Randy of Genea-Musings has set out his Saturday Night Genealogy Fun Challenge. This week we are to recall one of earliest childhood memories and blog about it.
As many of you know I got a puppy in July. Having Misha in my home reminds me of when I was about 3 1/2 years old and we got our first dog. My Godparents had a poodle who got pregnant from the neighbor’s Cocker Spaniel.
I can remember when they offered us a puppy and how excited we all were that my parents said yes. My brother who was 6 or 7 got to stay over their house when the puppies were born. I remember being so mad that he got to go but I couldn’t. HUMPH!
I can still remember going to their house to see the puppies. They had them in a box in the garage. They were small and squirmy.
I’m not sure how we did it with five kids but we settled on the one we took home. She was black with a white bib in front and white on her paws. Her fur was partially smooth then curled. It was a soft curl, not tight and kinky like her Mother, Dinky’s, coat.
When we got her home, there was a major battle over what to name her. Part of the family wanted to name her Bubbles, but my brother wanted to name her Shadow. We had to do a secret ballot. Bubbles won, which made my brother cry. From that moment on, she was known as Bubbles Shadow so that everyone was happy.
I don’t really know how Bubbles survived. She was a submissive dog who had epilepsy. My Mom kept her seizures from me and my siblings. Eventually, I was alone with her one day when she had one. I kept petting her and kept her calm. Back in the early 1970s, there was no treatment for epilepsy in dogs. They just had to go through their seizures.
We had to have her put to sleep with she was 8. She had a cancer tumor on her back that was inoperable.
With all her problems, she tolerated us kids putting clothes on her, giving her rides in the wagon, and any other kid of mischief we could come up with. She was such a good dog!
Opening day for Little League, ca 1969
Here we are all decked out for the Little League Parade
