Shep

There have been several letters to the editor lately about chained dogs. Most describe the practice as cruel. I can see their point, but there can be reasons to chain dogs for their own safety or for people's safety. That's all I'm going to say on the topic.

Except that my father never liked dogs. I inherited his dislike for the animals. That dislike intesified as I rode my bike on paved and gravel roads, many times chased by big dogs. One in particular that scared me was a big one that growled as he chased me.

I never met a dog I really liked until I bought the house I live in now and in the process inherited a neighborhood dog. It was a German shepherd named, of all things, Shep. Shep hung around because he could take care of the two small kids I had at the time. One day, my son, not even two years old, slipped off and started walking down the driveway toward the road. Shep saw my son and got in front of him. Shep wouldn't let my son get one step closer to the road until we found my son and got him back in the house.

By the time we met, Shep was already an old dog. He would hang around my house for a while and disappear for a few days. He was gone a couple of weeks, and I thought he had died. But he came back.

Later, one of my neighbors from down the road came by and said Shep was his dog. Maybe so, Shep loved being around my family.

Shep died years ago. He was the best dog who ever adopted me.