Log, One Of My Heart Dogs

This is Log

He is one of the most loved dogs in my life.  He was born in 1984 I think, maybe 83, which would have made my girls 7 and 8.  His mother was a cross breed some friends from Kansas City had found and decided she needed a country home (with us?), she was a German Shepherd and Irish Setter mix.  More on her in another post but she wasn't a heart dog till she was older.  Logs father was the Saint Bernard next door.

I wish I could find some younger pictures of Log but he was a cute cute puppy.  Why Log?  Because he looked like a stump when he was sitting down when he was a puppy, solid and squat and sturdy, just a block sitting there waiting to get back up and follow you somewhere.

This picture was of a fairly young Log I think.  You are probably thinking what a horrible horrible looking dog.   He was beautiful inside.  He would do anything for the girls and I, anything.  All he wanted to do was be with us and follow us.  He never had any true understanding that he was the biggest dog and would try to crawl on our laps all his life though.  He reminded me of a giant stinky Dispatch.

He did bite some people.  Some had chased him on 4 wheelers, some he THOUGHT had chased him, Log was big and a bit freaky and people liked to tease him.  My father had a business though and the dogs were used to people coming and going.  One man was teasing the kids when Log was still growing (teasing in good fun he was a friend of the family and was surrounded by relatives and other men) and the girls were squealing.  Log decided enough was enough and went after the man.  He let the girl go and all was well in the world after that except Log didn't like that man either ever again.  That's the first time we knew Log was a little different than the other dogs.  He wasn't vicious @ all, a baby could have done anything he wanted to Log just as long as it didn't involve hurting me or the girls.

My brother probably wouldn't like me telling this story but my brother is big, over 6 ft.  Log adored my father too but he drew the line there as far as men, other relatives weren't included.  So my brother would sometimes bark @ Log.  Log would run, brother would pretend he was getting Daddy and the game was on.  Back and forth they would go and then brother would eventually feed Log a candy bar and all was forgiven (our dogs ate chocolate daily,  my dad sold it in his shop and we didn't know it was really supposed to be poison, our dogs ate chocolate ALL The time).  Like I said my brother is big and Log wasn't 100 lb I don't think but we didn't weigh him, he was WAY over 60 I know.  But here were these three, two big men and a big dog playing and playing....

One day a salesman came to my parents house.  Log wasn't particularly fond of my mother but she was part of his pack and we all lived on the same farm, I happened to be outside helping mom with the flowerbed or something @ her house.  The salesman was selling cemetery plots or burial plans, I can't remember.  Younger big and cocky man.  Well cocky for awhile.  Mom got tired of listening to the guy and told him to leave, he kept talking and mom started getting mad.  Mom was a schoolteacher and had her faults but lack of words was never one.  She started getting that tone and then was yelling @ the salesman to get back in his car.  Log had been laying under something in the shade.  The big cocky saleman became a big FAST salesman when he saw Log coming after him but the moment I told Log to stop he stopped. I admit I didn't say stop to till he was fairly close behind the salesman but the he had been told repeatedly to get back in his car and was making me a bit nervous too.

Log was afraid of storms, not badly terrified but leery.  One spring day a tornado formed close by Log usually obeyed but he decided that day he was a house dog and he was going to be an under the FURNITURE house dog.  We didn't get a direct hit but it was close.  After that we watched the dogs when there was a tornado warning, they were better than the radio and tv.

Log was a faithful companion for 12 years which is actually pretty long for a dog of his size.  One hot hot summer day we left for a wedding and there was no Log to greet us when we got home.  He was chasing us up the driveway and had a heart attack and died.

OH, I forgot to mention that.  Log chased cars.  We had several dogs and a long driveway and they chased cars.  Never could break them so we just didn't hit them and they stayed out of the way, it's a gravel driveway and most of the dogs were huge so it wasn't any great effort on the human or the dogs part not to get in each others way.  Log had another habit.  He bit car tires as he was chasing them, his teeth weren't very pretty either.  Log was a bit rough around the edges but he was a dog with a heart as big as he was.

We still talk about him often which is as big a tribute as any dog gets I suppose.

Animal Stories And Links

A proposed draft of China's first law on animal welfare prohibits the consumption of dog and cat meat, with a fine of up to 5,000 yuan ($730) and up to 15 days' detention for the guilty.  This is from the xinhuanet.com website.  What are mine and Dispatches 2 cents worth?  I say it's about GD time (and I don't curse, much, out loud).  Dispatch says he's glad he's little and skinny and probably tough.  He says also if mama lost a little more weight cannibals wouldn't look @ her so fondly either but that's another story.

Labrador Retrievers are still the number one dog in the United States (according to the AKC) but Yorkies while being 3rd in the USA are #1 in New York City (I can attest to one house in Wichita Kansas that has this Yorkie Poo that is definitly #1) Nice foot Sis.  Phone picture but I don't think you've seen it yet?

