After Mo got old and passed away, it seemed lonely around here with only Jackie for company. So when a beautiful Gordon Setter desperately needed a better home, I took him in. I've never owned a dog. It was a totally new experience for me. And to adopt such a big old fellow for my first dog was down right intimidating. But Griff was such a gentle old soul.
The former owners said he didn't like cats. Griff had to "learn" that one cat, Jackie, was a cat he better like. Two blasts in the face with water courtesy of the garden hose taught him well. Griff wouldn't even look at Jackie for months after the garden hose incident. Yet he decided if Jackie belonged to me he better take care of him, too. Thus Griff became Jackie's bodyguard. I never worried about leaving Jackie outside after Griff came along. Griff would defend Jackie from any stray critter that dared to enter the yard. Cat, dog, snake, you name it, Griff took care of it.
Sadly I don't have any digital pictures of my stately old Griff. He passed away before I bought a digital camera. He had many good days before he died. I honestly think his years with me were the best years of his life. His former owner kept him in a small pen all the time. Griff had the run of almost two acres here courtesy of an electric radio fence. I spent many hours teaching him to stay inside that electric fence. He respected it well and never tried to run through it. And oh did he ever love to run. Every night when I arrived home Griff would show me how fast he could run across the front yard and back to the garage to meet me.
Some people thing an electric radio fence and collar are cruel. I think they are the only alternative to a fenced yard. Without this invention Griff would have been chained up all the time. With it he ran free throughout the yard all day. I have a Lab living with me now. I had to run the fence wire along an old wood fence since the Lab was breaking boards off to get out. So a regular fence isn't a perfect solution either.
No comments:
Post a Comment