String and others came to mind when i read this.
I loved one dog, Juka (“gentle student”), who passed in my arms with my tears dripping on him. I have not had another since. I am fine with just watching my son with his dog.
sing
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After our last dog Lilly died at 15 months , I swore we wouldn’t have another.
We have had many that made it 14 great years .
We obviously now have Honey who is 9 months. It took me awhile to fully accept her.
I see people my age riding around with little yappy dogs on their laps. Honey won’t fit on mine but she wants to.
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I got my dog when I was 12. She passed when I was 26. As a kid, there were times she was my only friend, and she was my best friend. She was a family member. As much as I would love to have another dog someday, the goodbye was too hard, and I don’t think I can do it again. I’ll just happily accept all of the tail wags and face licks that come my way and remember the fond memories.
Lovely story.
Cats too, and horses for those who can keep one for their lifetime.
There are special ones…
I have a cousin in Maine and another in Tennessee that foster animals, from cats and dogs to horses and cows and pretty much anything in between. They love what they do.
Bill Tarrant, the former writer for Field and Stream addressed the loss of an animal you are very attached to.
He had just lost his dog. His perspective was that there is always another that needs to be loved and wants someone to love them.
Go sit among a litter of puppies and one will pick you.
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You are really dating yourself (and me). William D. “Bill” Tarrant was a well known writer about gun dogs and upland hunting who had long passed. His training books were my reference for training Juka, my brittany spaniel, specifically “Best Way to Train Your Gun Dog” and “Hey Pup, Fetch”. He loved dogs and was a proponent of humane (non-violent) training methods for four legged companions in the field and at home. As he was quoted,
“I know dogs. I live dogs. I love dogs.”
sing
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Even further back, one of my favorite books was The Old Man and the Boy by Robert Ruark.
And the book I used for training Buddy, my Brittany, was Gun Dog. I don’t remember the author.
Could be you are thinking of Richard Wolters’ “Gun Dog”? I have that one as well. Another source I really loved because of their “loving approach” to training is the Monks of Skete. They specialize with German Shepards breeding and training. Loved reading a couple of their books.
sing
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That’s it Sing. Thanks! Buddy was a great dog for 14 years. I have a photo of my oldest daughter in diapers , laying back on Buddy. They were babies together.
Until Honey we didn’t have another dog who was so focused on me. Brittanys have that reputation.
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I have done several rounds of work with the puppies at New Skete. They have a program of puppy socialization that starts when they are about three days old and up to about 6-7 weeks. It goes from holding them when their eyes are not quite open yet to taking them out on a leash and having them go up and down a few steps. The volunteers also spot for things like a hernia, which does turn up once in a while. I caught one in a little female, they get it fixed before anyone goes out the door.
I found it to be a bit more enjoyable when I also got to take the adult moms or other dogs that were in the puppy kennel out for a walk, but for various predictable reasons they stopped having the volunteers do that. Regardless the puppies are outrageously cute.
They like getting volunteers of the female persuasion so that the puppies leave there having experienced other than just men. Plus the monks have a pile of more grownup dog stuff they are doing anyway. Each of the monks has a dog or two that comes out of the litters that they live with and take into adulthood.
It is unfortunately nearly an hour’s drive each way, and they are located on the top of a really big hill/small mountain with a steep driveway that is a whole lot of not fun in winter or the worst of mud season. So it does not take much else going on in my life to make it time I don’t have. Like right now.
There is a debate about the German bloodlines with the dropped rear hip angle that New Skete favors. One which the Shepherd folks can discuss. Doesn’t change how cute the puppies azre.
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