A Lifetime of Great Dogs: Part III

 Buffalo. A chow who was his own dog.

In December, 1987 we thought our house was sold, so we moved into a refurbished, 12x40-foot mobile home on our property in MacLemore Cove, intending to live in it until our new house was built. (The sale of our old house fell through, leaving us without enough money to build at that time. But that's another story.)

We brought with us to the Cove Harley and Schnoodles, and also our son Don's chow, Buffalo, since Don was in the Army by that time. Buffalo was a great dog, but very independent. He was happy with us, but he was his own dog. He disappeared after some months and we never saw him again. We don't believe he wandered off -- we have always believed our neighbor killed him.

Not long after we moved to the farm, I accidentally ran over Harley with the front wheel of my compact pickup truck. Incredibly, he lived. He had broken ribs and punctured lungs, but the vet put him in a sort of compression jacket and he recovered fully.

Sometime in 1989, we went into town for a few hours. When we returned we found both Harley and Schnoodles dead in our back yard. We believe they got into coyote poison that someone had put out. We mourned them, but were happy they both went together, so that one would not mourn for the other. They lived long, good lives -- 13 years for Schnoodles and 12 for Harley, and were a joy to us.  

Bear. My best buddy.

Later that year, some friends of Don, who was by this time at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, gave us a young chow, whom we named Bear. (As you can see, lots of imagination in our naming system.) Bear had a lot of personality and soon became my best buddy. Unfortunately, he was hit and killed by a car in 1991. Having pets is a life of love and loss, but very much worth it. We have been blessed by the dogs that have owned us.

To be continued.

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