About Old Dogs and Children
I once read a book about old dogs and children. Somehow, life always come down to that. The very old and the very young are perhaps the most interesting of us all. Dogs are for many “old souls”. In particular, when they enter the home and assume they are to stay; an old wives tale says that these living creatures are the souls of a family member returning to check on and protect their loved ones.
Recently I was asked to advise a friend who like myself had just been visited and for her, well let’s just say a dog was the last thing she really wanted. I told her it would be bad luck to do anything else but to take him in. I know the importance of a family pet, both to the adults as well as to the children. I saw both my parents cry when their dogs died and we buried them on the property with us because I really don’t think they could have handled taking them any where else! As I began thinking about a story for September my thoughts went to our old dog Earl and what a wonderful and rich life his poor soul did lead. He was not a pedigree, but what he lacked in the formality of being a specific dog was exactly the thing that made everyone love him. He trotted like an old friend “just checkin” on you, and he touched the lives of not only us but our friends and family as well. In so much usefulness as a dog could be, he carried more spark and made more of an impact than any other dog I’ve ever known! He arrived at my door in Sugar Land back in 2000. Our neighbors had seen him. Everyone knew he was “looking for a home”….. except me. Well, As I opened the door for a client in walked Earl.
You know I did not name him, as I would have never chosen that for a dog. He was just as pretty as you please, assuming the role of a Murray almost immediately! Our family dog at the time, who had up until then hated immensely anyone else to whom we tried to adopt to keep him company, became friendly and even shared his food bowl without a growl. So, I called the vet, that is the one who was actually on his tags! Austin, Texas it read, and I was told he was around 11 years old, generally was in good health, had been neutered a few years back and the name of his parents. I assumed he was lost.
I called directory services and called everyone by the name given. Two families called me back. One was a grandparent and the other Earl’s actual family…apparently from Sealy of all places??? “She would return to get him the next day”. Alas, after two weeks I called her back. No answer. This was SHOCKING! I could not imagine what kind of person would drop off a dog…in a foreign neighborhood…forget to take off his tags, and never return for him.? Anyway, I took him to the vet, updated his shots and as of then he was officially ours.
When I began shooting the Easter seasons fare of chicks I quickly understood perhaps why he had been abandoned. He really liked the chicks…. I mean REALLY. They were all over the place as were other various and sundry species of fowl as the years went by. He was just as ruthless about protecting the children and warning me of clients as he was a hunter. When we moved to our home he paraded around the neighbors here and “made his rounds”. One year we could not find him for three days. It was so hot and I could hear him but knew not where he was. I put on my snake boots and trekked out into the brush near a lake in the back and there, tangled up so tight he could not move forwards or back was poor, old Earl! No water or food and black as soot in our hot Texas sun! He was working on wearing down his “nine lives” even then. One afternoon, a year or so later, I went outside and realized his muzzle was unusually swollen. The next day I encountered a rather large and aggressive water moccasin close to our back door! We then understood exactly why he had been swollen, and I might add, rather lucky to still be alive!
As the years went by, Earl became less and less agile. He, like many old dogs became quite senile and no longer could be trusted to greet clients for fear he might get run over. He got tangled up under an old friend’s car one morning and i walked him out several times a day with a belly sling to make sure he did not put weight on his cracked hip! Eventually, as we all do he stopped thinking about where he was and began just existing as we see in nursing homes all across this country, reverting as it were back to days when all he was really concerned with was eating and sleeping. A few times he fell into the pool and I was always fearful he might be found afloat or sunk as his final demise. As Earl came here he departed us with as much grandeur as any person I’ve ever known! His last day began like any other at the Murray house. Feed the animals, feed the children… check the schedules… pick up the house… This day we were prepared to host a grand party for the neighborhood to celebrate the Fourth of July. All of our neighbors had picked different things to host and we all played together in an afternoon of fun and games. As I returned home I noticed Earl was slumped into a pile of …well you know what. I bathed him and not long afterwards he was in the same predicament.
I called the neighbors, and alerted the children… that in as much as it was going to be a sad afternoon, it was a long awaited one as well. I thought poor Earl was probably headed to baby Jesus. Soon other neighbors stopped by to check on things and bring food and cigars and we all sat on the porch with Earl waiting. When I was in college we read a book called “Waiting for Godo”, and as funny as it seemed this was now our situation. We all talked about Earl as if he was a real person and reminisced about all the things this poor old dog had done. Not in all my years growing up with dogs had one received so much attention. At around 10 pm we could no longer wait. One of the neighbors found a vet and with a little assistance, Earl went to “Godo”. We buried him with Nathaniel and George Francis the next day.
It was a Sunday and late afternoon it rained hard. The day we buried my mother and father and my Nana it rained too. That’s good luck to those of us who pay attention to those sorts of things. That’s also the end of it as well. Except for the occasional grave site glance to make sure all is well after I get them buried that is usually the end. Well the next day as I waited for a wonderful friend and client I received a call that she had run out of gas on 521. I set out to get her and retrieve the car so we could do portraits before the day was done. As we were saying goodbye, she almost forgot to give me a bouquet of flowers for Earl’s grave. He had participated in many shoots with her granddaughter and she wanted to honor him with a flower on his fresh grave! I almost cried I laughed so hard. Our Earl had lived only a life that a true Murray could. He walked in and made a huge impression on everyone he met! His life reflected protecting his family and refusing to give up even when all his cards were stacked against him. Even in the face of death he had friends and family with him and he gave in but not until all he knew was with him for his departure. I think there’s many lessons to be learned from old, faithful dogs such as Earl. I hope each child gets the opportunity to have a pet with such determination as our old dog Earl. I did not name him, nor did I pick him but like some of the best things in life he changed us and made us think about something else besides ourselves!
