Our Pets
Meet Scooter:
Scooter is a 13 year old yellow Labrador Retriever. He is full blooded but not registered. We have had him since he was a puppy of 8 weeks. He can put his paws on my chest and look me in the eye. He is huge, but he is a big baby. That's the great thing about Labradors. They are big animals and make good watch dogs because of their size, but they are one of the friendliest breeds of dogs there is. They are excellent with children. Many of our friends have labradors and not one of them is a mean dog.
Scooter loves to swim. Labradors have webbed feet for swimming. He can jump in the pond and his head won't go under. He starts paddling as soon as he hits the water and can swim extremely well. As his name suggests, he was born to retrieve. You can throw anything and he will fetch it and bring it back to you. This is an inherent instinct in labradors. Some are better at it than others, but I have never seen a lab who would not fetch instinctively.
Scooter loves the 4-wheeler. When Larry starts it up, Scooter throws a fit to run with him. He runs right along side the 4-wheeler with Larry. He also likes to ride in the back of Larry's truck. He will jump in and you have a hard time getting him out. He loves to go for a ride anywhere.
I have a great story to tell about Scooter. When Larry was away one weekend fishing a bass tournament, a stray dog kept coming onto our property. I tried to chase it away and it would bark and show its teeth to me, which is never a good sign. I was kinda scared of it, which normally I am not at all afraid of any dog. One evening I was feeding our dogs. I was in Jug's pen feeding him when this stray dog came up. I locked myself in the pen and he walked closer, growling and showing his teeth. I could see the hair standing up on the back of his neck. I yelled at him until he took off across the field. When I thought he had gone, I let myself out of Jug's pen and started over to Scooter. Scotter is not in a pen. As I was halfway between Jug and Scooter, this stray dog came running out of the field towards me. It scared me to death. I ran to Scooter and stood in front of his house. I thought if I had to I could get inside Scooter's house. Scooter has a pretty good sized house as Scooter is a big dog. I waited a few seconds to see what he would do and tried to think what to do next. I decided it was too far for me to run to the house. I didn't know if I could out-run this stray dog to make it. I think Scooter caught on to what was happening around him. When the stray dog came closer to Scooter, Scooter ran after him barking and throwing a fit. The stray dog growled at Scooter and Scooter growled back. (Then I got scared for Scooter that the stray would attack him.) Scooter looked around at me. The stray dog circled around and Scooter circled too, staying right between me and the stray dog. The stray dog kept circling around and circling around trying to find a way to get to me and Scooter kept circling right with him and barking at him. The whole time Scooter kept looking back at me, I think to make sure I was okay. (It still gives me goosebumps to tell this story.) Finally, the stray dog gave up and took off across the field. To this day I believe that Scooter was protecting me and kept me from getting bitten. He may have even saved me from being hurt very badly. I just LOVE Scooter and you know why. He is my hero.
SAD NEWS 04-11-2003 on Scooter: Scooter passed away during the early evening hours. He just died of old age. He had not been acting like himself over the past couple of months. He did not have any specific illnesses, just was old. He would have been 14 years old this August. I will miss him terribly; he is still my hero. REST IN PEACE, Scooter-Dog!
In Loving Memory of Jug:
Jug was a 14 year old Brittany Spaniel. He was a bird hunting dog. We lost Jug to old age in the summer of 1999. He was a good old dog and we miss him terribly. When I first met Larry, he had Jug's mother, Goldie, and her sister, Mandy. Goldie and Mandy passed away in 1995. Jug was Goldie's only son that we had left. Jug was the cutest puppy. In the summertime he would sit in his water bowl to cool off.
Jug had a very friendly personality. He barked very little. He had 6 brothers and sisters, but we sold all of them when they were pups. They were the cutest puppies. At the same time we had those pups, Goldie's sister, Mandy, had puppies also. Altogether, we had 14 Brittany Spaniel pups. We were living in the city at the time and it was a very hot summer when they were born. We brought them to Larry's parents' home and raised them in their barn where it was cool. It was so much fun to come out to the farm and walk around with the pups. There were auburn and white heads everywhere. They are beautifully colored dogs.
Brittanys also make good dogs for children. They are even tempered and friendly. They crave attention and love to be petted. They are excellent hunting dogs. Once they have made friends with you, you are their friend for life. They are extremely loyal to their owners.
Jug's father and both sets of grandparents were Champion field trial dogs. Jug did not turn out to be a champion in field trials, but he was a champion in our family and we could not have picked a better companion and addition to our dog hunting family.
In Loving Memory of Duke:
Duke was 8 years old and he was a Pointer. His registered name was Coveyraider Duke. We had Duke put to sleep in August 1999. He had cancer. Duke developed a tumor in the winter of 1998 on his backside and we had it surgically removed. Then he developed tumors on his testicles and most recently in his jaw and throat. We took him to our veterinarian and there was no hope for his survival as the cancer was everywhere so we had him put to sleep. He was a good dog and was Jug's best pal. We miss him terribly!
So the summer of 1999 was not a very good time for us as we lost two of our best friends. But now for some good news finally:
Meet our newest family member, Elly:
Elly is a 2 year old Fox Hound. We brought her home in September 1999. She is a beautiful dog who is an avid hunter. She runs like the wind and is a gorgeous colored dog. Welcome, Elly!
Update 10/28/99: Elly is pregnant and due November 2nd! Larry bred her to a Fox Hound named Jethro. (Do you think we should name two of the puppies Granny and Jed?)
Update 11/7/99: Elly had 11 puppies on November 4th. We lost one male, which was born dead, but the others made it just fine and they are so cute. There are 6 females and 4 males. We ended up and sold all but 2 males & 1 female. Our males are named Hunter and Chief, and the female is my dog and I named her Windy because she can run like the wind. Fox Hounds would make great dogs for children as they are so friendly and lively, but the children would have to be older as the dogs are so energetic that they could knock a small child over very easily by accident. All of our Fox Hounds have excellent dispositions. They are also extremely playful.
Update Fall 2000: During the Fall of 2000, Larry acquired 3 more Fox Hounds (2 females and 1 male) from a man whose health was becoming so bad that he had to give his animals away as he could not care for them. SO, we now have 7 Fox Hounds total: Elly, Hunter, Chief, Windy, Lady, Julie and Timmy, 4 females and 3 males. We are not for sure of Lady, Julie and Timmy's ages, but they are probably about 2 years old.
Sad Update 01/06/01: We lost Elly, our beloved very first Fox Hound baby girl, and mother of our precious puppies. She ran out into the road and was hit in the head by a pickup truck. She died immediately. Larry buried her with our other precious babies in our "Pet Cemetery". The young boy who hit her felt so bad about it. She was a great dog friend and we will miss her terribly.
Happy Update 02/02/01: Click here to meet the newest addition to our family!
Background on this page and graphics by Lady Mitchee. The best part about Lady Mitchee is that she always speaks in language that even the beginner will understand and she even provides coding that you can copy to center your text on a page with a background border. (When I first started building these pages, it took me forever to find this information. Most people do not offer this service with their backgrounds. Thank you Lady Mitchee!) Click here to go visit her site:
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