Dad's Memories

- 31 August 98 - 12 September 98

Big Friendly Dogs---

Arnold Bailey, next door, had a great big German Shepherd, that despite his intimidating name, --- LOBO, the wolf -- was quite friendly and gentle with our boys. Grace and I enjoyed having Lobo around but agreed that we should have our own dog, for the boys to grow up with, and also as a companion for us.

Grace went to Bklyn to visit her folks, and while there stopped off at the Bklyn SPCA., but did not see any dogs that looked "special" to her. Talked with the people about where we lived, and asked them to contact her if a nice "country type" dog became available.

A few weeks later Grace had a phone call from the Bklyn SPCA. They'd just taken in a beautiful, and rare for them, 4 month old Chesapeake Retriever puppy, a dog that really needed a home with room to run. They'd remembered Graces quest, and this dog seemed to be just what we wanted -- Would we like to come down there and see the dog ?

Grace called me at work, eager to check out this opportunity. I talked to the Boss, got his OK to take time off, and we drove down to NY the next day. One look at "CHIPS" -- rich all over chocolate brown - floppy ears, happy smile, gangly pup, with a steady wagging tail, and already pretty large at only 4 months. We needed no time to "talk it over" -- we had our dog, CHIPS. Stayed overnite at the folks house and brought home our treasure.

Lobo, all 100 lbs plus of him, welcomed his new friend, tolerated the constant playfull jumping about and bites, etc. They made a fine pair -- we figured that some chewed up shoes, and furniture was a good trade-off. Chips was just fine with the boys, and a joy in the house for us.

Then, when Chips was about a year old, our down the road chicken farmer, Harry Ravitch, ran into Chips right in front of our house. One of the neighbors drove Grace & Chips 12 miles to the Vet, who put a cast on the left leg, broken high up in the shoulder. On removing the cast several weeks later, the leg had atrophied and the Vet amputated the leg at the shoulder.

Chips healed well and soon got around fine on three legs, until one day neither Lobo or Chips returned from a romp in the woods. Arnold finally said they'd probably met up with a Trapper and been shot. Sad day, losing two very nice pets. Country life--so much for Chips, and Lobo.

Big friendly dogs.