Freckles

Freckles
           She was the runt of the litter and had so many troubles it’s amazing she lasted. She was always last in the food line often missing out as the milk was gone long before she even found the spigot and I think the saying “sucking hind teat” was coined after her. She was small and weak but survive she did and she wound up being the last pup from the litter which no one wanted. The owner was a friend and once he had sold all the other pups he was going to get rid of her but offered her to me first just to take her off his hands. I couldn’t bear to see such a determined little runt put down through no fault of hers so, home she came.
            She was the product of two purebred Springer spaniels so she was liver and white as they were and she also had many tiny brown spots on her forelegs and all over her little face which prompted my daughter to name her Freckles. She was immediately a family member and took over the old beanbag chair lying on the living room floor. From her first day at our house that old beanbag was her home and she slept there for the rest of her fourteen year life.
            She grew rapidly once the food supply was all hers and soon she was a great looking dog. I almost by accident took her hunting because being a house dog I was sure she wouldn’t be much good in the field but she seemed excited to be with me when I took out my gun. Boy was I wrong! She once again showed her determination and character by being a “Born Hunter” and with no training was chasing rabbits and partridge as if she had been doing it since birth. She would retrieve birds and rabbits once I had dispatched them as well as any field retriever could and she coursed the fields back and forth like any good field trial dog.
           Her only fault was snakes and skunks! Somehow she thought any snake was out to harm me and must be exterminated at all costs. I am thankful I lived where there were no poisonous snakes or Freckles may have met a quick end. Her attack was usually swift and decisive with a lunge to the neck behind the head, a snap left and right and finally a toss high in the air. If the snake moved once it hit the ground the attack was repeated until the reptile was thoroughly dead.
            Freckles and I had one of the strangest experiences with a rather large garter snake. We were hunting an old, overgrown logging trail when I rounded a small bend and was stunned to see a garter snake raised in the air like a cobra, waving back and forth slowly as if trying to mesmerize me. I have to admit I stepped back a bit when Freckles drove in from the side attacking the snake and ending the strange ritual-like display with a swift snap and crack of the snake like a whip. I have never seen a snake do that display since.
            With skunks as her target I again was thankful for vaccinations as I’m sure she would have caught some disease sooner or later without them. Her attack with these critters was to dash in circles around the skunk not allowing it to get a good spray at her and once the skunk was out circled she would dash in and grab it behind the head and shake vigorously until it ceased movement and then it was tossed high into the air and allowed to thumb on the ground dead. She probably never got sprayed directly but the fallout that did settle on her was enough to earn her many baths over the years. Interestingly I can’t smell skunk spray as well as most others so I often didn’t realize her odor was a problem until we got home and tried to enter the family abode!
            Freckles was a true family companion who loved kids so her duties as part-time babysitter were a blessing. She would tend my four year old toddler daughter out in the yard and if she started to wander away Freckles would gently shepherd her back to the safety of the house step. She was pretty much an all around member of the family that was always welcome and all she ever needed was a good petting and a kind “Good Girl” to keep her content. A good friend is hard to come by and sorely missed when gone.
Chris