WEBVTT - Ep. 248: This Country Life - Dog and Man: A Love Story 0:00:05.240 --> 0:00:08.639 Welcome to this Country Life. I'm your host, Brent Reeves 0:00:09.160 --> 0:00:12.719 from coon hunting to trot lighting and just general country living. 0:00:12.960 --> 0:00:14.720 I want you to stay a while as I share 0:00:14.800 --> 0:00:19.240 my experiences and life lessons. This Country Life is presented 0:00:19.280 --> 0:00:23.239 by Case Knives on Meat Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you 0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:28.280 the best outdoor podcast the airways had off. All right, friends, 0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:31.840 grab a chair or drop that tailgate. I've got some 0:00:31.880 --> 0:00:42.680 stories to share. Dogs and man love story. Dogs and 0:00:42.720 --> 0:00:45.000 man have been rambling around the planet for a long 0:00:45.080 --> 0:00:47.680 time now, me like I'm sure a lot of you, 0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:51.120 are never without one. There's never been a time in 0:00:51.200 --> 0:00:53.720 my life when I didn't have at least one dog. 0:00:54.520 --> 0:00:57.560 And it's to that end that I'm here today talking 0:00:57.600 --> 0:01:01.840 about these animals that we all love so But why, 0:01:02.520 --> 0:01:05.119 That's my question, and I'm going to talk all about it. 0:01:05.160 --> 0:01:15.319 But first I'm going to tell you a story. John 0:01:15.520 --> 0:01:20.880 Carl Deckleman Buddy to his friends and Booed to his grandchildren. 0:01:21.680 --> 0:01:24.920 He was a tradesman adept in agricultural related work, from 0:01:25.280 --> 0:01:29.839 cattle to lumber production. He had several jobs associated with farming. 0:01:29.920 --> 0:01:33.119 That was a natural progression in his life. Being from 0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:39.759 the Mississippi River Delta town of Elaine, Arkansas. Rabbit hunting 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:45.440 was his pastime and beagles were his passion. The small beagles, 0:01:45.480 --> 0:01:48.040 the thirteen inch beagles, the ones that looked like little 0:01:48.080 --> 0:01:52.040 walker puppies even when they're full grown. None of my 0:01:52.160 --> 0:01:56.080 favorites too, But Buddy and his hunting pals, one being 0:01:56.120 --> 0:01:59.120 the store owner, kept a pen full of beagles out 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:03.680 behind Sibilis Apply Store in West Helena, a small town 0:02:03.760 --> 0:02:07.720 on the bank of the Mississippi River in Arkansas. The 0:02:07.760 --> 0:02:10.240 dogs were carried for daily by someone in the group, 0:02:10.240 --> 0:02:14.080 and on weekends they'd all meet load the dogs off 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:17.360 to the rabbit woods. They'd go a lot of trips 0:02:17.360 --> 0:02:20.359 were the Jackson Point Hunting Club, a famed piece of 0:02:20.480 --> 0:02:23.640 land along the river that both trophy deer and world 0:02:23.680 --> 0:02:27.640 class duck hunting, and, according to Buddy, a whole bunch 0:02:27.680 --> 0:02:30.840 of rapids. The group of men were also beg in 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:34.240 to field trialing their dogs, and Buddy's favorite was his 0:02:34.639 --> 0:02:40.160 blanket backed red eared beagle named Nancy Anne. Nancy Anne 0:02:40.200 --> 0:02:42.040 was his pride and joy and the leader of the 0:02:42.080 --> 0:02:45.720 pack of dogs he called his own, and the honorable 0:02:45.760 --> 0:02:49.200 mentions for funny Face and pretty Girl, both puppies of 0:02:49.320 --> 0:02:55.000 Nancy Anne, but she was number one. A. Buddy had 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:58.320 an opportunity to cross Nancy Anne with another champion beagle 0:02:58.800 --> 0:03:02.839 in Clarksdale, Mississis, and he carried her across the river, 0:03:02.960 --> 0:03:06.000 only a thirty minute ride away, and he left her 0:03:06.480 --> 0:03:09.399 in hopes of a successful union that would add more 0:03:09.440 --> 0:03:13.320 little Nancy Anne's to his pack, and with their mother 0:03:13.400 --> 0:03:16.400 and Buddy to show them the ropes they had any 0:03:16.480 --> 0:03:19.560 desire at all, it would be a simple task, but 0:03:19.680 --> 0:03:24.160 first we had to have puppies. But that wouldn't happen. 