| A Good Dog
It’s strange how a random turn down a remote country rode can affect one’s life. In July, 1995, I made a trip by myself to a nearby town about 20 miles away. On the way back, I decided to take the “back roads” instead of the highway. It was a hot July day. July’s are usually hot in Oklahoma, but this year it was especially bad. There had been many days well over 100 degrees and it hadn’t rained in a very long time. We were definitely in a drought. It was after lunch in the hottest part of the day when I turned onto the country road. I was making my way back home when I saw a dog up ahead on the edge of the road. It was a Dalmatian. I slowed down and stopped in the middle of the road and rolled down my window.
I had never picked up a stray dog in my life, and I really wasn’t intending to today. We had just gotten a new puppy about 10 months before, and I really thought one dog was enough. When I rolled down the window he got up and walked over to my door. I put my hand down toward him and he rubbed it with his nose. He was very skinny and covered with dozens and dozens of large ticks. I simply could not believe he was surviving out there. Where had he come from?
Storm and Bodie
How long had he been out there? How could he make it even a day in this heat with no shade and no water? There was a house about a mile or so away. I got out of my pickup and petted him. His eyes were intense. I think he knew he was in serious trouble out there. So I decided to take him back to that house down the road. I went to the back of the truck and lowered the tailgate. He jumped right in without a word from me!
We drove back to the house, and a lady was outside. She said she had never seen the dog before. What was I going to do? This tick covered dog was in my truck. Leaving him alone in this drought would surely mean his death. So I took him home. My wife, although a true dog lover, was not overjoyed with the idea of having a strange, very large dog around our little dog which she had gotten very attached to.
But we introduced them to each other, and it went amazingly well. In fact, it went better than we had any right to expect! You see, we later learned about some “quirks” of this new dog which I will speak of later. But that day, I think he was simply so glad to have some shade and water, that his “quirks” remained hidden. A few hours later, a large storm came. There was much thunder and lightening and rain. It was the first rain storm we had had in many many weeks! And because of that welcomed storm, we named our new dog Storm.
That is how our life with Storm began. I had no idea that day how much that turn onto the country roads would affect me. I’ve thought many times about that day..…how a turn here, or a turn there would have meant me never finding him. And if his “quirk” would have shown itself upon meeting Katie that day, he would have had to leave that day. But I found him, and he was nice enough to Katie. If one ever believes fate can be real, it had to occur that day.
The next day we took Storm to the vet to get some heavy duty tick killer. The vet thought he was around 5 to 7 years old by looking at his teeth. That made the mystery deepen further as to where he came from. He had been cared for before that. He knew about pickups and he knew the command “shake”. We can’t help but think someone must have dumped him off because of the remote location where I found him. But why? (Unless it was about the “quirk” I will speak of later.)
Storm took to us well. He seemed very happy and was looking much better in just a few weeks. He was like no other dog. His eyes, which I will speak of many times, were so unique. They were not only big and brown, they were very piercing. His look was a very wise, very knowing look. It was probably his eyes which we so connected with not only at first, but for years to come.
In just a month, Storm was in pretty good shape! And he was a STRONG dog! He was not well trained on the leash and would pull hard. One day, I was building a fence with my son a few blocks away at the school. Kay was walking Storm on a ten foot rope leash. I passed them in my truck with which I was pulling a 16 foot flat trailer. Storm got excited and broke free from her and started chasing us. He caught up with us and somehow his long leash got caught in the wheel. He was yanked under the truck! The force broke the heavy nylon robe off about a foot from his collar, and his body hit the truck’s muffler and broke it off.
Before I could stop, the long trailer had run over him too! We weren’t going very fast, but he was a big dog and we heard some the impact of him hitting the underside of the truck. And the trailer was quite low to the ground, so I am sure it hit him too. We stopped and ran back to him. He was lying on the ground. Besides cuts on his shoulder and face, and legs, we didn’t see anything wrong on the outside. But I was worried about internal injuries. He rose up just barely, and just enough to touch his nose to my hand just like he had done that first day. I just knew he was going to die. I just knew I had rescued him from the drought only to end up running over him and killing him. He wouldn’t get up.
