You ever have one of those dogs? I'm talking about the kind that just seem to be a nuisance. They bark too much, they eat too much, and they often just seem to be in the way. Then when you go out of town, you have to find someone to look after them. Snuffy was such a dog. He was my older brother's main present on his 5th or 6th birthday, but I considered him as much my present, for I loved that dog even though it was true that he could be a pest at times.

I can remember trying to go down our tall slide in the back yard. There were few things more enjoyable for a small boy, but then you had to pay the price when you got to the bottom of the slide for Snuffy would be waiting there to jump all over you and greet you as if he had not seen you for days. Every time! Add the fact that he was about sixty pounds, and I was probably no more than forty and that greeting would turn into a fight for my life.

In addition to that, it was my job to feed him -sunshine or rain, hot or cold. Since we lived near Seattle, it was often the "or rain" option and there is nothing like being greeted by a wet and hungry dog. He took a whole coffee can of food and Mom preferred that kind that made its own gravy when you added hot water, so I would have to fill up the can with food, take it to the sink and wait for the water to get hot enough, then go outside and drain off the excess water while Snuffy would be trying to get the food. Some boys had turtles for pets and I'm sure I would have envied them if I had thought about it.

I remember my dad telling us kids about what a pain that dog could be. He said that when we moved to one house that the first thing he had to do was build a fence for Snuffy. There was a big stack of 1x1's on site and dad decided to use that for the fence. He said that Snuffy just sat there, attached to his chain, watching the fence building process. When the fence was finally completed, Dad was a proud and satisfied man. Then he let Snuffy off of his chain whereupon he promptly lowered his head and rand full speed through that fence. He didn't jump it - he literally ran through it.

Dad said another time he come home late at night from a business trip only to find the front door bolted from inside as was Mom's practice whenever he was travelling. Since he didn't want to wake up the whole house he decided to hop the fence and go in through the other door that didn't have that feature. He said that Snuffy did not recognize the strange figure of his beloved master as he was climbing over the fence, and that his trip back to the other side was much quicker (and noisier) than the climb initial climb.

And his plan not to wake up the whole house didn't pan out.

But all the aggravation and all the inconvenience were made up for the day that Snuffy became a hero. My Granny was visiting from Texas and stayed home one afternoon to watch my kid sister while the rest of us went out. Now Granny was used to watching kids for she had raised seven herself, but that was back in the Texas Panhandle where trees were few and far between and we literally lived on the edge of a forest. My three-year-old sister wandered off into those woods and Granny didn't know quite what to do. So she let Snuffy out of the yard and said, "find Nancy".   

Now if I had been there to advise her, I could have told her that letting that dog out of the yard was a big mistake. But I wasn't and that turned out to be a good thing because that dog immediately went off into the woods and came back shortly with my sister. And though at the time I might not have appreciated as much as Granny and Mom and Dad, I can assure you that they were overjoyed - Granny first when they came out of those woods together, and then Mom and Dad when they learned of the wonderful thing their hero pet had done.

And I'm sure Snuffy heard something that day that he didn't hear often enough: Good dog!

Who but God would have thought to invent pets when He was creating the universe? I for on am glad He did!