Fluffy. (I don't know why everyone says I'm so dumb).
We never had to teach Fluffy any tricks. He just knew
them automatically.
He could roll over, play dead, do a back flip while
catching a ball in his mouth at the same time, drag himself
across the floor, like he was injured in a battlefield incident, and fetch.
Fetching was his favorite. He would not leave you alone
until you played fetch with him.
He would get his ball and press it into the palm of your
hand until you threw it for him. Furthermore, he never
tired of it.
He never quit until you did. (My dad thought he was the
reincarnation of Enos Slaughter)
Another interesting (but nasty) thing about Fluff was
that he was the horniest dog on the planet. No, he didn't
hump your leg. He didn't need to, ‘cause he had his way with
every female dog in a 20 mile radius!
(I lie a lot in this blog but the next story is totally
true). I actually saw Fluff climb a seven foot chain link
fence by sticking his paws in the holes and pulling himself
up. He was determined to get to three, prize winning,
beagles that were in their kennel in the yard directly
behind ours.
Needless to say, we would always see Fluffy look-a-like
puppies all over the neighborhood.
He was the doggy Don Juan.
Fences, gates and walls were no obstacle to him. (We will
talk about this later).
I had to walk about a mile to school. Fluff would follow
me all the way, go back home, and then be waiting for me
when school let out, at the school door!
How did he know when school let out?
Fluffyboy was a mutt, the best kind of dog.
Believe it or not. He never barked. (Another true fact)
Oh, he did make a sound, but it was like a siren or
singing. Kind of like, arooo-roo-roo-roo, arooo-roo-roo-roo!
(No, it was not howling. Fluff was above that).
The dog catchers hated Fluff with a deep abiding
hatred that only Wiley Coyote could understand.
Just like Wiley Coyote could never catch the
Roadrunner, those dog catchers could never catch Fluff.
My dad didn't believe in getting a dog license, or name
tag, or shots for that matter, for poor Fluff. So the
Fluffster was fair game to the evil dog catchers, and Fluff
was always up for the challenge.
One day I came home and there were four dog catcher
trucks in front of our house. (Our town only had one dog
catcher truck, so they must have called for backup).
The dog catchers were in tears as they related how
Fluff led them on a 25 mile chase.
They could not believe how this small to medium dog could easily sail over 6 foot fences (like M.J.), travel through drainage pipes, jump across 15 foot wide ditches, and work his way through construction sites with moving bulldozers, semi trucks and all sorts of dangerous equipment to circumvent. (Circumvent-to manage to get around-especially by ingenuity or stratagem. Merriam Webster).
Fluff would often run in slow motion for the cool effect.
Small puffs of dust rising from where his paws touched the
ground so gently. His light brown curly hair rhythmically
flowing back and forth like palm trees in a soft tropical
breeze. His tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth in a
clownish sort of way (like Red Skelton might have done), and
shimmering beads of saliva exiting from his mouth like
translucent paratroopers jumping from a plane.
Fluff’s tail did not hang down like most dogs tails. His
tail curled up over his back in a dignified, almost regal way.
Fluffy knew how to get what he wanted. If I was eating
potato chips, he would come up an put that little hollow
under his chin on my kneecap and look up at me with those big
brown eyes, and I would give him whatever he wanted.
I believe America’s love affair with dogs is no accident.
All of the wonderful qualities so evident in dogs are equally
evident in proud Americans. The founding fathers, with
God’s help, outlined the qualities of a true American in this
land of the free. Dogs and Great Americans have the same
qualities. Don’t believe me? Compare if you dare.
Dog: Great American
Loyal to Master Loyal to country
Kind to poor and broken hearted Ditto
Loves freedom Ditto
Humble but confident Ditto
Hates bad people Ditto
Displays empathy and compassion Ditto
Fights only when necessary Ditto
You can talk about love of country, but the love of
country by the Minute Man, who is limping down the road
playing Yankee Doodle on his fife, and has his head bandaged,
does not compare to the love your dog has for you.
Brave? I saw a video that showed a small dog get between
his adopted family and a grizzly bear. The grizzly lost.
Kind to poor and broken hearted? Are you kidding me?
If you ever had a dog, you know. You have already
experienced the phenomenon.
If you are sick, the dog knows it,and comforts you. (Dogs
have detected cancer in people).
If you lose a loved one your dog knows.
Tell me your dog hasn't mourned with you after losing a
family member or friend. Tell me your dog didn't share the
pain with you.
Someone told me my grandma had died and I didn't
know what to do.
I was 10 years old and afraid. Something was terribly
wrong inside me, but I didn't know what it was. Something
was smothering me but I couldn't tell anyone.
I didn't know why God took her.
I was sitting on the bed in my sister's room alone. The
house was filled with relatives and friends who were all
thinking about grandma. I didn't expect them to be thinking
about me at this emotional time. But, all the same, my heart felt like a big hand was squeezing it. I really didn't know
what was wrong.
At that, Fluff walked in and jumped on the bed. This
was very unusual. Fluffy never got on the furniture when
somebody could see him. He snuggled next to me very close.
I can still feel the warmth of his little fluffy body bringing
me comfort.
He had something in his mouth. I held my hand in front
of him and he dropped the object into my palm. It was one
of grandma's empty pill bottles. He must have retrieved it
out of the trash can.
In my opinion, he was telling me, it's okay, Grandma was
very sick and suffering (and she hated taking those pills), and
now she is happy and healthy in heaven.
That's when buckets of tears started to fall.
Everything that was smothering me and pressing in on my
heart came gushing out with my tears and I felt awesome
relief. I wiped my tears away on Fluff's soft neck. (He didn't seem to mind).
Tell us how your childhood pet was like Fluffy or maybe
better than Fluffy, in your opinion. (No limit on words).
I know you think I'm joking but you should really do it.
I guarantee, you will laugh and cry. (And that's not a bad thing).
