Chapter 31

"What you are going to have to find is a dog sitter. Someone who is at the same place all the time and would take Dog for a few hours while you pretend to be the Sheriff," Simpson said.

"Mrs West," I suggested.

"I can't see her walking Dog when he has to go out. She is a bit frail I think. Once he get past this depression, if a cat crosses his path he will pull most anyone down." Simpson said.

We were standing in the shade of the gun shop while Dog lay quietly panting. "I don't know. Hell Eddie I'm the boss. I'll just assign someone to take care of him."

"You know that would come back to haunt you in a couple of years," Eddie said.

"Yeah but I'm not leaving him alone," I said.

"How about this, keep him in your office and take care of him till you need to go somewhere you can't take him. Then call one of your friends who is down town to come get him. You can leave Dog with Mrs. West for a few minutes. She is a woman with grown kids, I'm sure she would love something to mother. Just don't expect her to take care of him. If you know what I mean."

"Okay Dog stays with me at the office. If I have to interview bad guys he can stay in her office. If it's a long thing, I leave him with her till Brit or Jeremy can come pick him up. So I need to get him used to the two of them, if they will do it."

"Brit tells everyone he owes you his life, but won't say why. I don't think he will refuse to walk fifty paces to pick up Dog for an hour or two. I think Jeremy would do it in a heart beat. So go work it out." Simpson said.

I left the courthouse at 5PM with Dog on the rope. We walked to the Brit's Pub. "I got somebody I want you to meet. Brit this is Dog, Dog this is The Brit. You two should get on famously. You are both all bark and no bite," I said.

"Where did you get this fellow," The Brit asked.

I told him the whole story, then explained my problem. "Well most mornings I'm not really doing anything. If he will behave, he can stay here for a couple of hours no problem. At 3PM he will have to be gone."

"Do you think Jeremy would allow him to stay at the gallery," I asked.

"We will all have to see if he is a good citizen," The Brit said.

"Dog and I took the trike out every morning. We also stopped Hardee's and sat outside having a biscuit. If it rained Dog and I stayed home. He didn't get to run and I didn't get to pedal the trike. Fortunately that didn't happen often.

Dog spent time with The Brit and Jeremy. We joked about who really owned Dog. Everybody who met the fifty pound bag of bones couldn't help but fall madly in love themselves. The first time I had to go out to a bad accident, The Brit went to the courthouse and retrieved Dog.

He told me later he wasn't sure Mrs West was going to let him have Dog without a written authorization. She really never went to the pub, so she didn't know who The Brit was. Since I was still out working at 3PM, Jeremy was supposed to go by to pick up the Dog. The Brit told him not to bother. "Dog has never spent time with you. He is going to need to be introduced to you slowly." At least that is what Jeremy said.

I found Dog at the end of the bar where I usually sat. I have no idea how he knew but he was there guarding my seat. I came by to collect him and everyone wanted to buy me a drink. Brit had told them all the story of how I came to have Dog. Nita made his supper that night. She fixed him some pork and rice dish. I was afraid he would never eat Old Roy in a can again. Everybody spoiled the big bag of bones.

That damn dog had toys of all shapes and sizes spread all over County seat. He and I played tug at home. It was a huge rubber ring that we pulled on. After a few days of running with the trike his appetite came back. His diet had to be managed. I fed him at home but everybody kept him eating all day long.

Since they saw him only a couple of hours most days, they spoiled him. He was naturally a sweet dog with a great disposition. The first few days was a time of adapting to his new life for both of us. I kept finding new ways to make his needs compatible with my life style.

During that first week I had the man who installed my fence put a twenty feet long by ten feet wide by 6 feet high fence between the house and the storage building. I also personally planted shrubs and climbing pants on the galvanized wire. I also mounted the web cam on the back corner post, so I could keep an eye on him. Dog was pretty low maintenance after all that.

We rode the trike and ran in the mornings. He ate a little dog food after his sausage biscuit while I showered. He and I found time to go to Reggie's and work the bag every day. Reggie took to Dog just like everyone else. Dog was big and sweet as could be but he really didn't like the way people at the Gym rough housed. The push and loud voice made him nervous. He was alway very hyper vigilant when he was there. I could actually see the relief in him, when we left with nothing bad having happened.

Dog was as good a companion as I could ever want. He and I went everywhere together. If I did need to run to the store and it was too hot to leave him in the car, he would go play in his pen for a half hour. From the web cam I learned that no matter how he complained when I first left he settled down as soon as I was out of site. He would bark and act all tough when a squirrel wander into his line of site, but other wise he found ways to amuse himself.