He's Family

As a kid growing up, I do not recall a time when our family did not have a dog. During fifty-two  married-years, Gerry and I only failed to have a dog six of those years. Our current canine is 'James Wilkerson Yoder,' a four-year old, seven pound white Toy Poodle. We purchased 'Yodie' from an Amish family in Arthur, Illinois. I assumed their name was Yoder thus the naming of our little boy.
A succinct description of Yodie's living-style was recently delivered by our 81-year old brother-in law who asked his children to never place him in a nursing home but ship him to Mel & Gerry's where he might receive the care 'that pup gets.'

Our breed of dogs over the years have run the pooch spectrum. However, since the early 1970's our choice of breed favors the 'Poodle' for three reasons: They do not shed hair, they are hypo-allergenic and finally they are a very intelligent breed. Actually, I have always preferred 'big' dogs but my wife likes the smaller pup. If she could she would get a Tea Cup breed but I fear for the safety of such a little dog. In any case, I finally agreed to buy the toy poodle for my wife; it would be her dog. That game plan went to hell-in-a-hand-basket soon! I will confess that I am absolutely crazy about Yodie.

Yodie is kept in a supply of rubber ducks (Mallard paint markings) by a former East St. Louis baseball teammate of mine who lives in Springfield, Missouri near the original Bass Pro Shop, which stock the seven dollar ducks. The duck serves a significant purpose in our relationship. Yodie wishes for me to attempt taking the duck from him...this growl tug-of-war game plays out in about 10 minutes three times a day. The dog follows me around and should I end up at this computer, Yodie finds me, stands at my feet growling until I push my chair back so that he may jump into my lap and watch the letters appear on the screen as I type them. Yodie sleeps between us and like clock-work, each night when getting into bed hearranges a small white teddy bear with its nose in his mouth and front paws wrapped around the bears head.

 My wife and I have always been soft-hearted for God's creatures. The most significant contribution a dog makes in the human relationship experience is the pure blue-print-demonstration of 'unconditional-love.' I am convinced that if all the world's Heads-of-State were women and everybody was required to own a dog there would be no wars and no domestic violence!

I shall never forget a time when a basketball fan was giving me some crap as I walked from the court after coaching a game. I spun around and in a stern scolding voice-finger pointing, I said, "Listen you jerk, I have a dog at home waiting for me and he thinks that I am the greatest; I am NOT seeking any second opinions!" I have no idea what prompted my comment; suffice to say that my adversary was dumb-founded!