistake as he said if that dog ever barks at him again he will kill it. That little dog would just lay there by the porch and bark, he never got up when he would bark. A very friendly dog. The bread truck almost hit our house when he killed it. I called the bread co. and told them, either get rid of that driver or stop delivering to our store as that driver was never allowed back onto our property again. The owner told me that he had complaints before and this time he would be fired.
Then when the twins were babies there was this strange dog that hung around. She was so skinny that I felt for her and started putting out food for her. One day I took the twins in a carriage and along with the little 2 1/2 yr old, we headed down to visit my Grandmother. Shortly after we were their, a cousin stopped in and asked my Gram who owned the little dog on the front porch. I went to look and it was that little god that someone in a car had dropped off. That little dog ended up having 1 tiny pup on my Aunts front porch. Gram lived with my Aunt. My Aunt brought the little dog and her - then- one puppy and made a place for them in her bathroom. Later I phoned a brother to see if he could give us a ride home. He asked if the twins were too tired or was I too tired to push them back home. I told him I could easily get the three kids back home, but not the little dog and her five puppies. She wouldn`t nurse her pups, so I called the vet for a formula and fed them with a medicine dropper every three hours day and night. Lost one that night, 2 more the next day, well the last one lived just 5 days. A couple days later a neighbor called to tell me the little dog was dead under her front porch. Turned out the mother dog had been poisoned so the pups never had a chance. A couple months later we found the older daughters cat poisoned. We knew who was doing it, but couldn`t proove it. But the vet thought the little dog might have been poisioned was dropped of.
Then therewere the fish that one of the twins had. We were gone on a vacation and thetwin owning the fish and the girls were working when a friend dropped in to see the other twin. he had a beer with him which he poured into the huge fish tank saying he wanted to see how fish acted when they were drunk, well he found out as he killed them all. i was so irritated when i got home and heard this. Told that son what I thought and that he also knew better than let a friend bring in a beer while we were not home. Then next time i saw that friend, he also knew how I felt.
Years later the same son who owned the fish started raising rabbits. He had about 14 when some dogs tore the coop apart and killed all but the one rabbit that managed to hide where they couldn`t get him. He was born a three legged rabbit and still the only one living. My Son was so dissappointed that he gave that last rabbit away. We had rabbits dead all over the back yard and in one neighbors yard. Funny thing is we never heard any barking dogs, but another neighbor saw them when he came him from work late that night, but he never knew about the rabbits at that time.
Then another daughter raised some hamsters-- way too many. She had so many cages with towers and all. I used to make her take them all up to her room while i ran the Cub meetings as they loved watching the hamsters performing. After she graduated, she lsft home and i told her she was responsible to care for her own animals and she knew that before she started raising them, At the time she was working at the local general Electric night shift and her younger sister said there running those wheels was keeping her awake. Daughter finally gave them to our local pet store.
Hubby, a brother and I bought a very young bull once and had raised it for over 2 years when one day my bro called to tell us it had strangled on the chain when it suddenly took off on a fast run. Vet said he was pretty certain the bull was stung by a bee.
Well, think that tells about the animals we had, and most of them were my responsibility while the kids were attending school.
Now,I am glad there is just my trusty loyal Border Collie to worry about.