Rory, The Long And Winding Road

[Eamonn 61]

Rory, the Golden Retriever puppy that my wife bought as a surprise Christmas gift for me is growing.

Both Her Who Must Be Obeyed and myself really like dogs. The house isn't full of dog pictures and while I do have a coffee mug with Golden Retrievers on that's about the extend of it. Her Who Must Be Obeyed, has a brother who is dog mad. Everywhere in his house there are pictures of dogs, in fact it is a bit over the top.

We have Shane. His papers say that he is a Family Quality, AKC Shetland Sheepdog. He is family quality because he is big. In fact he looks just like Lassie.

A friend of ours bought Shane, but he said his two girls were teenagers and just didn't have the time to spend with him. How you could give such a wonderful dog away? It just amazes me.

That was nine years ago, OJ was seven and Shane became his dog. He slept and still sleeps in OJ's room. OJ, being an only child and us living out in the sticks, with no neighbors. Shane was his playmate. Shane loved to play ball, he would play till his mouth bled. OJ, would take off on his bike and Shane would run along beside him.

When Shane came to live with us we still had Woofter. Woofter was a Manchester Terrier. She ruled the house. She was supposed to be Her That Must Be Obeyed dog, but everyone including her knew she was mine.She was a tiny little thing when we got her. We lived in London at the time and had to take her to the local park for her walks. People said when she was a pup that she looked like a mouse on stilts. The Lads in the troop loved her a made a big fuss of her. As a pup she loved to climb up and sit around my neck then fall asleep.

It cost me a fortune to fly Woof over and it's always been a bit of a joke that it cost me more to fly her over than it cost me to fly HWMBO. Woof flew Delta and we flew Peoples Express. My Father in-law really fell in love with her from day one. The fact that he was able to read the newspapers that we had lined her shipping crate with really got to him. The poor dog had not gone to the bathroom once while traveling. Our hearts were broken when the sad day came. Woof was almost 16.

Joey I call him Joe, is here under false pretenses. OJ and I had been away camping and HWMBO, said that someone had tried to break in the house, Shane doesn't bark, the Lady Woof in her time had been a magnificent guard dog, but with age her hearing wasn't that great. I was given three choices: Not to go away, She would buy a gun, or we bought a guard dog. Joe is an English Setter HWMBO, seen his picture and said that he looked "Frisky". I thought something was wrong the day I picked him up, he just climbed in the backseat and went to sleep. Sleeping seems to be his favorite pastime. He is the most loving, gentlest dog I have ever met. I love his dearly.Joe was a hunting dog that didn't make the grade, he was almost two when he took up residence on his chair.

While it has never been said in words, poor Shane is getting old. When I would take him and Joe out, he would stop about half way. His teeth started to fall out and he is having a hard time with the steps. Rory is here to help me get over the sad day when it comes. I am the emotional one in our house.

We have not had a puppy in over twenty years.Rory is now going on eleven weeks. The going is rough. Puppy proofing a house that you live in, is next to impossible.

We have a crate for him, but I don't want a dog-in-a -box. I want a dog that will be my loyal and trusted friend for as long as he is with me. At times that day seems a very long way off. We have tried paper training him and he chews the paper, so we make trips outside every forty minutes and praise the heck out of him when he does what he is supposed to do. He then comes in and pees on the carpet. We have put more miles on the carpet cleaner that I have on my car. I am not supposed to bend or pick up anything over five pound. Cleaning up after him is a pain.

OJ, has been good about taking him out, but doesn't seem to understand that a tired puppy is a happy puppy. They go out but are back in next to no time. I have undertaken the job of the long walk.

I look like an advertisement for Columbia Sports wear. It has been so very cold and we have about eight inches of snow on the ground. Just getting dressed seems a chore in it self. But around 2:00 PM, we set off on our walk. He is so happy to be out and everything is so new to him. He chases little bits of snow that he has moved. Our yard is about six acres and next door we have an antique farm equipment museum, they have about sixty acres, about half way there is a covered bridge, when we reach this we turn around and head for home. All in all we are gone for almost an hour.

Rory takes a nap and I **** about how cold it is. For a while everything seems to be normal. Joe is happy, Rory likes to chew Joe's tail. Joe is so gentle that he runs to me and looks pathetic. Shane has taken to joining us on our walks, going the entire distance. He refuses to put up with any puppy play, he shows his teeth, what's left of them. Rory seems to get the message.

What ever happens Rory is going to be a good dog. We start classes after Valentines Day. It would be easy to quit, but I wouldn't get what I want.

I can't help thinking about how much having a pup is like kids.

I love to watch him grow, watch him play. While I know that he was a very expensive dog, but from here on in there will be the everyday expenses of having a dog, but my biggest investment in him is time.Together we will discover what is and what isn't acceptable. He will outgrow a lot of things that he now does. (Joe is hoping that his tail chewing days will end real soon - That is hard on a Lads duster!!)

We have puppy school and obedience school classes all lined up. He will be a educated little fellow. A lot of what I think about dogs, I think about kids. Are there any bad dogs? I don't think so, just dogs that didn't get the love care and training that they need to be good. A dog that someone has invested time in will do better than one that is left to it's own devises. A little love goes a long way, a lot of love goes a lot further.

Of course kids are much more important than dogs.

Pam my now retired DE and I were talking her daughter is expecting grandchild number two. She of course is overjoyed. I said that OJ has been told that any grandkids that he presents me with had better wait for a long time!! I am not sure if I could manage having a baby in the house full time, but the idea of a little person who I can hand back doesn't seem so bad. There have been times when I wish that I could hand Rory back. At times he seems he is just twenty odd pound of sharp puppy teeth. But the little fellow is so darn cute.

Eamonn.

 

[9muckraker7 11]

Very interesting story for the night.