By Francis Marion of Canadiangunblog for TBP
The old girl is getting pretty white and is mostly deaf. But she still sits at the top of the stairs and watches the door. I’m not sure why she does it anymore. She’s put her time in and doesn’t owe me a thing but she still sits and watches day by day, week by week, month by month.
I suppose she thinks it’s her job. If the doorbell rings and she can actually hear it she still puts on a good show. She barks that deep, baritone bark and with her ears back, makes her way slowly down the wooden steps to the entry where she bares her teeth and barks some more.
She’s a cross between a pit bull and a boxer so when the ears go back the pit comes out. She’s scary if you don’t know her but once the show is over she goes back to her comfy bed at the top of the stairs and goes back to sleep. I think she’ll do it till the day she dies.
People who don’t own dogs will say the reason she does it is conditioning, that she does it because that’s what she was trained to do and as hard as it is to teach old dogs new tricks it’s even harder to unteach them old ones. Maybe. But after twelve years I’ve learned that she still has a mind of her own and if she decides she isn’t going to learn or do something, well then, she doesn’t.
Personally, I think it’s something deeper than conditioning. It’s something that good dogs learn early and it stays with them until the day they die. I think it’s loyalty.
About a week ago a young woman called me at my office to interview me for her Master’s thesis. She is working on an environmental degree of sorts and she wanted to speak to me about hunting and its importance to wildlife and the local economies that surround it.
We spoke at some length about the benefits of properly managed wildlife populations. We covered topics like game density and how varying political systems, climates and, geography called for different management models. Then we covered the economic benefits to local economies that the activity embued upon the residents who lived where it was practiced and eventually we began to touch on culture.
She asked me why hunters tended to be portrayed so poorly in the media, that I was a fine fellow to speak with, and how this face was so often missed by the mostly urban public that consumed the media we spoke of.
I replied by saying that most hunters I knew were similar to myself, that many were reasonably intelligent people who were deeply connected to the environments in which they lived, the critters that they hunted and the past from which they came.
Of course, there are bad apples wherever you go but, because of the pressure put on us by the non-hunting and often non-gun owning public that hunters and gun owners in general, were, statistically, more responsible and less likely to be engaged in criminal activity than the public at large.
She asked me what could be done about it, that is, how could we change the image the media often portrays of us and our culture?
My response came almost unconsciously. I laughed a little and said,”You can’t change it.”
You see the media has been weaponized. It is a tool, not simply to spread propaganda but to deconstruct culture itself.
The process has been long and slow but it is working on its intended audience. If you can deconstruct culture you can deconstruct loyalty. Without loyalty towards clan or tribe there is no nation and eventually, there is nothing.
I think this is why so many of us congregate in places like The Burning Platform. Our day to day lives bring us into contact with such a wide range of people, so many of them strangers not just personally but culturally as well, that we are missing ingredients that are key in interpersonal relationships. One of them is loyalty.
Of course, the basis for loyalty that is of any quality is honesty which is why the media is so effective at dissolving it and keeping us together but apart. If we lived in truth it would be easier to be loyal towards one another where we stand and we wouldn’t be searching for these things in places like this.
For all the talk of big dogs watching the porch, it is not what draws this fox to Admin’s doorstep. It is the old dogs whose pursuit of truth has engendered a strange sense of loyalty toward one another in a world where many of us may never actually meet.
Now imagine what would happen in meat-space were it the same there.
Loyal old dogs watch the door until they die of old age or until they’re killed in the line of duty. I keep thinking it’s part of what’s missing these days. I guess it’s hard to be loyal toward one another when nothing is real, everything is relative, and the only thing that matters is ‘just me’.
The scary part is that the backlash to this state could be to the other extreme, reactions being what they are. If an old dog can still bite, what can a pack do?
In the meantime, the old girl has her perch at the top of the stairs where she continues to watch my door. Her body is slowly but surely dying but her spirit is still strong and her desire and willingness to protect us never abate. Good, quality loyalty is hard to find. I’ll not discourage it. No matter how old she gets.
Thank you Francis.
Isn’t it interesting that some longtime wise ones around here are lovingly referred to as “Big Dogs”?
