Old Dogs

• Jack Sutton, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2012

Old dogs we got three of them there’s Pup he’s a great big pit bull, There’s Major he is a roman nosed bull terrier he gets his name from major pain in the butt and finally there’s uddles and I don’t know what she is or how she got here but she been my friend since I was about 3. Now they’re not all living with me at my house only Pup but I know them well.
They all had different things suited to them Pup was a Ute dog he guarded my stepdads Toyota. Major was my dad’s pig dog and he did a bloody good job he could smell the pigs catch the pigs and hold on to them and that’s all dad expected. Then Puddles she was a friend’s dog but I saw her all the time, she was rather scruffy looking but had a great personality. But over time misfortunate things have happened to all of them.
Pup was a great dog he always loved to run around and play. He loved chasing things and swimming in the dam with us. He even played footy I would throw the little football he’d chase it pick it up and run straight at me then sidestep but because he had for legs he got them tangled up and he would trip then drop the ball. I would make a quick grab and sprint down the lawn he would be one his feet and chasing me. He would chase me down and jump up, smack me with his shoulder and I would be down so he would pick it up and run and we just did that till he got puffed. One day the family went fishing and when we got back mum went to let the dogs off the chain for a run and came back in tears she told us the pup had jumped the fence but crawled back under then he jumped it again and there wasn’t enough chain and he choked himself.
Major. As a puppy he was ugly, playful and was always running in front of dad causing him to fall over. Yep major pain in the butt all right, but when he was on the Ute at night dad was impressed. He would sit while dad drove along through the paddocks sniffing the air, then he would get a scent and he was gone at 100km an hour after the smell, dad would be out of the car with the gun and follow the sound of the barking. Major always got decent pigs and that’s why dad loved him. But dad gave up pig chasing and gave his dogs to his friend but after a couple of months we got a call that major had bailed up a pig and got beat up pretty bad and had died doing what he loved most.
Puddles is a wiry haired dog she somehow got the gig as a Ute dog but she sat in the front only because she is about 40-50cm high. She is pretty smart and very cuddly. she sits on your lap or curls up beside you but she was always by someone’s side. She will always be remembered as the dog that shot our uncle Neville. One day they were out shooting when uncle Neville put the gun on the seat beside him but forgot to take the bolt out he was having a drink when puddles saw a roo and got excited she jumped all over the place then she landed on the trigger. Uncle Neville was shot in the leg and puddles isn’t really his favourite dog anymore even though it’s sought of his fault. Puddles is still alive but has got old and gone blind but she uses her nose to see and she still knows exactly who I am.
They all had a good long life though and all of them have had puppies and there puppies will have puppies so there is always a little bit of them with us forever.