Around the Square
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Butch Furse
It’s the start of a new year and that means time to clean out my desk. In doing so, I came across a sheet of paper with the names of all the dogs that had been a part of my household since I was about 3 years old.
I had scribbled a note on that paper asking myself, “What was your favorite dog?” I smiled and began reminiscing as each name brought memories beginning with my first dog, a red Cocker Spaniel pup my grandfather gave me from a litter he raised. In fact, my grandfather gave each of his six grandchildren a dog from that litter. I don’t know whether my parents expected a 3-year-old to have a dog, but it must have been okay because my mother named the dog “Pickles” and he was loved as part of our family for nearly 14 years.
When Pickles became ill from old age he had to be put down and the next day my dad gathered our family for a three-day get-away trip to the Ozarks.
At my young age the dog roots were established that a dog needs to be a part of the family. When the Betterhalf and I moved to our first home with three boys back in 1965 we made the decision a dog was needed. Over the years a string of seven dogs have come into the household with two still living with us even after the kids have gone.
We didn’t turn to the “blue-lines” or pedigrees for our dog picks. The first dog “Shadow” was supposedly a Cocker Spaniel pup that vaguely resembled that breed. Another mutt “Suzy” was saved from a litter that was about to be destroyed. “Ralph” a dump dog the boys found near the dump, never went hungry again. “Jake,” gotten from the shelter, was a true adult Springer Spaniel, but was deaf.
Later, along came another mutt, “Missy.” We agreed to board her and her eight new pups in our home after a heavy holiday snowstorm prevented getting to the shelter to feed the pups five times daily. Naturally all the pups were called for and we had fallen in love with Missy, who is still with us (minus any more pups).
You would think working at the shelter would satisfy our love for dogs. Well, a few months ago, shelter dog “Gregory” joined Missy in our household. But, I guess after nearly 80 years, we still think we need our “home dog, or dogs.”
RL Furse is publisher emeritus of the News-Register