0:03:26.440 --> 0:03:28.760 She got out of the pen in Clarksdale not long 0:03:28.800 --> 0:03:32.760 after Buddy left her, and she was gone, and with 0:03:32.840 --> 0:03:35.920 her disappearance, the hope for a new generation of top 0:03:36.080 --> 0:03:40.920 notch rabbit chasers left with her, and Buddy was devastated. 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:46.240 His granddaughters told me that they remember how distraught Bood was. 0:03:46.600 --> 0:03:49.720 There was no dogs in Buddy's house, but his connection 0:03:49.840 --> 0:03:52.320 with Nancy Anne was obvious to everyone that knew him. 0:03:53.040 --> 0:03:55.920 She was his hunting partner as much as either of 0:03:56.000 --> 0:03:59.240 his friends, whose dogs were kept in the same kennel, 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:02.960 But either one of his friends were busy and unable 0:04:03.000 --> 0:04:07.360 to go. Nancy Anne was still there. She was always 0:04:07.400 --> 0:04:10.400 ready and hunted just as hard at the end of 0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:13.200 the day as she did at the beginning. She was 0:04:13.240 --> 0:04:16.160 a lot like Buddy. Her life was simple and she 0:04:16.240 --> 0:04:21.159 worked hard. Maybe that's why they were so close, each 0:04:21.200 --> 0:04:24.200 having a similar philosophy. You see a job, and you 0:04:24.760 --> 0:04:30.119 do a job to work hard while doing it. Days 0:04:30.160 --> 0:04:33.040 went by him, crossing the river and searching for her, 0:04:33.160 --> 0:04:38.000 until it seemed all hope was lost. Dole of a 0:04:38.040 --> 0:04:40.960 basket full of puppies from Nancy Anne, a faint reminder 0:04:41.000 --> 0:04:43.800 of why she was out of Buddy's direct care to 0:04:43.839 --> 0:04:48.719 begin with. Now, no number of puppies could replace what 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:57.480 Buddy had lost. Nancy Anne was gone. The house phone 0:04:57.480 --> 0:05:01.600 in Tyler, Texas, rang, and whoever answered it announced joyfully 0:05:01.720 --> 0:05:05.960 to everyone that Nancy Ann had been found and was 0:05:06.040 --> 0:05:12.320 now home with Buddy or bood as Alexis called him. 0:05:12.600 --> 0:05:15.839 And in two thousand and one, when Boode passed away, 0:05:16.560 --> 0:05:19.520 Nancy Anne would spend the rest of her days in 0:05:19.560 --> 0:05:24.320 Texas being loved on by Buddy's daughter, his son in law, 0:05:24.920 --> 0:05:29.080 and his granddaughters, one of which just happens to be 0:05:29.200 --> 0:05:34.359 my wife. Not a unique story, but a lesson and 0:05:34.560 --> 0:05:41.120 never relinquishing hope. That's a lesson for us all. And 0:05:41.160 --> 0:05:49.840 that's just how that happened. The bond of a man 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:54.480 and dog has been scientifically documented to fifteen thousand years ago. 0:05:55.400 --> 0:05:57.960 On the evil World War One, some dudes were digging 0:05:58.040 --> 0:06:00.919 around over in Bond, Germany and found a dog skeleton 0:06:01.440 --> 0:06:05.680 buried alongside two humans. The DNA of that specimen, it 0:06:05.680 --> 0:06:09.039 turns out, was that of a domesticated dog like we 0:06:09.160 --> 0:06:12.120 have now, running around the yard in the house and 0:06:12.160 --> 0:06:15.320 dropping hair on the floor like a crop duster. Now 0:06:15.640 --> 0:06:17.919 did they dig up the first couple who owned a 0:06:17.960 --> 0:06:22.040 pet dog? Who knows, but I highly doubt it. Can 0:06:22.080 --> 0:06:25.640 you imagine the criteria to search for the first of anything, 0:06:25.680 --> 0:06:28.839 and how you'd qualify it if you found it. You 0:06:28.880 --> 0:06:31.600 can only surmise that the dog meant something for them 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:34.520 to have been buried with it, if folks now thought 0:06:34.560 --> 0:06:39.520 the way they did in some degree, Egyptian pharaohes were 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:42.320 buried with all their goodies and sometimes their favorite folks. 