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Faithful, loyal, devoted, steadfast—that’s a good dog. It’s part of what they are. Here are six who give a new meaning to the word loyalty.
1. Hachiko
In the article 7 Heroic Dogs, we met Hachiko, an Akita who waited for his master every day for ten years, even though the man died at work. Hachiko is honored as a paragon of loyalty, but he is not the only dog who became known for extreme faithfulness to his master.
2. Ruswarp
Graham Nuttall and his border collie Ruswarp were an inseparable pair. Ruswarp was 14 years old when he and Nuttall went on a hike in the Welsh Mountains in January of 1990. They did not return as scheduled. 11 weeks later, another hiker found Nuttall’s body, and a cold and starving Ruswarp standing guard. The dog had to be carried off the mountain, and was cared for by a vet paid by the RSPCA. Ruswarp survived long enough to attend Nuttall’s funeral. Graham Nuttall was an activist involved with saving the scenic British railway line from Settle to Carlisle. The Friends of the Settle-Carlisle Line (FoSCL) raised money for a memorial to Ruswarp. A bronze statue of the dog will be installed at the Garsdale Station in North Yorkshire in early 2009.
3. Dorado
Omar Eduardo Rivera worked on the 71st floor of the World Trade Center until September 11, 2001. On that day, Rivera, who is blind, was at his job as a computer technician with his dog Dorado under his desk. When two hijacked planes hit the towers, Rivera knew it would take him a long time to evacuate the building.
*
“I thought I was lost forever—the noise and the heat were terrifying—but I had to give Dorado the chance of escape. So I unclipped his lead, ruffled his head, gave him a nudge and ordered Dorado to go.”
*
The dog was swept downstairs by the crowd of people. A few minutes later, Rivera felt the dog nuzzling his legs. He had come back up the staircase! Dorado and a co-worker helped Rivera climb down 70 flights, a trip that took an hour. Shortly after they emerged at ground level, the building collapsed. Rivera declared he owes his life to his companion and best friend, Dorado.
4. Cash
25-year-old Jake Baysinger was reported missing in Colorado on June 28, 2008. His body was found six weeks later in the Pawnee National Grassland by a rancher who was checking out a strange dog. The dog was Baysinger’s German shepherd Cash. Cash kept running between Baysinger’s body and his pickup truck, giving the rancher the idea that the dog was eager to show someone what had happened. Baysinger’s death was ruled a suicide, and Cash was reunited with Baysinger’s wife and young son. Investigators believe Cash survived by eating small animals and kept coyotes away from his master’s body. Cash was later honored with a gift basket of treats from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Image credit: Sara Loven/Greeley Tribune.
5. Greyfriars Bobby
Greyfriars Bobby became famous as a symbol of loyalty in Britain. He was a Skye terrier devoted to his owner, John Gray. When Gray died in 1858, he was buried without a gravestone. Still, Bobby found the spot and stayed there, guarding the grave and leaving only for food, for 14 years. Greyfriars Bobby himself died in 1872. A granite fountain was erected in 1873 to honor his loyalty, commissioned by a countess and paid for by the RSPCA. John Gray eventually got a headstone, paid for by Bobby’s fans. And Bobby received a headstone for his grave in 1981.
6. The Frontier Sheepdog
In the 1870s, a sheep rancher in New Mexico died alone in his remote home. Two years later, his death was discovered by visitors. Yet his flock of sheep were doing just fine, and had actually increased in number! The rancher’s dog had taken responsibility for the sheep, and had taken them out to pasture daily as he had always done, then herded them back home at night. In 1879, the New Mexico legislature voted to award a pension to the hard-working (but nameless) sheep dog. There are no pictures of this dog. The photo illustration is from Flickr user ingirogiro.
If you have a story about a dog’s loyalty, we’d love to hear it!
