ME AND MY PETS PART 4

 When I was 10 or 12, we tried another pet dog in our house.  It was a female mutt with mottled short-haired coat that we called Queenie.  It might have been some kind of sheep dog/terrier mix.  My sisters and I were little better equipped to handle a pet now.  

Be aware that at this time, many dogs were left to roam the neighborhood or were walked without leash. Most everyone had a pole of some kind to which the dog could be tied. They didn't need to be walked; everyone had a suitable yard.  You could take your dog outside and it would stay close by - usually.

Well, Queenie was a good dog.  Not sure how many years we had her but I'd guess four or five.  She slept in my sister's room.  Significantly, Queenie showed up pregnant one day.  I can't remember that we even knew it for a long time - maybe my parents did.  Near the end, it was decided that she would be put in our basement when her time came.  It came - and there was no way she was going into that basement.  First-time mother that she was, she wanted a safer, softer place.  She chose a spot underneath my sister's little make-up table.  Even then, we moved some pups to a box in that room but she wasn't having that either.  She carried them back under the make-up table.  She had about five pups which we were able to give away after a month or two.  One of my indelible memories from the birth was seeing the dog eat it's afterbirth.  I'll say no more about that.

One summer day day I was cutting our front lawn with the push mower (of course, no motor) and Queenie was sitting nearby on our front porch.  I think my dad was sitting on the porch with her.  Up our street came a large delivery van, something like a FedEx truck.  Queenie jumped up and ran into the street to bark at it.  She'd barked at trucks before.  This time the truck turned toward the curb to stop in front of our house.  It hit her.  Head to bumper.  Not the driver' fault.  

Queenie lay in the street for a few moments then struggled to her feet and walked back up to our house and up the eight steps onto our front porch.  There she laid and died.  

It all happened right before me.  Another indelible memory.  To this day, I'm funny about death and dead things. I won't go into that.  Sorry for the downer.

🐕