LAST CALL: It's a (Wonderful) Dog's Life
Babbin, Jed
LAST CALL It's a (Wonderful) Dog's Life T HERE ARE SOME THINGS IN LIFE that can't be exp l a i n e d by cold Darwinian logic. They are God's gifts, gratuitous creations that serve no...
...You think dogs aren't smart...
...He ambled over, placed his head on my knee, and gave me a look that couldn't be misread: "What's a guy gotta do to get a nap around here...
...Jed Babbin, an American Spectator contributing editor, is the author (with Edward Timperlahe) of Showdown: Why China Wants War with the United States (Regnery, May 2006...
...to better sarcastic effect than anyone I know can say those words...
...Friday evenings are a time to unwind from the stresses of the week...
...Tell that to Hank, who--if banished from my study for boisterousness-will pick up a bone and throw it against the door until I let him in...
...74 THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR JUNE 2006 SARKES TARZlAN INC Sarkes Tarzian Television Sarkes Tarzian Radio Broadcasters Making a Difference...
...Gus has a better pedigree than I do and, for dogs, purest breeding can mean shorter life...
...In the rolling hills of Loudoun County, Virginia, they are all around, as simple as a goldfinch's bright color and as complicated as the love we receive from our dogs...
...Sharon started yelling at Hank to get the heck off the couch, the cat took offat high speed, Hank took off in hot pursuit, and Sharon launched herself behind the fleeing pair...
...He is a four-footed version of so many fighter pilots I've known...
...LAST CALL It's a (Wonderful) Dog's Life T HERE ARE SOME THINGS IN LIFE that can't be exp l a i n e d by cold Darwinian logic...
...Sharon and I are usuallycurled up on the couch, with Gus and Hank napping on the carpet and the cat sleeping on his perch high on the back of the couch...
...Over the past month he's quieted down a little...
...Dogs don't just sense fear: they sense every emotion and respond with whatever you need most...
...Cheerful and equally ready to play, travel, or nap, Gus is a most agreeable guy...
...They returned with a ten-week-old pup that I instantly proclaimed, "Gus...
...Hank is enough to make me believe in reincarnation...
...They are God's gifts, gratuitous creations that serve no purpose other than to decorate the world with beauty and grace...
...Chasing the cat, hanging by his teeth from Gus's ears, chewing on everything, Hank defines "ebullient...
...I expected another Gus...
...Hank awoke and jumped onto the couch to see what was wrong with his cat...
...Being doubled over with laughter, I was useless to all except Gus...
...Hank doesn't fetch a ball...
...Except in the winter, when Genius Dog returns with icicles hanging from his tummy...
...He sprints to it, grabs hold, and then does laps around the flagpole, back around to leap on one end of the porch and off the other, flying over the bushes...
...I spoiled him with treats, toys, and an everincreasing number of belly rubs and ear scratches...
...On one recent Friday evening the cat began to cough up a hairball, an act that produced a series of near-simultaneous events...
...Gus has always given more than he has received...
...In 1996 1 wrote a check and sent wife and #4 son off to choose her Mother's Day present...
...Sharon trained him well, and Gus-an untypical puppy--didn't chew anythinghe wasn't supposedto or otherwise ravage the house...
...I didn't think I'd survive Hanks first two months with us...
...For all his faults, Hank is turning into another loving companion...
...Hank can smirk...
...Sharon had been ruminating on Gus's advancing age so last November I relented--again-to the idea of a puppy...
...Busy enough with job and sons, I thought dogs would be too much unnecessarywork...
...He's not "Chewsama" anymore...
...Sorry, Gus," said I. "You're still Number One dog but this is also the House of Hank...
...What I got was Chewsama bin Barkin, puppy terrorist...
...But after marrying alady who was used to the company of horses, dogs, and cats, and with the boys chiming in, I relented...
...He quickly learned the joys of leashless living when we moved to Loudoun County...
...Gus chases deer (but never catches them) and sometimes sneaks offto swim in the creek at the bottom of our mountain, and returns a happy, soggy mess...
...There was no other name for this wriggly and affectionate ball of brown fur, legs, and eyes...
...He's smart, athletic, and exhibits an attitude I've often encountered around the bars of officers' clubs...
...But whoever said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions must have known Hank in a previous life...
...He can purse his lips like a teenager, tilt his head, and express "just what the heck were you thinking...
Vol. 39 • June 2006 • No. 5
