Sorry for the lack of Musings and Roundtables this week. Been a bit of a week in the McDonough household so my apologies.
For today, here’s this to kick it off:
So, for today’s wondering…what’s your favorite pet, if you have one? Are you a dog person, a cat person, a farm animal person? No, not like the Tennessee folks might think of a farm animal, but more like a large animal, a horse you favored, cow, etc.
My personal favorite was an orange tabby named Wendell, who we found as a kitten at Wendy’s, and not necessarily because he was a cat, but because he had a magnetic personality. He’d gladly ride around on your shoulders, I’d take him out on bike rides and he’d sit with his paws on the handle bar like he was steering himself. He was a great cat, I’m not going to go into how he left us. Had a couple of others, two Russian blue cats that likewise were amazingly kind, we called Jake and Elwood Blues. Two cool and docile brothers that lived a long, long time and were great companions that weren’t a bother or a pain in the ass as many cats can be. And there was a chihuahua named Dooley. He was as all chihuahuas were, so let’s leave it at that.
So who/what is your furry sidekick of choice, and feel free to share a memory if you’d like to.
Our family are Lab lovers and all but one have been Lab rescue dogs. The best one we’ve had was the first one my wife and I got after she had a miscarriage the first time she got pregnant. Maggie was an incredible dog. Smart, easy to train, and was chill when it wasn’t go time to fetch a ball or frisbee. She had serious ups too. I wish I had the photo to post here, but she could leap flat footed and get a Frisbee from my hand and nearly touch the ceiling of our sunroom with her nose when doing so. Loved that dog. She was a damn good dog for sure. We have had four others since her, but she ranks at the top for sure.
All our male labs have had Georgia related names. Buck, Munson, and now Vince. For some reason the females have not. I tried to get the current female to be named Lindsey, but was out voted. Murphy is Vince’s companion.
Our first dog was a black lab mix named Lindsay. We still consider her the big sister of our girls (now young women).
Maggie, Buck, and Murphy were/are yellow labs, Munson was a chocolate mix, and Vince is a black lab.
A well trained dog makes you proud. I have a Boykin Spaniel. For her exercise I ride the bike slowly and she trots along with me. When a car comes I stop and she stops, sits by me, and waits for the car to pass. Never fails to bring a smile to the car occupants. Makes me beam too.
I have a Boykin as well. Hazel D. Spaniel. She’s getting a little long in the tooth but was an outstanding bird dog in her prime. I still pick up a few quail from the hatchery when the weather is cold to let her find and flush. She gets to do what she was born to do, I get a little wingshooting in and a nice dinner.
There’s something special about watching a good dog do it’s thing.
Spaniels are generally hyper but pretty trainable. My girl is Sadie Belle.
We have had 5 dogs. Lindsay (mentioned above) was named for Lindsay Scott, and I met him in Sanford one time and told him. Kasay was our next one … she was named for John Kasay as a Bulldog and he was kicking for the Panthers at the time. We adopted 2 puppies who were brothers (or half-brothers), and one was Todd and one is Marshall. My daughter met TG3II at a summer program at UGA when she was in middle school. He loved it. I met Keith at the golf course earlier this winter and told him. He thought it was great. Our 5th is a pit mix named Poppy, so no UGA connection.
Mine was a dachshund named Dudley. He worshipped and loved me more than anyone else in the household (wife and kids included). He was a huge chicken though as opposed to our other 2 dachshunds that would bite any stranger before seeing if they liked you. Duds (as we called him) would go to the top of our stairs in the house anytime I left and howl like he was the saddest creature in the world waiting for my return. He lived to be 14+years but I still have dreams about him occasionally.
I’m a dog person through and through. My earliest childhood memories include the family dog. Currently 68, I still have a dog. I hope to have one by my side as I pass away someday. I cannot imagine life without a dog. The late seventies were my years in Athens. Cooper’s was our favorite hangout. Especially late at night during the week while Mr. Cooper worked the bar in his pajamas. We spent hours there playing our favorite pinball machine, Firepower. At the end of the night we’d have so many free games racked up Mr. Cooper would give us money to leave. We had a little rescue mutt we named Cooper and Mr. Cooper would allow us to bring his namesake into the bar with us. My favorite dog, However, was a Golden Retriever named Casey. He was the first dog my wife and I owned together. Casey saw my wife through her first pregnancy. He loved my wife in a way only a dog can and he was very diligent in protecting both her and our newborn daughter. Best dog we ever had. Over the years we’ve owned several beagles, several Goldens, one very large white lab, a few Heinz 57 pound mutts, a Yorkie, a toy Poodle, and more recently, a couple of GoldenDoodles. All of them spectacular in their own ways. Like I said, I cannot imagine life without a dog. Several is better.
Gawd I miss my two shelter hound mixes featured in my gravatar picture here. Georgia and Jasmine were DGDs.
I’m a dog guy.