Comments (53)
Comment
Let’s not forget the faithful dog of Odysseus — clearly the father of loyal pooches
posted by K. C. K on 9-9-2008 at 7:49 am
These dog stories always make me cry. :(
posted by bryn on 9-9-2008 at 8:08 am
These doggies are so cute. The German Shepherd Cash looks just like my boyfriends dog =(
posted by Chantix on 9-9-2008 at 8:48 am
We (unknowingly, thought he was a mutt) got a Skye terrier at the Humane Society, and he has been nothing but a pleasure. Like clockwork, every night at 6 he waits at the door for my husband. Even like last night, when my husband was away on business. I had to distract the dog with biscuits to get his mind off waiting by the door. Click my name to see a picture of him.
posted by Lelah on 9-9-2008 at 9:21 am
Lelah, Bubba is a real cutie!
posted by Miss Cellania on 9-9-2008 at 9:26 am
bryn – I’m with ya buddy, thank goodness I have the corner cube in my office or everybody walking by would have seen me dabbing my eyes with tissues…
This isn’t a particularly moving story, but I can’t leave the fenced area of the dog park to get water from the fountain because my German Shepard freaks out so bad that he starts screaming and jumps the fence. Its a sight to behold, considering the fence is about 5ft high. He’s loyal alright, and sometimes annoyingly so.
posted by Laura on 9-9-2008 at 10:31 am
The first time my daughter spent the night away, was at her friends house across the street. My dog Bucky (a corgie) takes a quick walk each night before we go to bed, to be sure his bladder is empty.
He didn’t come back this night. It took us an hour of yelling his name to realize we was sitting on the front porch of the neighbor’s house waiting for our daughter to come home.
posted by Morris on 9-9-2008 at 10:46 am
I’ve had my 9 month old Boston Terrier/Beagle for about 6 months now and he’s a very happy and social little boy who makes friends with animals and people alike. He sleeps in bed with us and is always perfectly content to snuggle up and sleep the whole night through. If my boyfriend is away though he won’t sleep the whole night. He’ll sit up on the bed, facing the bedroom door until sun-up. If there’s any noise he’ll growl softly and if the noise persists he’ll get up to get check it out. I can’t go with him though, if I try to get out of bed to follow he herds me back to bed. It’s sweet that he’s so protective, but it’s really hard to get a good night’s sleep when your dog literally stands (or sits) guard over you. Actually the over isn’t too bad. When he thinks I’m really being threatened though sometimes he’ll sit ON me. It’s a good thing he only weighs 30 lbs!
posted by Jen on 9-9-2008 at 11:25 am
For a good sad loyal dog story, watch the Futurama episode “Jurassic Bark.” If you think a cartoon could never be moving enough to make you cry, this will change your mind.
posted by JakeZula on 9-9-2008 at 12:08 pm
My dog loyalty story is kind of weird. When I was a kid, we had a mixed breed dog named Snoopy. During the day he would not come near me and if i came near him, he’d growl. Even if my Mom just pointed at me and said “Go to Sheldon” he’d look at me and growl. The only times he would get near me during the day was when he felt like peeing on my leg, which happened often.
But at night, once I was asleep, he would climb onto my bed and nobody could come near me. He would growl at anyone who tried.
posted by Sheldon Siegel on 9-9-2008 at 12:56 pm
Wow – the story of Hachiko immediately made me think of that Futurama episode. It did make me cry, and I thought that same thing, “I can’t believe this is making me cry!”
When a dog is involved in a heartbreaking story it always makes me doubly sad. I have a yellow lab myself, and some of these are very difficult for me to read. :(
posted by Paula on 9-9-2008 at 1:09 pm
My boxer lab is brilliant and loyal. Every night at 9:00 (or 8/10 if the clocks change…) she waits for my dad to take her for a walk. When I’m home for the week or weekend, she sleeps in my room until it’s time for her to go outside. Best of all, when I had jaw surgery and could barely walk down the steps without becoming exhausted, she’d lay in bed with me with her head on my legs and skip her walks.
reCAPTCHA: Quarterback Benno (LET’S GO STEELERS!)
posted by Erin on 9-9-2008 at 2:26 pm
i have a cat that thinks she’s a dog (lived with dogs most of her young years). she sits and waits at the door for me (along with the other cat) and if she’s not following you around the house or trying to sit in your lap she’s curled up someplace close by. she also doesn’t really meow. she just kind of makes noises.
