Several people lately have asked me about JD and so I thought I would introduce you to him. It seems strange that I have not talked about him before as he was my best friend and confidant for nearly sixteen years. Like most Australian Shepherds, JD was very intelligent and was as close to human as a dog could be, showing almost human characteristics including shame, mischievousness, confidence, self-control, patience, and above all, friendliness.
I used to say that JD was like Will Rogers in that he never met a man he didn't like. He liked people and people loved JD! JD spent a lot of time with me when we worked at a feed store many years ago. He went with me every day and most of the time it was just the two of us. I remember a regular customer came in one day and I asked her, as I always would, if there was anything I could help her with and she told me, "No, thank you. I'm just here to see JD". She explained that sometimes when she had a bad day at work she would go get her hair done but other times she just came to see JD and he would make her feel better. I watched as she loved on JD for a while and then she just left. Just another day at the office for JD!
There are hundreds of stories about JD so bear with me as I remember him with a few more, most of which occur at that same feedstore in Arlington. A feedstore is a pretty good place for a friendly dog to be as he got lots of attention and more than his share of treats from people who wanted to give him "just one". That was fine with him and he would follow them around the store patiently. Many times people would sneak him a biscuit out of the open wooden bins, effectively stealing from the store, but what do you say when they just fed your dog?
That building did not have any kind of air conditioning so we always kept all of the doors open including the front, back and side overhead doors. JD was free to come and go and he always hung around close by, sometimes chasing a squirrel or a bird out the back door or laying under the big tree out back but one time I started to notice that JD was not around and would stay gone for several hours. He always came back, though, so I was not too worried but one day it came closing time and JD was not back yet. I locked the doors and got into the truck and went looking for him. I was starting to get pretty worried about him. I knew he was very smart and would even look both ways before crossing a street but this was not like him. I drove around the neighborhood for awhile and I saw this boy riding his bike so I stopped and asked him if he had seen a gray and white dog running around. He thought for a second and asked, "You mean the one at Accent Tire?" The owner of Accent was a good customer and I knew he did not have a dog like that so I drove the three blocks down to his store and went in. As I went through the door, I saw JD and he saw me. He was laying in the air conditioned office asleep! He gave a look and then laid his head down again and then jerked it back up as he recognized me with the double-take and came sheepishly over to me. I asked the owner why he let him stay here when he knew he was my dog. He said, "Well, he just loves these jelly donuts and we like him here!" No wonder he wouldn't eat his dog food.
The joy of JD's life was chasing cats and he was good at it. We once lived on a little horse ranch and the barn had cats in it. He would see one of those cats and stiff as a board and as slow as he could, he would turn around to me and look at me waiting for me to give the all clear. The "all clear" signal was "skit 'em!" and rarely would I get out more than "sk" and he would be a gray streak looking like his legs were hardly touching the ground. He monitored that barn like a sentry on lookout duty and nothing got passed him but he always waited for permission.
JD was the toughest dog I've ever seen. I used to kid him that when he died I was going to make a pair of boots out of his hide because he was so tough. One morning on that horse ranch we were getting all of the horses out of the gate and JD got too close to one and the horse kicked him right in the side of the head. He fell over dead as a post as I ran over to him. I just knew he could not have survived that blow and I was devastated. I got to him just as he woke up, stood up, shook himself off and with the most ticked off look on his face he ran after the horse that kicked him and barked and snapped at him until he was halfway into the pasture. It wasn't smart to make JD mad.
JD was a gentleman. He knew how to act when guests came over and he knew how to be gentle with little kids. He wasn't hyper but he had plenty of energy and loved to jump up into your arms when you would invite him. He loved to go to work and couldn't wait to jump into the bed of the truck to go somewhere. He would run back and forth between the wheelwells not wanting to miss anything. A friend gave JD to me when JD was four months old and he lived sixteen good, full years dying about two years ago of old age. He went everywhere with me including inside the bank and several times to church. He had a lot of friends and I appreciate it when they mention him. I wish you could have known him.
