I've mentioned before about living near some woods and how I enjoyed walking through these woods. I also lived within walking distance of my grandparents in one direction and my aunt and uncle in another. We moved to this house when I was either 8 or 9 years old. By the time we moved in, we had a dog, an Eskimo Spitz, named Foxy. We got her while we were living in another house but she was living with my grandparents while we were living in an apartment while the house was being built. Foxy remained outside and unpinned most of the time. She was smart enough to know where she should and shouldn't go. Particularly, she knew to stay away from the dangerous road. She was also very protective, of me especially. This would be a problem when she would remind visitors of this with a quick bite to the ankles. However, she never would never seriously hurt anyone and I could always could count on her to go with me where ever I roamed.
Not long after we moved, my sister decided to get a new puppy. It was a mix of German Shepard and Collie named Franky. Foxy, having had puppies herself before, pretty much adopted Franky as her own. He grew into a rather large but extremely laid back dog. While he was not as protective as Foxy, he would also follow me where ever I went. Eventually, I trained them to know when I'm walking somewhere and to follow me by saying, "Foxy, Franky, let's go!" They would then immediately get up and start going in whatever direction it looked like I was going in. Foxy would typically stay close to my side while Franky would go a little bit ahead of me. Whether I was going to my grandparents, my aunt and uncle's, or the wondering through the woods, they were going to be there with me. I never had that many friends but those two I knew I could count on to always be there. The trick could be to get them not to follow me when I didn't want them but at least they knew enough not to follow me to the increasingly busy, Woodruff Road.
Of course, the lifespan of dogs is not very much when compared to our own. Foxy was a very old dog by the time she died during my senior year of high school. Franky took it the hardest and disappeared for few days before finally being discovered in an animal shelter. My sister bought my mom a new dog we call Blue due to his one blue eye. We thought he was a Sheltie. I say "we thought" because he wound up growing into a full-sized collie. While he was very intelligent, he never learned where he shouldn't wander to so he had to be kept pinned up. This was very apparent when the church next door decided to keep their doors open for one Sunday morning service and he walked right in. Still, he would follow me whenever I walked anywhere much like Franky and he would stay near as long as me or someone else was outside.
Unfortunately, the woods were disappearing more and more as time passed. The two churches nearby where growing and needed the room. While the churches growing like they were was no bad thing, I did miss my woods. Also, age had finally caught up to Franky and he too died. My family eventually moved away from that house when the church needed our land to grow more. Blue seemed to not mind the new setting and had grown into an extremely obedient dog, always eager to please. I had never even seen him angry except for one time when another finally annoyed him to the point of snapping at the other dog. No one could blame Blue for that one either.
I share the story of the dogs I grew up with because Blue recently had to be put to sleep because of extensive health problems. These dogs have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember even though I haven't lived at home in a while. I currently live in an apartment where owning a dog would be difficult. Perhaps I will do something different and get a cat as my next pet. I never could have a cat growing up because of my sister's allergies. Anyway, regardless of the future, these three dogs I talked about here were an important part of my childhood and my growing up. Their companionship was invaluable. The memories they provided will be with me the rest of my life. I can only hope if I have children, they can have friends as good as they were.