After a while we didn’t know what to do but to lift him onto the trailer and take him home. He had been sleeping under the trailer for the past few weeks, so we got him unloaded and moved him under the trailer. He was not getting up. We took him to the vet, and the vet didn’t think anything was broke. He just thought he had a severely twisted body in many places. His hair was matted with asphalt in places. The force was so severe some of the asphalt actually was rubbed off and onto his coat. He had asphalt under many of his nails too.
We took him back home and babied him. He pretty much remained under the trailer night and day for several more weeks. But soon he slowly was getting around better. In just 5 or 6 weeks, he was about back to the condition he had been in. Later in his life I have looked back on that day and wondered if that accident could have led to some of his arthritis problems he was to develop later in life. But Storm survived and was ready to continue his new life with us!
One thing about Storm, he really enjoyed life! I mean, you could just see it in his eyes! He loved us and he loved being himself. One of his many joys in the town we first lived in with him was to go to the airport. It was a tiny, rarely used runway on the outside of town. We would go out there on a walk and turn him loose. He would run and run! I would chase him and he would chase me. He loved it! At the end of the runway, there was a pasture he would disappear into. We didn’t know it then, but it turns out he had a true love for hunting rabbits.
Storm was not a pure Dalmatian. Yes, his coat was pure Dalmatian with its black spots, but Dalmatians are sleek dogs with slender heads. Storm was large boned and had a very large head. (In fact, he had this odd looking bone poking out on the top of his skull which gave him a most unique look). He was broad and very muscular. In his prime, he weighed almost 100 pounds. We don’t know for sure what kind of mix he was. His face had sort of a pit bull look though. And that one “quirk” I will talk about later, could prove that mix to be the correct one.
Storm had been with us for 6 months or so when we discovered one of his “hidden” talents. (Oh, besides the fact that he knew how to shake on command….we wondered where and who he had learned that with). One day my wife had her harmonica out her grandpa had given to her when she was a girl. She was blowing on it when all of a sudden Storm joined in! He started howling in a way you only see in the movies! And he would repeat it anytime anywhere with the harmonica.
He LOVED to howl! He had it down to! It was a pure form of art to see and hear him howl! He would stick his snout straight into the air and let out long bursts of multi pitched howls while he formed his lips into a very tight, closed form across his teeth. It was something to see! I soon learned to howl with him. When I wanted to howl with him, I would start in with my pitiful human howls, and he would always join in. He would howl with me anytime, anywhere, anyplace for the entire rest of his life. I’ll talk more on the howling later.
Another thing about Storm was that he was most definitely not a cold weather dog. He liked those sunny, 70 degree days the best! We took him on vacation to the mountains that next summer. One morning we got out of the tents and started to build a fire. All of a sudden we heard a strange clicking sound very close. It took us several moment to figure out it was Storm’s teeth chattering together. Very loudly chattering together! It was not THAT cold…just a summer morning in the mountains. But like I said, Storm was not a cold weather dog. We would witness his teeth chattering on other cold mornings off and on the rest of his life.
I started writing the above the day after Storm died. (It is four days later now, and those words, “Storm died”, still don’t sound right. I still can’t believe he is gone. But anyway, I had to stop writing for a few days. It was just too hard. But I am going to start again here.
And on that same trip to the mountains a couple more fond memories occurred. One, not so fond actually, was when we were up on a trail with him and a group of horses with people on a trail ride started coming up the trail. It was not a good thing. Storm went ballistic! I am not sure who or what he thought the horses were or were doing. But he was one aggravated dog! And as I said, he was a strong dog. It took about all I had to hold him back from trying to attack those horses.
