Must Love Dogs

Chip turned 7 years old on Wednesday (49 in dog years) and while most people think its loony to celebrate a dog I think it’s well deserved! After a few years of marriage I mentioned to Stephen Eldredge casually; “What do you think about having children?” to which he responded; “How about a dog?” I’ve never been a dog lover; growing up we had all sorts of dogs that ran the farm; blue and red heelers, Australian shepherds, Border Collie’s, Doberman Pincers, Cocker Spaniels and unfortunately all of those dogs “Lived by the tire and died by the tire,” as my dad would say. Dogs were usually something I yelled at when I walked outside and they jumped up on me for attention, or licked my hand or legs as I was walking by.
Stephen gave me Chip as a Christmas present and had wrapped up a little collar in a long jewelry box and on the collar hung a gold tag with the name Chip engraved and our phone number. Chip is loved by everyone who meets him; he’s shy and friendly at the same time. Children love him because they believe him to be a puppy. If we are taking a walk or at a park Chip will run to greet people or children and then retreat when he realizes they want to pick him up, because he’s 49, you know. Chip goes to Doggy Day Care compliments of my dad where he can play on the farm, take naps with Grandpa and run errands. Yes, I drop him off and pick him up every day. I love that little dog because of his loyalty, his protectiveness, his funny personality, he tries to boss me around, his big brown eyes and the fact that sometimes he’s naughty and I get to say; “I’m going to strangle you! “ in a sweet voice.

Speaking of dogs when I was younger I had a funny experience when a date came to pick me up; his name was Mike; we had two twin dogs, named Mike & Ike but Ike had recently died by the tire and so it left Mike to tend the farm.
Mike the date arrived to pick me up and Mike the dog greeted him at the driveway harassing him, jumping on him, licking him. Well when dad saw that the dog was giving this guy a hard time he stood at the screen door and yelled at Mike, the dog. “Mike, Come here, Mike, come.” So Mike the date started walking forward confused with my dad’s behavior. Mike the dog continued to jump and lick and wag his tail as Mike the date tried to make his way to the front door. “Mike, Sit, Mike, get over here, Mike, come.” All commands that you would give to a disobedient dog. Mike the date was preparing to sit, walking forward, stopping, and coming towards dad as fast as he could because my dad’s voice had gotten meaner. As Mike the date continued up the sidewalk confused at my dad yelling at him I sat in the living room watching the scene out the window and laughing so hard my big guts were sitting on my little guts. This, would never work out, me and Mike. And when Mike the date found out that the dog’s name was Mike we laughed for hours.

There's one more good story about Mike the dog. One Thanksgiving my sister Doreen was talking to some relatives about our stupid dog Mike. What she didn't realize was that our uncle Mike was outside enjoying the holiday and sitting within earshot. And He didn't realize that Doreen was talking about a dog and not him. Doreen said; "That Mike is so worthless, he's lazy, he's getting really fat and he just sits around begging for food." I don't think Uncle Mike ever found out that Doreen wasn't talking about him and Mike the dog, well, he died by the tire.