Growing up we had two large black Labradors, one female and one male. The male was quite the character. We named him Al, for Al Monday, a character in a tv series called ‘It Takes a Thief’, because Al could get out of anything. He never really grew up and played like a puppy all of the time. We dressed him in our clothes and paraded him around. He chased the squirrels and wanted to play with the golfers as they went down the seventeenth fair that ran alongside our yard. He was just a great dog.
The female, Lady was a different story. Dad purchased her for her breeding. She was suppose to be a great hunting dog, but she wasn’t. She was gun shy and very quiet. What one would call a silent killer rather than say the bark is worse than the bite. She was my Dad’s dog, but loved us all. What I remember about her the most is her snoring. No one could tell the difference between her snoring and Dad’s ….. and boy could Dad snore. I remember one night coming home late after everyone had gone to bed, I had brought a friend home with me and when I opened the door, I heard loud snoring. My poor friend had to wait outside in the cold until I could locate Lady and lock her in my parents room. If I hadn’t, my friend would have been bitten for sure.
Now, I have a little female Yorkshire and she has picked up my snoring. It makes me smile and touches my heart in a way that nothing else does.