And then on the way home (we took two vehicles) I was in the pickup with my son with Storm in the middle. We stopped at a Sonic for lunch. Storm, like most dogs, loved people food the best. Well, the smell of a Sonic was too much for Storm’s senses. While waiting for the food, he started drooling like I’ve never seen a dog drool. He was excited and moving around a lot and he had drooled all of me, my son, the seat, and the dash….everywhere. And then when we got the food, it was even worse! But he sure did like those Sonic Onion Rings we fed him!
Storm had kind of a bladder problem from when we first got him. He just didn’t have real good control. When he had to go, he HAD to go. So his times in the house were a little limited until we really figured him out…which took several years. And his first “accident” in the house was just a little while after we had him. It was on a tile floor luckily when he just turned it loose. Even then, he didn’t hike his leg all the time to go. He would just let it go.
Later in his life, his arthritis kept him from ever hiking his leg. Most of the time up until his death (man, that is hard to write) he would walk and pee at the same time. So there were always “trails” going along the sidewalks, porch, and driveway. You could always tell where Storm had been for a few hours until it dried. But back to that first time….Besides his lack of control, he had another little issue. His urine smelled REALLY bad! It was so bad we asked the vet about it. He said it was a trait of Dalmatians to have “concentrated urine”. It was very concentrated for sure.
We moved to a new town about 2 years after we got Storm. This move created more circumstances for some “fond” memories of Storm. I guess one of the first things to come up was that there were other dogs around this house. Storm had not been around too many other dogs besides Katie since we had him. But on two occasions, Storm’s major “quirk” is very much remembered. Storm was a dog hater. We didn’t realize how much he hated other dogs until this move. Like I said earlier, he held that trait in check when he first met Katie (lucky for him). And soon after he met Katie, there was no doubt he accepted her as one of his pack. We were to get other dogs later, and never had a problem with him and them.
We always made sure he knew the new dog was to be part of the pack. It was easy to do (I think it showed Storm’s intelligence that he was able to make the distinction so easily). But his first “victim” was a nice dog from across the street. One day, before we were careful in those ways, Storm got a grip on that dog’s throat. I was standing right there and could not get him to turn loose. Storm would become possessed with killing a dog not in his pack. Yes, it was a very bad trait, but we learned to cope with it. Anyway, he had this dog by the throat and the dog passed out! Then Storm turned loose. I thought he had killed this dog! But in 15 or 20 seconds the dog started coming around and got up and went home. Another time a tiny dog from down the street got too close to him. Storm again grabbed it, picked it up in his mouth and would not turn loose! I pried on his jaws, but there was no way to get him to open his mouth. I finally started pulling on his tail really hard. He finally dropped the dog. Storm was scary when he got that way.
But as “mean” as he was toward dogs not in his pack, he never ever was anything but a gentleman around strange people AND children. I have seen Storm right in the middle of tiny toddler aged kids, and he never raised an eyebrow with all their pulling, pushing and prying on him. He was a great kid’s dog for sure. And the same with strangers was true. He simply did not have a mean bone in his body except for dogs……oh, and rabbits….but more on rabbits later.
Boy, did Storm like to sleep! It was almost an art form for him. From the time we got him until literally the day he died, he would find the best, most comfortable, warmest in the winter, coolest in the summer places to sleep. He LOVED taking long naps in the sun when the temperature was in the low eighties or lower. On sunny winter days, you could always count on seeing Storm out in the sun sleeping in the afternoon. And on those hot days, he could find the coolest places. Just two days before he died, it was a very hot afternoon. Storm took a three hour nap on some leaves in a completely shady, very dense plumb thicket in front of the house. I checked on him several times.
Man, he sure looked comfortable in there. And Storm loved the comforts of human life too! If there was a rug, pillow or anything soft, he always found it to lie on. He loved the comforts of home! At our second house, we had bunk beds in one room. Storm pretty much took over the bottom bunk at night. Of course he would share with any of the other dogs too. Mostly Lucky slept there with him. And Katie too…. when she thought she could tolerate that much closeness. Storm sure loved sleeping on that bunk bed!
