Going to the Dogs

Sometimes it seems my entire life involves dogs. Spike thinks he runs my house,(and he may be right,) and everyday I see many people walking and taking care of their dogs. Some of the dogs I see have little outfits on, while others just prance around in the suit God gave them. We, as a society, do love our canine friends. And why not? Most are fairly low maintenance, can be trained, and basically want to make us happy. When you find a dog owner, you will find they like to tell stories about their dogs.
I am no different. I love dogs. Not just Spike, I really like dogs as a species. I have had great dogs growing up, and I am still blessed with good dogs. I inherited this from my Dad. He has always owned one or more dogs. He has never paid money for a dog,(that I know of,) but rather takes puppies for free when he needs one. He has had many dogs, and many have died due to disease or car collision, and he simply replaces them. The dog he has now was a real hero this week.
Her name is Serita. Dad usually doesn’t take female dogs, but for some reason he made an exception with Serita. He had her fixed, and I believe she was the first dog he owned that he ever took to the vet. Serita is a mutt. I don’t use that term in a bad way, most of Dad’s dogs have been mutts. She is of collie descent, but has other breed blood flowing through her as well. She is kind, obedient and loyal. While still young, my Mom backed into her with a car. She hit her in the head and damaged an eye. So she is a friendly one-eyed dog now.
This weekend Dad was working on fences with my oldest brother and his step-son. They were working by a creek, trying to keep cattle from escaping from Dad’s farm by way of the creek. Of course, Serita was with them. She goes with Dad whenever he works on the place. I encourage that, he is in his upper seventies and it is nice to have Serita around if something should happen. I know that she would do whatever she could do to protect Dad and keep him safe. If he had a problem, Serita would run a get help, that’s the kind of dog she is.
Also with them was a big neighbor dog named Rocky. Rocky is a big, blonde, lab cross. He is friendly to humans, but he is not the brightest star in the sky. While the humans worked, the dogs ran along side the creek bank. Somehow or another, the creek bank gave away under Rocky and he fell into the water. Now Rocky is part lab and can swim well and the creek is not deep, but he panicked. He tried desperately to climb up the bank of the creek, but it was too steep. Before he gave up a drowned, Serita reached down from the top, got his neck in her mouth, and drug him up, twice. (I told you Rocky is not very clever, the first time Serita pulled him up he fell back into the water.)
Serita is maybe half of Rocky’s size, but her heart is the size of Texas. She is a hero. She probably will not live to grow old, (few of dad’s dogs do,) but she is exactly what we look for in a dog. She may be a mutt, but aren’t most of us? I would trust her more than I trust some people, and she works for dry dog food. If the place is going to the dogs, that may not be so bad.