Last weekend around 6:45 am I was awakened to someone or something licking me in the face. Was Kathie dreaming about licking a giant Sugar Daddy sucker? (Remember those big brown hunks of delicious taffy- like suckers? You didn’t dare chew them or the sticky candy would remove every crown in your mouth or any loosely fitting teeth as well.)

As my brain began to shake off the cobwebs of sleep I realized our daughter’s dog Millie was perched on my chest as  she slobbered all over my face.

Now I have no experience with indoor dogs. All of our dogs were the outdoors type so an indoor dog licking your face at 6:45 am must mean only one thing. Mother Nature is calling and Millie is trying to warn me of an impending accident.

Fearing the accident might take place on the quilt I was snuggled under I sprang into action. Leaping out of bed I hustled Millie to our front door and gently booted her out into the early morning darkness.

Mimicking my daughter’s instructions that I had overheard her using previously I spoke softly, “Go potty Millie, go potty!”

I watched her disappear into the darkness nose to the ground and taking in all of the early morning smells.

I stood by waiting and waiting for her to return.

Then a startling thought came to me. A deer hunter had reported seeing a coyote running through our CRP grassland in front of our house and coyotes would love to have a fat little puppy for a snack! Yikes, I’d better go in search of the bathroom going Millie!

Still in my pajamas, bare chested with a flashlight in my hand I dashed out the front door screaming, “Millie, Millie…..here girl!”

There was no sign of her.

As I walked down the hill next to the house my foot stepped into a hole and I lost my footing and began to topple over.

Knowing I was going to meet Mother Earth in seconds the weirdest thought went through my head. You see years ago I was at the golf course visiting with a group of older golfers who were sharing their medical experiences with us. One thing they all agreed on was that ambulances have very poor springs. Consequently an ambulance ride is not very comfortable. Was I about to find out?

Fortunately I didn’t brace myself as I hit the ground. Instead I just rolled, bounced and rolled again as frost covered leaves attempted to enter my nose and mouth.

Near the bottom of the hill I came to a stop. I felt no pain and all my limbs seemed to be functioning. Except for the leaves I had to spit out of my mouth I was in a remarkably good condition. No ambulance ride for me I smiled!

I struggled to my feet and smiled in relief as the little brown ball of energy we call Millie came running up and danced around me.

I scooped her up and quickly carried her back into the house happy that I wouldn’t have to break any sad news to our daughter about Milly becoming a coyote breakfast.

Later in the day I began reminiscing about all the dogs that had become loved members of our family.

Cocoa a cute little puppy was the first. We were living in town then.  He was tied to a tree in our back yard. He had one downfall however. He loved to bark at bike riders, people walking on the sidewalk and almost anything else that moved.

One morning as I went out to feed Cocoa I discovered the lease with no dog attached! No one has ever confessed to the kidnapping nor was any ransom note ever been received. 🙁 I assume some neighbor got tired of a barking dog!

Sam was a beautiful English Setter. Our daughter’s second grade teacher, Mrs. Lewis donated him to the family after our daughter had shared with her that she would love to have a dog.

Sam was friendly and gentle. He was mostly white with brown patches over his head.

I remember like it was yesterday the time I had to rescue him from danger. I had a trap line on the creek that flowed on the edge of our property. One morning I was checking my traps and as I approached a muskrat house in the dim morning light a mysterious white object was visible on top of the muskrat house.

To my shock I discovered Sam curled up on the muskrat house with his foot held firmly by one of my mink traps.

I’ll never forget that sad, disappointed look Sam gave me that morning.

I quickly removed the trap and carried him a half mile back to our house. I’m not sure who felt the worst that morning Sam or me. 🙁

Sam’s life expectancy was not predicted to be very long because of a very bad habit. When he was left alone on our hobby farm Sam loved to chase vehicles that sped by on the highway.

One fall morning I was teaching in my classroom when there was a knock on the door. A man who worked for the State Highway Department stuck his head in and announced, “Your dog got run over by a car this morning. I cleaned up the mess and threw him in the old gravel pit.”

What a sad, unfeeling way to learn about the demise of the beautiful dog our whole family loved.

Sam was quickly replaced with an Irish Setter/Golden Retriever cross. The puppy was given the name Benji and quickly revealed great hunting instincts which made me very happy.

But then a negative behavior began to reveal itself. There was that time that Benji attacked a young girl riding her bike by our house. Luckily it was a minor nip.

Then one Saturday morning I looked out the window to view two old men clinging to the back of their pickup as Benji lunged toward them growling and barking.

The final possible law suit took place one June morning when the air was filled with screams of terror. Running out to view the origin of the cries we discovered a bike rider who was on a ride from the east coast to the west coast.

His bike was packed with several duffel bags and Benji was attacking them with vengeance. The bike and bags were being tossed around as the frightened world traveler looked on in horror.

Needless to say later that day Benji and I took his final walk and he now rests in a shallow grave down by our creek. 🙁

After all those negative dog experiences who in their right mind would want to have another dog? Perhaps a tame goat or maybe a Shetland pony would be the way to go.

About that time our son had a girl friend and when his birthday rolled around she arrived at our house with his gift. Now you won’t believe this but in her arms decorated with a big red bow was the cutest black puppy!

Our son named him Buck.

At the time I wondered what early death this cute little mass of black fur would suffer.

Buck graced our home for thirteen years. I was a runner during those years and every morning he and I would go for early morning jogs. Buck put on many more miles then I did as he raced far ahead of me chasing deer, rabbits and even a skunk or two.

Buck passed away from old age in the middle of our living room floor.

Perhaps he has broken the bad luck curse for dog survival at our house.

It may now be safe for Millie and her sister Stella to come and visit more often

Although me tripping and rolling down the hill may be an indication that the curse has been transferred to me. Yikes! Another old age fear to clutter my mind! 🙂

Until next time.