Slitherine

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ORIGINAL: Yogi the Great

The picture was Elton. He was like the saying goes my best friend. Elton has been gone now for over 4 years but I can't bring myself to change the picture. Still think of him every day. Anyway I only post this to let you know that many people do understand what you are feeling. The loss of a pet can be just like losing a family member. I hope all goes well for you and Friendly.

England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio Nelson October 1805

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ORIGINAL: Gary Childress

I was out mowing the grass one day. It was a day or two after the last hurricane of 2004 had come through Central Florida. I turned around for a moment, can't remember exactly why. As I turned around a medium sized yellowish brown dog threw himself up on me and started whimpering and whining. I brought him around to the front of the house and gave him a piece of baloney. He gobbled it up. I went around to all the neighbors' houses and asked if they had any idea who's dog he was. No one had a clue. One neighbor said he had seen the dog around the neighborhood before in the company of a large black dog of some unknown breed. We posted a sign in the neighborhood to see if anyone would claim him. No one did.

That was how "Friendly" an I first met. He is the most wonderful dog I've ever owned. He is a true joy and a great companion, always faithful. As far as I can tell he has some yellow Labrador in him, but I'm not sure what else. When you take him for a walk he doesn't walk, he prances along with his head held high and a brisk step. You would think he was a show dog. He likes to bark at whatever he hears outside at night like a faithful watch dog should. When we first got him we didn't even need to house train him. It was almost as though he knew what he was supposed to do. He absolutely loves to play ball and will not quit so long as you play with him. If his ball rolls behind a plant stand or some delicate object he instinctively seems to know that he has to be careful not to knock anything over. So he'll sit there and wait for you to get his ball from behind the object, even though it may be in plain sight right in front of him. He could easily knock the stand right over but he won't. As excited as he is to play, he is as gentle as any dog I've ever seen.

Well...last week he developed a bump on his head just above his left eye. It's grown considerably in the last few days. My folks took him to the vet today so the vet could examine him. He opened up the bump and apparently it looks like cancer. The results haven't come back yet as it was only today, but I fear the worst. I can hear him downstairs now whimpering from the cut and stitches on his head. He's a very sensitive dog. He's very sensitive to pain and doesn't like loud noises like thunder and fireworks. Maybe has something to do with whatever happened in his life before I found him.

It's amazing how much a human being can become attached to an animal and how devoted an animal can be to a human being. He's been a center of attention for the family for almost 10 years now, just like a kid, a bouncing, frolicking bundle of joy. You couldn't ask for a better companion or an animal with a bigger heart. I sure hope it isn't cancer. I hope Friendly has a little more life in him to go yet.

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Sallie:

Sallie was a lady; she was a soldier too— She marched beside the colors, our own red white and blue. It was in the days of our civil war that she lived her life so true
Sallie was a brindle Staffordshire Bull Terrier (or Pit Bull Terrier – it is unclear) who served as the regimental mascot for the 11th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War. She was given to 1st Lt William R. Terry as when she was just 4 weeks of age. Sallie was raised with the men of the regiment and they were fond of her. She knew the specific drum roll announcing reveille. Sallie followed the men closely on marches and to the battlefield, always on the front lines. In a spring 1863 at a review of the Union army, Sallie marched along with “her” soldiers. Abraham Lincoln sat in the center of the reviewing stand and spotted the dog. He raised his famous hat in salute. At Gettysburg, Sallie became separated from the 11th in all of the chaos. Three days later they found Sallie guarding the bodies of the dead and wounded soldiers, herself unscathed. In 1865 at Hatcher’s Run Sallie was struck by a bullet to the head. She was killed instantly. She was buried on the battlefield while under heavy enemy fire. In 1890 the surviving veterans of the 11th Pennsylvania dedicated a monument on the Gettysburg battleground which contains a likeness of a sleeping Sallie.

“We never felt like we were losing until we were actually dead.”
Marcus Luttrell

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ORIGINAL: CGGrognard

Gary, sorry to hear that Friendly has cancer, but he definitely isn't a poor dog. For as long as you appreciate Friendly, give him the love and attention he deserves, his li going life, and yours will forever be rich in memories.