The Rookie Show

A few months after my mom died, I got Spooky. She's an Australian Cattle dog (Blue Heeler for most Texans). I got her at about 8 weeks of age, from a ranch that raises working dogs. When I decided to get a dog of my own, I decided I wanted a heeler. I'm not sure why. I'd been around a couple of them in the past. I remember the lady who did my mom's hair had one. She always told people not to turn their back on it because it would nip you. There used to be one that rode around town on the roof of a guys pickup. Somehow it always knew just how to lean to stay in place. But I don't think it was those dogs. I think it was Max's dog from The Road Warrior. Something about having a dog that could hold someone at bay with a shotgun appealed to me, so I found a ranch that sold ACD's. When I got to the ranch, I could tell the guy wasn't happy about sending one of his dogs to a home that didn't have cows. He tried to get me to look at some pups that he didn&#

I had never had a dog of my own until I got Spooky. I think back to my childhood and I remember a few dogs. First there were Misty and King, both were American Eskimo's that my mom had. I don't remember much about them except that King seemed to stay outside most of the time and Misty was more of a family dog. At the time, my mom was married to my stepdad who was an alcoholic. He was a great guy when he was sober (that I remember) but once he got drunk he was not a fun person to be around. I remember that when he got drunk and abusive, Misty would put herself between him and whoever he was after. She was pretty ferocious. That's probably why he found a "new home for her in the country". Not long thereafter, King was found bleeding from the mouth, and had been poisoned. We always suspected the neighbors, but we never really knew who did it. I also vaguely remember a german shepherd that my sister got. He didn't stay long though because he took a hunk out of my