0:06:42.360 --> 0:06:45.520 That's right. The old saying of you can't take it 0:06:45.560 --> 0:06:49.200 with you, well, that was obviously coined long after the 0:06:49.200 --> 0:06:53.359 nose fell off the sphinx's face, because them folks thought 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:57.279 you could what a rotten retirement plan. I bet the 0:06:57.320 --> 0:06:59.880 anxiety ran high in the Pharaoh's house every time that 0:07:00.160 --> 0:07:03.839 Rascal caught a cold. But the dog that was found 0:07:03.880 --> 0:07:06.719 in Germany at that burial site is the closest link 0:07:06.920 --> 0:07:11.200 known to exist between wolves and old Whalen. The coonhound 0:07:11.200 --> 0:07:15.720 that's currently taking up space right beside my chair, now 0:07:15.720 --> 0:07:18.120 he's a member of this family, according not only to me, 0:07:18.200 --> 0:07:21.760 but my wife Alexis and my daughter Bailey will also attest. 0:07:22.400 --> 0:07:26.720 But why how does an animal develop a place of 0:07:26.760 --> 0:07:32.040 such importance in a human's world? Of what matters? Some 0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:35.120 folks believe it's the nurture and instinct of humans to 0:07:35.280 --> 0:07:38.680 care for other beings. There's always exception, but speaking of 0:07:38.760 --> 0:07:42.640 humanity as a whole, our species natural behavior is to 0:07:42.680 --> 0:07:46.920 provide care for those around us, including animals. Now, there's 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:49.920 also the argument that we take care of and protect 0:07:49.960 --> 0:07:53.640 things of value, things that provide and perform a service, 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:57.320 like a herding dog, a protective dog, or in my case, 0:07:57.960 --> 0:08:01.440 a hunt dog. I've had several over the years, But 0:08:01.600 --> 0:08:04.120 just like family members and friends, there there will be 0:08:04.120 --> 0:08:06.880 a select number that will stand out above the rest. 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:12.720 That's my focus and what I find interested. My dad 0:08:12.840 --> 0:08:15.880 was known for having good tree dogs and good running dogs, 0:08:16.080 --> 0:08:20.520 and each were cared for totally different ways. Running dogs 0:08:20.520 --> 0:08:22.760 were kept in a big pen across the road from 0:08:22.800 --> 0:08:26.400 his house, and they were fed and watered and medicated 0:08:26.440 --> 0:08:30.400 as needed. Their pen was kept clean, and they lacked 0:08:30.400 --> 0:08:34.440 for nothing in regard to their health and welfare. Squirrel dogs, 0:08:34.480 --> 0:08:36.880 on occasions were kept in there too, but the majority 0:08:36.920 --> 0:08:39.480 of the time they hung out in the front yard. 0:08:40.800 --> 0:08:43.760 The running dogs were tools and a means to an end, 0:08:43.920 --> 0:08:46.000 just like the squirrel dogs, but were not in this 0:08:46.440 --> 0:08:51.280 intimate of a setting. That was the difference. Ten or 0:08:51.320 --> 0:08:53.920 fifteen running walker hounds would be loaded in the back 0:08:53.960 --> 0:08:56.840 of his truck, and when the suitable conditions or signed 0:08:56.920 --> 0:09:00.400 was found a fresh coyode activity some are all of 0:09:00.440 --> 0:09:04.080 them would be released at once. The rest of the 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:06.920 event was a listening party as to what dog was 0:09:07.000 --> 0:09:09.319 leading the pack, which one had the best sound in bar, 0:09:09.440 --> 0:09:12.959 and so on and so on. Outside of turning them 0:09:12.960 --> 0:09:16.319 loose and catching them, there was no other man and 0:09:16.440 --> 0:09:20.960 dog interaction. They responded to my dad because he was 0:09:21.000 --> 0:09:24.640 the guy they recognized that fed them. I couldn't get 0:09:24.679 --> 0:09:26.679 those dogs to do much of anything. When it came 0:09:26.760 --> 0:09:30.320 to commands, there was only one alpha, and it was 0:09:30.520 --> 0:09:34.920 my dad, not me. When they saw him coming, they 0:09:35.000 --> 0:09:37.240 knew they were fixing to do one of two things. 