When the girls were in elementary school they talked us into getting another dog. I took them with me to the Humane Society and prayed all the way there that we would find an acceptable dog for them. The first dogs we saw were mostly medium to large dogs, not at all what I had in mind. Then we found one dog in a cage. He looked so lonely and scared. He was about 11 pounds, had the coloring of a cocker spaniel, and a snout more like a terrier. The girls named hime Shaggy. We took him to the vet to have him checked out and the vet said that we didn't want this dog and should have him put down. He was covered in fleas and was "flea allergic." I just really didn't think that would be a huge problem, but now what to do!?! I just didn't see how I could have him put down just because he had fleas, so we treated him for fleas and he never really had a problem with them after that. Whew, I'm so glad that I didn't give in to the vet's wishes. We had signed the paperwork at the Humane Society saying we would have him neutered at that vets so we went ahead and did that, but after that I I changed vets.
He was to be an outside dog and Randy built him a doghouse and put it right by the back door. He stayed outside at first and then gradually we started letting him in the den while we were up. Then cooler weather arrived and when we'd go to put him out he would just stand there and shiver and look at us with such sad eyes. I'm a pushover when it comes to dogs so he soon became an indoor dog. He never chewed on things and always went outside to do his business. Once, Randy had to go on a trip out of town and when he came home he brought each of the girls a little toy pound puppy. Shaggy couldn't stand it, he wanted to play with them so badly so he would sneak and take them. We ended up buying him several pound puppies over the years. Even the grandmothers would look for them at yard sales so he would always have one. He would chew on them, get a hole in them and start pulling the stuffing out them. We'd find stuffing everywhere. He still played with them when there was no stuffing left -just the shell of a dog.
We had a garden in our back yard and we didn't want Shaggy playing in it so Randy put up a short fence about 10"-12" high. It worked for a while, but then Shaggy started playing with our neighbor's dog, Tip. They would run along the fence together but when Shaggy got to the little fence he would jump over it. We finally decided that the fence wasn't keeping him out of the garden anyway, so Randy took it down. Imagine how surprised we were when Shaggy and Tip began running along the fence and when Shaggy got to where the fence used to be he jumped up in air and sailed over.....thin air! He continued to jump over the invisible fence for a while.
We had always stayed up at night until the weather forcast was over about 10:20. We went through a period of time where neither one of us could stay awake until then. We would both go to sleep sitting in front of the TV. Well, we were surprised one night when, at 10:20, Shaggy started barking at us to wake up and go to bed. It didn't just happen once. Anytime that we would go be asleep when the weather was over, he would make sure to wake us up so we could go on to bed.
Shaggy loved going to visit my parents. He made the long to trip to Georgia with us for years and then when they moved back here, he still went with me when I would go to visit. Of course, my mother was worse than me when it came to spoiling the dogs. She would save food for him so she'd have something good to feed him.
Shaggy was with us until December of 1999. He was sorely missed. I decided there would be no more dogs.....
He was to be an outside dog and Randy built him a doghouse and put it right by the back door. He stayed outside at first and then gradually we started letting him in the den while we were up. Then cooler weather arrived and when we'd go to put him out he would just stand there and shiver and look at us with such sad eyes. I'm a pushover when it comes to dogs so he soon became an indoor dog. He never chewed on things and always went outside to do his business. Once, Randy had to go on a trip out of town and when he came home he brought each of the girls a little toy pound puppy. Shaggy couldn't stand it, he wanted to play with them so badly so he would sneak and take them. We ended up buying him several pound puppies over the years. Even the grandmothers would look for them at yard sales so he would always have one. He would chew on them, get a hole in them and start pulling the stuffing out them. We'd find stuffing everywhere. He still played with them when there was no stuffing left -just the shell of a dog.
We had a garden in our back yard and we didn't want Shaggy playing in it so Randy put up a short fence about 10"-12" high. It worked for a while, but then Shaggy started playing with our neighbor's dog, Tip. They would run along the fence together but when Shaggy got to the little fence he would jump over it. We finally decided that the fence wasn't keeping him out of the garden anyway, so Randy took it down. Imagine how surprised we were when Shaggy and Tip began running along the fence and when Shaggy got to where the fence used to be he jumped up in air and sailed over.....thin air! He continued to jump over the invisible fence for a while.
We had always stayed up at night until the weather forcast was over about 10:20. We went through a period of time where neither one of us could stay awake until then. We would both go to sleep sitting in front of the TV. Well, we were surprised one night when, at 10:20, Shaggy started barking at us to wake up and go to bed. It didn't just happen once. Anytime that we would go be asleep when the weather was over, he would make sure to wake us up so we could go on to bed.
Shaggy loved going to visit my parents. He made the long to trip to Georgia with us for years and then when they moved back here, he still went with me when I would go to visit. Of course, my mother was worse than me when it came to spoiling the dogs. She would save food for him so she'd have something good to feed him.
Shaggy was with us until December of 1999. He was sorely missed. I decided there would be no more dogs.....
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