Oh, and at this house is where we took the dogs down to the river. It was mostly dry with only a small stream of water flowing usually. They LOVED it! Storm would run and run up and down that river bed! He simply loved all the little pleasures of life!
All the dogs also like sunning themselves at that house on the top of the well house at the second house too. It was a wooden cover over a hole about 9 feet deep and 8 foot square. The well, tanks and water pipes were down in the hole. And it was here that Storm had another one of his near death experiences.
At that time we had a chain link fence around the back yard for the dogs to run loose in. I was in the back yard one day working on the well, so I had the cover off of the buried well house. The cover actually set upon a row of bricks all the way which were about a foot high. I was about 10 yards from the hole and Storm was back in the corner of the yard. As I said, Storm hated other dogs, and he saw one coming down the front street. He tore off toward the fence at full speed to bark at the intruder. Well, it so happened that the between him and the dog, which he was making a bee line toward was the well…which now was without a cover and just an open hole. Just like in slow motion, I saw what was going to happen. The dogs all were in a habit of jumping up on the well house cover to lie down. Storm was just going to use it to run across toward the dog. Storm jumped up onto the nonexistent cover and disappeared down into the hole. I was running toward the hole but could not do anything but watch him fall into it. I got to the edge and looked down.
Storm was lying down there, and water was spraying everywhere. He had landed on the plastic pipes going to the house and broke them. I ran and turned off the electricity at the power pole. I already had the ladder down in there and climbed down it. He was lying there wet and scared. I took some time with him and he finally got up pretty much by himself. I then somehow carried his 90 some pounds up the ladder. He was very shaken, but didn’t seem to be too badly hurt. He was down and out of commission for few days as he “shook” it off I guess. Man he was a tough dog I tell you! Here again, I am sure that day did not do his future arthritis any good.
Oh, and a year or so later, Storm tore open one of his toes running across that well house. There was a nail that had worked its way out a little, and I guess he ripped it on that. It was a nasty looking cut. We took him to the Vet, and he said it should heal. And it did. But it sure looked like it would hurt, but he never really acted like it did. Again, he was tough!
And then there was Storm’s nearest-death near death experience. He was around 13 or 14 at the time and a large dog weighing about 90 pounds. Because of his size, some charts estimated his human age to be around 88! Storm was getting more and more stiff with age. He was having difficulty getting up and he did not run like he used to. His stiffness was really starting to affect his everyday life.
The vet suggested we start giving him an aspirin twice a day. We noticed great results in just a week or so. Therefore, we continued giving him the dosage and he continued to improve. It had been about a month or so when one Saturday afternoon he didn't seem quite himself. By evening he had gotten much worse. He would not get up to eat or drink and he looked extremely ill. We really thought he must have had some major event happen.
Perhaps he had a stroke or heart problem. We did not know. He seemed so very ill and so near death, I made the decision that I was not going to try to get him up and to the vet which was an hour away. He was already very old I really believed his death was imminent that day. I didn’t think he could take being moved around. And I wanted him to be there at his home with us and the rest of his pack. His best bud, Lucky, was right there with him and concerned too.
I checked on him throughout the night, but his condition only seemed to worsen. Because he had been so happy and healthy acting the weeks before, we did not make the connection that this could have anything to do with the aspirin he was taking. But, to make a long story short, he was better the next day! I couldn't believe his miraculous recovery! I had been sure the night before was going to be his last!
Later, because of some stool samples we took to the vet, he determined that the aspirin had caused irritation in his intestinal tract which resulted in a very severe infection which almost killed him. (We have since learned this can happen in humans too!)
It was inspiring to see Storm come out of that bad of condition. I believe it was his love of life that got him through it. He enjoyed and was so content with his life. You could see it in everything he did. Man, I miss him.
