I’ve been reminiscing about our old family dog, Scruff, who sadly had to be put down in 2002. It started when we had new neighbours move in across the street from us. They have an -oodle dog of some sort who stays on their large back deck when they’re out.
One afternoon, as I was putting Dora to bed for her afternoon nap, I heard a dog bark. Instantly, I thought of our old pooch. The bark was almost identical even though our dog was a ‘bitsa’ and their dog is likely a designer breed. It got me thinking of the wonderful years that Scruff shared with us.
He was the runt of a litter found abandoned at our local sailing club. My brother scooped him up and put him down the front of his zip-up jacked and brought him home to us. Mum and dad saw the flea ridden mutt and said ‘no way,’ but soon they were helping to bath and de-flea him. I remember that he was all feet and so clumsy.
Once he was bathed and flea-free, he was introduced to his new residence. His bed was in our downstairs laundry but once the sun went down, my brother sneaked him into his bedroom. He became a house dog.
After my brother had moved out, Scruff became dad’s best friend. He would follow my dad around like as shadow as he worked in the garage or in the garden. Dad gave him lots of time, playing catch with him for hours and then Scruff would snore at the foot of dad’s bed until the sun came up the next morning.
Dad would take him to the local beach for a run on the sand and a swim in the sea. He’d also spend hours preparing the finest quality meals a dog could wish for. Scruff never scoffed his food down and never snatched food from a hand. He knew he was loved and well looked after.
I remember dad picking me up from school in his old work van. Scruff would be in the back but the streaks of wet nose on the windscreen were a giveaway that he’d been riding up front.
Scruff lost his best mate in 2000. Loyally, he waited at the front gate of our house for weeks waiting for dad to return. But, dad didn’t come home and we all had to adjust to life without him. It was a very difficult time.
Scruff lived a long and happy life until my mom had the difficult decision to put our loved pet to sleep. His health was failing him and it was sad to see him suffer.
He was a wonderful addition to our family.
He looked just like this:
Credit: out-and-about-with-your-dog.com
On to our Fly on by Friday linky:
Last week people were intrigued to find out what the Mysterious Messages were and hopped over to Francesca Writes Here‘s blog to find out
The culprit:
