I have talked about my dogs a lot. If you are tired of hearing about good dogs, turn your computer off now. If you want to hear another story of Bear, read on.
As you know, Bear went with me everywhere. He went with me to work nearly every day. I had this, used to be, Frito Lay step van. He would ride with me curled up on the floor beside me or he would jump up onto the motor cover and peer out the windshield. He had a sense of when we were almost at a destination and would be up looking out whenever we arrived someplace. The guys at the lumber store always had to pet Bear. He knew in an instant if someone belonged. I do not ever remember him barking at a co worker. He just knew.
When I would get to a job, I would leave him with the van with all the doors open. I had thousands of dollars of tools and supplies, yet I did not worry about theft. One look at Bear would send a would-be burglar away.
Well one day we were parked in front of the Postal Building in downtown Portland, Oregon. Bear was rather bored watching the van and had fallen asleep stretched out in the middle of the walkway in the back. I would come and go for tools and such and he would open one eye and go back to sleep.
As I was coming out of the Postal Building for something I noticed these two young boys walking along the street rubbing a stick on the side of each car as they came to it. They approached the van from the back end and rubbed the stick along the side of my van. They were met at the front door by Bear. He said one big Woof. That was enough for these nice young boys to fill their pants and run for their lives. Bear looked over at me, wagging his tail. All I could do was laugh as I told Bear he was a Good Dog.
I was convinced that I had the best sentry in the World.
Kayak Bandit
Showing posts with label Bear. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bear. Show all posts
Friday, August 22, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
Bear Sliding
Bear would do anything for me and my two daughters. When we would go to the park, Stephanie and Jennifer, loved to play a few minutes on each of the structures. From our home, the closest structure was the slide. They would run ahead and crawl up the ladder and wait at the top. They would encourage their sister to climb. "One more, Jenny. You can do it."
Bear would follow to the structure and as they went up the slide ladder, he would stand on his hind legs and reach high with his front legs. It was as if he was cheering for them to make it on up. Just as one would start to slide, he would race to the end of the slide and greet them as they lit on the ground. He would escort them back to the ladder and it would start all over.
Eventually, the girls started coaxing him to climb up the ladder. I was fearful he would catch a leg as he was falling and be injured. To prevent this, I would stand behind my ninety pound pooch and make sure he did not fall. Little by little, I helped him learn to hook his front paws over the step instead of on the step. We all encouraged him. Soon he was able to make it all the way to the top, as long as I kept him corralled. After quite a while, with no mishaps, I started letting him climb the ladder without staying behind him.
The first few times that Bear made it to the top, he still had the mindset that it was his job to greet the girls as they slid. He seemed confused. One girl would slide to the bottom and the other would tell bear to go. The girl at the bottom would be coaxing him to "slide". With enough coaxing, Bear would run down the slope of the slide. Try as we might, we never taught him to slide by himself. I even tried holding him on my lap as I slid, but it did not work.
When we went to different parks, we had to assure him to climb up a different slide. The girls were good about asking if the slide ladders were safe for Bear to climb. If they were marginal, I would stay with Bear while he climbed. We sure miss Bear!
Kayak Bandit
Bear would follow to the structure and as they went up the slide ladder, he would stand on his hind legs and reach high with his front legs. It was as if he was cheering for them to make it on up. Just as one would start to slide, he would race to the end of the slide and greet them as they lit on the ground. He would escort them back to the ladder and it would start all over.
Eventually, the girls started coaxing him to climb up the ladder. I was fearful he would catch a leg as he was falling and be injured. To prevent this, I would stand behind my ninety pound pooch and make sure he did not fall. Little by little, I helped him learn to hook his front paws over the step instead of on the step. We all encouraged him. Soon he was able to make it all the way to the top, as long as I kept him corralled. After quite a while, with no mishaps, I started letting him climb the ladder without staying behind him.
The first few times that Bear made it to the top, he still had the mindset that it was his job to greet the girls as they slid. He seemed confused. One girl would slide to the bottom and the other would tell bear to go. The girl at the bottom would be coaxing him to "slide". With enough coaxing, Bear would run down the slope of the slide. Try as we might, we never taught him to slide by himself. I even tried holding him on my lap as I slid, but it did not work.