Vet trips for Storm in his younger days were quite a “trip”! His first vet was the one human Storm really didn’t care too much for. I don’t really blame him either. I don’t think he was much of a dog lover actually. But the worst was trying to get him in and out without meeting any other dogs. If Storm saw another dog there, he would just lose his mind. He had an alter personality when he saw a strange dog. There was no talking to him, yelling at him or anything. He simply did not hear you. Everything about Storm shut down except for his thought of killing that dog. We often wondered what or how he came to be that way.
It may sound like something really bad, but it wasn’t. He just got it into his head somehow that the world was HIS territory when it came to other dogs. We learned to deal with it and adjust what and how we did things to avoid “situations” He got into several more “minor” dog fights over the years. The last “fight” was when a strange dog came into our yard about 2 years before he died. He was still pretty mobile then, but was also really showing his age. We didn’t see it, but we heard it and went running toward them. By the time we got there, Storm was coming back with his head down. I do believe he must have whipped the other dog and it ran away.
But Storm paid a big price. He was moving slow and looked like an old fighter after 15 rounds. He had blood running down his face. We cleaned him up and he took easy for the rest of the day. That was his last fight. He did encounter other dogs a few more times, but he was not inclined to fight them any more. According to some charts, Storm must have been at least 80 or so human years old in that last fight. Have I said yet he was a tough dog!
Storm was “fixed” when I found him. Or at least I guess he was. He “looked” like he was fixed anyway. But he sure didn’t act like it! The first time he was around Katie when she went into heat, something down deep must have really clicked. Not only was he very interested, he was able to perform too! I don’t think that is supposed to happen. The Vet said that can sometimes happen if they get fixed later in life. Again, I would have loved to have known his history. Another thing on this topic unique and memorable about Storm was his quivering lips. It was one of the most hilarious things ever to see! When one of our dogs was in heat, Storm, like all male dogs do, liked to sniff them. When Storm did this his lips would go into convulsions! It was SO funny! After a good smell his lips would convulse for quite a few moments. It is something that needed to be seen and not read about to appreciate the site. He did this off and on the rest of his life. Sometimes it would not take a dog in heat. Just a good smell at the right time on the right one of the other dogs could set off his lips! It was just the oddest thing to see. We sure got a lot of good laughs out of that!
All of our dogs dream when they sleep. And Storm was no exception. Because he was so big, I think his dreams would always be more aggressive looking. He would sure get into those dreams…whining and yelping and “running”. It was always fun to wonder what he was dreaming about. The last couple of years of his life, I bet he was dreaming about rabbits! More on that later.
Storm was probably our most affectionate dog. He loved getting it and giving it! Storm had a thing for giving baths. He loved to bathe his pack with that big rough tongue. And we all loved it! Except for Katie…prim and proper Katie thought she was above such things. Every day of his life with us (literally until his last days….it’s still hard to write those words!) he would give the other dogs baths. It was always a bath of the head and neck. When he got finished, the recipient was drenched! Each bath would be a good ten minutes of nonstop licking.
Lucky and Oreo got a LOT of baths! He would really work on their ears too. And they couldn’t ever get enough. They would sit there or lay there for as long as he would do it. And I myself, on many occasions would lay down and get one. I won’t even try to describe it. Unless you have ever had a large, slobbery, male dog cleaning your ears out, I can’t explain it to you. Giving baths is something Storm really enjoyed and it was a big part of his life. He no doubt gave many more throughout the day than we saw him do. I miss that big rough tongue behind and in my ears. Man, he was a good dog….Ok…I have to quit for now on that thought.
I am back writing weeks later. We had a little cookout at home. I thought I kept seeing Storm out of the corner of my eye. The last time we had a cookout was a week before he died. He LOVED it when I cooked out! On that occasion he enjoyed a nice thick pork chop, a hamburger, and a chicken breast…right off the grill after they cooled down a bit. Yep, he loved cookouts! He was always right there by me as I cooked…I wonder why!
