Earlier in that first summer, I heard a car pulling into our drive and with Little Mike in my arms and Ken by my side, I hurried to the back door as my Mom and Dad drove up.
Dad got out of the car with a grin on his face and said, “I have something here for the boys!” He opened the back door of the car and out jumped a medium sized Rat Terrier. She immediately spied Ken and ran to him and licked his face to say “Hello!”
Ken petted her and said, “Bow!” and that is how we came to call her Bow!
Our neighbors, who lived about a mile north, had a collie dog and he began coming down to visit Bow! Soon we could see that she was going to have a family!
Bow slept in the shed just east of the house and as her time to have these puppies became close, I checked on her and could see that she was struggling to deliver these little Collie puppies that were a little large for her small body! Not wanting her to be in pain I managed to get her to swallow a couple of aspirin in some water.
As I related this story to the family later they all laughed at me for my concern with this mother dog doing what nature had always handled without any pain meds. But I could see the pain she was going through and knew I would want help if I was in her condition!
The first little guy to appear was definitely a look-a-like for his father, the collie up the road! Then came a little tan guy and three little girl puppies. Bow licked each one like she was so proud of this little family she now had!
It was clear that here was more dogs than we could feed and care for, so the next morning the three little girl dogs were taken off to a new home.
Ken called the brown and white dog “Spot”, and the tan dog “Brownie.” Bow continued to care for them and without the other three dogs she had enough milk to feed these growing puppies.
Spot and Brownie each had a different disposition. Spot would lay by the boys and let them crawl all over him. Brownie was constantly out exploring new territory and smells.
Soon he decided that chasing the chickens was fun and catching one in his mouth he got the taste of blood and as Morris saw this he caught him and flopped that dead chicken in his face, then whipped him hard! He whimpered and stocked away. But that didn’t stop him the next day as we found 2 more dead chickens in the yard! He had not eaten them, he had just found it fun and exciting catching them in his mouth and flipping them side to side until they quit struggling!
The next morning he and his mother both left for a new home and only Spot was left. He didn’t seem to miss either his mother or his brother and stayed close to the children. Their constant companion when outside, for dogs were not allowed in the house then.
Spot loved to ride in the back of the pick-up and on top of loads of hay on Uncle John’s big truck also. He would climb to the front of the load of hay with his nose in the air and what looked like a smile on his face as they drove down the road!
This dog would become an important member of our family and I have several stories to tell you about “Spot!”