Just be damn glad you have an old dog to watch your ass and give you safety.
At one time, we had some badass big dogs who kicked ass and took names.
Now, we seem to have acquired some domesticated wolf cubs.
Is good to bring a little wild blood into the pack.
Francis, I think you know I lost my big J-Dawg this year. The other guy, Big Jake, who first appeared in our home when the young man was fifteenish and supposed to be studying for his first round of SAT testing. The puppy would not stop romping and playing with my son and I couldn’t bring myself to punish him for wanting to play with that puppy and be a boy for just a little while longer.
This spring my son graduates with his CompSci degree and embarks on a life which will include us less and less. Big Jake, who used to jump for joy when our son drove into our drive, now pulls himself to his feet too slowly for my liking and his jump for joy is simply a lift of his jaws and a wag of the tail. Jacob was the intentional mix of a Pyrenes female with a Commodore male, so his spine is that of a Commodore, while his legs are built for the stocky short frame of his purebred brother, Jason aka JDawg. I make plans to go to Iceland next year with my husband, either to revisit our lost youths in the lava fields near the Naval Air Station, or if the geopolitical scene is as altered as I think it may be, to see if there is an opportunity to relocate there. It is the perfect place for these two Pyrenese misfits of mine (The new pup, Melissa, is almost a year old, while Jacob is pushing eight, which is old for a very large Pyr with hip issues.)
One of the things old dogs and old patriots always do; we react practically when threatened and always have an option in mind should the unthinkable happen.
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That’s Big Jake in the foreground. Jason is the masked one… he came to us as a rescue at one year old. And he left the world in my arms last spring, in a way that changed me forever.
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A house without a dog just isn’t a home. I so miss my fur-kids.
Dogs teach us the importance of loyalty. That, and to always walk around in a circle three times before laying down…
“…Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in…” — Mark Twain
Steve C.
Spring, Texas
Thank you for “Old Dogs”.
Loyalty is impressive.
just ‘thank you’ for this post <3
Wonderfully written educational reminder for me today on the goals of the msm especially. And I consider myself one of the ‘old dogs.
However I am truly leery of pit bulls out of my own experiences, one of a few in particular when hiking in Colorado a few years ago. Would have gotten eaten alive by one but stood stock still till a young hung-over woman finally awakened and crawled out of her tent, 100 yards away and off the trail, to come over and collar her pit. This was near a remote hot springs and farther away, over rugged terrain, than I could have traversed with a leg wound, not to mention dragging a pit bull still attached to my leg (satire)..since then I have kept many articles of U.S. pit bulls killing humans, usually children, over the last few years and even many locally. They are by far and away the biggest baggers of humans of any breed….just saying… ck out some stats and etc…..https://www.dogsbite.org/dangerous-dogs-pit-bull-myths.php
If we’re talking all out war…different story..keep a few…if you can feed em! http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history/2014/05/dogs_of_war_sergeant_stubby_the_u_s_army_s_original_and_still_most_highly.html
Please do not take this as a total pit bull ban by me since I have many neighbors who have them and I get along well while walking in the neighborhood and they tethered, I like one especially….but I am not totally trusting of their lately developed instincts….
BTW I am a dog lover and have housed/traveled with an Australian Shepard, Chow ridgeback mix and now a little Jackrussel terrier. Also I now CC when out in the woods especially.
Thanks again for your writings and have a great day!
Fantastic read–thank you !!
As an aside to what yomskipper wrote::: 2 pits mauled their owner to death ( young woman walking them) this weekend
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2017/12/16/two-dogs-mauled-their-owner-to-death-while-she-was-walking-them-in-the-woods-sheriff-says/?utm_term=.ab93f4e6cf82
Just the other day, a young woman took her two pit bulls out for a walk. They killed her.
humans are dumb
Years ago, I read an article about a woman brought her dog up the stairs in a NY apartment bldg. The dog was ahead of the woman owner, reached a upper hallway, attacked and killed a female resident.
Now, you may say that the owner should have had the dog on a lease. You are right, but what good does that do for the woman that was killed – if your mother, your wife, your sister, or daughter, how would you feel then.
The owner fought to save her dog from being put down; owners don’t give a fuck about the deaths or maiming of non-family members – they will do anything to save their killer dogs.
