A Story - "A Dog's Life" - and Some Special Dogs

 A Story

A Dog's Life

From the time he was a young puppy, Marshall was in training.  Marshall had to obey his owner: no chasing cats, no jumping on people.  He always came when called.  His owner gave him fun things to do: searching for objects, playing frisbee, navigating obstacle courses.

From the time she was a young puppy, Molly did whatever she wanted. She chewed shoes, pulled on the leash and never came when called.  Her behaviour meant she rarely played with other people or dogs.

One day Marshall found a lost child.

One day Molly ran into the street as a car came.

Since we are on the theme of dogs,  here are some photos of dogs that have lived and visited with us.  This is Bonnie who was my daughter's dog.  Bonnie was energetic, mischievous and fiercely loyal to my daughter.

This is Bella, my neighbour's dog.  She comes for walks with me.  She looks a bit like the Littlest Hobo from TV fame years ago and she also has a very independent spirit.

Our two Labs that we had for about 12 years.  Ginger and Snap were sisters.  Ginger, on the right, was the bossy one but she was afraid of the vet and couldn't handle car rides.  Her sister Snap loved to play find the Kong outside and didn't mind the vet. I thought Snap would be very sad when Ginger died but we had our son's dog at that time and that eased the transition.

They almost always slept touching each other.

This is Jaws, who my son took in from a shelter.  He was extremely stressed at first but my son won him over and he became a real cuddlebug. He was much smaller than the Labs, only about 25 lbs. but he never felt that he was a little dog and happily played with them. He stayed with us for several years when our son's job didn't fit with keeping a dog.

Sullivan is a newer addition to the family and belongs to our other son.  He is playful, gentle, well-behaved and a bit of a chicken.  A good friend to our young grandson.