Boots the Dog...!

Some of you may have had the privilege of knowing my family's dog, Boots... what a character. He really would never hurt a flea, although as he grew older, Boots had to prove that he wasn't a softy! You know the phrase "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" well that didn't apply to Boots, not even a little bit. Not only did he learn new tricks... many, many new tricks (and he's like 15 years old)... he became more crafty with each one. For instance:

• Boots is the only dog that has ever escaped from the dog pound in Fillmore... and he did it 3 times!
  
• He could somehow wriggle his way out of a full body harness (to this day we can't imagine how), so a leash around his collar was out of the question!
• Leashes and harnesses were easy for Boots. Nothing could contain this dog. Not even a dog house inside a completely inclosed area. First, he would climb on top of the dog house and somehow knock the chin-link fence from the roof just enough to get through. So with a HUGE pice of ply-wood on top to prevent that, he would wiggle out of a 8 inch hole that he furiously and diligently dug. I swear! The garage was the only place he couldn't conquer. Poor dog!
• Although afraid of lightening and thunder, a stampede of the neighbors angry horses only made him smile!
• He memorized my parents work schedule. He knew when they would leave in the morning for the office (my dad's a dentist and my mom runs things!!). So he would leave 5 mins. before they did so he could beat them there. He even knew that Thursday's was their day off... seriously, cause he'd stay home instead of trying to beat them to work.
• While he was at the office he was nothing but a pest. Chasing cars and barking at dogs in the back of pick-ups. (if this is how you know Boots, I'm really sorry).
• If that wasn't enough, he started terrorizing my parent's neighborhood. Eating people's dinner... before they did, ripping off the next door neighbor's truck fender...twice, and chasing the neighbor's horses and sheep just to name a few!

My parents can't figure out way he'd do these crazy things. I guess it all kind of started when we all  started leaving home. But the other day Boots' days of tricks came to an unfortunate end. He lived a completely full and busy life for a dog. He went on many hunting excursions, camp-outs, and trips to the farm (his favorite)! And now I'm sure he's re-chasing all of those turkey's and squirrel's that he'd already gotten before!! ;)

You'll be missed ol' Boots... by your family at least!!