posted by Sue on 9-9-2008 at 3:43 pm
When I got my wisdom teeth removed, I was sleeping in my mom’s room and my dog wandered in and was just chilling with me. Then the pain medication wore off and I just went into fits. I have never been in that much pain before. And my dog started licking my hand and then started howling until my mom came in the room. And he jumped down from the bed and ran over to her and then ran back over to me. It was the cutest thing ever. And I wish I could have appreciated it more at the time. My mom gave him treats though.
posted by NotBlonde on 9-9-2008 at 3:55 pm
When Youngest had hernia surgery at 9 months of age, my dog Tiki would not leave his side-even though he barely acknowledged his presence the first nine months!
When I would walk Tiki, if a man approached us he would stop, stare at the man until he passed, then we could continue on our way. Damn I loved that dog.
posted by Lula on 9-9-2008 at 5:06 pm
Many years ago when I was young and stupid, I was riding my bicycle home from a local bar, and had to stop to relieve my bladder. I was so drunk I forgot where I left my bicycle and walked the rest of the way home. After work the next day, I asked my boss if he would give me a ride home, and maybe locate my bike. Sure enough, I saw my bike on top a small grassy area on my right, flanked by a very large pair of Rottweiler dogs. I was somewhat hesitant to retrieve my bike, but as soon as I started to approach the pair, they kinda smiled at me, got up, and trotted off in the other direction. Those two dogs were watching over my bicycle!
posted by Arthur on 9-9-2008 at 5:50 pm
No mention of Fry’s dog, Seymour from Futurama?
posted by Tonberry2k on 9-9-2008 at 8:46 pm
When I was around two years old, I fell into the pool at my house. (I think I was outside with my older sisters.) Our Yellow Lab, who couldn’t have been more than 6 or 7 months old at the time, started barking her head off and jumped in the pool after me. My mom heard all the commotion and came running outside and pulled me out. If it wasn’t for my pup, I would have drowned. When she died 11 years later, I was by her side until the very last minute. I’m a sap, I know, but damn, I loved that dog!!
posted by Cassie on 9-9-2008 at 8:58 pm
No Gelert? :O
posted by Rara on 9-9-2008 at 11:04 pm
I live with my boyfriend, our roommate and our wonderful boxer, Joe. If ever more than one of us is away from the house, Joe will not eat. When Chris and I went on vacation for a few days, Joe didn’t eat the whole time. He’ll only eat if there are two people in the house. I’m worried about what will happen when our roommate moves out =(
posted by Jeannie on 9-9-2008 at 11:56 pm
As kids we fed a stray dog called “Moti” who would hang out with us as we played in a rural indian town. He was so patient, he let us kids powder and wash him (since mom said it was unhealthy to play with him). A bull once lowered his horns at my nephew because the little idiot ran out in front of it. As I watched in shock, Moti charged at the bull, almost biting it in the face and chased it away. None of the adults believed my story, but I still remember what I saw. When I went back on my next holiday, I was told that moti may have been poisoned by someone in the neighborhood.
posted by Su on 9-10-2008 at 12:25 pm
Whenever my wife or I is sick, our border collie Romy seems to show sympathy. She’ll stay nearby, lick you hand or foot, and generally be affectionate without jumping all over you (which is out of character for her).
However our other border collie Jake (who isn’t too bright) does not exhibit that same sympathy. In fact, if you’re sick he doesn’t want anything to do with you.
posted by Jason! on 9-10-2008 at 2:15 pm
In Fort Benton, Montana there is a famous loyal dog, Shep, complete with a statute which acted much like Hachiko. Shep’s owner was sheepherder who got sick and was taken to Fort Benton. When the owner died, his body was placed on a train to his family. Shep followed the casket to the train. Shep kept coming to meet every train for five and a half years until it was eventually killed by a train.