Pit Bulls belong extinct.
I’ve never owned a pit bull so won’t speak to it. In fact, I’ve never owned a purebred dog of any kind. The ones that don’t have temperament issues often have health issues so I’ve always avoided them. But that’s just me. To each their own.
My dogs have always been of the Heinz 57 variety. They have fewer health problems and most that I’ve had are reasonably intelligent (if not stubborn). This one, which appears mostly Boxer but for the slight blockiness of the head, has managed to avoid all the health issues that are typical of her father’s breed and has been a good family animal as long as we’ve had her. The fact that she has made it to 12 with few trips to the vet outside of some regular maintenance speaks to the better genetic structure of mutts.
Besides. Mutts have character. And this one has always had it in spades. I’ll miss her when she’s gone.
Kokoda, the incident that you’re referring to happened in San Francisco. The dogs were Canary Island Mastiffs, there were two of them. Kimberly Guilfoyle of Fox News successfully prosecuted the dogs owners. You’re absolutely right, the owners of the dogs never showed any remorse for what happened to the woman.
I had to fight one of these POS junkyard dogs off my collie. In a 2012 study Pit bulls ALONE inflicted 99% of the total fatal attacks on other animals (43,000); 96% of the fatal attacks on other dogs (11,520); 95% of the fatal attacks on livestock (5,700) and on small mammals and poultry (16,150); and 94% of the fatal attacks on cats (11,280). http://17barks.blogspot.com/2014/01/its-slaughterhouse-out-there.html
They’ve also KILLED more people than every other breed COMBINED, every decade since 1851. Very few were ever abused or mistreated in ANY way; most were loving family pets for years until the suddenly snapped and killed- classic pit bull behavior. The victims stories are here: http://www.fatalpitbullattacks.com
Most of the people who own them are complete idiots. They all think THEIR dog would NEVER. Most will be wrong. There’s a reason that 1/3 of the entire US population of pit bulls is euthanized yearly, and probably not because they’re ‘such great dogs’. http://cravendesires.blogspot.com/2011/10/animal-people-more-adoptions-will-not.html
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/canine-corner/200903/psychological-characteristics-owners-aggressivedog-breeds
Oh how I hate it when our beloved pets get old. My big boy is going on 10. Old for a big dog. He’s half lab so he wags his tale every time you just look at him. But his eyes are getting cloudy and he has a little bit harder time getting up from his “spot” where he likes to nap. He still scares people who see him for the first time, though.
I thought about Denninger’s post about the deep state, when you said “you can’t change it”. I agree with you on that, FM. He seems to believe if you stop spending, it will accomplish something. Many of the most powerful people in the world have long bloodlines. They come from family dynasties that go back hundreds of years. Like cockroaches, they can survive even the worst downturn. They could give a crap if Amazon or Netflix goes out of business, nor do they care if the U.S. becomes a third world country.
Knew a farmer who had a lab. Lived outside it’s entire life here in the north in the garage. Died of old age at 17 years and he buried it near an old oak tree his father had planted for him as a boy.
Thank You. More than you know.
Got an old one of my own, who probably doesn’t have much time left in her either (limping pretty bad, Vet thinks it may be bone cancer), but still she sits and keeps watch. Had three little kids in the house, and never could sleep well until she came. Only then could I lay my head down, secure in the knowledge the she was there, at the top of the stairs, looking out for us all.
Yeah, nice writing. Thanks.
Francis Marion ,One of your best post so far .
The media has been weaponized and our enemies who control the MSM are in full frontal attack mode .The Propaganda Never stops .24 hours a day 7 days a week. Immigration has also been weaponized .Our enemies will turn America into a third world hell hole if we ( white Americans ) don’t come together as a people and stop them.At times it seems hopeless.
My dogs aren’t old yet. When I lay my head on my pillow, I get a warm feeling that is more than just security.
Also a dog owner and hunter. I hunt by calling the grocery store and have them deliver groceries to my house since some scum bag in the surveillance industry breaks in even if I walk around the block.
I am now the guard dog. I have a dog too, but my dog cannot speak to me.