0:09:37.320 --> 0:09:39.440 They were either loading up in the truck to go 0:09:39.520 --> 0:09:43.679 hunting or they were fixing to eat. Both activities were 0:09:43.679 --> 0:09:47.160 their favorites. Those hounds were pretty stand office and not 0:09:47.200 --> 0:09:49.680 at all friendly, or how we've come to view dogs 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:53.040 that are friendly. Now, you compare that to their hunting cousin, 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:55.679 the Tree and Walker, like the one that's laying on 0:09:55.679 --> 0:09:58.360 his back like a dead cockroach right beside my desk 0:09:58.440 --> 0:10:01.200 right now, and you'd think they were two totally different 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:05.160 species animals, when in fact they came from the same 0:10:05.280 --> 0:10:09.440 corral of English foxhounds brought over from England, and credit 0:10:09.480 --> 0:10:13.640 to John Walker and George Washington Mappin's cross of hounds 0:10:13.640 --> 0:10:17.559 that became the Tree and Walker coonhound. There's some intrigue 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:20.000 and criminality that went into that story back in the 0:10:20.040 --> 0:10:23.720 eighteen hundreds, but I'll say that for another day. It's 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:28.439 pretty interesting. Nonetheless, the running walkers and Tree and Walkers, 0:10:28.440 --> 0:10:31.960 they look basically the same, but how I interact with 0:10:32.040 --> 0:10:34.760 them is totally different and that is where the true 0:10:34.840 --> 0:10:39.520 difference is whaling my tree and Walker is as much 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:41.640 of a lap dog as he is a hunting dog, 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:46.640 But how we interact is where it separates. I go 0:10:46.720 --> 0:10:50.040 with him and when he hunts, following his every move, 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:52.760 and when he gets a coon treat, he barks to 0:10:52.840 --> 0:10:56.120 call me to him, and he won't leave until I 0:10:56.200 --> 0:11:00.520 get there. He's trained where I can call him to me. 0:11:00.600 --> 0:11:04.439 But when describing the attributes of a good tree dog, 0:11:04.520 --> 0:11:08.000 it is a plus for one to be accurate, obviously, 0:11:08.520 --> 0:11:11.760 but also one that will stay until you get there. 0:11:13.000 --> 0:11:15.560 Just like my dad's running hounds and his squirrel dogs, 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:19.400 the way he interacted with them was the exact opposite. 0:11:19.440 --> 0:11:21.839 A running hound that came back to where we were 0:11:21.880 --> 0:11:25.000 listening to the race for no apparent reason, was greeted 0:11:25.040 --> 0:11:27.800 by my dad's size ten red wing to that hounds 0:11:27.840 --> 0:11:30.800 behind to remind him that his job was to run 0:11:30.840 --> 0:11:33.480 and bark at the colt, and it was our job 0:11:34.000 --> 0:11:37.480 to listen. And just like the folks that dug up 0:11:37.520 --> 0:11:39.760 the two humans that had a dog buried with him 0:11:39.800 --> 0:11:42.920 in Germany, we were guessing as to what was really 0:11:42.960 --> 0:11:45.480 going on out there in that cold race, and couldn't 0:11:45.520 --> 0:11:49.000 testify under oath that all those dogs were actually running 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:53.000 a cold. We hardly ever saw it. We were never 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:55.679 close enough, especially hunting at night with the dogs in 0:11:55.720 --> 0:11:57.960 the middle of the woods and us sitting on the 0:11:58.000 --> 0:12:00.800 tailgate or in a lawn chair quarter of a mile 0:12:00.920 --> 0:12:04.040 or more away. The dogs may have cracked the cod 0:12:04.080 --> 0:12:05.839 and figured out that if they all ran around in 0:12:05.880 --> 0:12:08.559 the circles like they were chasing a coat, the dab 0:12:08.679 --> 0:12:11.439 would be happy and maybe throw out a few extra 0:12:11.480 --> 0:12:21.280 scoops of feed when they all got back