See the story at www(dot) fortbenton(dot)com(slash)shep
posted by gamerjohn on 9-11-2008 at 2:22 am
Don’t forget Fry’s dog on Futurama.
posted by Bender on 9-11-2008 at 8:07 pm
as a kid, we had a huge german shepard/aussie shepard mix named Yates. he knew where the boundry to our yard was, and when 2/3 year old little me tried to wander away from home, he would pin me down and bark ’til my mom came to get me.
our other dog,Ramsea, a collie/shepard mix would wait for us every day after school. when she got old and her eyesite and hips were bad, she’d stand on the edge of the road to see us better- when she finally saw us she’d hobble over and give the same happy excited “you’re home!” bark as always.
no two dogs are ever going to compare for me.
posted by Em on 9-13-2008 at 12:50 am
My Austrailian Heeler dog is the most obedient dog I have ever been aquanted with. After only one day of having him as a 9 month old puppy, he was already house trained. He just follows me around wherever I go and listens for a que to do whatever is asked of him. I suggest the austrailian heeler dog breed to anyone who has children and has time to spend with them =]
posted by Cheyenne on 10-1-2008 at 10:22 am
I had to let miss kenai marie go three years ago. 9 years old, cancer. Such a life. And such a soul.
Saved my life once from a housefire. I’m partially deaf, never heard the fire alarm – they’re at a decible/pitch I don’t hear – dragged me out of bed and halfway down the hall before I woke. Took a chunk out of an intruder (that was a fun night – dog with a mouthful of calf and me with a baseball bat!).
Saved my sanity more times than I can count.
lab/ridgeback/coyote mix. Friendly to people, protective and too smart for her own good. If she didn’t like you, there was good reason and I never went against her judgement of people. A friend had an aquaintance with him once, that dog sat a foot and a half in front of me and everytime this aquaintance would move, she’d growl. that scary, gutteral, “I mean business” growl.
Knew when she’d done something she wasn’t supposed to… she’d sit in her chair and cover her eyes with her paws, embarrassed you’d caught her. Couldn’t be mad at a dog who’d tattle on herself!
posted by alicia on 10-1-2008 at 1:43 pm
We had a great dog, Shaydi. A flat-coated retriever that lived almost 16 years. She was awesome, survived a hit by a car, was a master “squirrel-a-nator”, hated UPS trucks, loved my spaghetti and was excellent to go roller-blading with. We went on vacation in July, had a good friend house/petsit. The past few years Shaydi’s health declined, a lot slower and her back end could no longer withstand more than an hour in a car (hips, tummy, bowels, etc) Anyway, we returned and Shaydi was really, REALLY bad. We watched her for a day or so, then took her in to see her vet. She was in renal failure, so we let her go to “the big farm in the sky”. I’d be crazy not to think old Shaydi Lady held on until we got back, God love her. She was an excellent companion, put not 1, not 2 but 3 vacuum cleaners out of commission for all the hair she shed, but she was so worth it. “Good Dog, man!”
posted by Carasmom on 10-1-2008 at 11:46 pm
Despite the fact that I absolutely LOVE dogs, my family seems to have the absolute worst luck in caring for them. Some of my favorites included:
DONNA was a doberman watchdog but she was the absolute sweetest thing in the world. When I was little, I used to fall asleep using her stomach as a pillow and she would not only not move so she wouldt wake me, she would growl at anyone who got close. In the end, she got cancer and we had to put her down. I cried for weeks.
BLANCHE was a poodle who had the most patience ever. I remember I tried to cut her hair once and all I achieved was to cut her poor skin with the damn shaver (I was young and didnt really know how to use it). I remember she just looked at me the whole time with her huge black eyes and didnt move until I was finished. Poor thing. She ended up dying of a general infection (not because of my hair cut!!)
TAMBO was our last dog. He would get so upset when we left the house that he would leave a pile of things near the front door (one item from every person in the house, yeah, he knew what stuff belonged to whom) just to show he was upset. At first, my mom wouldnt let him sleep on their bed so she would tell the dog to go to his own bed. Well, dog figured out a loophole: he dragged his little bed up the stairs, put it on top of my mom´s bed and promptly fell asleep. He slept curled up next to my mom every night after that. He was stolen one day and we havent seen him since.
