Snookie

This is a photo taken in June of '75. I had just turned 13. Here I am holding the family dog, Snookie.

Snookie was a unique dog. Half domesticated and half wild dog, she used to disappear for days at a time. I'm not sure exactly where she would go, but assumed she had carved out a niche for herself in the wooded area across the street from our house. There were several cows there and sometimes you'd see Snookie barking at them, running around by their legs as if she were rounding them up in a cattle drive back in the old West.

She must have hunted down and killed her own meals, because I don't remember her eating dog food. It got to the point where we didn't even leave any out in her bowl.

I remember one afternoon, my brother and I were playing in a cement tunnel beneath the road. We had gathered up a lot of bottles and were throwing them at the walls, breaking them. We didn't think about all the glass scattered on the floor. Snookie came around to see what all the commotion was. She cut her heels pretty badly. I felt really awful about it...I don't know why I didn't realize the damage that might be done if she were to show up. She healed quickly though.

I guess she had a long life for a dog. But one day, as I looked out of the window, I saw her lying on her side in the middle of the carport. I didn't know if she was asleep or what. I hoped that was the case. But she seemed too still. When I went out to check on her I saw the blood trailing from her mouth. I called my dad and he came home from work to bury her. I don't think she had been hit by a car or anything...I seem to recall being told that she died of a hemhorrage.

She was a good old dog, though. We all loved her.