Dad's Dogs

     My sister, Kathy, decided she wanted a dog so she bought a mixed breed puppy that grew up to look like Benji, a dog featured in several movies of the time. She named him James Aaron but soon found out that even though you might buy and own a dog that does not necessarily mean that the dog will chose you as their master. There is a saying that a dog is man's best friend and I suppose that's true for sure enough Kathy isn't a man. James Aaron chose my dad as his master.

       Dad worked outside cutting and hauling pulpwood at the time and he started taking James Aaron with him thus allowing them to spend a great amount of time together and they soon became inseparable. On the few occasions that Dad left James Aaron at home while he had business elsewhere, James Aaron would mope around the house most pitifully. When driving to and from work they rode together in dad's pickup and when there were too many people riding up front James Aaron was delegated to ride in the back. Dad's pickup had previously been owned by Arkansas Power and Light and rather than a conventional bed it had a tool box bed. James Aaron would get up on the driver's side toolbox to get as close as he could to Dad. I always had a fear that he would fall off but he never did.

       After a long hard days work Dad and James Aaron would relax in the living room while watching TV, Yes, I swear, that dog watched TV too. On the days that James Aaron had an especially hard day he would prop up his head on the coffee table. There were a lot of personality traits that James Aaron displayed that seemed so human.

      Dad always seemed to have the family pets claim him as their master. Another dog that came into the family was a Poodle named John LeFeets. Dad was completely retired, if you could call it that, by the time John came along but that didn't stop the two of them from going everywhere together. Dad had bought several acres of land outside of Jacksonville and he and Uncle Ed raised a garden and a few hogs there. Dad would go there every day and of course John would go with him.

       Hunting was a sport that Dad truly enjoyed and he would go frequently. He and Uncle Ed had several deer dogs that they would take along and of course John would go along too. John soon began to realize what was going on and he began tracking and chasing deer. He was out with Dad in the woods more often than deer dogs and actually became one of the better deer dogs Dad had ever had.

       Mom also tried to claim John as hers and, his being a Poodle, Mom decided he should look like one. I recall one winter just prior to deer season Mom took John to the groomer and had his hair cut in a traditional Poodle style even having his toenails painted red. Dad took John hunting with him and whenever someone saw John they'd always laugh. Dad would play along and act like John was just a common house-dog but when it came to hunting John would impress even the most hardened hunters. What I always found amusing was how rough John soon began looking when hunting. A Poodles' hair seems to attract everything that could possibly get stuck in it. Dad spent a lot of time picking cockleburs out of John's hair.

       It was obvious that Dad loved John as much as he had James Aaron. How lucky a man is to have a pet(s) that loves him back as much. Dad passed away before John did and John took it hard. I tried to take John with me occasionally but I could never replace my Dad. He just seemed to have a way with dogs.

      When I was younger, I had trouble understanding the bond that a person makes with their pet. I now have my own pet, my Sheltie, Kimberly. I understand now dad.

Dad and John

Randall J. Beers
© May 12th 2001