Thor - my first pooch

Have you ever said, “I’ve always wanted…”? Me too! On many occasions I’ve said, “I’ve always wanted a Golden retriever puppy.” But the realities of life intervened and it wasn't until recently that my "always wanted" became an actuality.  Here's what happened. 

I grew up during the 50’s and 60’s in West Hartford, Connecticut. My Mom,  Dad, and older sister lived in what was soon to become known as “Suburbia”. Like almost every other typical kid, I wanted a puppy! My mom was also typical and she was “too practical” to buy into my childhood desires. Finally, because my Dad was a "Yes Dear" kind of guy, a puppy never became a part of my growing up.

Photo credit

After graduating high school I was fortunate to attend The University of Pennsylvania. During my sophomore year, I purchased a German Shepherd pup that I raised and trained to "companion dog" obedience. I named him Thor, which I thought was a powerful name for a powerful German Shepherd dog. As it turned out, one of my college fraternity brothers made a joke based on the premise of having a lisp as in “I’m tho Thor.” Foiled again! 

Despite the joke, Thor became the fraternity mascot, loved by all of the members. Our fraternity house was located on the boundary of what was then called "West Philly", and at that time it was somewhat of a low rent neighborhood. It became evident that some of the youthful members of the neighborhood were not particularly dog-friendly. On some afternoons, while I was in class, Thor would be tethered out on the small lawn behind the frat house and the local kids would taunt, tease, and sometimes throw stones at him. Thor in turn became “politically incorrect”, even though, at the time, the term had yet to be coined.

During vacations and school breaks, I would take Thor with me as I returned home to my parent’s house in Connecticut. Dad was impressed by how well Thor responded to my obedience commands, and he decided to give it a try. Dad would say “Sit,” but Thor would not sit. So Dad would repeat the command a number of times, "Sit, sit, sit," but Thor would ignore him. I told Dad that he needed to give the command only one time, and if Thor did not obey him, then he, Dad, needed to get up out of his chair and "persuade" Thor to sit. Dad said, “Why would I want to get out of my chair!” Guess what, Thor never did obey Dad.

Mom was somewhat apprehensive of Thor, being that he was a big boy, and to the uninitiated, his teeth did look rather large and menacing ("What big teeth you have Grandma!). Generally, Mom kept her distance. Once, however, Thor got into Mom’s closet and decided that one of her prized slippers was the perfect doggie pacifier. Before Mom knew what she was doing, she grabbed Thor by the collar, pried his jaws open, and stuck her hand right into the “jaws of death” to retrieve what was rightfully hers. Hey momma, you go girl! Unknowingly, Mom became a “pack leader”. Of course, this was so many years before Cesar Milan even came to the United Stated, that the term was not even known. Mom was so proud of herself, that she retold that story whenever the topic of dogs came up in the conversation.

One additional story relates to the fact that Mom was the consummate cook. She often prepared various dishes in advance and froze them for future consumption. One time Mom was expecting guests for dinner. So she took out of the freezer fried chicken that she had previously prepared, unwrapped it, and placed it on a plate to defrost. (This was before all of the food safety standards to which we now subscribe.) An hour or so later she came back to find the plate empty! Thor assumed the look of the guilty but unrepentant scoundrel. Mom was not a happy camper and her concern was what to feed her soon to arrive guests! My concern was that the chicken bones would cause Thor terminal internal damage! Fortunately, Thor did not have any problems, and Mom rooted around and found something else in her freezer. None of the guests would have been the wiser, except Mom told them in excruciating detail that my dog had eaten their dinner!

By the end of that sophomore college year, it became painfully evident to me that being a college student and a dog owner was becoming increasingly difficult, at least difficult for me. The day came when reason prevailed over emotion and I had to part company with Thor, my friend and loyal companion. I was fortunate to find a good home for him and he trotted out of my life. I was sadder but wiser, but it was impossible to know Thor’s emotional response. What I learned was that my original decision to become a dog owner while I was a college student was inherently faulty, but when it comes to dogs, rational thought is often hard to come by.

 Read next post.