home. The 0:12:21.320 --> 0:12:25.760 squirrel hunting that it's different, and we used different dogs. 0:12:25.800 --> 0:12:28.960 Mountain curves, firests in every combination of each that you 0:12:28.960 --> 0:12:32.280 can think of, were what we used. Ninety nine percent 0:12:32.280 --> 0:12:35.720 of them were bobtail That hunt, like coon hunting, was 0:12:35.760 --> 0:12:39.920 more intimate. We rode horses mainly, but sometimes walked behind 0:12:39.920 --> 0:12:42.280 the dogs as they criss crossed out in front of us, 0:12:42.320 --> 0:12:45.280 looking for the center of a squirrel and occasionally checking 0:12:45.360 --> 0:12:47.520 back in to see how close we were. Following them 0:12:47.520 --> 0:12:50.800 through the woods and ideally not getting more than three 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:54.520 hundred yards or so away before they'd make a loop 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:57.319 back to see where we were. If there were a 0:12:57.400 --> 0:13:00.760 lot of squirrels. They never made that checking in because 0:13:00.760 --> 0:13:03.800 we were always with them. They were used to us 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:06.760 being with them, and when they treed, the closer we got, 0:13:06.920 --> 0:13:10.880 the more excited they got. The real action started as 0:13:10.880 --> 0:13:12.640 soon as the first shot rang out, And if we 0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:15.040 didn't get the squirrel on the first shot, or the 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:18.120 squirrel took off on our approached, the dogs would lose 0:13:18.240 --> 0:13:21.000 their minds trying to be the first one to show 0:13:21.080 --> 0:13:24.520 us what tree he ran to. It was a bona 0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:28.240 fide partnership and they knew it. They didn't get to 0:13:28.240 --> 0:13:31.520 eat the squirrel either. They were working for a pat 0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:36.760 on the head, nothing more. The significance of the relationship 0:13:36.880 --> 0:13:40.080 is one that couldn't operate without the other, and we 0:13:40.160 --> 0:13:44.480 each saw the significant role that we both played. The 0:13:44.559 --> 0:13:48.000 dog got a subserviance, and I believe love and loyalty 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:50.680 as well. Now, if you don't think dogs have the 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:53.600 power to reason or connect on a deeper level, don't 0:13:53.760 --> 0:13:56.679 make me quotes from Wilson rawls on here about loving 0:13:56.679 --> 0:13:59.319 a coonhand and vice versa. I'll have you all balling 0:13:59.360 --> 0:14:02.360 your eyes out on way to work this morning. Even 0:14:02.400 --> 0:14:05.280 though Where the Red Fern Grows is a work of fiction, 0:14:05.720 --> 0:14:09.840 I have witnessed that fond personally, and I'm sure a 0:14:09.880 --> 0:14:14.280 lot of you have as well. But the relationship that's 0:14:14.520 --> 0:14:19.720 what's significant, maybe even more so than we realize. Just 0:14:19.760 --> 0:14:23.240 this past week, I accidentally left my back gate open 0:14:23.320 --> 0:14:26.520 while doing some chores in the early evening, Wailing. The 0:14:26.520 --> 0:14:28.960 Wonder Hound was inside the house soaking up the ac 0:14:29.360 --> 0:14:32.240 like the rest of the family. After an evening of 0:14:32.320 --> 0:14:35.240 fun and frivolity with the girls, they drifted off to 0:14:35.280 --> 0:14:40.320 the bed while me and the hound watched TV. Around eleven, 0:14:40.320 --> 0:14:42.280 I let him out the back door and went to bed, 0:14:42.440 --> 0:14:48.280 not realizing I left the gate open. When Bailey and 0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:50.760 I left for school the next morning, just like always, 0:14:50.800 --> 0:14:52.600 I go out back and put his food out and 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:55.920 check his water, and then we make tracks for her school. 