My friend and fellow blogger, John Howell @ Fiction Favorites posted a terrific story last month on his Friday Good News post about a little dog who went after a coyote and saved the life of his dog pal.
Dogs saves lives. I told John my dog saved the life of my father. He wants to hear the story. But, there’s more. My dog also taught me how to walk when I was 9 months old, and much more. John, I hope you enjoy the story.
It Happened Like This…
My dog and I were born on the same day of the same year. He was a black lab, and he loved me. Rex was his name. He was a hunting dog, as my dad was a fisherman and duck hunter. Rex was his trusty companion. FBI agent during the week, duck hunter and fisherman on the weekends.
Labrador retrievers are trained to have ‘soft mouths’, which keeps them from damaging the ducks. I was the recipient of Rex’s soft mouth in the best of ways. When I was nine months old, Mother would prop me up on the couch so she could go about her housework. Rex would slowly approach me and open his mouth wide. He was patient. I would put my arm into his mouth, as far as my elbow. The distance from my nine month old fingers to elbow was probably less than the size of a duck.
Then, Rex would gently close his mouth and tug, pulling me off the couch, and wait until I got my balance and stood up. The rest must have been like a comedy movie, as he backed up and I walked forward, stopping at every piece of furniture.
Yes, my dog taught me how to walk.
Being a retriever, he also did some naughty things, like getting all the newspapers from the porches in the neighborhood and delivering them to our front porch.
One weekend Rex and my dad were fishing on the Ohio River. There are two stories as to what happened: My dad was wearing heavy rubber waders. Something caused the boat to tip, and my dad and Rex were in the water. Immediately the waders filled with water and pulled my dad down and under. He was an excellent swimmer, but the forces of water were too powerful. Rex bit onto his wader and somehow managed to swim to shore.
The other story is the same, except instead of waders there were decoys in the water. My dad became entangled after the boat capsized. He and Rex took turns going under to release the decoys.
Rex saved my dad’s life.
Dogs save lives. My big brother wrote a story to Field and Stream magazine about Rex saving our dad’s life. The article was published.
The story of my dog doesn’t end there… Rex was more than a hero when my dad died. This will fill your heart:
It’s early Sunday morning. Dad and Rex are headed out to go duck hunting, along with two other buddies. A drunk driver from the Saturday night before hit the car head on. Rex and one of the buddies were the only survivors.
My mother was left with four children. She was a rock. She told me and my younger sister that an angel from Heaven had come down to tell our dad God wanted him to be an angel in Heaven, too. Because of that loving story, I had no sadness.
Rex was living with the survivor, my dad’s best friend….but he would find his way back to our house. Mother knew Rex needed help, particularly swimming in order to heal his injuries from the car accident. Along came Jim, who had a boat, and took Rex out for swimming on the river. He knew Mother, and we all think he was always smitten with her. Jim and Mother married, and he became my ‘father’. Oh, he was a bachelor, and Mother had four children. What a wonderful man.
Thank you, Rex.
Jennie
Daytime
A Teacher's Reflections 