Ginny's Dogs

This entry isn't about cancer. Every now and then I like to dwell on pleasant memories. Today it's about my Aunt Ginny's dogs.

Mamie was Ginny's first dog. She was mostly cocker spaniel. Ginny loved the dog but she didn't do the usual cocker things with her like having her tail docked or her fur trimmed. Mostly Mamie lay around being a pile of fur. (One time Ginny did have Mamie's fur trimmed. Later in the day my grandmother saw her and tried to shoo her away because she didn't recognize her.)

To give you some time perspective Mamie was named after President Dwight Eisenhower's wife which puts this narrative in the early 1950s.

We lived in West Milton, Ohio, a small village north of Dayton. West Milton extended perhaps three miles from one end to the other. Mamie had Visitor Dog Syndrome. There were no leash laws and she could go pretty much wherever she wanted to go. My family lived near the south end of town and we were never surprised to see Mamie show up.

One of the bad things about not being leashed. Like most dogs I've known Mamie was terrified of fireworks. One July 4th she ran far and hard. Sometime during that trip she got hit by a car. It broke her jaw but she survived.

Ginny used to drive to the local soft-serve ice cream shop and buy an ice cream cone. She'd wedge it in the back seat and Mamie would eat it. Good thing that Mamie wasn't lactose intolerant.

Ginny's other dog was Stella John. Not sure of her breed; she was one of those little fluff dogs.

Stella John had a thing for bugs. If a flying bug got into the house she would chase it until she got it. Ginny worked this into a routine. If she saw a bug she would say "Buggies!" and Stella John went into action. Ginny worked on the dialog until all she had to say was, "Hon, I think I see one" and Stella John was off and going.

The dogs enriched our lives and I hope we enriched theirs.