When we moved to our new house, it turned out to be dog heaven. It was in the middle of the woods with plenty of places for dogs to explore. It really brought out the hunter in Storm. Oreo and Storm spent a lot of time together hunting rabbits and lizards. Yes, for some reason the tiny lizards around the yard turned out to be great sport for them. Storm could never catch a lizard. He was too big of a dog and not quick enough. Some of our other, smaller dogs can catch them though. But mainly it was rabbits that kept Storm and Oreo busy. There are lots of them around, and they have plenty of good hiding places the dogs can’t get to. (like under the porch deck and in the pile of old railroad ties). I have never seen Oreo catch one. I have seen her in hot pursuit many many times, but the rabbit always gets away or finds a safe spot I think. Storm was too old at the time to put up much of a chase. But he LOVED to follow her! She would often lead him off farther than he was supposed to go, and I would have to go looking for them. I was worried about him getting too close to the highway down the hill before we got the dog wire since his hearing was almost gone those last few years. Oftentimes I would go looking for him when Oreo was already back cooling in her “pool”. I would find him heading back, tired out after the hunt. On one memorable occasion, I was working on our roof all morning. The two hunters had trapped a rabbit in a pile of old lumber and ties. They were working around that pile for several hours. I would look over at them sometimes from the roof, and they were trying to dig it out or trying to actually move the heavy timbers. I don’t know how it happened, but all of a sudden I heard a rabbit giving its loud, high pitched squeal.
I knew they had caught it somehow. I looked over, figuring Oreo had it, but it was Storm who had the rabbit in his mouth! I couldn’t believe it! He killed that rabbit and carried it over on the porch. He ate the whole thing! Legs, insides, head, fur…everything! There was no sign of that rabbit when he was finished. He looked very satisfied with himself. I was very happy for him that he actually got to catch one. Or not really catch one, but he probably was able to reach in with his snout to get it! Of course the taste of that hunt just fueled his passion even more for future hunts.
They spent many an hour down by the building where the rabbits would run under into the little mini-culvert. They couldn’t get into it really, but then they found out they could use their snouts to lift the tops off. There were many exciting moments on that drive way! And, near that spot is where we buried Storm too. I figured he would have fun being near Oreo’s future rabbit hunts there.
One of the things that Storm was best known for in the pack was his howling skill. He was an absolute expert! He LOVED to howl as much as he loved anything. And his pack loved it to. We all miss that so much. Storm didn’t need a reason to start howling, but when he still had good hearing, sirens or trains would really get him going. The more dogs we got, the more he seemed to howl. I would say when there were four of them he would start at least 2 or 3 howling episodes a day…everyday…sometimes more. After his hearing pretty much left him, the sirens and trains would not affect him. However, Lucky figured out how to make him howl whenever she wanted. The girl dogs are all bad howlers, but they love to try.
And when Lucky wanted it to start, she would get close to him and start some head motion and some tiny whimper-howls. Pretty soon there would be all the dogs together going at it. It was something to see and hear! And this was done throughout the day, but ALWAYS at feeding time. The dogs would congregate on the front porch about dinner time. Lucky would always start her Get-Storm-To-Howl tactics at this time. Every evening this happened on the front porch right in front of the windows. We miss that a lot. Now that Storm is gone, that never happens anymore.
Storm would always follow me around the yard when I was out. In fact, just the day before he died, I was watering the trees with him following me. He loved being right there by me and I loved him being there. I would often lay the hose down and soak a tree to give him a good pettin’. He loved his ears rubbed! Boy did he LOVE it. He would always let out these groans of pure pleasure! And he would, for some reason, lower his head in the enjoyment. He would almost do a summersault (sometimes he would lose his balance and fall over he was enjoying the rubbing so much)!