My home is vandalized and things are stolen and destroyed when I leave. It is a total waste of tax payer resources.
Zero Point for Installing Surveillance Equipment Since CIA Dumbo Can Turn it Off and Recreate Video Images – Andrea Iravani
Andrea-
You almost appeared human in your response. Try and comment just once without pimping, just once, and maybe some will start to assume your not a bot.
I was almost interested until the pitch, when I noticed the first two paragraphs were merely the set-up.
Fuck Andrea Iravani, and her disingenuous ways.
@ ottomatic Impressing and appeasing you are not and never will be on agenda. Pimps sell things. I am not selling anything. I do not even request donations on my website, you egotistcal dipshit. I am attempting to inform the public. My aspirations are higher than a dumb ass like you could ever being to dream of.
Can anybody translate Iravani’s comment into proper English? I’m being to look forward to that.
@ El Coyote- Yes. Fuck you. Perhaps that translation was within your mental capacity.
Inform all you want; nobody cares about your shitty blog. The reason you attract so much ire here is your penchant for spamming your links to unrelated topics all over the comment section, and also the shameless manner in which you are using a popular blog to attempt to increase your readership.
@ Rdawg
Wrong.
I SEE WHAT HE/SHE/IT DID THERE.
Not impressed. Beth Queen said it better. Maybe because she didn’t say it with your Iraqi accent.
From one dog lover to another, that was excellent, Francis. My 10 year old boy is getting on these days (much like some others’ above) and he truly is “Daddy’s Buddy.” Stays by my side, day and night. The thought of losing him is painful, but I can’t change it.
Thanks for your fine work, FM.
Our 4 yo Westie is exactly the same…He is on guard all the time, even in his sleep, and while only a 20 pound dog, would definitely attack any unwanted visitors. But otherwise, he is very loving, and beloved by everyone in the neighborhood.
Agreed, nkit. Since you’re good for some good visual posts from T2T, I offer this one to you and Francis,
and the other pup lovers on this thread. Late to the game, yeah, I know.
But since it’s late December, the time line fits. Sound up.
Old dog, yes I have one, she is half pit and half pointer and about 9 years old. Never had a more loyal companion. On my walks or bike rides along the trails in the National forest I live in, she runs interference for me. Scouting ahead, treeing squirrels and chasing deer. Around the home she keeps the ground hogs and skunks away, she is fearless with skunks, takes pride in the stink, it’s like a battlefield citation. She has even bagged a beaver out of the creek and deposited it on the porch. They say all dogs go to heaven, she will if I can get her to stop chasing my cats, she killed one that scratched her nose. The cats and she are now at a truce, they know what is expected of each. Good essay and the parallels with society are very true.
…I was visiting my son this past weekend, at a social gathering he and two other friends were talking about their 4 day ordeal when they hiked to the summit of the Mammoth Lakes area. I asked why he didn’t tell me about it so I could have accompanied them. He kindly chuckled and reminded me of my age and physical condition, and that there was no way I could survive the walk. I kindly reminded that I didn’t need to walk it, but that I was willing to guard the door and would serve them up the best campfire grub with biscuits and gravy to boot when they returned.. ..cuz this old dog still thinks he can hunt and has a desire to still keep the governmental wolves away from my children.
What a great read. Thanks
The big dogs were never lovingly called big dogs. It was more on account they were scary mutts; street fighting, mangy, flea-bitten, rabid canines willing to fight over the scraps of a noob carcass. Maggie ruint all that, the one-woman welcome wagon had the audacity to welcome a noob who called himself jFish and the jig was up. The joint became civil and apologies were offered like phone numbers at a gay bar. I’m looking at HF and Stucky. I don’t know why I keep coming here.
“apologies were offered like phone numbers at a gay bar”
Quote of the day. I can’t wait to work that one into a conversation somewhere.
“I don’t know why I keep coming here.”
Horseshit. Yes, you do. Because like most family everywhere we might be hard to take, irritating and sometimes just fucking wrong but you love us just the same. Besides, who else would put up with your shit?
Maggie does. Maggie loves me. She puts up with me all the time.
She does. And she hopes you and your grandson get to visit with one another somehow.
I miss ole Jfish.
