Happy Birthday Timothy

Today would have been his 81st birthday.  The 25 years we had together were wonderful, though, so I can't complain, but I would have loved another 20 or so.  

The dog was our beloved Rottweiler Thunder who was just about a year old when the picture was taken.  What a handful and how unsuspecting we were when we got him at 8 weeks old.  Fortunately, we found a gem of a trainer who helped us get him under control.  You have to do something with a Rottweiler or else you end up with the equivalent of 120 pounds of real trouble.  They're very strong-willed and need parameters for sure.  Thunder was actually the sweetest dog I've ever seen. We got him somewhat under control but he was just too lovable and we spoiled him terribly, i.e., he had his own bed but when we'd wake up in the morning we'd find him in ours, mysteriously.  It's very hard for a dog that size to sneak but he was an expert at it.  

One day we saw a little puppy wandering into our yard.  We lived out in the country where it was very unlikely to have wandered away from a home.  We assumed somebody had dropped it off because they didn't want it.  We made some half-hearted attempts to find an owner but we knew the puppy had found a permanent home.  We named her Sweet Pea and she made all the difference in the world to our household.  Thunder loved her and the two of them played so hard together that they wore each other out.  Sweet Pea was just a mutt but she was a champion to us.  I don't know if I'll ever have another dog -- I hope so.