{"id":931,"date":"2019-01-11T17:02:32","date_gmt":"2019-01-11T23:02:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/?p=931"},"modified":"2019-01-11T17:02:32","modified_gmt":"2019-01-11T23:02:32","slug":"the-grandma-with-the-dogs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/?p=931","title":{"rendered":"The Grandma With The Dogs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our oldest great-granddaughter was telling one of her aunts how many grandmas she had. She gave this description of me, \u201cYou know, the grandma with all of the dogs.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 At that time we had five dogs.\u00a0 Each dog had a distinct personality.\u00a0 This brought about some interesting interactions.<\/p>\n

How did we end up with five dogs?\u00a0 It just happened.<\/p>\n

We had a Weimaraner named Max in Harlingen.\u00a0 Our oldest son lived on the same property.\u00a0 One of our granddaughters had a dog named Lucy.\u00a0 Lucy was part English sheepdog and had long, shaggy hair.\u00a0 She and Max were together constantly.\u00a0 Before our move to Stephenville, our granddaughter asked us to consider taking Lucy with us. \u00a0She said she had little time for Lucy as she was involved in many school activities.\u00a0 She thought Lucy would be sad being alone and would miss her pal, Max.\u00a0 We agreed.\u00a0 We could handle two dogs.<\/p>\n

The move to Stephenville went smoothly.\u00a0 We got everything to Stephenville except a stock trailer and a few things. \u00a0The last trip included the stock trailer filled with items from the barn, a 1946 Army jeep which Ken planned to restore, and two dogs. \u00a0The back seat of the pickup was filled with \u201cstuff,\u201d so Max and Lucy jumped into the stock trailer.\u00a0 They immediately got into the front seat of the jeep ready for adventure.\u00a0 They bade farewell to the flat terrain and palm trees of the Rio Grande Valley. They sat up and looked in wonder at the hill country. They looked at everything in the small towns we went through.\u00a0 People looked at them, looked again, pointed, and laughed.\u00a0 The dogs seemed to enjoy the attention. If they could have, they would have waved back.\u00a0 They were like two children looking around. San Antonio and Austin were full of sights and sounds.\u00a0 Each time we stopped for walking and food, they were eager to go again. \u00a0They were in no hurry to get out of the jeep when we arrived in Stephenville.<\/p>\n

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Max<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Lucy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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A waitress in a country caf\u00e9 we often frequented asked if we would like to have a blue heeler puppy.\u00a0 We didn\u2019t take the request seriously, but she kept asking.\u00a0 Eventually, we brought Buster home.\u00a0 He was quickly accepted by Max and Lucy.\u00a0 Buster\u2019s herding instinct was so strong we had difficulty keeping him inside our fences.\u00a0 We had no cattle.\u00a0 The neighbor behind us did, and Buster was continually getting out and herding those cattle.\u00a0 He finally went to live where there were cattle.<\/p>\n

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blue heeler<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Our oldest granddaughter lived with us for a short while.\u00a0 She had a wrinkly Sharpei puppy named Abby.\u00a0 Lucy\u2019s mothering instincts took over and she began watching over Abby. \u00a0She was protective of Abby as a young dog and continued to watch over the grown Abby.<\/p>\n

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Our youngest son bought Daisy*, a Catahoula.\u00a0 She kept digging under the fence and getting out of his yard.\u00a0 The solution was to bring her to the country.\u00a0 She wanted Lucy\u2019s attention and was jealous of Abby.\u00a0 Abby was equally jealous of Daisy. The two did not get along.\u00a0 One day they got into a fight.\u00a0 I sprayed them with a water hose.\u00a0 They got an emphatic no with the spray of water.\u00a0 After I started for the water hose a few more times, they decided to get along.\u00a0 Daisy was the best watchdog of the group.\u00a0 She was always watching things around the place.\u00a0 When she smiled, she showed her teeth like a snarl.\u00a0 She was not angry.\u00a0 She just \u201csmiled\u201d and wagged her tail.\u00a0 That was her way of saying hello.\u00a0 Strangers would not get out of their cars until they were assured she was friendly.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Daisy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Max eventually died of old age.\u00a0 We bought another Weimaraner and named her Sparkle.\u00a0 She was very affectionate. \u00a0If we didn\u2019t pet her, she would raise one paw and tap us on the leg.\u00a0 She had a short docked tail that was always wagging.\u00a0 We called it a twinkle tail. Because of her size, she wanted to boss the other dogs.\u00a0 She was a bully when she first came.\u00a0 She wanted all of the food and would chase the other dogs away from their bowls. I would not allow bullying.\u00a0 She was told an emphatic no when she was bossy. She did not like to be scolded.\u00a0 After she got in trouble a few times, she decided to be nice.<\/p>\n

As she aged, Lucy was like a grand old lady and demanded respect.\u00a0 During hot weather, we had the groomer give her a hair cut.\u00a0 After her cut and a bath, she had a different look and smell.\u00a0 She looked like a lion cub. The other dogs would not recognize her and bark at her. When they realized it was their old friend, they looked embarrassed. It was amusing to watch.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Lucy after a hair cut<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Abby began to lose her eyesight at an early age.\u00a0 She eventually became totally blind.\u00a0 She usually stayed in the breezeway between the house and garage.\u00a0 Her sense of smell was acute, and she could find Ken wherever he happened to be. She would lay near him as he worked in the barn or the garden.\u00a0 She would even follow the lawn mower when he mowed. \u00a0Rain confused her because it erased the smells she was familiar with. \u00a0\u00a0It was interesting to watch the other dogs become protective of her.\u00a0 One of them was always near her when guests were here.\u00a0 There were times when they seemed to be guiding her around the yard.<\/p>\n

All of them learned to obey the rules and get along together.<\/p>\n

*More about Daisy posted 3-25-17, \u201cGoodbye Miss Daisy\u201d<\/p>\n

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Our oldest great-granddaughter was telling one of her aunts how many grandmas she had. She gave this description of me, “You know, the grandma with all of the dogs.”   At that time we had five dogs.  Each dog had a distinct personality.  This brought about some interesting interactions. How did we end up with five […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[268,269,243,266,267,46],"class_list":["post-931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-other-things","tag-blue-heeler","tag-catahoula","tag-dogs","tag-english-sheepdog","tag-sharpei","tag-weimaraner"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Grandma With The Dogs - Loose Strings From The Past<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/loosestringsfromthepast.com\/?p=931\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Grandma With The Dogs - Loose Strings From The Past\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Our oldest great-granddaughter was telling one of her aunts how many grandmas she had. 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