I’ve had several dogs, each with it’s own story and I loved all of them. Currently I’ve got the spaniel, Hazel, who is my ride or die farm buddy and our new addition: Sandy D. Pit Bull. I was not in the market for a dog, much less a pit based on their reputation but… My son was fostering the dog and asked me to watch her for the weekend while he was out of town. I’m all “Hell no don’t bring that dog over here you know what will happen!” which of course he did and it did.
The Pit Bull rap is undeserved. She’s a wonderful addition to our family.
My Staffordshire Bull Terriers are the most loving dogs I’ve owned, including all of the Labs. Totally overblown narrative.
Do they fart? I saw some facebook posts about the Bully breeds that I thought were joking. Uh-uh. When Sandy crop-dusts it’s a room clearing, need to shower and brush your teeth event and if it happens twice? Cover your face and head for the outdoors with the dog in tow, ’cause she’s a ticking bomb…
There are zero photos of a cat trying to bite an Auburn football player.
So there’s that.
Grizzard never wrote about cats (at least not in a flattering sense)..But he wrote a good bit about dogs.
“Man, I wish I could do that”….”
….That dawg would bite you!”..(IFKYK)
Dogs are “Man’s best friend”. No one is going to love you like your dog does…and your dog doesn’t care about your faults, financial or social situation, what you wear or eat (as long as you share your food) or drink.
I’ve had mixed, Aussie Shepherds, Hounds, Rat Terriers and others…Loved every one of them and cried like a little baby when I had to let each of them go. Now I’m too old to consider getting another one…don’t want to have your dog outlive you..that’s too hard on them..So I love on and pet my family and friends dogs.
I’ve always been a dawg person. My current 3 are Staffordshire Bull Terriers. Zeus (M,3), Hera (F,4) & Pandora (F,3).
Dooley- Black Lab I brought home Sept 30, 2002. He was the dog of my 20s; my roommate on a sprawling Lee Co. farm, marriage, was there for birth of both my sons. He died is his sleep the nite auburn lost to FSU in the Rose Bowl champ. Currently have a 3yo. Chocolate Lab, ‘Colt’. Named for Johnny Colt.
Can’t believe all y’all on here telling the world what your internet passwords are 😂
Bad joke aside, all rescues for the wife and me. Basically big black dogs over the years except for one– about 28 pounds, white and brindle, imagine if a jack russell and a whippet had a baby. No fence ever built could contain her, thankfully brilliant for all the times she escaped and knew how to work the streets and traffic lights. Lived nearly 16 years with us. I still get a little misty eyed when I talk about her.
Her ashes and favorite toy are on a bookcase next to her “big brother,” a 115 pound long haired mostly black something…lab/retriever and newfie maybe? Never did get the DNA checked. But we did after a current dog of ours survived a gruesome car wreck. Had to know what was in the genes that could knock the bumper off of an SUV and (eventually) run and play again. It’s possible my wife’s credit card at the ER vet yelling and crying FIX HIM had a lot to do with it too 😁
My sister and I never had pets due to our Mother’s health. My wife had to leave on a business trip the week we returned from our honeymoon leaving me with her three Jack Russell’s. The first afternoon, Millie (mother of the other two) killed and brought me a water animal, beaver or muskrat? Two days later, the middle dog ran past me and up the driveway, I called and she ran back at full speed and past me. This repeated several times. Finally, I gave up, she gave up, and we went in the house. Next day, the smallest one (and my favorite) got hurt. I had to call my wife’s ex-husband to ask which vet to use. It only gets worse. I take the dog, walk in the front door only to be greeted by a young couple who could not afford to pay the required deposit before treatment. They were gone before I could process and react positively. My pet was finally taken back for treatment. A few minutes later, a lady comes in carrying her cat in her arms saying she had backed over it. I got up to look in the parking lot and discovered the lady was driving an F-350 duel rear wheel truck. Her poor cat was beyond help but they were very kind to the lady, My dog was treated, pronounced ready to go home much to relief of my traumatized soul. We currently have the most loving Jack Russell rescue. Thanks for reading my true but still unbelievable story.
Big orange cat. I got first dibs and named him Munson. He and his brother once somehow brought a baby possum in through the cat door with them in the middle of the night and it wound up in the bathtub. Woke up in to these scratching noises and two cats staring at this thing trying to claw its way out and slipping on porcelain and falling backwards over and over. Like thy were watching a movie.
He liked everyone, especially people who didn’t like cats and he had a particular affinity for anyone who was allergic. We lost him about 2 months ago. Every time I drive up I still look for him.
I had to have Dixie (goldendoodle) put down last winter and miss her immensely. Now I babysit my neighbor’s dog Harley (lab pit mix) a lot of days. I’m also boarding two horses, Speckles and Onyx, for a friend’s daughter who is into barrel racing.
Have a dog that adopted us about 7 years ago. Her name is Speckles (when she’s good and Ms. Dog when she’s bad). Her happy time is taking the trash off to the convenient center, mainly to get snacks. Got to cut back on the snacks because her last vet visit, she was 100 lbs. Her main purpose in life is to give love and be loved.
If you are half the person your dog thinks you are, you are doing pretty dang good.