My Dogs

My brother Mark recently posted reflections on his 15 year relationship with his dog Prince. I have posted articles about my last 2 dogs Greta & Shadow. While those 2 are the most recent relationships I've had with dogs there have been others.


As a 8 year old I wanted a dog. My father had told me about the wire haired fox terriers he had who chased rats that invaded his drug store in Shippensburg. One day I came home and found dog food in our kitchen. He had gotten a wire haired fox terrier for the family. We named her Wimpy because she loved hamburger (like the Popeye character). She was a pure bred and my father bred her so we had a litter of puppies. Watching that whole process was fascinating to me. Even when the pups were sent to a vet for sale I would ride my bike there to check on them. Wimpy though was mainly my father's dog. When he died she seemed lost. When my mother was hospitalized with a nervous breakdown Mark and I were sent to Johnstown. We were told Wimpy died, but I think she was put down while we were gone.


9 years later a girl (Sarah)I was dating convinced me I needed a dog. I told her I wanted a male wire haired fox terrier so she got me one. I named him Topper after the TV series. He was a good dog, but 6 months into his life he was killed. I felt guilty for letting him run loose but all we were doing was walking to my car--he was excited and jumped into the street right in front of a car. I buried Topper in Sarah's back yard and she immediately got me another fox terrier. I named him Bo after the song Mr Bojangles (after 20 years he still grieved). I had Bo from 1972 until 1988. He was a unusual dog--independent, never expressed pain even though surviving a raccoon fight, a run in with barbed wire, and hanging himself off a deck while on a leash. Not very affectionate though. he fell down stairs when he was about one year old and I think he was never really affectionate after that incident.


I inherited a dog when I married Pam named Loretta (after her mother). Bo and Loretta were with me about 11 years. Loretta was more affectionate than Bo. Both of them would wander whenever they got loose and not come back for hours. When I moved to Atlanta in 1982 Bo dug under the fence and was gone several days. I figured he was gone forever since he didn't have an Atlanta dog tag but some one found him and called animal control. Five years later while I was on vacation a service person left a gate open and both dogs got loose. The person house sitting found them, but a day later Loretta became sick and died at the vet's office. I later discovered another neighbor's dog was loose the same day and died--an autopsy revealed food poisoning. Apparently some one decided there were too many dogs on the loose and fed them something fatal.


In 1988 my wife Nancy wanted to get Jeff a dog. Bo was 16 years old and fading. That's when Shadow entered my life. Even though Shadow was suppose to be Jeff's dog she attached herself to me. Shadow was around almost 14 years through some pretty tough times for me. But she was my most faithful companion. See previous post Papa's Little Girl that I wrote 3 years after she was gone.


I currently have Greta, an Aussie Shepherd/Beagle mix. I got her a month after Shadow's passing. Greta has characteristics of my previous dogs. She wanders a bit like Bo and Loretta but always comes back. Fortunately she is very street smart and doesn't go into the street. She is affectionate like Shadow. However, unlike Shadow, sometimes she just won't do what I want her to do. Greta has one obsession though--she wants to chase a tennis ball forever. And once she starts chasing a particular ball that is the only one she will retrieve. Hopefully we have another 10+ years together.



During my 61 years I' ve had a dog(s) for about 42 of those years. Since my first dog I've only been dog less about 9 years (college & early business career). It would be hard to imagine not having a dog in my life. While Shadow was probably the best dog I've had so far, I grieved and mourned each one when they died. I hope I'm around long enough to mourn a few more.