I don't have any pictures of Pepper

[orphan]

Pepper was a cross between a Queen's land heeler, Blue heeler, and a couple of other things. He was bred to be a working dog by a small farm not far from my house. He was a present from my parents when I turned 5 years old. The earliest memories of childhood that I have, I remember Pepper being there. I remember him as a puppy... a tiny little puppy and me a toddler and he was MY dog. I remember feeding him and playing with him and making sure that he had enough water in the summer and a bed of hay to sleep on in the winter. I remember picking ticks off of him and how much he loved being scratched behind the ears. He would moan and groan when you scratched him behind the ears.

I would call Pepper by clicking. Not sure how to describe it, but you get the picture. If he was anywhere within ear-shot, I would click and he would be at my side in seconds. Being a child in a rural setting, I played with what we had. We had a deep ditch beside the house. It seemed like the grand canyon when I was a kid. Pepper was with me every step of the way. Being a cattle dog, he wasn't sure how to scale a clay wall...but he managed. When I grew older, he was with me. Pepper hated cats. I remember waiting on the school bus and seeing Pepper staring up a tree at a cat he had chased up there. I would get on the bus, put in a full day at school, and come home to see Pepper staring up that same tree at the same cat. He was a persistent fella.

Sometimes I would call Pepper and he wouldn't be there. Then I couldn't figure out where my buddy went but later in life I realized that 80% of the dogs in the neighborhood were descended from Pepper. He was a busy guy.

That dog saved me from a loose pit bull. That dog hunted with me when I got my first pellet gun. That dog stood guard over me when I got knocked out ramping my bike. That dog won first place at a 4-H dog show and waited in my Dad's 87' Scottsdale Deluxe for an hour in the sun for me to bring back a blue ribbon. That dog was the best friend I ever had.

Later on my dog listened to me. As I was going through the awkward years of puberty and high school, my dog was always there. He exchanged his open ears for pats on the head a scratch behind the ears.

There are dozens of stories I can tell you about Pepper. The fact of the matter is that I have no pictures of Pepper. I know that he had a big black spot in the middle of his back. I know that he had black patches over his ears and down to his cheeks. He had light brown eyebrows. The rest of his coat was a salt-n-pepper color. He was 2 feet tall at the shoulders. He was stout as an ox and he would pout his lower lip at you when you scratched him behind the ears.

Pepper went to the vet twice in his 12 years on this earth. He was a tough old dog. I came home from my senior year in high school and found out that Pepper couldn't stand up. He would try. God help him he would try. He wanted to come to me but he couldn't make it. After working with him and holding him I came to the conclusion that he had to make his second and final trip to the vet. He didn't even fight it. I knew it was bad.

It turns out that his kidney's had suddenly failed. There's nothing that they could do. I visit the vet and collapse in a hulk beside my dog's cage. This is the first time he has been in a cage, but he doesn't seem to mind. He knows that I am there. The next day my Mom comes home with Pepper.... unceremoniously wrapped in a garbage bag in the back of her Honda Accord. I take the day off from school. I pull him from my Mom's trunk and set him down. She comes to console me, but I send here off to her job. I'm gonna do this my self because that's MY dog.

I dug Pepper's grave when I was 17 years old. We became friends when I turned 5. I grew up with this dog. I set Pepper to rest behind the family home where a few dogs rested... but none like Pepper. I tore the body bag open and gave him one last kiss before I covered him. Rest In Piece, my friend. I have not forgotten you.

[frankykeno]

A better tribute no dog has ever been given. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. You've pictures of Pepper, they're pictures in your heart and it's very obvious to anyone reading your words that they are the best pictures of all.

[Ben Biscy]

i know what you mean, and how you feel. maybe this slide show will help you see some of pepper; i can see my little guy in many of the faces, and it reminds me of how totally super he really was....

YouTube - The Australian Cattle Dog