And Storm’s expression was unique too. He always had a very deep, thoughtful, inquisitive expression. You always got the idea that there was a lot going on behind those eyes. The last year or so of his life, he had quite a few bad days. He had more good days than not, but still quite a few bad days. We always knew he was having a bad day just by looking at his eyes. It was so easy to see that his usual expression was not there. We didn’t like those days. We missed the upbeat Storm. We always tried to give him some extra special treatment on those days. And more about his expression…. When he was really curios about something, or very interested in something, he would put a big wrinkle in his forehead skin. He had the most unique and expressive face of any dog we’ve known.
Storm was the classic dominant male dog. There was no doubt in his mind he was the top dog. He loved his pack…even pesky Katie….but he was also king. He always took the best place to sleep, he would have any and all food he wanted…no matter whose it was, and he was totally respected by the other dogs. Yes, Katie would be a pain….nipping at him….growling at him…and he would tolerate it 99% of the time. Only very rarely did she cross some line and he would have to take her down. He would never hurt her. He would just hold her down until he made his point. But his dominant moves were classic.
If another dog had a bone, Storm could take that bone away without even growling. He would move very slowly with his head down toward the dog. He would just keep inching closer and closer. The dog with the bone would be growling, but it didn’t faze him. He had patience. He would keep inching closer and closer. His mouth would get within inches of the bone and soon he would very slowly take the bone in his teeth and easily pull it from the dog who would just let it go. At that point it was over. The other dog would simply leave it with him knowing it was lost. It may sound like he was a bully or something to some, but he was not like that. He was just the dominant dog.
Storm loved to play! He had the biggest puppy heart you’ve ever seen. I’d play with him a lot out in the yard and on the porch. One of his favorites was chase. I would start playing with him rough and then run. He would chase me then. But he played rough. I was the only one really able to play like this with him. It worked best in the winter time with a coat on.
You see, Storm would chase me and reach up and grab my arm (or the back of my thigh if I wasn’t careful!!! I had a big ouch on more than one occasion!!) But if I had a coat on, I would let him grab my arm. He loved that! Or I would just stand there and “fight” with him. I would tuck my hands up in my coat and go at it with him. He loved playing rough! He would play with the other dogs too when they would let him. In fact, just two days before he died, he instigated some playing time with little Bodie who was only a few months old. (No, he wasn’t rough like that with the other dogs, just me) I like thinking about that. That he was having fun and still enjoying life right up to the end.
Like I said, Storm had a lot of close calls. The last one was just a few weeks before he died. I was inside on the phone with my Mother. I heard some serious barking outside. All the dogs were out, so I looked out the window to check. There was a horse in our yard! I told my Mother I’d call her back and ran outside to find a very scary situation. Our house sits on about 10 wooded acres which is all fenced but for the driveway.
The horse had gotten out of the fence down the road and just happened to find our open driveway. Some of our dogs had never seen a horse up close, and the ones that had seen one had surely forgotten what one looked like I am sure. It was a young, full grown horse. The dogs were going completely crazy. They did not know the danger they were in for sure. They were chasing the horse around and coming at it from all directions. I was trying to get the dogs into the house out of danger. They were not able to hear me…or wouldn’t listen for sure.
I was able to grab Lucky and carry her into the house. That left, Oreo, Storm, Katie (Bowdie was in the house already). Then things got really bad! They chased the horse up onto the cement driveway. The horse was between the car, the garage, and the fence. He thought he was trapped. It was me and the four dogs in this tiny space with this wild eyed horse! I had a bad feeling someone was going to get hurt or worse. Kay had just gone to town so it was just me and them. I was worried about Storm the most. He simply was not quick on his feet at all if the horse came his way.
But the next dog I was able to catch was Katie, I ran with her to the back fence and dropped her over. I went back and the Horse was between me and Storm and was more scared now than ever. I went around it and grabbed Storm and carried him to the back gate. When I returned for Oreo, the horse was back in the yard, and the owner had just come with a rope. I then got Oreo into the house (she jumps the back fence). After they were all safe, I felt a huge relief. We were all lucky no one was hurt.
