We took her to local training and she promptly chewed through the new $25.00 leash we had acquired. The only thing she learned was how to control us! Since my wife and I both were employed, we spent a thousand bucks sending her to a professional ‘dog school’ for six weeks at a kennel down near Lake Mathews. It was a wonderful vacation for her where she learned nothing. Her ‘personal trainer’ visited our house in Rancho Cucamonga and strongly advised that we always keep a leash on her as that would indicate she was under our control. Hah!
Goldie was a chewer. She would chew anything; carpet, chair legs and any wooden furniture. We had a contractor over to discuss some work we wanted done to our patio, she chewed through the laces on his new work boots!
This dog could open the wrought iron gate in her area by wiggling it with her paw! We moved to Nevada and built her a dog run. She promptly learned how to use her nose to open that gate! Her plan was always to escape the yard, wander around for a couple of hours then return at feeding time. We took her to farm country for a run in the hayfields near Wellington. She took off down the lane, showing us her rear end. We were hours chasing her down.
She liked to ride in my old Model T Ford, loosely tethered, of course. On one excursion she leaped at a jogger and fell out of the car. I dragged her 150 feet before I was able to stop. She jumped up, thankfully unhurt, wagged her tail vigorously and, honest to god, she grinned at me!
One cool autumn evening, I worked late into the night on that old Model T Ford. At bedtime, I left Goldie in the garage, her usual sleeping place, and retired for the night.
At midnight, she started barking. I got up and yelled at her through the door. She shut up. At 2:00 a.m., she again barked furiously and clawed at the door. I arose, got the yardstick (to tan her golden rear) and barged into the garage. I was really angry.
Gasoline fumes overwhelmed me! Turning on the light, I saw the floor flooded with a huge pool of raw gasoline! The furnace and hot water heater were located only a couple of feet from that pool of gasoline! The Model T fuel system is gravity fed and I had forgotten to close the valve at the carburetor! I quickly opened the garage door and washed away the gasoline after closing the dratted valve. Goldie had saved our lives and our home, thank God!
Sadly, Goldie passed away, five years ago today. She was one of a kind, a true wonder dog! I will always miss her.
Thad McAfee is a novelist and civil war buff. His latest publication is Sulfur Creek, released in August, 2009.
Permission to Reprint is Granted.
0 comments:
Post a Comment