All told, we´ve had 9 dogs in 22 years, each ending up badly. We´ve decided for humanitarian reasons to not get any more pooches… :(
posted by GTT on 10-2-2008 at 2:50 pm
We have a female Chihuahua named Honey who, when i’m laying on the couch downstairs, whether it’s because I don’t feel well or not, she will not leave my side for very long, and she’s usually scratching at my hand to let me know she’s there. Of course, it could be because I scratch her a lot, but after reading these stories, I’m rethinking it.
posted by Sara on 10-7-2008 at 12:05 pm
Our black lab Thunder was an amazing dog, he lived to 14 before we had to put him to sleep because of renal failure… he was loyal to the entire family but particularly to my brother. When my brother moved to Alaska for a year he couldn’t take Thunder so his loving dog sat in the driveway every day for the entire year waiting for his boy to come home. We eventually had to start bringing his food and water outside because nothing we did could make him budge… he didn’t leave the driveway until my brother came home. Quite possibly the best dog I have ever met.
posted by Lush on 10-9-2008 at 2:47 pm
My mom had a cat that was very protective of me when I was a baby. If I cried in my crib, he would meow/howl/wail until mom came to get me. He would attack my grandmother whenever she made me squeal with laughter. He also trapped two of my dads ancient aunts in the bathroom during a picnic because he didn’t recognize them!
posted by Jaime on 11-6-2008 at 12:40 pm
My dog Callie is an amazing dog. She is a collie, shepard cattle dog mix and a loving and protective girl. My dad died 8 years ago and for a long time we couldnt say daddy in the house because she would cry for hours and search everywhere for him. She still sits perched next to the sofa most of the day just as she did when he spent the years laying sick and dying ~ When I take her to the park I unleash her so she can play frisbee but fi she gets a bad vibe from a passerby she will walk over and stand guard at my daughters side and if I am not standing close enough she will bark to me so that I get closer ~ She is an amazing and loyal sister ~
posted by Mary on 11-7-2008 at 11:23 am
I have a Golden Retriever named Katy..she is my bodyguard…I had never seen a Golden that would get really aggressive with strangers..especially when my husband was in Iraq…even my friends could not get out of their cars when they came to visit…I had to come outside and tell her to come and sit by me and then Katy would be fine…She has learned to smile…when it is potty time, I say Can you give me a big smile and she will curl her lips back and show her teeth and then we go out..she is the most obedient, loyal and loving dog…she loves our cat and has mothered our two younger dogs (boxer and Boston Terrier) also our cat…we are a family of all female pets and they get along great..Katy will always be the most wonderful dog I have ever had..and I am 65 and have had a few..I know now why they are used as guide dogs, companion and service dogs and search and rescue…they want to serve and please their owners…Thank God for Katy…ex
posted by Carole on 11-7-2008 at 11:26 am
I just lost my 15 y/o pit bull, so reading these stories makes me cry, because I miss him tremendously.
posted by NOLA Darling on 11-7-2008 at 12:43 pm
I have never had a dog up until recently. I met my girlfriend about one year ago and I was introduced to this little Maltese/Poodle mix Chopper she had. Never in my life did I think that I would fall in love with a pet like that. He is an amazing little guy who every night at 5 o’clock when I’m comming home (three of us live together now) waits at the door for me and greets me for several minutes with kisses. If i take a nap, he is next to me sleeping. At night, he snuggles at my chest and that’s how we wake up too(Kinda makes me mad sometimes that he doesn’t utilize the rest of the king size bed, but I can’t lie – I enjoy his love). If he wants to go out, he’ll walk up to me and extend his paw to my hand and just stare as to intimidate me into going. Him and I love watching TV especialy the animal planet. Basically, my dog is a bad ass!!! I told my GF, if we ever split (I don’t plan for that) we would have a very nasty custody battle – ’cause I’m not going to be without that loyal, lovable, funny, seven pund little pooch…
posted by Johnie on 11-7-2008 at 1:17 pm
cat’s are just as loyal as dogs. i was in a bad car accident earlier this year, fractured my back in 3 places, as well as whiplash and neck, shoulder and arm pains. when i got home from the hospital and lay in bed, the cat never left my side, except for 20 minutes to eat, drink and go to the litter box. i spent 2 months lying in bed, barely able to move and he would snuggle up to my side and make me press my back to him so that he could “heal me”. i’m starting to walk now, but whenever i feel terrible pain, or try to push myself to hard, he stands by my bedroom door and whines for me to lie down, then snuggles along with, pressing himself to the part of me that hurts most, like he knows his presense and heat will help. he is the love of my life and i don’t know what i would have done without him these past 10 months.