When we went to different parks, we had to assure him to climb up a different slide. The girls were good about asking if the slide ladders were safe for Bear to climb. If they were marginal, I would stay with Bear while he climbed. We sure miss Bear!
Kayak Bandit
Friday, August 8, 2008
Chasing Seagulls
Digging for clams in Netarts Bay is a very fun way to spend an early morning. You see, you have to get up very early to get to the right spot before the tide has gone out. You have to be finding your way to the desired spot while the tide is still ebbing or the bay is too shallow to navigate your boat.
When Stephanie and Jennifer were young and Bear was a member of our family, we would make these early morning journeys. For me, it was fun in many ways. I could be the hero to my family by finding my way to a lesser known spot to dig monstrous Gapor Clams. Gapors are also known as Blue Necked Clams. Another fun thing was that it was okay with Kathy for her girls to get dirty. And we did, including Kathy.
But, the real highlight was the theatrics of Bear and company. Bear would run after the seagulls. The seagulls were hanging around us to find left behind pieces of clams or sand shrimp or other disturbed creatures. So, the closer the seagulls came to us looking for scraps, the more bear would chase after them. At first, I think the seagulls thought they were in peril, but as the day wore on, they realized it was just a lot of fun for Bear. The seagulls obliged by flying just a little higher than the highest that Bear could leap.
This happy time was limited to when the tide started back in. We would have to load up into our boat for the return trip. The seagulls were always sad to see their new friend leaving. Bear was sad to leave his new found playmates. The rest of us were glad that Bear's feet were bleeding no more than they were. You see, he would almost always run so much that his pads would be raw. He would rest up some through the rest of the day and night and be eager to do it all the next day.
Kayak Bandit
When Stephanie and Jennifer were young and Bear was a member of our family, we would make these early morning journeys. For me, it was fun in many ways. I could be the hero to my family by finding my way to a lesser known spot to dig monstrous Gapor Clams. Gapors are also known as Blue Necked Clams. Another fun thing was that it was okay with Kathy for her girls to get dirty. And we did, including Kathy.
But, the real highlight was the theatrics of Bear and company. Bear would run after the seagulls. The seagulls were hanging around us to find left behind pieces of clams or sand shrimp or other disturbed creatures. So, the closer the seagulls came to us looking for scraps, the more bear would chase after them. At first, I think the seagulls thought they were in peril, but as the day wore on, they realized it was just a lot of fun for Bear. The seagulls obliged by flying just a little higher than the highest that Bear could leap.
This happy time was limited to when the tide started back in. We would have to load up into our boat for the return trip. The seagulls were always sad to see their new friend leaving. Bear was sad to leave his new found playmates. The rest of us were glad that Bear's feet were bleeding no more than they were. You see, he would almost always run so much that his pads would be raw. He would rest up some through the rest of the day and night and be eager to do it all the next day.
Kayak Bandit
Monday, August 4, 2008
Big Dog, Little Dog
Bear was a very large dog. We surmise that he was half Setter and half Newfoundland. His head was large, proportionally to the already large frame. I think he weighed about ninety pounds.
I think you already know that I took him with me to work most days. Well, I was remodeling a home for a friend of mine. They had this small, and I do mean small, miniature Chihuahua. I swear that you could have lain him on a dinner plate all stretched out and none of his body would have hung over the edge of the plate. The two dogs played endlessly. It was so funny to see Bear trotting, slow for him, behind this other dog that was running as fast as he could till his legs were blurry.
This one very hot day, I decided to go to the Orient Store for a pack of Pepsi. Since the store was easy to go into and back out in a hurry, I decided to bring both dogs along. I parked my Dodge Van, leaving both windows open and found what I wanted. As I was returning to the Van, I saw the most precious thing ever. I will try to paint a word picture to do it justice. I did not have a camera.
