Man's best friend

Here's a photo of my helper, confidant and all around good buddy. Odin came into my life back in the Fall of 2000. While on a consulting job in Boise I accompanied a colleague to the local shelter to pick out a surprise pet for her family. Now acquiring a puppy at a time when my life was rather chaotic was the last thing on my mind. One look at that little ball of fluff with a tail curled up over his back bounding away from a freshly deposited puddle and I was a goner. He just melted my heart. Part border collie and part whatever came over the fence last, this little fellow had nearly perfect color and markings.

Now border collies and blue heelers are popular breeds in that part of the country. Bred as working dogs rather than house pets the less fit pups are winnowed out and disposed of in some manner. "Odie" still tends to run for cover at the slightest sound of gunfire or fireworks so I guess that rendered him unfit for a home on the range. Instead a volunteer found him with a dead litter-mate in a bullet riddled cardboard box along the roadside in rural Idaho. Whether that was the truth or a scripted story to play on my emotions doesn't matter. I had found a buddy and a few days later, my job completed, we started a long mid-winter road trek back home to northern Wisconsin. Of course he wasn't quite house broken yet and it was too cold to drive with the windows down so you can imagine what that trip was like. An ice storm in Nebraska added additional excitement to the trip. That gave us an extra day in a motel room to get to know each other better.

Fast forward to the present. Odin and I now live in upstate New York with significant other and her two cats. Working dog that he is, he sees to the exercise regimen of any local squirrel or rabbit that ventures into the yard and frequently attempts herding cats. One day last week we returned to a favorite pastime of grubbing out some brush at the rear of the property. I'll get a root exposed and tell him to go to work. With an impressive show of growling and snarling he'll work at it until he pulls it loose. Then it's time for a break while we play a game of 'stick'.

Odin has been a good dog. Loves the neighborhood kids and never chases cars. Airplanes and low flying Canada geese, however, are another matter, but that's a story for later. Like most dogs he loves going for walks and rides in the car. Front seat of course. Special friends include the mail lady, drive-in bank tellers and toll booth operators bearing milk bones. His favorite tv channel is the Animal Planet, but he also enjoys any cartoon or commercial featuring animals. He's eight and a half now and starting to slow down just a bit. Like me. Hopefully he'll be around for a few more years and I intend to savor our time left together.

Here boy, let's go for a walk.