posted by Dana on 11-10-2008 at 7:43 pm
About a month ago, my dad was repairing the roof of our chicken coop when he fell from the ladder and gashed his wrist on some metal. My dad had nicked an artery and was beginning to pass out so my dog Frodo, a husky/chow mix, started howling and barking until my neighbor heard the racket and came and took my dad to the hospital. Frodo even waited until my dad came home and would not budge from the porch until he returned. I don’t know what would have happened to my dad if Frodo had not been there.
posted by Vikki on 11-15-2008 at 8:14 pm
Hachiko’s story makes me all wibbly.
The first time I saw “Jurassic Bark”, I cried at the end when you see Seymour waiting for Fry outside of the pizza place for all those years. It still makes me teary-eyed, and is one of my favorite Futurama episodes.
posted by Sinthe on 11-30-2008 at 1:11 am
Check out Patsy Ann’s (the official greeter of juneau)website at http://www.patsyann-juneau.info
Patsy Ann met every incoming ship to Juneau until her death in 1942.
posted by Juneau Resident on 12-1-2008 at 6:27 pm
We have had several dachshunds since my husband and I met… I have never been one fond of the breed due to being bitten by one when I was 8 years old, but now I wouldn’t consider another breed. His parents rescued a beautiful little chocolate female named Belle that stands out more than any other dog in my life.
Belle was the typical doxie – stubborn and had instantly become the boss of the house. She had an aggressive maternal instinct and when his newborn nephew came home from the hospital, he was clearly her baby and any person entering the house had to have her permission to walk any further and have a seat to visit. She also would lay beside him and not let any person come near him without her say so – there is even a couple of instances where she bit his mother, my husband’s sister, simply because she had been told to ‘watch the baby’ and had not been told it was ok for her to pick him up. She was quick to alert anyone if he was getting close to something he shouldn’t, and as mentioned by an earlier post, had a remarkable ability to sense the character of someone. You could just tell who to trust and who to keep an eye on. The funny thing is that she understood so many words and it even got to the point you couldn’t spell some of them around her because she figured them out. She knew every person in the immediate family by name, she knew what time the mail was supposed to arrive, and even knew when a pipe under the house suddenly developed a pin-hole leak. She adopted every kitten as her own as well. We came to have 3 more doxies that she seemed to teach most of her tricks and training them was such an easy task. It was hilarious to watch them hide under the car and sneak attack dogs that wandered into our yard, and even one time the guy from the utility department that had come by to read the underground water meter… he suddenly had 4 sneaky females making a barking charge for his rear while he was kneeling and thank goodness we knew the man.
Belle went to the rainbow bridge last year after being injured in the line of duty. A stray dog had walked up to my mother-in-law, baring his teeth, and she took the attack instead. Of course, she had to be put down the next day because we couldn’t accept it was over that quick and simple. She passed on a lot of her maternal instincts on to her daughter, which we have with us and is highly protective of our two small children. She even lactated when we brought them home from the hospital and she has never been bred before… we still cry and miss her so much!
posted by Cherish Sanders on 12-12-2008 at 11:03 pm
My story is sort of out of context, but I think it’ll fit in. At my uncle’s acreage, there was a mean spirited Husky roaming around, we think he might have even been rabid. My family and I were having a get together at the acreage, an indoor supper. So, my little Bichon Frise was just sitting outside on the porch, and all of us were inside the house. Suddenly, we heard the low, guttural growling a dog makes just before it attacks. We rushed outside and saw that the Husky had cornered my small dog right up to a wall. We all thought that that would be the end for my dog; the Husky would’ve bitten anyone who got in the way. The Husky was seconds from attacking, when my uncle’s dog, a collie/black lab cross, jumped in front of my Bichon and started snarling and barking at the Husky. I tell you, I’d never seen that dog so mad in all my life. Naturally, the Husky was intimidated and left. I still owe my Bichon’s life to my uncle’s brave dog. He didn’t think for a second about his own safety; that’s what I call noble.
posted by Popcorn;; on 12-13-2008 at 4:16 am
You will NEVER find any similar stories like this about cats.
