Theodore Frank The Finest Dog Around

The big red house has a lot of space and we needed it all. Mama and Papa have a bunch children and even more grandchildren. They all come and visit when we're at the lake, at times as many as 25 people and a half dozen dogs are staying at the house.

The first visitors were Bubba's brother and sister along with their children and two collies Casey and Jersey. With six young girls running around and all us dogs chasing each other the house was filled with activity. We went swimming every day.

Clance was disappointed because her best friend Sandy "The Big Hairy Guy" was no longer with them. He passed away sometime during the last year. Clance says he was great watch dog and and lots of fun to play with. She especially missed him being there to reassure her when she awoke in the middle of the night and how he wandered around the house at night and checking on the little girls and made sure they were sleeping and safe.

I found a good friend in Jersey. She was rescued from a puppy mill by Collie Rescue. She's the same age as me with a long white coat and black spots. We spent a lot of time chasing each other around the house.

Jersey and Casey and the young girls stayed for about week. Then Bubba, Clance and me went back to our old routine. There is always a lot of work to do around that house. Cleaning up after company left and cleaning before company came. Mowing the lawn and weeding the gardens. Fixing things that break and breaking things that aren't broken. The only time Bubba and me Bubba got a break was when visitors showed up. But even then there were still things that needed doing.

When Mama and Papa's oldest son came to visit at the Lake with his family the house was packed. Besides the little guy with his Mom and Dad, they brought along a Newfoundland named Emma, a big Poodle named Tommy and a Collie named Shawnee. Emma was gigantic she's 10% black fur and 90% tongue. Walking under Emma's head was like taking a shower. You couldn't get near her without getting getting sprayed with slobber and slipping on the floor. Tommy and Shawnee weren't quite as bad they were only about 40% tongue, so there wasn't as great a risk of being drowned when I played with them.

I was so happy to see the little Guy again. He had grown a bit by that time but so had I and neither one of us was as clumsy as when we visited him earlier. The little guy was walking pretty well and we both had learned how to climb up on furniture by ourselves. He still sat in the tall chair for his meals and still liked throwing food at us dogs.

Bubba does all the cooking when people visit us. We'd wake up at 5:30 in the morning and Bubba would start cooking the potatoes. When we'd hear the little guy wake up, Bubba would get him and put him in his high chair. Then he'd make the little guys breakfast and the three of us would eat together. Bubba would tell the little guy stories he'd laugh at Bubba even though I could tell he couldn't understand a thing Bubba said. The little guy would throw pieces of his Cheerio omelet at me and I'd reap the harvest.

After Bubba made breakfast for everyone and we got all our other chores out of the way we'd all go swimming. I like going swimming with Bubba but sometimes when there's a lot of people jumping off the dock there's to much splashing for my taste.

The little guy and Emma, Tommy and Shawnee stuck around for couple weeks. After they all left and then Mama, Papa, Bubba, Clance, and me had the Lake house to ourselves for the rest of the summer.

Bubba and I went back to our routine. The acorns started falling from the trees and the leafs followed close behind. Pretty soon it was time for us to head back down south aways.

This trip was different then the the one coming to the lake. Bubba loaded a big truck with a bunch of boxes we'd been sorting through all summer. I tried to help him load the truck, but all I was doing was getting in the way. So I decided hunting in the woods would be the best way to stay out of the way.

I found a good trail with a strong scent and was following it through some thick brush when I heard Bubba calling. I stopped my tracking to see if he was serious about wanting me and he did call me again. It was about that time I realized I was in trouble. I had been so focused on my tracking I didn't notice until now I was completely covered in burrs. They made it difficult to hurry home and it was pretty slow going. When I finally made it back home Bubba started laughing at me, he picked me up and try to hand me off to Mama telling her I was broken and he didn't want me any more. I guess he thought that was a funny joke but I wasn't laughing I already felt bad enough.

I got the last laugh on Bubba though. By the time he finished brushing all the burrs out of my fur he was completely covered with them. When he set me down I ran a few steps, turned to face him and looked him up and down and he knew what I was thinking; He was broken and I didn't want him anymore. Then I ran upstairs and spent the rest of the afternoon with Mama and Clance.

Chapter VIII

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