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“Love may fail, but courtesy will prevail.”
G’nite.
Good to have you back, EC. I would recognize the thoughtfulness of your prose anywhere.
I knew FM’s post would be a parable when I saw the title. Change is otherwise known as ‘history’. The best that any Baby Boomer can do at this point is to gird their loins.
Good luck to all you Boomers when you experience the ‘care’ in your nursing-home, provided by the immigrants that you advocated for.
I recognize your trashy ass BW and I must have SMELT you on here because I’m busy decorating my log home for DECENT PEOPLE from Maryland coming to visit and decided to log on before I make bread dough for the morning rolls.
I’m really excited about Christmas this year and am decorating it in real country style. Seriously, the house looks AMAZING! I would show you pictures, but I’ve kind of quit showing pictures of the place until it is “time.” Also, I’ve been making up Christmas gifts Maggie style and have quarts and jars to label and date for storage purpose. I actually broke a quart of Apple Pie in a Jar for the first time ever and ended up having to make applesauce out of that one. Oh, well, it is the BEST batch ever, made with some really awesome maple syrup instead of any sugar at all. I think it cures the common cold.
Merry Christmas, BW… the big dogs haven’t forgotten how to bite; they just can’t decide who they most want to bite now that they see how the enemy is legion.
“If an old dog can still bite, what can a pack do?” This got me thinking about my college days. I went to a unique place where they still teach the old verities of western civilization. The group of us used to go long into the night (yes drinking) but more importantly going back and forth about literally the most important stuff human beings consider. It was a most exhilarating time. There was gumption, hope, optimism even — one might say. We swore—if we could figure out some way to stay together and fight this battle, maybe we could make a dent. I am sure you can guess: we did not stay together, which is not usual I suppose. We see each other and it is always outstanding when we do, but we are an atomized and fragmented group now. We each have our own little subgroups (i.e. families) and we fight the battle and we are relatively happy. But the fight is so tiring without ideological brothers in arms. I think Francis Marion is right; that is why we congregate here. It makes you wonder what going a step further would do — from a virtual community to an actual one (not to in any way belittle the virtual one). Rod Dreher from the American Conservative recently came out with a new book called the “Benedict Option”. It speaks to this dilemma (albeit from a God-fearing perspective). We need each other to weather this onslaught. When I see my college brothers and hardscrabble even (Some of my family and I had the distinct pleasure of meeting this fine gentleman (and some of his family) as he graciously showed us around his beautiful perch), hope flows. But it ebbs again as soon as I settle back into my fragmented bubble. Don’t get me wrong; immediate family is a great source of strength and a font of hope too, but there is another level of excitement when you consider an extended community with a shared culture. Indeed it is necessary if for no other reason than to compare experiences; rejoice and commiserate together and if we have some time, maybe hold the line in the culture war just a little bit longer. Sorry don’t have time to work a dog into this one. Merry Christmas to all.
I have had my share of canine blessings.
Penny was a pup we picked out of the litter at a shelter. The workers said she was always the first out the kennel door when it opened, inquisitive and boundless energy. She kept up with my kids when they were kids, and that only used up half her tornado-like activity. The rest she saved for walks, squirrels, birds, salesmen and general mischief. She would eat anything – crayons, condoms (even used, ugh! Take out the trash EVERY time!), light bulbs. The first time that happened, she found an electric Christmas menorah we had put in a window (we’re not Jewish, just tolerant) and ate six of the eight tiny lightbulbs before we took it away from her. Wife said “what are we going to do?” I said, “The vet is not going to be able to pump her stomach and get it all out. Pray for her and keep her comfortable, I guess”, and sadly prepared to bury her. Penny apparently treated the shards of glass like tiny rocks, since she lived another seven years or so. Maybe Jack Russell terriers are tougher than rocks?
The time she chased an interloping squirrel around the inside of the screened porch became a classic family story, remembered as the “Vicious dangerous raptor squirrel”. The sight of the squirrel, four feet off the floor running in horizontal circles at ten MPH while Penny chased it from screen-wall to screen-door to external-siding wall to screen-wall again, barking her fool head off while my ten-year-old daughter chased both of them nearly ended my life in laughter.
