Epitaph
"And if I die, before I wake…feed Jake.
He was a good dog, my best friend, there to the end.
So Lord if I die before I wake...feed Jake"
It's sad times in Bivins, TX with the passing of one of its prominent citizens, Duke D.O.G.
Duke was a German Short Haired Pointer whose outlook on life was greatly inspired by Hank the Cowdog. He looked after the ranch, as head of security, inspecting every visitor or vehicle that arrived. Until Arthur got a hold of him (arthritis that is), he never missed a trip to the barn. When you went down to feed, you could always be assured that Duke would be running full tilt beside you. He would disappear for days on end--presumably looking for his Beuala. Often times he would return smelling of skunk, limping or hurt in some way. Sometimes even bringing back whatever had been in the scrap with him!
I still remember when Duke arrived at our home. It was 14 years ago; I was eleven. Built to run and needing wide open spaces, Duke spent the first years of his life on a chain in our back yard. Dad, being the shrewd man that he is, decided he did not want to buy two chains for Duke, a smaller one when he was small, a larger one when he had grown, so he only bought the latter. It was rather amusing watching the one year old pup running around dragging a chain that weighed 4-5 times what he did.
But these years were too long for a running dog. Too much time "pinned up". When he was 5 we purchased 200 acres outside of town and decided to move. We loaded up Duke in the back of the truck and headed down the road. You should have seen the excitement and anticipation on his face. Five years of backyard and now it was time to see the world!
And that's exactly what he did. We arrived, opened the tail gate of the truck, and Duke ran. And ran, and ran, and ran. Swam too, in the pond. Then ran some more.
Duke was only seen periodically the next few weeks…typically as a white/brown streak running by the house. I honestly did not think he would every stop.
But he did. On May 2nd, 2006, at the ripe old age of 14 (that's 91 in dog years), Duke dreamt of dog bones, Beaula, and adventure…and never woke up.
A good dog, a good friend and companion. I'll miss him every time I go home.
He was a good dog, my best friend, there to the end.
So Lord if I die before I wake...feed Jake"
It's sad times in Bivins, TX with the passing of one of its prominent citizens, Duke D.O.G.
Duke was a German Short Haired Pointer whose outlook on life was greatly inspired by Hank the Cowdog. He looked after the ranch, as head of security, inspecting every visitor or vehicle that arrived. Until Arthur got a hold of him (arthritis that is), he never missed a trip to the barn. When you went down to feed, you could always be assured that Duke would be running full tilt beside you. He would disappear for days on end--presumably looking for his Beuala. Often times he would return smelling of skunk, limping or hurt in some way. Sometimes even bringing back whatever had been in the scrap with him!
I still remember when Duke arrived at our home. It was 14 years ago; I was eleven. Built to run and needing wide open spaces, Duke spent the first years of his life on a chain in our back yard. Dad, being the shrewd man that he is, decided he did not want to buy two chains for Duke, a smaller one when he was small, a larger one when he had grown, so he only bought the latter. It was rather amusing watching the one year old pup running around dragging a chain that weighed 4-5 times what he did.
But these years were too long for a running dog. Too much time "pinned up". When he was 5 we purchased 200 acres outside of town and decided to move. We loaded up Duke in the back of the truck and headed down the road. You should have seen the excitement and anticipation on his face. Five years of backyard and now it was time to see the world!
And that's exactly what he did. We arrived, opened the tail gate of the truck, and Duke ran. And ran, and ran, and ran. Swam too, in the pond. Then ran some more.
Duke was only seen periodically the next few weeks…typically as a white/brown streak running by the house. I honestly did not think he would every stop.
But he did. On May 2nd, 2006, at the ripe old age of 14 (that's 91 in dog years), Duke dreamt of dog bones, Beaula, and adventure…and never woke up.
A good dog, a good friend and companion. I'll miss him every time I go home.
posted by Cogito at 10:38 AM
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