While answering questions for an upcoming article, I was asked how Rogue has changed our lives. That got me thinking...a lot...and feeling a bit philosophical. Like most things that get me thinking like this, the answer has to start out a long time before Rogue entered the picture and the answer is fairly long.
As for me, well, I've always had a dog. There are very few times in my life that I have not had a dog. They really all serve as timeline markers in my life. For some people it is cars that help them determine when a particular photo was taken (hey, that's grandmas old Lincoln, it must be about 1975). For me, it was and is dogs.
Now the first thing you should know is that as a kid, we only had "outside dogs". I'm generally against the idea of "outside dogs" in the same manner I am against "outside kids", it's cruel. They are meant to be part of the family and live with you, if they don't, you are really missing the whole point of having a dog!
The next few blog posts will be dedicated to my past dogs. Unfortunately, I have very few pictures, but will do some digging to see what I can find.
Dog #1 - Cuddles (~1977-1979) Age Unknown
Cuddles was a beagle-ish dog. I don't remember when we got her, probably around 1977 or 1978, but she is the first dog I remember owning. She was an outside dog, and like many outside dogs, the cold winter would be her end. I don't know for certain when she died, but this was pre-kindergarten for me. Probably around 1979.
I have faint memories about Cuddles. I remember we lived just west of Marshfield on Wren Road, the house is till there today. We had a very old garage that looked like it was about ready to fall down (and I believe it is still there today too). Behind that garage was Cuddles dog house.
In all honesty, it was a pretty good place for a dog house. It was sheltered from the North and West by the garage and it had a big lilac bush that provided shade in the summer. It was probably 50 feet from the back door and I remember going out in the morning to give Cuddles fresh water and the table scraps from the night before.
Behind our house was a barn, with cows that grazed right up to our backyard. In the summer, we would play with cuddles on a long lead that was attached to her dog house. It was just long enough that she could get under the fence and "attack" the cows. I remember watching her laying perfect still until a cow got close. Then she would jump up and try to attack. I don't think the cows ever really cared.
It would be that lilac bush that provided summer-time shade that would bring an end to Cuddles. I get very sad when I see outside dogs that have a half circle of grass-less dirt around them that shows the extent of their world. As Cuddles passed back and forth, the grass wore away and roots from that Lilac began to show. One cold winter night, her chain got caught on a root, and that was the last night we had Cuddles.
This was my first experience dealing with death as a child and I honestly remember very little. I do remember burring her right behind the garage (in the snow) where she lived most of her life and crying for a long time. I know that sometime in the spring my dad buried her properly, but I wasn't part of that.
We didn't wait long before we got a new dog, it was probably mid spring. I'll write about Smokey in my next post.
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