Many times in my life,I have had what you might call warm and tender thoughts.When I was very young they were about my Collie puppy,"King" and how wonderful it was, that at the time we got him, about three months old,he was already house broken. Three months later, he fell asleep under the kitchen table, and awoke just as we were starting to say the evening blessing.How we all laughed when he thought to sneak away, and instead the whole table rose on his back as he got up, loaded with plates, glasses, silverware, and bowls of hot food!Fortunately, it didn't take long to convince him to crawl out,and leave the table where it was.Smartest dog I ever had, that was King Bon Laddie, a Sunnybank Collie...and big, too! Not then, but now I still have a warm and tender thought when I recall how he "Laughingly" stole the knit stocking cap off my head,(the long kind, with the ball of yarn at the end) and dashed around my snowman,taunting me with it,as I chased him around and around, to reclaim my hat.He was my play fellow, my protector, and my escort to and from school.In that queer pychic sense that most all Collie's have, he knew what time I was supposed to be coming out of school, and he would be there, waiting at the door he knew I would be exiting the school from. No one taught him to do that, no one urged him to go get me at the right time. He would just take off,and appear on the playground, right next to the girl's entrance.Until, one day, I wasn't there. I had been kept after school, by my math teacher.(I never was very good in math, until I caught on to the fact that it was about money,and then, years later, I got real good at it.) King was patient, for about 2 minutes.It didn't take him very long at all to figure out how to slip past someone going in or out the door, and once he was in, King's nose went to earth, and he ran all over that school, looking for his little mistress,barking franticly every inch of the way...or so I was informed, by others. I didn't really know what was going on, until the teacher and other students, also math geniuses, heard a scratching at the door.The door was opened out of curiosity, and King came barreling in, and directly up to me, and began the good old Collie welcome!If you've never seen or experinced one, you haven't lived.Screaming hystericly, he threw himself into my arms, licking my face, feet flying to patter my skirt, my arms, anything he could reach,such was his worry and anxiety when I wasn't where I was supposed to be, just like a mother would be. Even without the ability to speak like a human, he made his feelings known,and it didn't matter that the other students were yelling, or that the teacher was having some sort of fit, he was happy to see me!(nothing like the tepid "welcomes" the Lassie would give on the television show, but then, he was acting, and had to be signaled to give a low-key, sedate tail wagging hello, not a real collie welcome)Then, of course, the teacher began to reprimand me that my dog was disrupting her classroom, and all I had to say was,"Down King."On the instant, he stopped,sat down by my side, and commenced to pant, out of breath, but obedient. My teacher ordered me to send my dog home, and truthfully, I did try, but now that King had found me, he wasn't about to leave the school without me.I ordered him out the classroom door, but he would just turn around, and demand, as only a huge Collie can, to be let back in.Finally, I was sent home, with orders to tell my parents to tie the dog up, so he wouldn't do that again.I relayed the message, and then my mother called the school, and both my parents went to the school, that very night, and I'm not sure what went on, but from then on, I was not kept after school, no matter what, and King walked me home, every day.With King next to me, I was invulnerable.No one bothered me. No one teased me,although there was that one time, when some boy thought to lay hands on me, and was instantly and seriously disabused of the notion.Word got around.Don't mess with King.Don't mess with that little girl, her dog is there...And to this day, when I think of all the break-ins, I think it is the hieght of foolishness to buy a gun, or other weapon to defend your home.If you are victimized this way, the offender can find your gun,and use it against you.No,I say, get a big, smart obediant dog, like a Collie. They can't use your dog against you, now can they? Post the doors to the effect that they must beware of dog,and if it is the right sort, you won't have to be home for the dog to defend your home.You won't even have to be awake for your dog to defend you.
THAT IS A SKETCH OF "KING" done by my mother.
sigh. He was so beautiful, and she was so talented. Sorry I had to minimize it so much to get it on the page.
OUI?
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