I woke up this morning a little confused. I was still a little sleepy when I felt what turned out to be a tongue in my ear. At first I thought Lorraine might have been fooling around. Then I realized I was looking at the back of her head, so my first inclination had to be wrong. Then it occurred to me that something wet was going in and out of my ear. Obviously, there was something wrong — we had another something in our bed.
I sort of sat up and was looking into the eyes of a bandit. I mean the head was black and the eyes were white and whatever it was, was staring at me. Then I remembered, we were trying to get our dog, Ranger, to sleep in the bed with us. We had discovered if he is in the bed with us, he doesn’t want to go outside as much. Going outside started the conversation with nearby dogs and it just got louder and louder. When I say sleep in the bed with us, it means he can sleep wherever he wants as long as he doesn’t start barking.
Ranger’s first family lives right behind us and there is often a contest to see who can bark the loudest between Ranger and his brothers and sisters. His is hands down the loudest, that’s why we started having him sleep with us. It appears that he likes sleeping with us better than yodeling at about 5:30 in the a.m.
Ranger is a miniature Australian shepherd. He is a herder, and I guess he herds by voice because he can break a glass when he is in full voice. He is a great guy and once you get to know him it doesn’t matter that he is so loud. Ranger is the latest member of our family. We have had him a little over a year. We brought him home when he turned 9 weeks. We love dogs and have suffered the loss of a dog and the joy of a new puppy.
Our first dog came to us by way of King City. I was working there when my boss came in one day complaining that his dog could not be house broken. He said he had whipped him and held back his food, but nothing seemed to work. I was taken aback with that, but was quick to ask what was wrong with his dog. When he stared at me I was sure he had never taken the dog to a vet to find out why he couldn’t be trained. “Hey! Why don’t you let me take him home and see if I can get better results?” My boss gave me a big smile and said, “Sure! Good idea.”
That is how Zack became a member of our family. He was with us when we moved to Gonzales and brought such happiness it would take another couple of pages of typing just to try and help you understand. We were not married yet and I was a little apprehensive about springing this little guy into our home. I knew she liked dogs, but taking one in was a big responsibility that I wasn’t sure would be welcomed.
But Zack was such a handsome guy, I was willing to take a chance. I didn’t waste time wondering how my boss could let him go. It seems Lorraine had known a boy in her past that had one just like Zack, so she was overjoyed with our new family member. She dressed him with a red bandana around his neck. We took him to a veterinarian and got him healed of some parasite and we were both in love with him. He was so beautiful.
When we moved to Gonzales, we wondered why couples had children if a dog like Zack was around. Oh! By the way, we changed our minds and added two wonderful boys to our family. My daughter moved with us and also fell in love with Zack. Life was good. Then that parasite came back and after many trips to the vet, we suffered through the loss of our pal. The world took on a dark hue. The darkness was terrible. We missed him so much. We told everyone we knew and swore that we would never fall in love with another dog. We couldn’t even consider it.
Then one day a friend of Lorraine’s who had been watching her pain told her about some pups that had been born. They were not pedigree, but came from a healthy mom and dad. Lorraine tiptoed over to me that night and told me. So the stars were aligned and the need for the love only a dog can give, we drove out to see these pups. I started to write, “Big Mistake,” but it wasn’t. They were black and brown and we thought they might need our love, so we made arrangements and picked one up as soon as they were weaned.
Our sons, Austin and Reed, were young and helped pick one out of a pile of puppies. We asked Austin what we should name her. Lorraine was deep into her love of wine by now and she wanted him to have a name that echoed her new occupation.
Out of the blue, Austin piped up. “How about Beaujolais?” Out of the mouth of a 4-year-old, our newest family member had been named. Beaujolais was a great addition to our household. Beaujee is what we all called her. We would walk with her and the boys all the way down to the end of Fanoe Road. The culverts that had been placed to support the Canyon Creek Subdivision were a great place to play war with the boys and to throw the balls that Beaujee would bring back to us. More “Dog Tales” next week.
God Bless.
