Dog Tales 3

[larrynz]

Benji

Our smallest dog but one with the heart of a lion. Our youngest son Peter wanted a little dog, small enough to sit on his knee, our Pipi was bigger than Peter was.
We bought Benji from people who lived nearby, he was a pedigree Pomeranian, almost pure white, 10 months olds, so past the pup stage. The vet report on him was not good, respiratory and heart trouble, not as healthy as our old mongrels, but very lively.
In spite of his size, about the same as a cat, he was to become a very dominant dog, at the same time we had Space and Pipi, both large breeds, but Benji was the watchdog and leader. He was the one to challenge all visitors, nobody came near our place unannounced, he was the one to greet you when you had been out, he would go up onto his hind legs and spin round and round like a ballerina on a music box.
His courage was beyond belief, once the folks next door had visitors with a Great Dane, he chased it down the road, perhaps the most outstanding example of his valor was when we were all camping. We were on Kawau Island, wallabies and other wild life but nothing nasty, a wild place in the sense of no sign of civilization, no roads, no lights and a long way to your nearest neighbour. During the night we heard noises near our tent, Benji went to the tent entrance and stood guard with the sound effects of a Rottweiler, by contrast Pipi got on a bed with one of the kids. What ever it was it retreated and we all went back to sleep.
He lived ten years, which was a lot longer than the vet indicated when he was young, his passing was an event and one he shared with the entire family, a showman to the last. At the end of this day he seemed a little unwell and we talked perhaps of taking him to the doggy doctor in the morning, we all went off to bed as usual but he woke us around 3 am. He was going from one of us to another until we were all up and in the lounge, I was sitting on the floor and eventually he climbed on my lap and died a few minutes later. I think to say we were in shock would be an understatement, devastated, we were all in tears.
For years that little dog had slept on top of my feet, begged for a share of my chicken and chocolate, sat on my lap while I drove, demanded attention like no other, he is still missed.

[cheryl]

Larry -- You tell these stories so well. It sounds like Benji enjoyed his life to the fullest. I hope you had at least 30 more dogs to tell us about.

[LindaNY]

Benji the Lion Hearted was one very special little dog.

I have and awesome mental picture of him spinning on his hind legs like a ballerina and chasing that Great Dane down the road.

He was going from one of us to another until we were all up and in the lounge, I was sitting on the floor and eventually he climbed on my lap and died a few minutes later. I think to say we were in shock would be an understatement, devastated, we were all in tears.

He wanted to say good by to his family.

This has me sitting here reading with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes.

Cheryl, I hope he has many more of them too. He is such a creative writer.

[cocojax]

Really enjoyable stories Larry, sounds like you are lucky to have had your share of good pets. But then again dogs know when they have a special place in our hearts..