Good Dogs Come...

Empty Sunday

"Bob"

June 30th 2004-December 2, 2009

This post starts with Life Before Bob.
I was eighteen, I walked into a pet store to buy some cat food and look over the pet supplies. I'm an animals woman. Seriously, if blood didn't ick me out, I would go in for animal surgery. Or Equine Medicine.
That day, late May. I was loaded with my payment, blood money from the American Government. There in the kennels FOR SALE was a little black puppy. Had been there for almost a month I was told. She looked depressed.
I asked to hold her, and had no intention of bringing her home. I tend to distrust puppies that come from pet stores. I prefer the mongrels that are in cardboard boxes in front of the supermarket.
This particular little black pup was a mixed breed, Lab and Chesapeak and she loved me a lot when I picked her up. She had curly black hair and the saddest little eyes. I played with her for about 20 minutes then my sister and I went to a different pet store to look for a certain type of food.
I felt so bad leaving the pup. My sister looked at me as I turned my car back down the lane towards the pet shop...and I walked in and said I wanted the pup. I paid $80 for her. As I was picking out a collar and leash, Kenny Chesney's current hit "Young" came on the radio and I knew what her name was. Her name was Chesney.
I had her for her whole life, and would still have her now if not for a cruel twist of fate. Chesney was four years old when she was killed. See, my neighbor had gotten a pup at the same time I got Ches. Ches and this pup disliked each other, and I kept Ches on a dog tie out when she was outside.
Well, she had gotten pregnant and was in labor late at night...when she was killed by my neighbors dog. I was devastated.
It was June 29th 2004...
In that same quirky little fate twist, only about 100 miles from my home...another dog was born.
I've always been active with animals, I would take in any dog that was abandonned by my house...and it happens more often than you can imagine. So I spent a miserable summer mourning my Chesney. And I got a casino job...my first real job that I got without family intervention.
Well, the day before my first payday...I happened to be in the library and I noticed an ad in the classifieds that said "AKC Basset Hounds $100" along with a phone number. I'd always wanted a basset hound...so I called the number. I spoke to a nice woman who told me how to find her and on my payday I went to see her. I had $300 in my pocket from my first paycheck from the graveyard shift hours I'd worked the two weeks prior.
My sisters and I took the drive, my Dad was at home waiting to see what I had decided. I found the place after some trouble, and driving ten miles past...a young girl came out to meet me and called for the puppies.
Their sire and dam came running...talk about adorable! The mother was a big fat blonde and white basset with short-ish ears, she was the long low variety of bas and had a very low woof for a lady dog. The sire was a tri-color, looking like a very minature Black and Tan coonhound, with a white chest. He was sweet, another low woofer slightly tall for the hound group with long long ears. I really liked him. There were two pups left...a female and a male. The female pup really liked me and was climbing all over me with her huge little feet. She was mostly blonde with some dark patches and lots of white. The male stood off to the side completely not interested in me. He was mostly brown with a large black saddle and black and brown freckles all over his legs.
I told the girl I wanted a male. I wasn't completely sure about the male though, because he didn't especially like me. I was going to get the female...until the girl called his name..."Chesney! Come here and say Hi!"
I remember feeling the shock of her words...and I think I said something brilliant like "What did you call him?" And even though I knew what she had said, I hadn't believed my ears...I knew that that dog was coming home with me. So I told her I would take the male.
That was how we got Bob. His registered name was Empty Sunday, a song that I loved at the time. Which was an odd choice, as it was about heartbreak.
I could tell you about Bob, I could share pictures...in fact, I think I will put one here...or I would if I could figure out how to get it where I want it instead of automatically at the top of this post.

Bob passed away just before Christmas. Now I'm waiting for my next dog to find me...because I never really go looking for one...one just seems to find me.