Dachshunds and Other Dogs - Part II

It is now about 1981 and we have been living in the country since the fall of 1979 on 2.3 acres.  Trixie and Trooper have died (actually, I backed over Trooper with my LUV pickup and we had to put him down) and we decided to go to the OKC animal shelter to see what we could find.  We found a German Shepherd mix and named him Ranger.  We had not fenced our property yet and the place across the street had some cows.  The owner accused Ranger of harrassing his cows and calves and said that if we did not keep him at home that he would shoot him.  We had all grown very attached to Ranger but we had no choice; we took him back to the animal shelter on Saturday morning and shoved him through the door since the shelter was unattended on weekends.

The whole family cried at various times over the weekend so we were first in line on Monday morning to rescue Ranger for the second time.  Boy, was he glad to see us and vice-versa.

Other than never learning that he wasn't a lap dog, Ranger was the best non-dachshund dog that we ever had.  He and Mike and sometimes Sheri spent many hours roaming the woods around our house and we often went for walks together as a family.  How he loved his life and we certainly loved him.  He would eventually move with us to Edmond in 1987 but it was evident that he missed his freedom.  We built a chain link fence after his second rescue but he learned to climb out of it the first day and I refused to chain him up.  There were no more complaints from the neighbor across the street and they eventually moved.  Ranger was a lover not a fighter and I seriously doubted the neighbor's story.  The funniest incident that I can recall about Ranger was the time that the new neighbors up the hill came over with their Great Dane.  He had accidently gotten out and he chased Ranger around our house once and Ranger ran to us for comfort while profusely trembling.  I have never seen a dog so scared.  I'm sure Ranger thought it was a horse and the great dane was almost big enough to put a saddle on.  Ranger later became good friends with two dobermans owned by new next-door neighbors.  Those two dogs changed my opinion regarding dobermans because the family just kept having kids and the dobermans were as gentle with them as they could be.  Next non-dachshund was a beagle-basset mix puppy that we named Bailey.  He was one of the sweetest-natured dogs that ever resided at the Walkers.

Unfortunately, after a few years Bailey's personality changed drastically.  We took him to the vet and he suspected a brain tumor and we had to put him down.  I couldn't stay in the room while this happened but I did carry his body home in a garbage bag and buried him in the field out behind our house.  Bailey, you left too soon.  What a sweet boy.   In the interim, we had been dachshundless for too long so Heidi joined us before Bailey got sick.  First time that we had three dogs at once but it would not be the last.

Heidi was the most unmemorable of dogs but had a very sweet nature.  I think she might have been intimidated by the size of Ranger.  Heidi was our first and last 'no, you can't live in the house' dachshund.  After we moved to Edmond, Ranger and Heidi each had their own doghouse.  Almost every night, one dog would pull the other dog's blanket out of his house.  We suspected that it was Ranger but we weren't sure.  Ranger developed hip dysplasia and we could no longer watch him struggle to get up so we called a vet to pick him up and put him down.  Later, Heidi died naturally and Joyce found her in our garden next to a tomato plant.  The most memorable incident related to Heidi happened one Halloween on which occurred an early snowfall.  Someone had left the back gate open and Heidi turned up missing.  She was gone all night so we assumed that she probably froze to death because of the cold.  However, we searched a field across Broadway from where we lived in Timber Ridge addition and Joyce found her.  She did not appear to be any the worse for wear. 

For the first time in many years, we were dogless but within a month or so, we began dachshund shopping and ended up with Mary Lou and Emi Lou.  Long story short, they both developed back problems after about seven years.  Mary Lou went though about $2K worth of surgery and came out paralyzed so we had her put to sleep.  I handed her to the vet and we left, I just couldn't stand the thought of losing her.  Mary Lou gave her all to keep us entertained and I still miss her.  About four months later, Emi came down with back trouble and we had her put down.  I stayed in the room while the vet administered the drug - not sure why but felt that I needed to be there.  Mary Lou and Emi Lou are the only dogs that I have ever done a memorial piece on and those will be in Part III. 

Sammy came along quite unexpectedly as a gift from an acquaintance at work and he was the first long-haired that we owned.  He is still with us so his story is not completely written yet.  One year for Joyce's Christmas present, I took some dog photos of all three dogs to an artist that specialized in animal pictures and she painted the picture below of Sammy, Emi Lou, and Mary Lou.  The picture still hangs in our foyer but I think I like it more than Joyce.

Will pose for doggie treats!

 

Let me close with a question and one person's answer.

 

Will There Be Dogs in Heaven?

This is a matter on which we cannot speak with perfect confidence, but taking all the Scriptures together, my reply is: “Yes, there will be dogs in heaven, but not your dog.”

Rev. Richard Phillips is the chair of the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology and senior pastor at First Presbyterian Church Coral Springs, Margate, Florida.