Everyone has that special dog that they have to write about. I've had a few in my life and this is being done in memory ofthem. "Sport" was a Beagle mix (Beagle and a neighborhood dog) and I had him from the time he was born until he was 13. He was a true lifesaver for me as a child. He was always loyal, fearless, loveable and the greatest dog a child could ever ask for. He was always there when I fell down, to lick my sores or face. He loved to play with me no matter what I was playing, he even let me dress him up. He was my best bud when I needed a shoulder to just cry on. Since I was an only child, guess this was the closest thing I knew as a brother. He died trying to protect me from what he thought was harm. I think of him everyday. Sad to say, but Sport left me when I was 13 too. I'm now grown with grandchildren. Sport lives on in stories created for them. Guess you could say Sport was my Ole Yeller.
Then came Zackery Antone KISH, my first purebred dog and my first Doberman. Well, I was taken, hook line and sinker, to the Doberman from the first day I saw him. You see, I had to have a dog in my life. It's like I'm not complete without one. Anyway, my neighbor & dear friend, Ruby, asked me if I would like to have a Doberman. Her daughter, Faye, raised Dobermans and had gotten a PUP back that was being mistreated. He was a 6 month old, black and rust PUP. Here's the thing, no one told me Dobermans were almost as tall as they get at 6 months. I agreed to take him for a week to see how he would do with my three children. Well, here we were expecting a puppy, I open the door when Ruby came with him. "OH MY GOSH!!!! He's pretty but where's the puppy," I said. Ruby said, "This is the puppy." He was a monster, he's what AKC calls above standard and what Germany calls Perfect. 'Watchdog' is what Zack lived to do from day one. We had a rough start as I was ready for a pup, not a monster. We lived in a mobile home at the time, so it was tight, to say the least with 2 adults 2 children and 1 monster. But we made it though that and bought a home in the country with room for Zack to run. He worked hard everyday to please me and without fail he did just that. He was my dog and the children's as well, however he did not like my husband at all. Don't know why, he never did anything to him, but if Zack got punished for getting into something he wasn't surpose to, he'd tear something of my husband's, like his chair, shoes, book, but it was always his. My husband could walk into the room and Zack would just growl at him. He did my mother the same way. He'd lay on her feet and if she moved he'd jump up, and watch and growl at her. She'd come in for a visit once a year from Colorado and bring him big ham bones, which he loved. But he still wouldn't make up with her. I always thought maybe it had something to do with the home he came from before. Like Sport he understood me and he shall never be forgotten. Zack went down with kidney failure at 11 years of age.To this day his breeder and I are friends. She still breds Dobermans and because of her and Zack here I am, 25+ years later, doing the same.
Now last but not least comes Zeb, one of a kind Doberman. Zeb was born just 10 days before my first grandchild in my bedroom with 9 other pups. He grew up with my grandson and granddaughters. He could be your back porch dog, a pillow, a step to get on the couch, or a protector of the grandbabies. There's so many stories about him that it's hard to pick a favorite. He sure didn't like traveling sales people at all. One paid us a visit while we were sitting on the front porch, which was his hugh playpen, all closed in. Well, my grandson was by the gate when this guy walked up. Zeb just quietly got up walked over and got in between my grandson and the gate. The guy was talking and he put his hand on my grandson's head, or he thought he was going to, I should say, when Zeb nailed his arm. Never even got his arm wet, mind you, but got his point across just the same. Zeb died at 10 years of age, of a heart attack. We all still miss him very much. In fact it took me two years before I could even look at another Doberman. Faye even had a litter or two and nothing. It has been tough getting past Zeb's love and being his pet. Viper has helped me with that.
If you've lost a pet please visit the following website: http://www.rainbowsbridge.com/Poem.htm . It's more then just the poem just follow the links at the top.
Sport, Zack, Zeb and many others, you are all thought about and remembered. You touched a part of my life and made my life bearable. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Picture below is Zeb sitting at the backdoor watching the children play. When they went out he went out where ever they went so did he. June 2000 @ 10 years of age.
