Doggie Tug-of-War

This was our 65-pound Shar Pei dog named Duke. During the 11 years he was alive, he was a good dog. Well, except for cats.

When he was just a puppy, we would put him in our fenced-in backyard when we went to work. The two Siamese cats that lived next door would tease him by walking along the top of the fence. When he would get close to them, they would swipe his nose with their claws.

We nicknamed Duke, Houdini. He could figure his way out of any fenced in yard or barrier that we put up. Our neighbors frequently called to tell us that Duke was sitting on our front porch instead of the fenced-in backyard. When he escaped, he would dart to our neighbors yard to find the cats. Several times they narrowly escaped.

Duke had a mind like a steel trap. When we walked through the neighborhood and he saw a cat, smelled a cat or saw a cat’s paw print from the prehistoric age, he would remember exactly where it was. When we approached the same location, he would yank on the leash. The dog trainer had us use a pincher collar to help us control his brute force, which worked like power steering, until he saw a cat. Then, he would take off running with me on the other end of the leash, pulling me through mud puddles and anything else in the way.

He was so focused on getting rid of all cats in the world, that if Tim or I said the word, “cat” he would run around the house like the Tasmanian Devil. We couldn’t even spell c-a-t without him going crazy. Sometimes if we said “cashiers check” he thought we were disguising the word cat and would start looking under the furniture for it.

Needless to say, a walk with Duke was an adventure. He had many battle scars from his encounters with felines. I should have bought stock in the company that makes peroxide. We used gallons of it on his frequent scrapes and scratches.

Today’s gift, helping my neighbor walk her two dogs, reminded me of the days with Duke. She held the leash for the smaller one, the West Highland White Terrier, and I hung on for dear life with the Standard Poodle. It was a battle of wills as we struggled like a game of tug-of-war. Regardless, we all enjoyed the fresh air, sunny day and reminiscing about Duke.

In Giving,

Robin