It’s been a while since I wrote here. I still think I see Storm out of the corner of my eye sometimes when I am in the yard. And I dream about him. I dreamed about getting one of his slurpy baths on my face last night, so I am going to write again today and finish this hard part.
The last few weeks of his life, Storm had some good days! In fact, we were looking forward to the summer when Kay could be home with them all. Bowdie, the new puppy was still very young, and Storm would try to play with him on numerous occasions. (Bowdie still did not know quite how to take him….Storm must have looked like a giant to Bowdie!) We had just been commenting on how good Storm was doing with his arthritis. He was out and about a lot, and most importantly he had that “look” in his eyes…that sparkle and intense focus he got when he was really feeling good! He had that about every day for his last few weeks. He did his best to follow Oreo around hunting…he really enjoyed that. On that Tuesday evening I was watering all the trees, he followed me all around like he always did. He was feeling good. That night he ate a huge bowl of food. We gave him a big can of meaty dog food on top of some dry. He ate it all up. He was feeling good and enjoying life. It was great weather that night, he had a big meal, and he had his buddies with him in the back yard.
I got up to go to work early on Wednesday, May 25. It was just barely light. As usual, I went to the back gate to see Storm and check on him before I went to work. I had started doing that when he started having some bad days off and on in the past year. The other dogs were there when I called, but I didn’t see Storm. That was not unusual; Storm often would sleep through my calls.
He had gotten pretty hard of hearing in his older age. So I went into the back yard to look for him in his usual sleeping places. I didn’t see him. I immediately started to worry. I called again for him, and then I saw him. He was lying by the east fence in some leaves. Even from a distance I knew he had died. He didn’t ever sleep down there. But I still ran too him. It looked like he had just dropped as he was walking. . He was in leaves, and they had not been disturbed at all. I am pretty sure he died quickly and suddenly. He was not in his usual, laying down position. It looked like he had just dropped.
I had thought so many times about that moment in the past several years when we knew he was really going down hill. I wished so much for him to have a peaceful death like this. I did not know how or what I would do if it came to the point where he simply could not get up anymore. I thought I would have to drive him to the vet, have the vet come to the car and give him a shot and end it like that. I did not want to have to do it like that. I wanted him to be at his home with all of us and just to die peacefully.
That was my wish, but realistically, knowing what a tough guy he was, I really had no hope down deep it would be that way. I really thought he would fight it to the very end and I would be in a horrible dilemma as to what to do. But I should have known better. Being the good dog he was, he made that wish I had for him come true.
It’s been six months now since he was last here, and I still think I see him sometimes or think I need to go check on him or think just for a moment where he is. I’ve been trying to write this last part for over a month now. It has been very hard to finish this. I don’t want to finish it actually. I don’t know. It’s been six months and I still can’t believe he won’t come out to my truck and meet me when I go home.
Ok, make it seven months now. I am going to finish this. I still see him out of the corner of my eye in the yard sometimes. I simply forget he is not around anymore. The other day while walking in Wal-mart I saw a giant rawhide dog bone. I thought how much Storm would like that. I mean, I actually thought about buying it for him just for a second. And then I realized he was not here anymore. We are always seeing a dog that reminds us of Storm…their behavior, their eyes, their pink skin around their mouth. These things continue to happen. I imagine someday they will stop. I hope not though. It’s been all this time, and I still have get that huge lump in my throat when I read this or think about him too much.
We buried Storm that day near the building where the dogs always get rabbits cornered under the driveway drainage grates. Storm and the other dogs spent many, many hours down there after those rabbits. He REALLY enjoyed the hunt! We wrapped him up in cozy quilt we knew he would have liked (Like I said, he really enjoyed the finer things of life like that) and buried him near where the dogs would continue hunting those rabbits. We thought if he could have chosen, that is where he would have wanted to be buried. And they still hunt there all the time. And we always think about Storm being right there with them.
We miss you Storm. You’re a good dog. Happy hunting and rest in peace.
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