The year was 1939.

 Dewy was a pure bread German Shepard. He was a mail order dog, kind of like a mail order bride. For $5.00, (dog and shipping), Dewy was shipped via a railroad car in a wooden bushel basket as a puppy. The railroad worker took good care of him during his trip from Iowa.

Dewy grew quickly as all puppies do. Soon he became an avid soft ball player. Outfield was his best position; he could catch fly balls as well as chasing down grounders. Dewy wasn't so good at batting.

Dewy loved to go for rides in trucks as all dogs do. Dewy did it a little differently however. He insisted that he ride on top of the cab of the farm truck. Dewy would jump from the running board to the fender, then to the hood. He would stand on the top of the cab! There Dewy would stand facing the wind. I’m sure he must have felt like he was flying. There was a down side to riding on top of the cab. If Dewy wasn’t ready for a stop or turn he would slide off. He was never hurt and always jumped backup to the top of the cab.

Dewy lived on a working farm and did his part to help. He instinctively new how to herd the cattle.

He knew how to hold a full grown Bull, by the ear so that the workers could tend to the animal. A full grown bull can easily weight 2000 pounds or more and Dewy weighed about 70 pounds. That was quite a feat.

German Shepards are known to be one family or one person dogs and the breed is very protective of the family or pack. Dewy was no exception. He knew the difference between family, friends and strangers. One day, painters were hired to paint the barn. Scaffolding was set up around the house and the work began. The family needed to go to town to run some errands and planned to return later that evening. Dewy stayed outside as usual and the painters were left to their work.  When the family returned home that night, the painters were still on the scaffold, the barn was unfinished.  Dewy was sitting below them not letting the painters come down.  He was protecting his home.

Dewy never hurt anyone but he did scare a few. One Saturday the family whet to town.  Upon retuning that evening they found Dewy sitting in the yard holding the seat of a man’s pants! There was never a sign of the man or who he was, but Dewy knew.

Dogs are truly wonderful creatures. They are much more than animals with instinct. They are so much more. If you have a dog you already know that.

All stories are true.

If you have a dog story I would love to post it here. Please send it to randy@flanniganhouse.org