2810HST and my Best Friend

dieselsmoke1 · Mar 20, 2006

Maybe some of you old timers will remember this photo.

Lost my friend at 12 yrs. old to a freak accident, I was sawing down a tree when he heard it crack and came running from behind the house to protect me. Died in the line of duty.

Don't know how much it says of me as a person to call a dog my best friend, some folks may think it foolish or be insulted, but so be it.

I've have not posted for a while, guess I got irritated with another poster, busy, distracted, etc. etc. But I've read regularly to keep up with events, sounds selfish when I say it that way.

I'd like to jump back in and throw in my 2 cents worth from time to time if it's OK.

Dieselsmoke

dieselsmoke1 · Mar 20, 2006

Well I screwed up the attachment. I'll give it another try.

dieselsmoke1 · Mar 20, 2006

that's better click here for pic

<font color="blue">Edit - changed large pic to link </font>

Charlie_in_TX · Mar 21, 2006

Not foolish to call a dog your best friend. Why else would we keep them around? Welcome back and keep posting.

dieselsmoke1 · Mar 21, 2006

Thanks Charlie, I will.

UncleBuck01 · Mar 22, 2006

Dieselsmoke1
I have had 5 dogs in my lifetime and each one WAS my best friend, we currently (my 5 th) have a 12 year old collie who besides being my best friend has help raise & protect my two kids, they now realize, because of her failing health, how important she is to this family. Best Friend ? without question. Looking forward to your 2 cents worth
Buck

MajMac392 · Mar 22, 2006

Dieselsmoke1, you know you could probably get a whole link going if you start talking about our dogs and how close we become to them. As they get older and start having health problems, it is even harder because they can't tell us about their aches and pains. Men aren't supposed to get emotional over things either. I had a Norwegian Elkhound for about 15 years and the last few years of his life were pretty much retirement for him. As he became more and more lame and required help getting up and down stairs, looking with those big eyes for you to help him it wasn't a fun time. When my wife finally said it's time we do something with him I thought it would be a piece of cake. By the time I got to the vet and the realization this was our last trip together, I was an emotional wreck. Best Friends? You better believe they are. They only know how to give us love and companionship. Something many humans don't know how to do. My .02

dieselsmoke1 · Mar 22, 2006

Thanks guys, and thanks to the moderator for editing my attachment and allowing my post to remain where it probably shouldn't have been.

Hopefully someone will remember this and take the precautions that I did not.

demote · Mar 25, 2006

Dieselsmoke, ya' know dogs love tractors. My elderly german shepard's greatest excitement is when the tractor cranks up. I won't go into those elder ailments but they're a growing concern.
Glad to hear from you as your past posts and replies, if I'm not mistaken have been a benefit to me. Danny

IH3444 · Mar 27, 2006

George Vest's tribute to a dog
I never knew the name of the man who wrote this before but I do know the story behind it: It is from a speech made in 1870, when the man's dog, a foxhound named Drum was shot. His owner sued the man who shot Drum. There was no evidence even, but after he finished his speech, the jury was in tears. They fined the man $500, even though the maximum fine was $150.

It is claimed that George Vest was a 19th century lawyer defending a client.

Gentlemen of the jury, the best friend a man has in this world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son and daughter that he has reared with loving care may become ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has he may lose. It flies away from him when he may need it most. Man's reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees and do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our head.

The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his DOG. A man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground,where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer, he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wing and reputation falls to pieces, he is as content in his love as the sun in its journey throught the heavens. If fortune drives the master forth an outcast into the cold, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard him against danger, and to fight against his enemies. When the last scene of all comes, and death takes his master in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws and his eyes sad, but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death.

-Senator George Vest, 1870.