We were taking her home for the last time, headed for the family farm in Tennessee but she didn’t make it. Somewhere between Morgantown WV and the Tennessee line she left us, leaving me considering what to do if traffic-stopped: “Sir, what’s in the carrier?” “Officer, it’s my dog”. “Sir, are you aware that animal is deceased? Why are you transporting a dead dog across state lines? Are there any contraband materials concealed in that deceased animal?” and so forth. Had she been capable, I’m sure Penny would have barked her fool head off, again.
We buried her on the hillside beneath a tall pine, so she could chase more rabbits and squirrels in her afterlife. I don’t ever remember her catching one of either, but that wouldn’t have mattered to her. Life is in the chasing, and barking, and eating bizarre things that should have killed her, and licking, and being petted, and …
loyalty sure… but idealism comes more so to people which is why “great” leaders have been assassinated by those closest to them. Once a persons ideals change and those “loyal” to him/her have not, then he or she becomes a liability to the ideals. Much like any relationship, once a fork in the path of the travelers presents itself then that loyalty will wain. Packs of dogs arent much different I suppose, but wolves might be a better example as there is always the chance the leader of the pack will be subdued and overthrown by another.
What could a pack do? A pack with AR-15s could drain the swamp. That’s what I think.
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After a rash of unsettling incidents—including a tornado of eight unleashed pit bulls swirling across the park and the savage mangling of our neighbor’s small mutt by another loose pit bull—we decided this was no place for a baby, and we left. We had learned that intimidating dogs can impair a neighborhood’s quality of life and give the sense that no one is in charge every bit as much as drug dealing, prostitution, or aggressive panhandling. https://www.city-journal.org/html/scared-pit-bulls-you%E2%80%99d-better-be-11995.html
We owe it to our animals to provide them the compassion due at the end of their lives. They have given their best years without reservation and deserve the utmost respect in their decline.
Amen
Dogs do not live long enough.
Have been blessed all my life by dogs.
And have a couple of the rat bastards with me now in the Arizona desert.
“A righteous man regards the life of his beast”–Proverbs. One of the attractions to TBP are the people who comment. In general they are righteous men.
Real good sentiments, FM. Excellent writing.
“…If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men…” — St. Francis of Assisi
Steve C.
Spring, Texas
I had a friend who was Anti-Dog…..who made many jokes about dog hair at my house but eventually I wore him down and he got a Vizla (almost a dog)….an excellent specimen, super athletic and they have had many adventures and my friend regrets those years he didn’t understand the love of a dog. We have an elderly Bernese Mountain Dog and a German Shepherd/Red Heeler fur missile. The BMD just turned 11 which is ancient for a 115lb dog and he sleeps most of the day. He still loves life even if he is slow on our walks and can no longer do the mountain hikes. He holds the coyotes at bay and is a holy terror for the UPS man. Mostly because the dogs bark and then the UPS man goes away…so they think they scared him off. We will bury him on the ranch and never forget him, all the disasters and funny moments, there is still a lot of light in his eyes and he is very aware of the goings on in the house. The young dog, a stray from the Crow reservation close to Billings keeps him young with her boundless energy. Despite being polar opposites they get along very well and enjoy challenging the local coyote pack, from a safe distance. Loyalty beyond reproach and velcro’d to whoever is around. No better family. As to the Pit Bulls, I am mixed, the ones I know have all been great but yes we do see the stories of attacking family members over and over again. Not sure how that happens.
Martel, my husband wants to get a Bernese Mountain dog. I will try to resist because I prefer to rescue mutts. He’s tricky, though, so I can’t say I will never have one. Tricky, in that we went to look at fencing for sale at a goat farm where they also happened to have half lab, half Pyreneese pups. So, yeah, we didn’t buy any fencing that day. But we did come home with our now 9 year old Sam.
Many moons ago I rescued an old dog from a shelter. Pretty much blind and deaf, but trying to hump a Shepard he was caged with encouraged me of the spunk he had. Old boy stayed with me for almost 4 years, sleeping by the entrance to the garage where I left each morning. We did daily walks, and he loved to steal the half eaten rawhide from the younger Lab, as he only had a few teeth remaining. The spouse (ex) detested him, but such a spirit and happy we shared.
