Smiling Dog

Dogs really are man’s best friend! I’ve always had a dog in my life. There are four that really stand out for me, one of whom, Butch, I talked about yesterday.

The second very special dog I can remember was Sandy, an Irish setter. She was always at my side as I was going through puberty. She had such a beautiful smile – kind of like the picture to the left. Every time we would take a ride in the car she was with us smiling at anyone who came up to the car to admire her. Not sure what made her smile when other dogs could not but she was able to cause her upper lip to raise and her bottom lip to pull down and the resultant appearance was a dog who was smiling.

That same feature used to get me in trouble with my Mom when she was scolding me. Sandy used to sit by her side when she was yelling at me. Invariably Sandy would sit there looking at me and give me one of her smiles. I tried my best not to look at Sandy while taking the scolding because I could not keep from laughing out loud at this dog who seemed to like to get me in trouble. Needless to say my Mom got furious with the insolence this son of hers was showing cracking up while she was yelling at me.

When I was in my 20’s married and away from home, my Mom and I used to laugh about the trouble Sandy used to get me in with her smile.

Ralph Taylor – Substitute Blogger
For Ed Winkle – Who was in Nuremburg Germany today