Autumn Eve Lincoln

Autumn Eve Lincoln

Our Dogs
© By Abraham Lincoln

Our favorite dogs are buried here where we live. Cuddles was an old lady when she had to be put down because of arthritis and the pain she endured from it. She was 22 in human years and the oldest dog that Clayton Animal Care had ever cared for at that time. Cuddles was “family.” I often wonder if there is a Heaven for Animals and believe there must be.

Tiger is buried here. He was supposed to be a Toy Fox Terrier but ended up being a Jack Russell Terrier. Tiger was the smartest dog we ever had and knew what 47 human words meant. He could distinguish between a yellow sock and a red sock or a red ball and a blue ball. He listened to you speak and would go and get what you sent him for.

Benji (Benjamin) is buried here too. He was rescued from the animal shelter in Dayton and my mom said, "He is so ugly only his mother could love him." Benji stole our hearts and was a wonderful small Benji-type mixed dog. He loved to run and ran around our yard daily until he nearly exhausted himself. He wore a trail around the yard that he ran on like it was a racetrack. The neighbors encouraged him on yelling, “Go Benji, Go!”

Puppy is buried here. She wasn't much older than a small puppy would be but had suffered a badly broken leg and was taken to the animal hospital by our daughter, Melinda. She came home and we cared for her. Puppy was a sweetheart and Cuddles and Tiger both fell in love with her. They were all pals together and lay in the sunny spots together and had a good life together but her broken leg with the steel brace hurt as pieces of bone began to work-out. She cried in pain. The vets could not get the pieces of bone out and we had to put her to sleep.

Patty drove to New Lebanon on a stormy night and brought home a tiny puppy that we called “Autumn Eve” (shown above) because it was in the Fall when we got her and it was in the evening. She was a tiny dog and we assumed she would not get very big. Autumn was a Toy Fox Terrier and had perfect, heart-shaped ears that were always perked up. She went blind and suffered from arthritis and had to be put to sleep.

We stopped at the Darke County Animal Shelter in 2011 and picked up a small Jack Russell Terrier. He was covered with small black and brown spots. I mentioned that he looked like somebody had sprinkled him with pepper. After two baths and visits to the local vet, our Darke County dog was named, “Pepper Jax,” and he came house broken and that was a big plus to us.

Pepper Jax still likes to be out of doors and he still runs like the wind. I think he could outrun Benji on a race around the yard but Benji would do it for several minutes at a time. Pepper Jax does it once and if he doesn’t catch a bird that is fleeing a bush he seems a bit disappointed. Yes, he has actually caught two birds he flushed out of boxwood bushes.