Small White Dogs

A Little Girl's Best Friend

My older sister said the puppy followed her home. But we all knew that wasn’t true. She probably found some rope and dragged the thing back from nearby Sugar Creek where she found her.

Mom put up signs all around the area in our hometown of Normal, Illinois, saying we had found a lost dog; she even had it in the newspaper. But no one called, to her dismay. The dog was, by default, ours.

Taffy was obviously from some kind of breeder because she was a gorgeous Cocker Spaniel puppy. She had taffy-colored hair and my sister got to name her. That was fine with me as I was pretty much pre-verbal. I think I was maybe 2 years old at the time.

My sister Julie, who was six years older than me, probably thought that Taffy was her dog. My brother Jim, who was three years older than me, probably thought Taffy was his dog. But I KNEW Taffy was my dog.

The Three J’s: the perfect stepping stones to the 1950s family. Man, we had it all. I just wish kids today had as good a childhood as we did with parents willing to sacrifice nearly everything for our happiness.

No, mom did not especially want a dog, even though her father had had hunting dogs when she was young. And that is probably why Taffy lived outside year-round, except for the very coldest winter days. We made her a snug home in the foundation underneath the addition Dad had built so my sister wouldn’t have to share a room with me. Really; they built an addition on to our house because I was annoying. How great is that? Even on the coldest days, Taffy preferred her own spot; our house was just too warm for a shaggy-haired dog.

Every spring, mom would get the dog shaved. Then the neighborhood kids, not the brightest lot in the world, would exclaim “Gee, did you get a new dog?” Duh. No. Every year some dumb one would ask.

I made my own mistakes. We had this great fenced-in yard so Taffy could roam. But the poor little black and white rat terrier across the street wasn’t so lucky. All he had was a small dog run and he NEVER got to go inside and I never saw anyone walk him. Another original name: Spot. One day, I was maybe 3 or 4, I let Spot out of his run. I unlocked the gate! Everyone had to look for the poor thing. I had decided Spot was misused and would do better out in the world. Even back then I was quick to judge and slow to apologize. To this day I think belageured Spot deserved a better home.

Taffy was our hero. She barked and barked and barked one night and we found out that burglars had tried to break in the house behind us. Not on her watch!

STOMP - Singapore Seen - Small white dog locked up in car at NEX Mall

Tampon80 stop being stupid..! i would rather leave my dogs at hm. if they reali love the dog, they can always get bag for dogs. carry them ard. somemore NEX is a plc which pets r allowed. u try lockin urself in e car w engine off windows wind up. u feel hot n stuffy anot. eh~ dogs r livin thts too. they can FEEL~! juz tat they cant speak~! pity e dogs! hope owners love their dogs like themselves.

Bichon Frise

The Dog fancier

A Small White Scar

Cosmopolitan

Flint