I know you've heard of the " Dog Days of Summer." It usually rolls around in July and August when it's hot and hazy and when I was a kid my mom wouldn't allow me to swim or even get near the water. When I would ask her to go to the creek or a pool she would simply say, " No. It's Dog Days." That was it. No other explanation was ever given or needed. And on days when I struggle to find things to write about....such as today, I realize there are more than one set of "Dog Days," and I'm right in the middle of the winter stretch.
I'm not craving a dip in the pool, but I am looking for something sports related to write about.
Since college basketball is winding down but not quite ready for " March Madness," Major League Baseball has just started spring training and....there is no football, I decided to write about a non-sports topic. Since we're in the "Dog Days" of winter I decided to write about one of my favorite subjects....Dogs. Why Not?
In my lifetime, which has covered 73 years, I can never remember a time without at least one dog. In fact I've had more than two dozen members of the Canine variety. I've had pure bred pups and mostly rescues, and I can tell you right away, the dogs I've gotten for free or adopted from a shelter are far and away the best dogs, especially shelter dogs. They seem to be more needy and more loving than others. I imagine they're just happy to be out of a cage and have a home. It's not that I haven't had good dogs that were full-blooded, because I have, but some of them have health issues that are tough to deal with.
Shelters like the Humane Educational Society or the McKamey Center serve a great purpose. They need donors to help keep the doors open, they need volunteers to work with the animals and they need folks to adopt their pets. There is most always a spay or neuter fee as well as an adoption fee, but many times during the year those fees are cut or even dropped.
It's really tough to choose my favorite dog of all-time or the one I consider the best. Perhaps it's Daisy, a German shepherd-dalmation mix we got right after Shelia and I were first married, or Rusty....my true companion when I was a kid. Ironically both of them were poisoned by cruel rotten neighbors. I don't know who poisoned Rusty, but I know exactly who poisoned Daisy. It was an older man in Whitwell who lived three houses down on our street. His main hobby in life was to get rid of every dog who came near his property.
In later years we did something our parents would never do. We brought our dogs into our house. All the reasons our moms and dads told us why we shouldn't have dogs in the house were really non-existent. Now, they sleep in our bed with us and they usually take up the prime areas. We inherited perhaps the best dog we ever had when our son, Davey, gave us his golden retriever, Sadey, a dog he raised as a puppy. We acquired Sadey when he moved to a place that didn't allow pets, and we fell in love with her from day one. She was smart, pretty and friendly to everyone, especially children. She was, however, stubborn. When she was outside, she might come when you called her....or she may not. But she soon became our best friend and really helped me through some dark times. She lived to be 15 years old, and the day we had to put her down was one of the toughest days I ever lived through. She was a true friend and companion.
Sadey was a lot like the dog we have now. Skeeter is a smaller, mostly white dog who came to us from the Humane Society. We adopted her when she was eight months old and she turned ten years old this past October. We have no idea what her ancestry is....it really doesn't matter. She's the smartest dog we've ever had, as well as being the most loving dog ever. She's a bit skittish, but she loves all children. As for men and other dogs, not so much. She's the only dog we have now, but in the past we've had as many as three at once.
Dogs are special. I've read a lot about owning dogs, and I'm a much better dog owner now than when I was younger. They offer us unconditional love, and I believe it when I read something like, " They become part of your family, but to them you are the center of their lives and 95 percent of their memories are about you." Dogs are very therapeutic. They know when you are stressed and they consider it their job to make you feel better with a lot of love and a cuddle or two.
If you're considering getting a dog, check the shelters first. They will become your best friend. I guarantee it.
* * *
Randy Smith can be reached at rsmithsports@epbfi.com