Remembering

About this time last year, our family experienced a significant loss. Muffin, our cherished 16 year old dog passed away. I found Muffin on the side of the road in 1991 in Gonzales, Louisiana. On that cold rainy day, this stray Poodle and Lhasa Apso mix was happy I rescued her. My wife Pam had never had an inside dog before; but her journey of learning many life lessons from this dog was about to begin.

About a year later my Mother and Aunt Polly conspired and gave me a dog. He was part Pekingese and Pomeranian. He looked just like a Chinese Temple Dog and we called him Buddha. Buddha and Muffin were soul mates. He worshiped the ground she walked on and she thought he was a pretty good guy. Kind of like me and Pam.

In fact, we often joked about the relationship they had and the relationship we had. You know how some dogs take on the personality of their owners? You know how some owners start looking like their dogs? Well, Buddha and I shared a love for our partners, and Muffin, like Pam had beautiful eyes.

Buddha and Muffin were not useful dogs in the usual sense. They didn't hunt, they could not herd but they were excellent guard dogs. Actually, they were just early warning systems; neither was big enough to be of much use against an intruder.

Then I got me a "Lion Dog", a Black Lab and Rhodesian Ridgeback mix, we named Jack Daniels (Black Jack). The Rhodesian Ridgeback has its history in African and got its name "Lion Dog" because of its ability to fight lions fearlessly. However, our Ridgeback is good for much more than "lying" around. Muffin never cared much for Jack. Budha tolerated him and taught him many things including how to play.

Buddha died in 2000, it was a terrible loss that none of us ever got over. I buried him in an air tight military box and vowed that when we moved to Missouri he would go with us. When we moved, Buddha moved.

We got to Seymour in September of last year. Muffin absolutely loved it. In her short time with us in Missouri, she explored and bossed Jack and the puppy she raised, Gibson. Gibson is an Austrailian Shepherd that was small enough to walk under Muffin when we got him. Gibson has a lot of Buddha in him; for one thing he adored Muffin. I think she recognized Buddha in Gibson because she loved him back.

We set Buddha's coffin aside when we got here, waiting for inspiration as to where to bury him. Then, in November of last year, I could not find Muffin. I called, I searched and searched. After several hours, I found her. She was lying peacefully next to Buddha's coffin. After 16 wonderful years with us, she was finally at rest with her soul mate. Today, they rest side by side overlooking our pond. They have a head stone that I carved from a Missouri rock.

Many folks will not understand why I'm sharing this with you. I have found that folks that don't like dogs don't like me. I have found that folks that don't love dogs, I generally don't care for.
I have never been betrayed by a dog. I have never been taken advantage of by a dog. I have never been lied to by a dog. I have always been forgiven for my short comings by dogs. I have had some good dogs in my life - Pouchy, Bozo, Princess, Baby, Duchess, Frisky, Rusty, Beau Diddly even one named Schmoo and her son Cargo (I'll tell you that story sometime). My dogs are like my heroes and my friends. They are trustworthy and they can be counted on. They may not be pretty, they may not smell real good, but they smell sweet to me.

A good dog is like a partner, they are different from most critters. They have names, they have personalities, they dream - and anything that dreams understands love.

Neither Pam nor I were ready for another dog after Muffin, until we found Annie. Annie is an Australian Shepherd like Gibson. Hopefully, one day Gibson will figure everything out and Annie will give us some puppies. In the meantime, I will remember.

Next week I'll get back to business, but right now I will remember. I'm kind of like Will Rogers who said, "If there ain't no dogs in heaven, I'll go to where they are." I can't imagine a God that wouldn't accept a dog. Did you ever notice that dog is God spelled backward?