0:14:57.120 --> 0:14:59.600 The door leading from the garage to the backyard makes 0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:02.440 a tail squeak at nine times out of ten when 0:15:02.440 --> 0:15:04.800 he hears it, he's on his way to eat his 0:15:04.880 --> 0:15:07.720 breakfast or try to scam his way inside the house. 0:15:08.440 --> 0:15:11.920 Not this morning. I walked over to his doghouse to 0:15:11.960 --> 0:15:14.120 see if he was inside it, and it was a 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:17.440 real possibility. After all, as I've mentioned before, he has 0:15:17.480 --> 0:15:21.440 his own air conditioning unit in there. I looked back 0:15:21.480 --> 0:15:23.760 toward the gate and my stomach went on. I knocked. 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:27.560 That's when I realized that I'd forgotten to shut it. 0:15:29.080 --> 0:15:31.600 He'd gotten out before it, and he's not running away. 0:15:31.720 --> 0:15:35.240 He's just doing what a socialized coonhound does. He goes 0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:39.080 hunting and visiting the neighbors. He usually stops by the 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:42.400 local Dollar General store and goes inside for a treat. 0:15:42.560 --> 0:15:45.240 I kid you not. A couple of years ago he 0:15:45.320 --> 0:15:48.440 did that, and the lady that was working there gave 0:15:48.520 --> 0:15:50.920 him a snack and called the number that was on 0:15:50.920 --> 0:15:55.280 his collar. Twice. A couple months later, he did the 0:15:55.320 --> 0:15:58.760 same thing, and luckily the same lady was there and 0:15:58.800 --> 0:16:01.320 hemmed him up, gave him a bite of something to eat, 0:16:01.400 --> 0:16:05.200 and called us. Now, I'm confident that clown slipped the 0:16:05.240 --> 0:16:07.560 bonds of the backyard because he was feeling the night 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:10.480 package so down the road he went to the Dollar 0:16:10.560 --> 0:16:14.840 General for a little snackrel. But those times were different 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:17.520 because he'd only been gone a short while, maybe even 0:16:17.560 --> 0:16:22.240 a few minutes, when someone called. This time, he'd been 0:16:22.280 --> 0:16:25.680 gone all night. There's no telling where he could be. 0:16:26.640 --> 0:16:28.840 I've seen him cover twenty miles in the night when 0:16:28.880 --> 0:16:32.600 coon hunting in three or four hours. In eight plus hours, 0:16:32.720 --> 0:16:35.040 he could have been a long way away from home, 0:16:35.120 --> 0:16:40.200 or worse yet, run over somewhere on the highway. I 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:42.520 called Alexis, who was already at work, and told her 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:45.160 what happened, and Bailey and I made a loop through 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:48.280 the neighborhood just in case we might see him, and 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:51.840 we didn't. As I was turning onto the highway, I 0:16:51.920 --> 0:16:54.520 was praying we wouldn't find him laying on the shoulder 0:16:54.520 --> 0:16:57.560 along the way, and my phone rang with a number 0:16:57.600 --> 0:17:02.240 I didn't recognize. Sweet lady's voice said, are you missing 0:17:02.280 --> 0:17:06.359 a four legged friend? Oh? Yes, ma'am, I am. She 0:17:06.480 --> 0:17:08.600 told me where she lived in Bailey, and I little 0:17:08.640 --> 0:17:12.280 shuck headed in that direction. As far as I knew, 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:14.720 he'd been gone eight hours, and in that span of 0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:18.520 time he'd managed to be found less than three quarters 0:17:18.520 --> 0:17:22.120 of a mile from my house. When I got there, 0:17:22.160 --> 0:17:25.160 he was soaking, wet, muddy from one end to the other, 0:17:25.200 --> 0:17:28.720 and had been apparently rambling all night somewhere, just doing 0:17:28.800 --> 0:17:32.040 what coonhounds do at night. Now was he on his 0:17:32.119 --> 0:17:34.239 way back home when the lady called him over to 0:17:34.320 --> 0:17:36.960 her and looked at his collar, and called me. I 0:17:37.040 --> 0:17:40.000 