The year was 1984. I was Eight because I hadn’t had my Birthday yet.
Tony and I were walking home from the Bus Stop after School.
Our home was over 125 yards from the Bus Stop, so a lot of talking took place during this walk.
I could see something up ahead as we got closer to the house.
I could make out that it was one of our dogs. I couldn’t figure out what the other “thing” was, though.
To keep my Ol’ Dog’s identity private, I’ll call it “Red” in this story.
After all, I wouldn’t want this story getting out if it was me that this happened to.
“What’s going on,” I ask.
Tony cuts his eyes to me to watch my reaction once I put it all together.
“Oh no, Reds stuck to that other dog!” I holler.
We take off running toward “Red.”
Red was facing South while the other dog was facing North.
It looked like someone had glued their butts together.
“Red” and the other dog fought to get loose, which looked very painful.
Red would try to walk away, pulling the other dog behind.
The other dog would “Yelp” and then try to get loose by going in the opposite direction. It was “Tug-Of-War.”
My Eight-Year-Old Mind could not put it together.
“Tony, they’re gonna die!” I remember screaming.
“No, they’re not. It’s going to be okay,” Tony replied nonchalantly.
“They’re gonna die! Oh my god, that’s a weeny!” I screamed.
Tony leaves for a minute and returns with a jug of cold water. —Remember, this was 1984, and we were kids. The internet was not around yet.
Tony seemed to have Experience with this. —I’ve always believed that Tony was meant to be a veterinarian. He loved animals.
“Come over, pet both dogs and calm them down,” Tony says. Then, I’m going to pour cold water on them; that’ll shrink everything.”
I had no clue what was happening, but being a team player, I did as instructed.
“It’s okay, ‘Red,'” I said as I petted the dog.
I then petted the other dog as well.
Tony slowly poured the cold water in between their butts.
The dogs were both calmly “Mmm-mmm-ing.”
And then, all at once, both dogs broke loose and began running away in the direction they were facing. One ran South, and the other ran North.
I won’t go into any more detail about what happened that day. I believe you’ve put it all together.
That was one of the first times I witnessed Tony jumping into action.
When I asked Tony how he knew what to do, he said, “Experience. We’ve had lots of dogs. Even before you were born, we had dogs.”
And that was the last time we saw that other dog.