As Bear would always do, he was watching for my return. He was standing up with his front feet in my seat and his back feet on the engine hump. When he stood in my seat he had to lower his head from normal height in order to look out the side window. As I said earlier, his head was very large and it took up most of the window. What was so hilarious, was that every so often, this little tiny black head would pop up over the bottom of the door into view and then fall back away. You could see that this little dog wanted to see what Bear was looking at. He was so small that even standing on his tip toes he could not stay high enough to gaze out the window. Both dogs had this "glad you came back" look on their faces. It was so precious. A real Mutt and Jeff, if ever there was one.
Kayak Bandit
I think you already know that I took him with me to work most days. Well, I was remodeling a home for a friend of mine. They had this small, and I do mean small, miniature Chihuahua. I swear that you could have lain him on a dinner plate all stretched out and none of his body would have hung over the edge of the plate. The two dogs played endlessly. It was so funny to see Bear trotting, slow for him, behind this other dog that was running as fast as he could till his legs were blurry.
This one very hot day, I decided to go to the Orient Store for a pack of Pepsi. Since the store was easy to go into and back out in a hurry, I decided to bring both dogs along. I parked my Dodge Van, leaving both windows open and found what I wanted. As I was returning to the Van, I saw the most precious thing ever. I will try to paint a word picture to do it justice. I did not have a camera.
As Bear would always do, he was watching for my return. He was standing up with his front feet in my seat and his back feet on the engine hump. When he stood in my seat he had to lower his head from normal height in order to look out the side window. As I said earlier, his head was very large and it took up most of the window. What was so hilarious, was that every so often, this little tiny black head would pop up over the bottom of the door into view and then fall back away. You could see that this little dog wanted to see what Bear was looking at. He was so small that even standing on his tip toes he could not stay high enough to gaze out the window. Both dogs had this "glad you came back" look on their faces. It was so precious. A real Mutt and Jeff, if ever there was one.
Kayak Bandit
Friday, August 1, 2008
Camp Firewood
Kids and a dog! Boy does that bring back memories. But then, my dog, Bear was not your ordinary dog. Bear would do anything I wanted him to do. He would have killed himself to do things my daughters dreamed up for him to do.
As a young family, we often went camping. It is no different today that firewood is very expensive if you wait to buy it at the campground. To save that expense, I would always haul a supply with me in the back of the pickup. I pulled a travel trailer and Kathy followed with the car and boat. We liked to launch the boat with the pickup, so as soon as we got to our camping site, we would unload all the stuff from the back of the pickup.
I was amazed at how the two daughters could con Bear into carrying all the firewood from the pickup to their chosen spot to pile the wood. His tail would wag like it was the best thing ever. One daughter would be in the back of the pickup and the other at the wood pile. Bear would run to the back of the pickup and put his paws up on the tailgate. He would accept the wood in his mouth, turn and trot to the wood pile and drop the wood onto the ground. This played out until all the pieces were in the stack of wood.
Recently, I suggested that one of my daughters should write about this memory. I was surprised that they do not remember this story. Stephanie accused me of early stages of dementia in a recent blog, so I could be off. I think it makes a great story even if my memory is over active. I think both girls will acknowledge that Bear was a willing helper and a wonderful dog.
Kayak Bandit
As a young family, we often went camping. It is no different today that firewood is very expensive if you wait to buy it at the campground. To save that expense, I would always haul a supply with me in the back of the pickup. I pulled a travel trailer and Kathy followed with the car and boat. We liked to launch the boat with the pickup, so as soon as we got to our camping site, we would unload all the stuff from the back of the pickup.
I was amazed at how the two daughters could con Bear into carrying all the firewood from the pickup to their chosen spot to pile the wood. His tail would wag like it was the best thing ever. One daughter would be in the back of the pickup and the other at the wood pile. Bear would run to the back of the pickup and put his paws up on the tailgate. He would accept the wood in his mouth, turn and trot to the wood pile and drop the wood onto the ground. This played out until all the pieces were in the stack of wood.
Recently, I suggested that one of my daughters should write about this memory. I was surprised that they do not remember this story. Stephanie accused me of early stages of dementia in a recent blog, so I could be off. I think it makes a great story even if my memory is over active. I think both girls will acknowledge that Bear was a willing helper and a wonderful dog.