have no idea. I'd like to think that he would 0:17:40.000 --> 0:17:43.639 come home. You hear those stories about dogs crossing the 0:17:43.680 --> 0:17:45.880 country to find their family, so I'd like to think 0:17:45.920 --> 0:17:49.760 this knucklehead would do the same. But whether he was 0:17:49.920 --> 0:17:53.000 or not is not the point of my story. The 0:17:53.040 --> 0:17:56.240 thought of not having him was beyond what I could 0:17:56.280 --> 0:18:00.359 have imagined. It made me wonder just how I pooring 0:18:00.480 --> 0:18:06.439 this dang dog was, and what my dad would have said. Now, 0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:09.399 my dad's work truck, he had an eight track player 0:18:09.480 --> 0:18:11.960 and a black case that held a number of eight 0:18:12.040 --> 0:18:15.679 track tapes. You youngsters have to google that if you 0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:17.639 don't know what an eight track is. I ain't gonna 0:18:17.640 --> 0:18:21.040 explain it to you anyway. I can see that case 0:18:21.160 --> 0:18:24.040 right now in the contents, and I bet I could 0:18:24.080 --> 0:18:26.320 tell you just about in what order they were in 0:18:28.080 --> 0:18:32.359 Whalon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Gary Stewart, Charlie Pride, Conway, Twitty, 0:18:32.520 --> 0:18:36.119 Moe Bandy, and Jim Reeves, just to name a few. 0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:41.200 Jim Reeves he spelled his name r ee v e s. 0:18:41.359 --> 0:18:44.240 That's the generic spelling as we call it. But he 0:18:44.280 --> 0:18:47.520 had a song called the Blizzard, and it was written 0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:51.920 by the Great Harlan Howard and released in nineteen sixty one, 0:18:51.960 --> 0:18:54.119 and the song the singer is trying to get home 0:18:54.200 --> 0:18:58.680 to his wife mary Anne, and he's describing the trials 0:18:58.720 --> 0:19:02.200 and the tribulations he faces along the way with a 0:19:02.280 --> 0:19:06.280 blizzard and the fact that his horse Dan is lame 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:11.320 and struggling to make it. Starts out that there's still 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:15.439 seven miles from Marianne, and he sings about the cold 0:19:15.640 --> 0:19:20.879 blowing snow. Then five miles from Marianne and he sings 0:19:20.920 --> 0:19:24.200 about the hot biscuits he figures that are waiting on him. 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:29.760 Then three miles from Marianne. Then one hundred yards away. 0:19:30.800 --> 0:19:34.440 Old Dan can't go any further, so they bed down 0:19:34.600 --> 0:19:37.680 for the night, the cowboy and I wanting to leave 0:19:37.760 --> 0:19:42.159 his horse, and they both perish in the cold. Found 0:19:42.240 --> 0:19:49.159 the next morning froze in just one hundred yards from Marianne. 0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:51.480 I asked my dad when I was a little boy, 0:19:51.560 --> 0:19:54.200 after we listened and sang along with that song, if 0:19:54.600 --> 0:19:57.679 he'd have stayed with old Buck, our buckskin horse like 0:19:57.760 --> 0:20:00.440 the cowboy of the song. He said no, And Jim 0:20:00.480 --> 0:20:02.600 Reeves wouldn't have stayed with dead if Marianne could have 0:20:02.640 --> 0:20:08.040 fixed biscuits worth of dern. That's probably true, But I'll 0:20:08.080 --> 0:20:12.280 tell you this. I've seen my daddy cry only three times, 0:20:12.720 --> 0:20:14.800 and one of them was when he told me our 0:20:14.840 --> 0:20:20.400 squirrel dog, Peanut, had passed away. Now, I've talked about 0:20:20.440 --> 0:20:23.879 Peanut before and would usually describe him as my hairy 0:20:23.920 --> 0:20:27.880 little brother and my dad's favorite son. I never said 0:20:27.920 --> 0:20:30.119 that to my dad because I was always scared he 0:20:30.119 --> 0:20:34.280 would agreed with me. But fast forward a generation or two, 0:20:34.320 --> 0:20:37.080 and the last squirrel dog my dad had that was 0:20:37.119 --> 0:20:41.320 as close to Peanut's ability was named Buck. Now, I 0:20:41.520 --> 0:20:44.240 like Peanut. He was a mountain cerr and the heck 0:20:44.280 --> 0:20:46.760 of a squirrel dog. But my dad was from an 0:20:46.800 --> 0:20:49.280 area where dogs stayed outside, and he gave me and 0:20:49.359 --> 0:20:52.200 anyone else fits about having a dog in the house. 