Nuff said.
posted by Red on 12-23-2008 at 1:33 pm
I disagree about the ‘no stories like this about cats’ comment. For the first nine months of my deployment to Iraq, my cat Zeke would only sleep in one of my open dresser drawers. If it happened to be closed he would sit in front of it until my wife opened it for him at which point he would climb in and go to sleep. I had a few shirts and pajama pants in there that were covered with orange fur by the time I got back home for R&R.
posted by James on 1-2-2009 at 2:32 pm
i also disagree with the cat thing. while i have been blessed with two amazing dogs in my life time, including a lab/golden mix that saved me from being attacked by a semi-feral dog when i was little, i have also had a very amazing cat.
i was never much of a cat person, even though i’d been around them most of my life because my mom was. then, one day, my grandmother took me to pick out a baby kitten. this cat was THE cat for me. he used to lay around my neck like a scarf or perch up on my shoulder like a parrot while i walked around the house. whenever i came home from school, he would lip on me and purr and nip at my chin. every day, like clockwork.
when my mom got sick with a terminal illness just as i entered high school, i became very depressed. rocky, the cat, wouldn’t leave my side. every time i would start crying, i would hear him pitter patter into my room. he’d jump up on my bed and lick the tears off of my face until i stopped.
sadly, he died many years later when i was 19 and away on a trip with friends. i still miss that cat.
posted by Allie on 1-19-2009 at 12:56 am
When I was young we took in a stray that I named Jenna (after the female dog from Balto). Once when no one was home I had wandered out of the house and she faithfully followed. We ran into another stray that was violent and tried to attack me. She intervened and chased the dog off, recieving only a small “y” shaped scar on her nose. She was the holder of all my secrets. Time went on and she got older. She began having a hard time breathing. The night before we were going to take her to the vet someone got into our backyard, attempting to break in. Jenna fought the person off (even though she was atleast 14 years old and having a hard time breathing) and the next morning we came outside to find ber bloody from the fight. They had hit her hard with a piece of wood. Sadly that day we had to put her down because there was nothing we could do to save her and prevent her a lifetime of pain. This was a little better than a week ago and I still cry at the thought of her and all she did for me.
posted by Heather on 2-24-2009 at 12:08 am
(((Heather)))
posted by Miss Cellania on 2-24-2009 at 12:39 am
Where’s Gelert? Bedd Gelert is a must see!
posted by silly.me on 3-7-2009 at 11:12 pm
Heather, I hope you are healing. May you find another forever friend soon.
posted by lain11tx on 3-25-2009 at 5:17 pm
These are a good read but (as other posters have said) sad too. (glad i’m not the only one who thought of that futurama Ep lol.)
Brings to mind a lil quote that i dont remember who initally said it but it’s 100% true.
‘nobody will love you more than you dog’
posted by Tron on 4-24-2009 at 6:18 am
Glad im not the only one who thought of that futurama ep. :)
reading stuff like this always brings to mind something a friend of mine always says, which is 100% true.
‘nobody loves you more than your dog’
posted by Tron on 4-24-2009 at 6:20 am
When I was little (about 7 or 8) a friend and I were sitting outside on the hood of my dad’s car, watching the fireworks for some big celebration. Our always gentle doberman began growling at the car and would begin barking at us whenever we tried to get down. When my dad came out to see what the problem was the dog attacked the copperhead that was about to bite my dad. the snake bit her on the lip and although she lost a piece of her lip she survived. even though it seemed like she was being mean to us she was really protecting us.
posted by Mandi on 6-11-2009 at 2:08 pm
I had a a boxer named Nikki,while at a party I had drunk a little to much and passed out,I fell asleep with my hand on that dogs head as she was sitting next to the bed,I awoke the next day to find my hand had never moved,Nikki hadn’t either
posted by Thomas on 7-1-2009 at 4:34 am