On Dogs - Part 2
It wasn’t until I moved to
Sheila had gotten Peppy when he was just a puppy. He was supposed to be the responsibility of her son, Todd but, after a while, Todd got busy with those things that interest teenage boys, and Peppy soon became Sheila’s responsibility. Lucky was a rescue dog to some extent. That is to say, one of Sheila’s patients became so ill that she could no longer look after her two dogs – a female Pomeranian and a male Yorkshire Terrier. Sheila took in both dogs, but soon came to realize that having two male dogs in the same house was a perfect recipe for disaster. Sure enough, the Yorkie marked his territory on the furniture so, after a short while, Sheila had to find him a new home.
Peppy had a great sense of humor. He would run around the house as fast as he could for no other reason than to show off how fast he could run. He’d come in a room and look at you with tail wagging, and then just roll over for no good reason at all. He was a funny dog! Peppy had a little stuffed toy called Mr. Sparky. Mostly, Mr. Sparky was tossed around the house… which is exactly the sort of thing a stuffed toy really enjoys. Sometimes though, Mr. Sparky would become Peppy’s secret love slave. We’d hear a sort of grunting noise coming from the other room and would peek around the corner to find Peppy humping Mr. Sparky. He’d hold Mr. Sparky firmly between his front paws and hump away… quite enthusiastically! It was quite funny really, made more funny because Peppy had long ago been neutered! So, instinct, I guess.
Sheila had made up a whole story about Peppy’s ancestry. His father was a poor, dirt farmer with an abundant crop and, after many years of struggle, his mother carried him on her back while she swam across the Rio Grande River from
Lucky, on the other hand, had no great sense of humor at all. She was a princess; she was a lap dog… and there was absolutely no place on earth that she’d rather be than sitting in someone’s lap – indeed, anyone’s lap – being gently brushed! Lucky, unfortunately, wasn’t too bright! She was very pretty, but she wasn’t anywhere near as smart as Peppy. She didn’t play with any toys unless Peppy threw one at her, and even then, she wouldn’t know what to do with it. Occasionally, she’d try to copy Peppy and grab a toy in her mouth for a minute or so, but then she’d forget what it was for and drop it someplace.
Remarkably, both Peppy and Lucky looked somewhat alike when the sun was shining!
Peppy and Lucky both loved to run across the back of our property over to the house on the next road where my stepdaughter, Amy, and her husband, Alan, lived. Big Al, (although there is still no “Little Al" that I know of), was great friends with Peppy. While Big Al usually wouldn’t give Lucky the time of day – well, were she to ask for it – he always played with Peppy. Indeed, he’d sometimes take Peppy with him in the car when he went to the corner store for something. Peppy loved to travel, and Big Al loved to indulge him.
Peppy had rarely been sick a day in his life, so it shocked up completely when he died so suddenly. One day, he was running up the road in front of our house and, for some unknown reason, he simply fell over… literally, dead in his tracks. The veterinarian said that it was most likely a heart attack, but agreed it was unusual for there to be no warning signs beforehand… and we always took the dogs for regular check ups.
Sheila and I picked a spot just below our deck and I dug a hole for Peppy. We placed Peppy and Mr. Sparky in a pillow case and gently laid him to rest. Big Al and Amy were both with us for the burial and poor Al just broke down in tears. I remember how I had felt a few years earlier when Putchy had died. I had only known Peppy for about 6 months and he was suddenly gone.
