Togo

Ahh...the joys of insomnia. I get to spend quiet time on my computer with a glass of wine browsing through the 300+ pictures that I just uploaded off of my camera. This first picture is NOT Togo. I happened to glance at it and fall in love with my scruffy husband and baby girl again. So of course I had to share:



Now about Togo. We brought him home from a not-so-local shelter a little over 2 years ago. I had been browsing petfinder.com and noticed that a lab/shepherd mix litter was available at a shelter an hour away. My hubby was out of town so I decided to pop all of the kids (there were just 4 then) into the car and head on over to just take a look. I did not want to make a major decision by myself and a dog is very major. When we got there, I learned that the mix was really Newfoundland and Border Collie. Knowing nothing about any breeds except for daschunds, schnauzers, labs, & shepherds, I called D-man and got the go ahead to bring home one of these little guys. Since I was still in shock that this great responsibilty had been placed on my shoulders, one of the volunteers chose our dog. The dog was not food-dominant, an important trait with little children in the house. Nor did he try to be the alpha dog. After some deliberation, the kids decided that his name should be Togo after the dog that led the first leg of the Iditarod. Most people know about Balto, the dog who lead the last leg. But Togo was the true hero, in my humble opinion.

Togo was mine for one month until I went away overnight for a conference. After that, he was and still is D-man's dog. He rarely listens to me but I still like him fine.





Last month, Togo's best dog friend, Lucy, was hit by a car and went to doggy heaven. Since then, he's been a bit different. He is staying closer to home. He has started howling at the church bell. And he's digging deep holes. Deep enough for my 2 year old terror to climb in:



There is no rhyme or reason to the holes. They just appear. I am reminded of the time Togo tore the bark off of the crab apple trees out front. Not all of them, just the trees with the red-flowers. I think he was bored and just trying to fill the time with something deconstructive. The trees are still living thanks to the quick thinking of D-man. He painted the exposed phloem to protect it. (I knew those painting skills would come in handy some day.)

I wish Togo would dig up my garden and save me the work of roto-tilling it this fall. After all, he's half farm dog. I might as well put him to work.