dogs.


i know ive mentioned dogs before, and how im dog people, grew up with them lots of them. they are for the most part better people than most people and i know i miss the ones who are gone just as much as the people who are gone certainly cried over as many dead dogs as people
 when we were just puppies my brother and i would curl up with a rotwieler bitch named brita and scratch her behind the ear so she would scratch our backs. her and a lab sheperd mutt named snert and a pitbull named piglet were our pack then on johnstreet where dad tattooed and mom sold pot and people wore sandals and played frisbee.
 piglet ended up bitting me when i was 6 and getting shot in the bathroom after being beaten half to death and chased home by dad. half naked. i was lucky and unhurt.
 brita gave birth to a litter of mutts through another dog incident with a neighbors sheperd that bit dad and died for it. of the litter only 2 survived past 2 months the others were sickly and one by one left us.katie was sold to a close friend of te family who i would eventually end up welding for when i first left college.
 we kept gaffer and grew through our teens with him. his mom and my mom didnt like each other though. brita bit mom one day in the garden and mom bit her back/ she never bit anyone ever again. brita stole strawberries just before they were ripe
 we sold her and got a little pitbull named daisy who was a sweetheart and had her bred with a papered male and of the first litter kept the two largest males bowser and bethoven.
 this was a funny time as we had moved to saltspring by now and had several other animals 2 or 3 goats a cat a couple snakes sometimes the morning walk to the bus stop was a lot like a petting zoo with even the peacocks following.
 bowser and bethoven where brothers like oil and water bowser was black and smart and bethoven was blond and dumb. baby liked to scrap dogs and was not really good at it. bowser didnt but was. bowser was a people reader and every person he didnt like turned out to be not likable...mostly dads idiot friends too which was funny. all three liked beer bowser would nip an unopened can and lick till it stopped foaming then nip it again, beathoven would bit the can then shake and bite till it quite moving and gaffer would knock over open cans sneaky like while he was sober then openly when hed had a few as well as get growly and stumbly.
 when he was a puppie he ate a gram of hash and slept for three days and would eat roaches steadily. he got really drunk on whisky at a party when he was getting older and quit drinking for many years but still ate pot bowser died on a hot summer day while we were at the lake he choked on a rock he had been chewing on which was strange because he was usually the smart one he was my dog and the first one i really really missed.
 i saw him bite a beer bottle once carefully and put 2 perfect holes in the sideof it. his brother became our best friend along with gaffer who had been with us since we where small
 of course he was getting old looked like he may die soon but mom switched his diet to oatmeal and eggs and veggies and weed and he was walking and better within 6 months and ended up living many years more he died while i was away at school and his sister katie also died that year when i left and went to work for her people in sidney i think they were around 15 years old then.
 tears where shed by many people friends and family who had grown up with him cameron gave mom a beautiful black and white photo he took once on a visit blown up and framed and it still hangs in her cabin. daisy was gone and beeathoven had sired pups who we kept two of. oggie my doggy and moe, moewas brindle and og was blonde and big like his dad and just like his dad grew the first couple weeks in my shirt front pocket till he didnt fit anymore he lived in vic with me and michelle and then was sold by dad when i moved to dawson creek after we split up
 i think hes still alive in cobble hill somewhere and if i see him i know he'll know me still.
 moe was moms dog and she ended up getting a celtic knot of dogs round her wrist one brindle and one blonde. we also had a staffordshire terrier like margo named spot that we got right after bowser left. spot had been abused and was very headshy but also very loving and attention seeking it made him barky if he was on his line and knew there was someone home hes the one that i shot up on the hill over the pond and cried for years sfter over.
 when i came up here i went with chris and elaina to pick up snoop doggy dog a mastiff that elaina still has hes old and tired now and cant play as hard as abby but he still knows who he grew up with and i guess thats where im going with this story they are all people we have know and loved we teach them and they teach us. if/when we should get a dog id like to cast my vote for a terrier like margo and spot they are a smart tough energetic breed. and super good people to be around. like people when they are gone its important to remember the times they made you smile and the things they taught you that way they can live forever.

this was really really hard to write and i cried a couple times like right now especially but i wanted you to know youve got dog people who know whats up and feel the same way.

smooshie sends his love