The Straying Dog
By Victoria Rose Perkins
This true story is over 50 years old now and it's about old Petey. Well, at the beginning, we didn't know his name
was Petey. We lived in a mostly rural area and already had a great Collie dog named Champ.
One hot summer day our family was sitting out on the porch trying to cool off by sipping some after supper
lemonade. All of a sudden, we look up and see a stray brown and white mutt heading up our driveway. He didn't
appear to look neglected, but rather dejected, in search of a friend.
He soon made friends with us and considered himself one of the family. In those days dogs didn't require tags and
licenses, so we had no idea who owned him. The only outstanding thing about Petey was, he liked to get dirty. I
mean rolling in a puddle, nosing around in the dirt or digging a spot out of the dirt with his front paws and then he'd
be quite content to lay there most of the day. He seemed to fit right in with the loose chickens and rabbits we had
running around our place. And, like our Champ, he enjoyed a can of dog food mixed with table scraps twice a day.
After about two weeks, we watched this expensive-looking lady driving a Cadillac, looking anxiously over both sides
of the road as if she had lost something. This was new for us, we never saw an expensive car drive down our clean
but mostly low-incomed rural neighborhood before.
She rolled down the window and asked had anyone see a brown and white dog and that she had been searching for
him for about two weeks. She seemed quite distraught.
We said, "well, a dog is making his home with us and we don't know where he came from." All of a sudden her eyes
got big and she smiled and cried at the same time and asked "is that the dog?" We said, "yes." The lady jumped
out of her car looking at the scruffy, dirty-coated dog and yelled with joy "Petey, my darling, I've been looking
everywhere for you!"
Old Petey stood up and stretched real slow like, yawned and started wagging his tail just a little. He reminded us of
a rich kid not wanting to leave because he got to play where he might not have been allowed to play. Petey was like
a rich kid who had more fun playing with the kids from the other side of the tracks, behind his mother's back. But,
now, his mother found him.
Anyhow, she was so thankful to get him back she offered us a $5.00 reward, which was more like $50.00 nowadays.
Our mother said, "Absolutely not, just take him home, he is rightfully your's."
The lady opened the back door of her beautifully clean Cadillac and said, "Come on, Petey darling, lets go
home...mommy missed you sooooo much!" In he went, filthy dirty, taking his time, his head and tail hanging low and
she making a huge fuss over him. She was very happy to get him back. It was quite obvious she loved him very
much. As they drove away, he looked rather forlorn out the back window as he was leaving his old friends.
About a month went by and sure enough, here comes old Petey back to the surroundings he had adopted. And
sure enough, a week later came his mother back in that new Cadillac. She wore high heels and had big gold
earrings. As children, living in the country, we did not see folks wearing high heels. It being summer, we were
mostly always barefoot.
She, speaking to us said, "I can't understand it. I've been all over the place looking for him again and didn't think he
would be back here as he was, well....kinda dirty last time."
The lady lived in Brentwood, a richer town about 4 miles away from us and so we knew what she meant. Brentwood
was more of an upper middle class type of town. Our town was not, by comparison.
Once again, she loaded him in the car all damp and dirty (he had been nosing in the frog pond) and thanked us for
our trouble and drove away.
Another month went by and we kind of missed him. Shortly after that, he came back again for the last time. This
time his mother came the very next day and said, "I still can't understand.
We give him the best of everything! He even has a custom-built dog house, just like our house, and if he wishes to
play outdoors or indoors we let him".
We never saw old Petey again. And now, some 50 years later, once in a great while, we wonder if he ever really got
happy living with his rich mother. We hope so, for he was a good old doggie!
By Victoria Rose Perkins
This true story is over 50 years old now and it's about old Petey. Well, at the beginning, we didn't know his name
was Petey. We lived in a mostly rural area and already had a great Collie dog named Champ.
One hot summer day our family was sitting out on the porch trying to cool off by sipping some after supper
lemonade. All of a sudden, we look up and see a stray brown and white mutt heading up our driveway. He didn't
appear to look neglected, but rather dejected, in search of a friend.
He soon made friends with us and considered himself one of the family. In those days dogs didn't require tags and
licenses, so we had no idea who owned him. The only outstanding thing about Petey was, he liked to get dirty. I
mean rolling in a puddle, nosing around in the dirt or digging a spot out of the dirt with his front paws and then he'd
be quite content to lay there most of the day. He seemed to fit right in with the loose chickens and rabbits we had
running around our place. And, like our Champ, he enjoyed a can of dog food mixed with table scraps twice a day.
After about two weeks, we watched this expensive-looking lady driving a Cadillac, looking anxiously over both sides
of the road as if she had lost something. This was new for us, we never saw an expensive car drive down our clean
but mostly low-incomed rural neighborhood before.
She rolled down the window and asked had anyone see a brown and white dog and that she had been searching for
him for about two weeks. She seemed quite distraught.
We said, "well, a dog is making his home with us and we don't know where he came from." All of a sudden her eyes
got big and she smiled and cried at the same time and asked "is that the dog?" We said, "yes." The lady jumped
out of her car looking at the scruffy, dirty-coated dog and yelled with joy "Petey, my darling, I've been looking
everywhere for you!"
Old Petey stood up and stretched real slow like, yawned and started wagging his tail just a little. He reminded us of
a rich kid not wanting to leave because he got to play where he might not have been allowed to play. Petey was like
a rich kid who had more fun playing with the kids from the other side of the tracks, behind his mother's back. But,
now, his mother found him.
Anyhow, she was so thankful to get him back she offered us a $5.00 reward, which was more like $50.00 nowadays.
Our mother said, "Absolutely not, just take him home, he is rightfully your's."
The lady opened the back door of her beautifully clean Cadillac and said, "Come on, Petey darling, lets go
home...mommy missed you sooooo much!" In he went, filthy dirty, taking his time, his head and tail hanging low and
she making a huge fuss over him. She was very happy to get him back. It was quite obvious she loved him very
much. As they drove away, he looked rather forlorn out the back window as he was leaving his old friends.
About a month went by and sure enough, here comes old Petey back to the surroundings he had adopted. And
sure enough, a week later came his mother back in that new Cadillac. She wore high heels and had big gold
earrings. As children, living in the country, we did not see folks wearing high heels. It being summer, we were
mostly always barefoot.
She, speaking to us said, "I can't understand it. I've been all over the place looking for him again and didn't think he
would be back here as he was, well....kinda dirty last time."
The lady lived in Brentwood, a richer town about 4 miles away from us and so we knew what she meant. Brentwood
was more of an upper middle class type of town. Our town was not, by comparison.
Once again, she loaded him in the car all damp and dirty (he had been nosing in the frog pond) and thanked us for
our trouble and drove away.
Another month went by and we kind of missed him. Shortly after that, he came back again for the last time. This
time his mother came the very next day and said, "I still can't understand.
We give him the best of everything! He even has a custom-built dog house, just like our house, and if he wishes to
play outdoors or indoors we let him".
We never saw old Petey again. And now, some 50 years later, once in a great while, we wonder if he ever really got
happy living with his rich mother. We hope so, for he was a good old doggie!
New Hampshire Writers Pet Stories
 |
 |
 |