Opinion: Longtime readers connect with family pet stories

President Truman’s advice was no doubt good in politics. For sure, it has been good advice for me, too. Some of my very best friends have been the four-legged, tail-wagging kind.

A reader reminded me that it has been a long time since I wrote about my dogs. This was an astute reader, indeed. It has been a while since the last dog column. I’m not certain why, but I just haven’t written on the subject for a bit.

Shortly after Rusty Saber was born in 1983, Sammy, our fuzzy little 17-year-old family dog died. The column about Sammy’s death received more comments than any column since. A later column described Emily and Tinker, two fuzzy little dogs from the Southwest Missouri Humane Society that joined the family. Alas, columns eventually came when each died.

The last family dog column appeared about 12 years ago proclaiming the entrance of, you guessed it, two fuzzy little puppies from the Humane Society. We named the littermates Jackson and Jenny. You may have recognized a pattern here: My family is prone to giving people names to fuzzy little dogs, the only exception being Tinker, who already was named when we got her. Real dog lovers would understand because they know dogs are people, too. Why not people names?

For whatever reason, the inspiration hasn’t been there to write another dog column –until now. Having written about the cycles spanning the joys of welcoming dogs into our home to the sorrows of saying goodbye to them, my feelings toward dogs must be apparent. I am a dog lover. Fuzzy little dogs may be my choice, but I like all dogs.

Through the years, our dogs have made countless trips to the veterinarian. In fact, a young veterinarian was just starting his practice when he first treated Sammy, and eventually he cared for all the rest. He is now retired.

Waiting in the doctor’s office with a dog in my lap, I have admired other dogs with impressive pedigrees and those of unknown ancestry. In most cases I liked the owners accompanying them.

It seems to me that most serious dog owners are as concerned with the health of their pets as with their own health. My kind of people.

Since I’m an admirer of so many dogs and owners, I’m uneasy about the local pit bull controversy. It’s troubling when dogs have been trained by their owners to attack anything that moves, be it another animal or a human being. Most big dogs have the potential to be dangerous; however, I know of many gentle pit bulls and other big dogs that are loving pets.

I believe most dogs reflect the personalities of the people they are around. In truth, it’s people who cause dogs to be dangerous. I feel sorry when I hear of a dangerous dog being euthanized because a human being has trained it to attack, even kill. Could it be that the wrong living thing is being punished? Fortunately, owners who make killers out of dogs are in the minority.

In dog years, Jackson, Jenny and I are entering the mature category. If they were human, like me, the senior citizen label would be hung on them. I guess we are stuck with it. As senior citizens, the dogs and I share a lot of common activities. In the heat of August, we prefer the indoor air conditioning to the great outdoors. I once watched them chase squirrels outdoors; now they watch through the window. They would enjoy watching me chase the squirrels.

As I write this, Jackson is lying in a chair doing a masterful imitation of being a completely inanimate object. I reach over and pet him and get no response. I can only wish I could sleep that soundly and be so completely relaxed. Jenny looks equally contented as she sleeps. She is sleeping on the wooden floor; I will pass on that.

Joe McAdoo is former chairman of the communication department at Drury University.