Kayak Bandit
Thursday, June 26, 2008
The Prize
I am always telling about my family. This story is probably my favorite.
Bear was a picky eater. He loved home cooked food, but hated peas. As for me, the more veggies in a beef stew the better. Not Bear. He would work at the bowl of stew as though his tongue was a scalpel. His head was huge. It amazed me that he could even know the existence of a pea in the stew.
I think you could have counted out ten peas and stirred them into the stew and he would still segregate them. And then when you counted them there would be ten peas in varying degree of smashed. He would not have injured the peas, but were probably injured by the person stirring the stew.
Like I said, Bear was a picky eater. He would not be interested in the dry food in his bowl. He would come into the house and glance at the bowl, but walk on by until he had to eat or starve.
But there was a way to get Bear to eat these dry morsels. It was a game for our two daughters, Steph and Jenny. One of the girls would take Bear into a closet with the door slightly ajar. The other girl would start a domino trail from this closet door. The domino trail would be made up of his rejected food spaced about a foot apart.
Some times the trail would lead in a serpent path through the whole house. When the trail was complete, it always ended at a different closet with the door slightly ajar. The person that constructed the trail would call out that it was time to find her. Bear would almost jump out of his skin in anticipation of the hunt. He would eat each and every nugget as if he had not eaten in a month. Some times the trail would be very near to other nuggets that were farther along on the trail, but he would not cheat and skip any of the trail.
As the hunt progressed, Bear would occasionally look to his huntmaster for assurance. He would hear "goooooood dog" with excitement. Some times you could hear uncontrolled giggling coming from the eventual closet. Still, Bear would continue his Hansel and Grettel hunt.
If I was busy, it rarely was so much so, but what I would be on hand to watch the happy reunion at the end of the hunt. Both girls would be giggling so hard and Bear increased his intensity in a crescendo as Bear nudged open the closet door. There were hugs for everyone and a very happy howl from Bear. What a happy memory.
Kayak Bandit '(*!*)'
Bear was a picky eater. He loved home cooked food, but hated peas. As for me, the more veggies in a beef stew the better. Not Bear. He would work at the bowl of stew as though his tongue was a scalpel. His head was huge. It amazed me that he could even know the existence of a pea in the stew.
I think you could have counted out ten peas and stirred them into the stew and he would still segregate them. And then when you counted them there would be ten peas in varying degree of smashed. He would not have injured the peas, but were probably injured by the person stirring the stew.
Like I said, Bear was a picky eater. He would not be interested in the dry food in his bowl. He would come into the house and glance at the bowl, but walk on by until he had to eat or starve.
But there was a way to get Bear to eat these dry morsels. It was a game for our two daughters, Steph and Jenny. One of the girls would take Bear into a closet with the door slightly ajar. The other girl would start a domino trail from this closet door. The domino trail would be made up of his rejected food spaced about a foot apart.
Some times the trail would lead in a serpent path through the whole house. When the trail was complete, it always ended at a different closet with the door slightly ajar. The person that constructed the trail would call out that it was time to find her. Bear would almost jump out of his skin in anticipation of the hunt. He would eat each and every nugget as if he had not eaten in a month. Some times the trail would be very near to other nuggets that were farther along on the trail, but he would not cheat and skip any of the trail.
As the hunt progressed, Bear would occasionally look to his huntmaster for assurance. He would hear "goooooood dog" with excitement. Some times you could hear uncontrolled giggling coming from the eventual closet. Still, Bear would continue his Hansel and Grettel hunt.
If I was busy, it rarely was so much so, but what I would be on hand to watch the happy reunion at the end of the hunt. Both girls would be giggling so hard and Bear increased his intensity in a crescendo as Bear nudged open the closet door. There were hugs for everyone and a very happy howl from Bear. What a happy memory.
Kayak Bandit '(*!*)'
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Long, Long Ride
My daughters love to help tell this story. It seems my perspective selectively dismisses some of my guilt in the good parent category. Their version always paints me as a slightly bad parent.
