I never had a dog in my family until I met Gretchen. She was seldom without one. When I met her she had Arthur. To be a member of the McClelland family made for a great life for a dog. Our puppies were spoiled and loved our home. Some of them were even good travelers. We had nine huggable, lovable dogs at last count.

When we went to Hawaii in 1974. Arthur went with Gretchen’s former in-laws to Minnesota where he eventually died. Back from Hawaii, we adopted a lhasa apso we named Swen. He could do all kinds of jumping tricks and was good entertainment. He was a good pet until he took a bite out of daughter Amy. We had to have him put away.

Later we bought a registered boxer, named it Hansel in honor of my former fraternity dog. At a Theta Chi reunion reunion at our tennis club, I went home to bring Hansel to the party, and my frat brothers, having a few brews in their bellies, thought it was a ghost of their fraternity dog. Hansel was a good companion until the day he bit the mailman. The story followed news of a pit bull biting someone in Sacramento, so Hansel’s bite became newsworthy, getting coverage in the Sacramento Bee. There were unusual circumstances but the mailman decided to sue us. After a special hearing we were released from all charges. We found a home in the country for Hansel.

Hansel had only one bite!

Moose on the Loose

That is Kramer in Canada

Maggie is newest favorite

Moose entered our household in Rocklin. He took several Slow Lane Journal trips with us.  While camping out in Sequoia, Moose and I were in a tent while Gretchen slept in the Slowmobile van. At night I saw a big dark shape between the fire pit and the tent, but I ignored it. That next morning I found the rangers had trapped a wayward black bear a few feet from our tent. I hated  to think what would have happened if Moose had run out of the tent to see what was going on that night. He enjoyed trips to Yosemite and some western states. When Moose died, I wrote a poem in his honor. The local weekly, the Placer Herald, ran “Moose Is on the Loose.” Not many dogs have  their own PR person.

The next McClelland dog, Beaver, was only one of two females in our dog family. She had a few good years with us in Rocklin, died on the back porch one night.

Jerry, named for the actual Seinfeld TV character, was a 2005 Christmas gift from Steve and Lisa. A dog rescued from the pound, she came with distemper and was not with us long.

Kramer, a somewhat awkward dog, was named for the super clumsy character in the Seinfeld televised comedy. He had some fun times with us, traveling as far as Galliano, a Canadian island near Victoria. She went deaf before she died in 2007.

We adopted Elaine, named for another Seinfeld character, from son Andrew. In her last days, the aging Elaine made deposits all over the house during the night.  Feces and barf of dark colors dotted the tiles.  I got up one morning, stepped in one pile. When Gretchen got up, we decided it was time to end Lanie’s life.  We had the little gal put away.  It would be sad days for Gretch as she missed the very existence of a dog.  A sympathetic fellow CitiBank worker gave Gretchen flowers as a gesture at work.

In January of 2010 a neighbor reported someone had a dog available free. It was a miniature pincher. I went to see it, brought her home. She was named Maggie Mae. We got her papers, a travel seat, lots of doggy toys, all for free. When Gretchen came home from work, she was totally and happily surprised. Later she said, “Maggie is the best gift you ever gave me.”
More than any dog we ever owned, this one took to me. But she did do doggy cartwheels when Gretchen came home from work.   I always say Gretch can’t live without a dog, but she could manage without me.   That may be a slight exaggeration. Four years old when we adopted her, Maggie was one of the world’s cutest pups. She adjusted to life in Sun City Roseville in a hurry. She loved going into her cage (her private doggy home) at night. She didn’t even have to be offered a treat but we gave her one. She gets super excited when Gretchen takes her for a morning walk.  In fact, she gets antsy anytime one of us gets near the front door or grabs her leash.
Maggie has a tendency to bark at noises we hardly hear.  She stares out windows so she won’t miss a thing. She is eating well. We have her on a special diet, getting her weight down a bit. She is not starving, not for food or attention.

She takes turns in deciding who her favorite person is. She will follow either of us around the house methodically.  On her own choosing, she becomes a lap dog.  She often stands upright when on our laps, eventually lying down between our legs. She has taken numerous car trips, three times to southern California beaches. She loves to run on the open sand on designated dog-friendly beaches. We love her. She has really improved the quality of life for her masters—us. We hope we are doing the same for her.