Old Pig

Here's a dedication post to my old pal. Dodger's been my right hand man for 12 years. Brought him home in August 96 in a cardboard box, free off a farm south of Goodland, KS. Daddy was a bird dog named Pouncer, or maybe it was Thumper. His mama was there to greet me as I pulled up and I thought she was gonna bite me. Dodger was the last one, born under an old car, a kinked tail, and a belly full of worms. In his first two years with me as my only roommate in my 1925-built home, he made quite a name for himself. He cried endlessly if I left him alone in the laundry room at night. I would leave him home alone while I was at work. He hated being left alone. He had a massive brown attack one time in his plastic kennel - I got home to discover every square inch of him, and the kennel, coated with a stinky chocolate pie. Another time, he managed to get a whole box of chocolates off the kitchen table and ate every single one. Went off without a hitch - no dog vomit, no major illness. So much for the dogs die from chocolate theory. While I was at work one day, Dodger escaped from the fenced-in area in the back yard that I built for him. He wound up sniffing his way down to Louie's - the local watering hole I was known to frequent. They managed to get him back home for me. Dodgy had also maintained a special friendship with Marge - the old lady who lived across the street from me - she was kind of his nanny and would keep him company sometimes while I was out. Dodger once caught a rabbit in the snow at the local park down the street where we used to play together.

We moved to Medford in 98 and soon after Dodger started with the allergies - it would affect his ears mainly so he used to shake his head like crazy. He developed a bad hematoma in his ear and it had to be drained and then stiched up like a quilt. This required extensive care and he had to wear the cone. About a month into the recovery, while I was at work, he managed to escape from the front room where he was being "jailed". He somehow got the window open and jumped out through the screen - from about 4 or 5 feet up. Then he proceded to run up and down the street, cone off now, bleeding, and making a fuss. My neighbor Patsy called and I had to leave work and go get the poor guy and re-bandage his head. It was about 3 months before his ear was ok without a bandage and cone. This happened again the following year, except this time with the other ear. We tried everything - meds galore, shots, etc... but the allergies kept plaguing him. Finally, after seeing a specialist in Eugene, we decided to simply restrict his diet and place him on the most expensive dog food we could find and this has since kept him in fair shape. No snacks pal, sorry.

Dodger had his fair share of tantrums while I left him home in Medford too, one memorable one was when I got home and discovered all the living room blinds torn down and destroyed. Ugh. I started taking pig to work with me where he would hang out in the back of the Pathfinder in the parking lot with the hatch open - he wouldn't go anywhere, or if at night I'd bring him inside and he'd sit next to me on the floor and chew a bone - turns out the rawhide was probably a bad idea. He'd eat those things in record time, but they surely contributed to his allergies. His skin would flake and scab, he'd stink, and his ears would inflame and get yeast infections. He'd scratch like mad and was constantly shaking his head. I had ear drops and flush galore.

Dodger still goes pretty strong these days - he's been through many friends and vet appointments. He's finally starting to have serious trouble jumping up in the back of my car, so I lift him up more and more. He also seems to be more comfortable laying down in one spot most of the time - he tires easily. He still manages to destroy things though- like the metal cage he somewhow managed to chew his way through in the garage. Day by day we hang in there, but I know the old stinker ain't gonna last forever. So here's to you pig, hang in there-