We had this very reliable older 1962 Chevrolet pickup. It had a shell canopy. I built a shelf at the front of the pickup bed as well as seats along each side of the bed. I upholstered them so they would be comfortable for sleeping or sitting. When we went camping, I would pull our trailer house with the pickup, and Kathy would pull the boat.
On this particular trip, we were camped at Pelton Dam, or Lake Simtustus. Lake Simtustus is created by Pelton Dam. The entire lake is very pristine. There are no homes along the edges of the lake. The fishing is fabulous at times and the rest of the time it is pretty good.
Shortly after this trip some of the campsites slipped into the lake. And for many years afterward, they canceled all camping at the lake. I see that they now have 71 camp sites. So, they must have resolved the problem.
Well, one nice day we decided to go for a drive. Kathy and I rode up front. Steph and Jenny always wanted to ride on the bed in the back. So after a little debate about the safety of that, it was decided we would only drive on secondary roads. No fast highways for us. Oh, and Bear would also ride in the back with the two girls.
So we set off, enjoying the view of the central Oregon desert overlooking the deep chasm of the Crooked River. Here is where the recounting of the story is tricky. It seems the girls were trying to get our attention. I suspect that we saw them waving their arms and interpreted there gesturing as appreciation for the fine ride. They contend that they were desperate to get our attention because Bear was having a fart attack. According to our indignant young girls, the farts were borderline lethal. And they agree that the frequency between farts was intolerable.
Well, if this was not bad enough for my little darlings, Kathy read the map and suggested a route that was long. We rode for much of an afternoon. My memory is all positive. It was a magnificent day. We crossed a bridge that I did not previously know about. Fun for everyone? Not quite.
If the situation with Bear's farts was not bad enough, the longer the trip went, the rougher the road got. So, these two girls, that were eager to start the trip were even more eager for it to end. I can only imagine how rough the road must have felt to those two very full bladders.
I have to ask. Girls, was the pain worth the memory? I sure hope so.
Kayak Bandit '(*!*)'
Thursday, June 19, 2008
First Best Friend
There was another dog in my life before Bandit. Bear came to live with us over a period of time. He started showing up one fall. Most days, I would pet him and then send him away, saying "Go home." He would disappear.
When he was not hanging around at our house, you could often see him across the main road at the park. He would gallop over to someone and stand a short distance from them and look at them. I sensed a bit of disappointment in him, when he would get close enough to someone to get a good look, or sniff, as the case may be. It was as though he saw the person from a distance, and so he would run to them to see if they could possibly be his lost master. When he would get up to them, he would get the answer that he dreaded. No it is not my lost master.
Over time, Bear would not leave when I told him to go home. He would get up from where he was and move onto the neighbors driveway and lie down there. He had this way of crossing his front feet and resting his chin on his legs. He was so likable when he was laying there. I could not resist a pat on the head as I walked by.
Sometimes when I was working on a project and needed to think about something. I would go over to Bear and pet him while I thought. It usually had good results. It is amazing how much better a man can think when he is stroking his best friend.
Well, fall turned to winter. Bear still hung around. I don't remember feeding him, but I am not sure. Then it was Christmas Eve. There was a wet snow falling and Bear was laying there watching me as I walked past him. His very black coat was such a contrast with the white snow. I passed him, but could not continue. I turned around and looked closely at him. His face was dusted with the snow and a couple very large flakes were resting on his eye lashes.
I brought him to the back door and set a bowl of food for him and found a rug for him to lie on. I explained that he could stay inside since it was snowing and because it was Christmas.
Bear was very well behaved. When I called the Humane Society after Christmas to report I had a stray dog, the lady on the phone agreed to take down the lost pet information. But, she remarked that it seemed the dog was where he wanted to be, so why would I be calling? It just seemed, to me, that one should try to find an owner if they could.
Bear never lost his habit of running toward people and checking them out. I felt sad that someone possibly dropped him off at the park. It showed me how much loyalty a dog can have for an owner. Truly "Mans Best Friend!"
Kayak Bandit '(*!*)'
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