Annabel is fortunate to have loving caretakers, but she also benefits from their technology in the living room. She told me about all those wonder dogs from the Golden Age of television, such as Lassie and Rin Tin Tin – they must have Nickelodeon on cable. Farfel wasn’t one of my favorites because he was a salesman. He sang a commercial for Nestle’s chocolate from 1953-1965, but should have known better. I thought Dreyfuss was cool even though his name sounded too business-like. He seemed so lovable, gentle and care-free, despite his massiveness. I wouldn’t want to pay his food bills, though.
You can read the book by John Grogan,
Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World’s
Worst Dog, whose title gives you a clue about the character of that canine. Marley is a lovable Labrador retriever – perhaps better described as neurotic – who wins over the hearts and minds of the author and his wife. You’ll laugh and cry, but 55
one thing you won’t forget is Marley.
Annabel loves Mornings with Barney: The
True Story of an Extraordinary Beagle by Dick Wolfsie – isn’t that name appropriate? Wolfsie is a television reporter who finds a stray beagle on his way to work and harbors him inside his house until he returns. Barney manages to devour some of the furniture and a few other things – he probably was just hungry – and soon the new owner is handed an ultimatum: either take the beagle to work or find him another home – preferably one with maximum security. Before long Barney is a TV celebrity, but he influences a great number of people, which you can read about in this delightful book.
Before leaving our reporter Wolfsie, it should be noted that Annabel has wolves for relatives, since canines evolved from those animals.
Just compare a wolf ( Canis lupus) with a German Shepherd and you should see the similarity. Even the scientific names are almost identical.
Werewolves aren’t part of the family, even as cousins once removed.
Annabel told me about the wonderful movie of 1983, Never Cry Wolf, where the wolves were blamed for killing off the caribou herds. We don’t have a television – I think we’re better off – and my parental units wouldn’t let me watch it if we had one, but my beagle friend has access to cable because of her masters, Hank and Lucille. What the 56
wolves were doing was going after the weakest of the herds and thinning them out. They probably would have died anyway, so this action actually strengthened the herd. Wolves do the same with other animals, specifically sheep.
Annabel said that Never Cry Wolf was a humorous, environmental movie that was insightful, amusing and worth a few stars. It’s all about the planet and the animal kingdom as well as the greed of the corporations. Tyler, the two-legged scientist, was a true hero and friend of the earth – except for his culinary meal choices. However, we can excuse him for that since he was running out of food. His scene underwater was scary, but his beverage choice was all right.
The movie, Ace of Hearts, is based on a novel of the same name. Ace is the K-9 police dog who goes after people who do nasty things, such as steal jewelry and whatever they can find of value in homes. They don’t need keys and are the worst example of pop-ins. Ace is smart and doesn’t harm the thief, but only holds on to him until he can be apprehended. Usually, he won’t even leave the marks of his teeth in the crook, unlike those of Jon Voight, which were left in the arm of Kramer in an episode of Seinfeld.
In the movie, Ace is played by two German shepherds – that’s how intense the role is. Though the story is fictitious, there are numerous dogs in 57
real life just like Ace – many in law enforcement.
Ace winds up being placed on death row for inflicting harm on a person who really is a thief. I won’t give away the ending, so if you get a chance, watch the flick, which Annabel highly recommends.
A five-year old untrained German shepherd named Buddy, who is a resident of the city of Anchorage, Alaska, showed how smart he is in the spring of 2010. Ben Heinrichs encountered a fire on his land. His clothes caught fire, but he put it out by rolling in the snow. Knowing of the danger, Buddy summoned help. Alaska State Trooper Terrence Shanigan spotted our hero and followed him to the scene. Ben was slightly injured but without Buddy, the Heinrichs family would have lost their home.
The latter knew that this German shepherd was gifted because on other occasions, he scared bears away while Ben was hunting. For his outstanding service, our hero received a big rawhide bone and stainless steel dog bowl.
58
59
60