Up with Dogs!
Up with Dogs!
Do you have a dog? I have had one most of the years of my life. They have always been great companions and at times protectors. My last dog, Pearl, was quite the pup. She was half Rottweiler and one quarter poodle and Afghan. She only bit one person and that person was about to deliver a haymaker to my face. But she grabbed him by the calf of the leg and pulled him down with his punch still hanging in midair.
The dogs I have now are pictured above. One chose me while I was at a shelter looking for a pup. That’s the big one, Nutmeg. The little one, BJ, belonged to a friend who passed, and I took him in. BJ is a bichon frise, bread to sit on the laps of kings and queens. Nutmeg is a combination of bird dog, ridgeback, German shepherd, Rottweiler, and golden retriever. They are both characters who bring me hours of joy and lots of work cleaning up the floors when it’s raining outside.
My dogs always have at least one trait in common: they are spoiled beyond belief. I take them on walks and they are my road traveling buddies when I go on an adventure. I make sure they have all they need to keep them happy and healthy, although the big one is difficult to fill up. She could take out the meat counter at the local market and still be looking for more! But I disappoint her often so she will keep her puppyish figure and not get grossly overweight.
The dog in my book has a story behind him. I did not originally include a dog in the story, but I sent an early draft to a dear friend of mine. After she had read it she sent me a highly critical email that detailed how I was missing the point of my own story. It was true and I thank her for this criticism because “McGillicuddy” wouldn’t be the same without the changes I made on her urging. She also told me I needed a dog in the story and so I put in a big, black dog named BP after British Petroleum. He was named this way so the main character in the book would always remember the oil spill that destroyed so much of the Gulf of Mexico. I cannot thank my old friend, Lane Gallagher, enough for her suggestions. Good friends are as important as well.