0:20:52.960 --> 0:20:57.880 Dogs belonged outside period. Here was a guy who wouldn't 0:20:57.880 --> 0:21:00.560 have braved the blowing snow for his horror because of 0:21:00.600 --> 0:21:03.560 a pan of warm biscuits, and had a hard and 0:21:03.640 --> 0:21:06.000 fast rule of no dogs in the house. And yet 0:21:06.040 --> 0:21:10.000 on numerous occasions my brother would stop by unannounced and 0:21:10.040 --> 0:21:13.920 catch them both asleep in the recliner. Dad reared back 0:21:13.960 --> 0:21:16.760 with his fingers interlaced across the belly of his overalls 0:21:16.800 --> 0:21:21.320 and Buck curled up on the footstool, surprised by my brother. 0:21:21.480 --> 0:21:23.760 Daddy would say, Buck, what are you doing in this house? 0:21:23.800 --> 0:21:27.359 Get out of here, my brother holding screen door open 0:21:27.400 --> 0:21:30.879 as Buck trotted out of the house. I tell you 0:21:30.920 --> 0:21:34.520 that story to emphasize the bond that comes from the 0:21:34.560 --> 0:21:38.560 intimacy of relationship between man and dog. There's some next 0:21:38.640 --> 0:21:41.760 level signs going on here that no one can map 0:21:41.800 --> 0:21:46.760 out scientifically beyond carbon dating and DNA. Both are interesting 0:21:46.880 --> 0:21:50.160 documentations of origin and history, but when it comes down 0:21:50.200 --> 0:21:55.040 to it, who cares? Not me? Interesting for sure, but 0:21:55.160 --> 0:21:58.320 I don't care if it started fifteen thousand years ago 0:21:58.880 --> 0:22:02.560 for fifteen minutes. If it can change the outlook at 0:22:02.640 --> 0:22:07.159 my dad, you could get a hold of anyone. The 0:22:07.240 --> 0:22:10.520 joy I and my family received from my four legged 0:22:10.560 --> 0:22:13.359 friend as the lady down the road calling is beyond 0:22:13.840 --> 0:22:18.399 my understanding. My question at the beginning was how and 0:22:18.520 --> 0:22:21.119 why does an animal get to play such an important 0:22:21.160 --> 0:22:24.080 role in our lives. There's so many things to look at, 0:22:24.119 --> 0:22:26.000 and there are folks out there that have dogs that 0:22:26.080 --> 0:22:28.920 can't hunt, lick, and they love them just the same 0:22:28.960 --> 0:22:33.199 as I do. Mine coincidence, I don't think so them. 0:22:33.920 --> 0:22:37.280 It is my strong belief that the dogs are a 0:22:37.320 --> 0:22:41.360 gift from Heaven that love us unconditionally, and they're here 0:22:41.480 --> 0:22:47.399 to sudden example. We're supposed to be unconditional. Love is 0:22:47.440 --> 0:22:50.600 a chore, something we as humans have to work on 0:22:50.840 --> 0:22:54.840 every day. I know my wife loves me beyond measure. 0:22:55.440 --> 0:22:58.159 I also know there are times when she probably wonders 0:22:58.160 --> 0:23:03.080 why something to be said for love and devotion and 0:23:03.200 --> 0:23:08.440 a living, breathing example of each as a dog expends 0:23:08.480 --> 0:23:11.760 his whole life just waiting for you to come home. 0:23:14.840 --> 0:23:18.240 Thank y'all so much for listening. Clay and I appreciate 0:23:18.359 --> 0:23:21.240 each and every one of you who do, and invite 0:23:21.280 --> 0:23:23.400 you to share it with someone that you might think 0:23:23.440 --> 0:23:26.919 would enjoy it as well. Leaving reviews helps get our 0:23:26.960 --> 0:23:29.000 shows in front of others who might like them, and 0:23:29.480 --> 0:23:31.760 I think those of you taking the time to drop 0:23:31.840 --> 0:23:36.600 a few lines it really makes a difference. Don't forget 0:23:36.600 --> 0:23:39.080 if you've got a good story to share about hunting, fishing, 0:23:39.240 --> 0:23:42.960 dogs outdoors are just good old country living or city 0:23:43.000 --> 0:23:46.119 living for that matter, send them in to me at 0:23:46.480 --> 0:23:52.320 my tcl story for meadeater dot com until next week. 0:23:52.600 --> 0:24:13.240 This is Brent Reeves signing off. Y'all be careful.