2009 Most Popular Dogs in the U.S.

1. Labrador Retriever

2. German Shepherd Dog

3. Yorkshire Terrier

4. Golden Retriever

5. Beagle

6. Boxer

7. Bulldog

8. Dachshund

9. Poodle

10. Shih Tzu The most popular pets with the biggest increase in rankings over the last decade included the Bulldog (from 21st to 7th); French Bulldog (from 73rd to 24th); Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (from 58th to 25th) and the making the largest leap the Havanese (from 92nd to 32nd). (Taken from the AKC page)  Notice the Havanese, we all know what kind of dog that is?  Say it! BICHON Havanese!!!! YAY  It's party time, get the tennis balls......Sorry about that, back to our regular programming. Havanese photo from Happy Havs Farm Havanese Puppies Even before the Obama family selected the Portuguese Water Dog it was on the rise in popularity ranked 80th a decade ago to 60th currently. However, it did make a jump from 64th a year ago when all the interest in this mid-sized, hypoallergenic breed began says the AKC.  I wrote about the Obama's selecting a dog if you are so inclined to self torture.  Hey it's my most popular post all the time so.............. no harm in mentioning it ad nauseum AGAIN. If you haven't left me for the AKC by now bless your little pea pickin hearts, (some of you may be too young to remember that, wasn't it Tennessee Ernie Ford?) you can go see how your favorite dog breed did here.  No use going anywhere else, I've said it all.  (Just kidding AKC)  Bichon Frise FELL lately?  This can not be so mon ami, Dispatch es tres bleu. (all the french I could think of that you want to hear)

Behind and Getting Behinder

I've been trying to get caught up all day from the weekend, husband being home an extra day because of rain and running yesterday.

So my husband calls and tells me we are going home how soon can I be packed? At first we were taking the camper, now we are only going home for a bit and going in the car. I'm almost packed.
Dispatch is better, this is how he looked this moring. I think he was going for the sympathy vote. Anyway I won't be on for a couple days.

Dispatch is feeling better now. He was just dancing around my chair begging to be picked up and he's jumped in a chair twice now. He still won't go down stairs and he just sits in the middle of the living room when I go outside, usually he's @ the door barking and telling me which end is up but he is better.

This last picture is Dixie and Dispatch. She is our friends dog, he found her wandering around half starved. I think she is part shepherd and greyhound? She seems to be house trained, I let her out during the day, she's next door. Dispatch and she get along great, she does the belly crawl and says please don't hurt me Mr Cool one Dispatch and he ignores her.


I posted about this on animals that give pause.com so you aren't seeing double!

Dog Hero Guards His Mother After Accident

The link on CNN.
A Labrador Retriever was hit in traffic in New York (thankfully she just had a broken leg), in the video you see a German Shepherd guarding her, lunging against the oncoming cars to protect her as she was lying injured on the pavement in the middle of rush hour traffic. When police arrived it took several officers to get the Lab onto a stretcher and into a police car because the German Shepherd was still guarding her. Once he saw she was out of his hands the Shepherd proceeded to lope home. When the story was all pieced together the German Shepherd was a mix and the Lab was his mother who is nine years old, they still live together in the same house.


These are my dogs, well two of them.

I don't know if my dogs, Bichon Frise and Golden Lab, have bonded like that but I do know the Bichon whines if the Lab wants in.

I know scientists and others have said things like dogs can't see colors (explain the newfoundland that only chased yellow vans and trucks then?) and dogs can't feel jealousy. Maybe it's not jealousy as we know it but they want the attention. The easiest way to get my bichon to come is to call the Lab or call kitty kitty and he will come running, his name works too but those are sure fire ways. I swear he will go sit on my husbands lap and get petted and stare @ me like he's saying "aren't you jealous? Don't you want a nice dog to pet, look @ me, I bet you can't stand it." The bichon hates to be brushed but if I brush the lab he will come to me. He also hates to have his hair cut but if I cut my husbands hair he wants his turn!

I also know of course the dogs can understand certain words but I think they can also understand sentences, we thought it was only the bichon but my husband was getting ready to go to his mom and dads in his semi, first he went down and got some tools in the pickup and then came back up to the house, the labrador was with him. The labrador had never been in the big truck, we didn't think he could get up there, the steps are fairly steep and far apart. My husband said to the Lab "OK, if you want to go with me you have to get up in the truck by yourself" as he was opening the door to the semi. He said the Lab bounced up there like he'd been doing it all his life!

Some say dogs have the intelligence of a human child between 2-6 years old. I believe it. Some are further down on the scale but as this video proves some like the Shepherd can reason and react appropriately. It's a lovely story, I hope the Shepherd got a steak or some nice roast for supper!!