Leave it to Duffy

When My Uncle Dan's dog Sausha had puppies, he brought them to the farm and setup a pen for them to play in. Now I was 11 years old thinking having 15 puppies was a piece of heaven on earth. Along with my siblings Dana and Derek. We cared for all the puppies. Sausha often fed them by standing straight up since there were so many puppies. I loved sitting among all the soft paws and wagging tails. I even let them chew on my hand without any fear. There was a beautiful golden brown pup I named Tasha. I carried Tasha every where and she seemed to respond to her name after awhile. She was the very first puppy sold....naturally. My next favorite dog was the fattiest pup he was just named Fatty, He was sold 4th in line. Derek loved the smallest puppy, that puppy was almost all white and very skinny. Dana and I would give the runt extra food because he was looking like a skeleton. It was amazing to watch how the big pups plowed over him to eat his food. So my sister and I would work together holding back the bigger puppies so the runt could actually eat. Then my Uncle said we could have a puppy, as a thank you gift for babysitting all those pups.The three of us kids agreed on the runt of the pack without debate. Now Uncle Dan was surprised and questioned "Are you sure? he is the smallest, the weakest one of the bunch." Derek loved this dog the most and they were always together. Mom rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "Why didn't you kids pick a healthy strong puppy!?" We loved that tiny puppy and we were going to keep him. During these days of playing with a new puppy, of laying around in the summer shade, we also watched a TV show called "Leave it to Beaver." at noon every day. Now Mom wouldn't let us bring our puppy inside to watch the show with us. Yet we would sneak him in whenever she wasn't looking. Mom also named our puppy "Duffy" because she said the name should start with a "D" like all the rest of the family. Dad said he liked Duffy because it sounded like "Dummy" which was just like our puppy.

Looking back I can clearly see where we all went wrong in raising this pup. Duffy had so many people telling him what to do, so many unnecessary rules with a constant loudness. He was high energy, and also very bored. He chewed huge holes in the laundry room walls, he shred all the blankets and pillows we gave him. When we were sledding down the hill in the winter he would slam right into us grabbing our hats and pushing us off the sled. Of course all of this caused shouting, there was no control for the dog. One time when Duffy got into so much trouble, I had to put him back up his puppy pen. Dad stood from the doorway as I walked up to him. "That is the dumbest dog of all time." He said and I turned around to laugh. Duffy was whining in the pen with his front paws up on the 2 foot fence with his whole body exposed. I realized the fence only cover his back legs when he stood like that. Both Dad and I had a good laugh watching him, Duffy was pure puppy no matter how big he was getting. One day I noticed him running away from the main road with such panic and he bolted to the corner of the ditch bank starring back at our house. I was in dinning room watching him as I asked Dad "Something is wrong with Duffy, He looked so scared..why is he just siting way up there?" My Dad looked out the window asked back at me "Where did he come from?" then I replied "The road." Dad took off after Duffy wondering if the big lanky dog had just been hurt. The blood was all over my father jeans so that scared me to death! Then mom got mad when Dad brought Duffy inside the house "Honey we have a problem." Dad explained to mom when she began to order them outside. Dana jumped right in to help Dad wrap up Duffy's bloody paw, we all thought a car must have caught it on the road. Mom protested the whole time for she had just finished mopping the floor that was the moment I realized my Mother didn't get dogs, she just could not see them as another soul. Now after that moment Duffy never chase a car again, but he did die a month later from being hit by a car.... 

This is where I say to my poor father, it wasn't his fault. but I am sure he still thinks it was to this very day.On that Sunday afternoon the day Duffy died, Dana had her friend Kessa over for the afternoon so we were playing the board game "Payday" in our bedroom when I heard fast running outside then saw a shadow flash by our bedroom window. I was just 12 years old so I left in the middle of the game to go investigate, I heard my father yelling from the street. I ran into my Parents bedroom to look out the windows that faced the busy ustick road. When I reached the window I noticed it was open, I saw my mom trying to push my father back from a strange lady who stood by a white car that was pulled over in front of our house. I glanced at the side of me to see Grandpa Graber on his motorcycle waiting on the corner of the driveway he was watching sadly as he parked and walked up into our yard, I caught his eyes and I knew he was sad for me though I didn't understand why yet. Mom kept pushing on Dad trying to calm him down but he was in full force, then she was trying to talk to the strange lady at the same time. My dog Savannah suddenly popped up from the hill side of the lawn where I knew she had just across the street. Grandpa petted her and kept looking worried at the scene in front of us on the road. While Dad screamed "WHAT is WRONG with YOU!" my Dad looked so red in the face from all his yelling. "THIS IS A COUNTRY ROAD NOT A FREEWAY! WHAT IF IT HAD BEEN A CHILD!!" I watched in awe at my enraged Father, I was trying to understand what was happening then my heart began to race as I saw the lifeless body way up the road at least to the second telephone pole, The driver was going so fast at the point of impact Duffy flew like a sack of potatoes, "Duffy!" I cried out through the open bedroom window. Then everyone turned to look at me, Mom shouted "Stay there!" Grandpa waved me back from the window where now he had been standing and watching. "You should close this." he said quietly, as he walked down the slope to join the others the car. Dad had begun to carry our puppy back to the yard. He would tell us all about how it happened, How he opened his bedroom window to call the dogs back home, Duffy being faster then Savannah was bolting home by Dad's command "That was the first time that darn dog EVER obeyed me!" my Dad chuckled then sighed. So Dad saw it all go down with no way to stop it, the Lady had been speeding up the road after having a fight with her husband so she never saw the young lab run out in front of her. It was a sad time for us kids, we lost our first puppy. I couldn't believe he was only 10 months old and I knew I would miss him greatly,I use to sleep next him on the floor in the laundry room all the time. With his wet nose and big fat paws that he had not grown into he would put them on me as we napped in those winter evenings. I even trained him to stand up next to me with his paws on my arm. He also had an obsession with apples, lucky for him we lived on an apple farm so he could swallowed them whole or he sat chewing on them. I had noticed when we ate apples as a puppy he wanted one too, so I fed him one then he was hooked. Once as we walked down from Grandpa's shop to our own yard we crossed the bridge over the ditch. I just happened to look back and see a golden delicious apple floating in the muck by the grid of the ditch. The stuff was held back so that only the water went under the bridge. But at the sound of a small splash Duffy wanted that apple. I knew I had to move fast, so my arms went flying out into all the gunky crap all the way up to my shoulders I felt around in the ditch water for my puppy. His wild eyes met my own as I tried to grab him, but he slipped back under that dirty water. There was a grid like fence holding him in place against a cement wall. So I dug my knees into the gravel and worked hard at trying to grab him again. "Duffy!" I called out as that golden apple suddenly got loose and drifted under the bridge. "Stupid apple" I mumbled as I watched it go. Once both my hands could get around wet Duffy's kicking body then I pulled him up into my chest. He never ever walked on that side of the bridge again! I was amazed that I just happened to know Duffy was going in for that apple, It surprised him that the pile of muck wasn't actually land. I was really happy I had been there, I didn't care I was covered in cow manure after that, I was just glad Duffy didn't drown.

Since I believe that all dogs go to Heaven, I know Duffy is up there, he is the angel dog with all the apples!