Perhaps the best gift for your canine friend would be to convince your ex or boss to come to your costume party as the UPS driver, and have the dog greet them once inside.
Sometimes I wish that my dog would grieve my death before I would grieve his..
We’ll plant you Where The Red Fern Grows.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9zAnVm4uKM
I once read a book on loyalty that elaborated on the proposition that loyalty as a virtue requires lack of loyalty toward something else. To be loyal to your own family or country requires that you are not loyalty to other families or countries. It seems that we live in a culture that doesn’t just dislike particular loyalties, it dislikes the existence of loyalty at all.
Great piece, you beat me to the punch. I have one in the draft box with the same title. I like where yours went better.
People have a natural tendency to build community wherever they assemble. The road years in comedy taught me that physical proximity wasn’t a requirement. You’d forge friendships that lasted years even though you’d rarely see each other- we started keeping touch via BB’s before there was an Internet and then when that came along it was our town hall, the comedy club like going on a hunting trip together.
This place has drawn together a select type that all seem to have commonalities that go beyond an interest in economics and current events- those are just the features of the community, like living on a river for some people, or a neighborhood in a city. The real bond is in the curiosity and the desire to put the discoveries into words. Steel on steel. You can see clearly the progression in everyone’s written development, how unique each particular style is and the originality of the voices and that keeps it very fresh and- ironically- diverse.
We’re watching our oldest pack member find his way out right now. He can hardly see anymore, his hearing is going fast and he walks on shaky legs, but he has never given up his post as the inner guard. And he is always grateful for that hand on his old head that tells him he has been faithful, that he is loved, that he is part of our family and will remain so until his last hour.
Great piece, again (and thanks for the hunting aids, didn’t get a buck this year, but will absolutely give it a try next Fall).
The boys in the warehouse had quite a chuckle while wrapping that parcel. They wondered since it bleated every time you tuned it if it would cause fits at the border once it arrived.
Be kind to old dogs. They’ve had your back for a lot of years. Take care of them, comfort them, and let them do what they damn well please. They’ve earned it.
P.S. throw them a bone now and then. They know where the bodies are buried.
Miss my old dog. Met me at the door every day with her Octopus toy hanging from her mouth (smiling , yes they do). Toward the end, she couldn’t get around too well but she still met me at the door and I would have to chase her around. To this day I don’t know if I continued for her, or she for me.
One of my basset hounds – peTUNiA – had an octopus toy.
It had tentacles that were yellow on top and green, red, or blue, on the bottom and each tentacle had a squeaky in it. The middle was purple and made a grunt sound.
TUNA looooooved her octopus. She took it with her everywhere, she slept with it, and none of the other bassets were allowed to mess with it.
When it would get a bit grungy and I would put it in the washing machine she would wait for it there. I’d take it out and show it to her before tossing it in the dryer and she would pace back-and-forth like someone that was waiting on a friend in surgery.
After the dryer I’d toss it to her, she’d prance around the house, and all you would hear was squeak-squeak-squeak-grunt-grunt-squeak-squeak.
I have fourteen cedar boxes with the remains of my beloved basset fur-kids in my living room. All of them have their names engraved and their collars with their names on top. TUNA’s also has her beloved octopus on it.
I have never enjoyed the experience of two-legged kids. I regret what I missed out on, but it just was not to be. All of my kids had four legs and wagging tails.
For many years I had what I called my ‘House-Of-Hound-Dogs.
I worked in Basset-Rescue and got them from the pound, we got them healthy, and then found them new homes. I kept the ones that were unadoptable – too old, too sick, and sadly sometimes just too beaten up. They stayed with me for whatever time they had left. For whatever time any of us have left for that matter. I know that our creator loves his basset hounds so they were all welcome here.
All of my fur-kids are gone now – waiting for their dad at what we sometimes call ‘The Rainbow Bridge’. I held every one of them when it came time to take their pain and make it mine and send them on ahead.
As I missed out on human children, I also feel sorry for those that have gone dog-less all of their lives. They will never understand the kind of bond and love that these wonderful creatures can share with us.
