One dog woman
I was talking online with MMCB today and I was talking about my childhood dog Tigger a bit. She was a fantastic dog. When I was a kid, we would drive to the moomincabin (the Cabin, as we called it then) and when we got to Birch Point Road, which was gravel at that time, my dad would take Tigger’s collar off, let her outta the car and let her GOOOOO! And she did. She knew we were close to the cabin and she ran like a bat outta hell all the way down the road to our two-track road to the moomincabin and the beach and wherever. The cabin was heaven to her and she didn’t wear her collar again until we returned to town.
We never leashed her at the cabin and nobody else leashed their doggos either. Tigger was a friendly dog except she didn’t like the milkman or our friend Kevin very much. She did protect our cat Twinkle and her litter of kittens like crazy. She got more and more socialized as she grew up and in her later years, she would approach strangers on the beach slowly with her tail wagging and a friendly face. I like you, will you pet me?
Life with pets is different now and beach people leash their pets. This is not a bad thing. I remember a time when our beloved friend Barb’s unleashed golden retriever snagged Velvet, a mouse puppet, from my Mouse. I tackled the dog and pried its jaws apart to retrieve Velvet. Was that a smart thing to do? Maybe not…
Anyway, Tigger was my one and only dog. She was a stray we adopted when I was six and terrified of dogs. After a few hours with Tigger, I completely lost that fear forever. When I was 19, I was taking off for my sophomore year at college with my grandma’s old car (Ford Fairlane and I only got to keep it for Labor Day weekend). I was in the moomincabin driveway when my parents told me to say goodbye to my dog. I did.
I have never had a dog since. It’s okay. I am not upset about that. I have occasionally borrowed my brother’s and the Uncly Uncle’s dogs. That’s always been enough for me.
March 31st, 2022 at 7:46 am
Ah yes. We always knew when the milkman was delivering to the cabin! I’m sure you’ve heard the story about Tigger stealing a hot dog of the grill. Bubs: “Shouldn’t you stay closer to the grill, Tigger’s out?” Harry: “No, the grill is too hot, she’ll stay away from it.” Well, Harry had to eat his words, as Tigger ate the hot dog. She was a great dog.
March 31st, 2022 at 10:49 am
She sounds like a great dog. I had several of them growing up and then we had 2 dogs for much of my married life. I wouldn’t want one now. (too much work) Even the cat can get tedious.