“…Nobody can fully understand the meaning of love unless he’s owned a dog. A dog can show you more honest affection with a flick of his tail than a man can gather through a lifetime of handshakes…” — Gene Hill
“…My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am…” — Unknown
“…The average dog is a nicer person than the average person…” — Andy Rooney
Just wanted to share…
Steve C.
Spring, Texas
FM, I always enjoy your writing, and this is one of your best. Thank you to TBP and Merry Christmas to all.
0″Old dogs and children and watermelon wine”….Hmmm
That was another wonderful read FM.
Can’t tell you enough about the great dogs I’ve had all my life-I’m a German Shepherd man but I do love them all-my 2 current ones are 10 & 11 and I think I have enough gas in the tank for 1 more round-then it’s going to be a great hoedown at The Rainbow Bridge.
There are good and loyal dogs.
Then, some of them never abandon their feral ways.
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Not to knock other breeds, but Tervs rule 🙂 (I’m on my 3rd)
Pit Bull Haters what a bunch of mindless assholes. Definitely not your free spirit, libertarians, more your authoritarian boot lickers, every site has those that can’t look past their biases. Same mind set as gun haters, or fast cars, or whatever distinguishes something from the follow crowd.
Mike, it’s my impression that pit bulls are the Negroes of the canine family. The only way I’d accept a gift of a pit would be if I was going to make tacos. Fuck those ugly ass nasty fuckers. If that makes me racist, big fuck. Yay for the cop-fuk that shot that dude’s pit bull. He should have gotten a medal. The shit-dogs are nothing but kid-killers and grandma-killers. If it was human and not a dog, that breed would be living in Newark, Detroit or Chicago, get my drift?
Note to self: ask HF how he sliced that hog’s throat.
Breaking News
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=HW_pErgI8lQ
Lots of reasons to hate Pit Bulls.
Their victims are often Children and the elderly, no to mention other animals
http://safetybeforebulldogs.blogspot.ca/2014/04/pit-bull-attacks-with-no-warning-or.html
To Cheyenne. My Old dog I lost after 13 years. The picture in the article captured the eyes perfectly.
She never backed down from anything. Damn I miss her every day.
Francis. You’re getting good at this. You’re starting to have a noticeable style, like Hardscrabble or Stucky or Unco. I admire strong writing. I know how hard it is. When you read Quinn, you know it’s Quinn. Don’t even have to look. Anyway, this piece is a good one to roll around your brain for a couple of days. Nice work.
This lady got a call from her neighbor when she was at work that two pit bulls had entered her yard (since they can easily leap six foot fences, the world record is 13 feet: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=pit+bull+jumps+six+foot+fence) and ran home. Make sure you turn the sound up, and remember, this is the SOLE purpose that the pit bull breed was developed for- to kill other animals. As in, they were thrown in a PIT with a BULL. It’s right there in the name. When you breed a pit bull to another breed what you get is unpredictably vicious labs, boxers and collies since abnormal aggression, the kind pit bulls were BRED for to enhance their performance in the pit, is highly inheritable in dogs. http://thetruthaboutpitbulls.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-science-of-how-behavior-is.html
http://www.keyt.com/lifestyle/pets/orcutt-pit-bull-attack-ends-in-deadly-shooting/504030948
This is an important point too often overlooked: To those who claim that their pit bulls are of a “sweet” temperament, allow us to offer this excerpt from the report: “Temperament, I must emphasize, is not the issue illustrated by the above data, nor is it relevant. What this data reveals is actuarial risk. If almost any other dog has a bad moment, someone may get bitten, but will not be maimed for life or killed, and the actuarial risk is accordingly reasonable. If a pit bull or a Rottweiler has a bad moment, often someone is maimed or killed––and that has now created off-the-chart actuarial risk, for which the dogs as well as their victims are paying the price.”
The number of violent attacks and deaths by pit bulls over the past 5 years are significantly greater than those from all other dogs combined. Pit bulls have killed 7 times as many people as the next deadliest, the Rottweiler. Pit bull mixes come in third, followed by the Bullmastiff (which is part pit bull) while German Shepherds and Boxers are tied for fifth. https://17barks.blogspot.com/2017/09/35-years-of-tracking-dog-attacks.html