Dogs tend to navigate towards me; I mean they will usually sit by me when I am at someone’s home or barn. It’s nice except when you are working with a difficult horse and need to move fast and there is a dog in the way; otherwise, it is nice to have so many potential friendships in the world.
At the home ranch, when I was a boy, it was my responsibility to take care of the dogs and hounds, at least when I was home and not off on an adventure that didn’t require dogs. During my lifetime, I have been blessed with many good dogs and hounds; although, the best one of all was probably Tiger, a brindle Catahoula male. He was a one man dog or more precisely, a one boy dog. For him, the rest of the people on the earth had no significance: I was his main reason to be alive. Catahoulas tend to be one person dogs; Tiger just carried the concept to extremes. For instance, many cowboys don’t have affection for dogs and consider it a breach of etiquette to have a warm relationship with a dog; occasionally, a cowboy would walk by while I was sitting down with Tiger’s big head on my knee, with disgust he would say, “You are ruining that damn dog by making a lap dog out of him.” Tiger would slowly lift his head while a low pitched growl came from deep in his throat, his lips would be lifted, exposing inch and a half canines that had shredded bears, recalcitrant bulls, and the occasional wolf; his 120 pounds of muscle and bone would be quivering and coiled to attack. The cowboy would suddenly lose his assured self-confident poise and back away, without turning his back, while saying, “You hold on to that damn dog, he’s spoiled.” From then on that particular cowboy would get a cold stare and a low growl whenever the two met. That’s the way Catahoulas are, they never forget an insult. He might have been spoiled; but Tiger would have killed for me or fought to the death, if I pointed my finger at something, it didn’t matter whether it was a bear, mountain lion, or man.
Tiger usually rode with me when I drove a truck into town, while I was in a store or doing business, he would sit in the driver’s seat and stare out the windshield like he was driving. Of course, everyone thought it was cute or hilarious and sometimes a naïve dog lover would walk up to the open window to see the dignified personage up close or worse yet, reach up to pet Tiger‘s head: Tiger would warn them with a growl that sounded like it belonged to a 400 pound mountain lion that the truck and he were not to be touched, that was good enough, people tended to lose interest very quickly after a warning from Tiger.
The argument on whether Catahoulas are hounds or dogs is waged by much better dog men than me, I’ll just say that if you ever heard Tiger bay or one of his pups in full cry, when they get on a lion scent or hear them howl when I tell them to stay home while I head out on an adventure, you’d have to say that no dog could possibly make a sound like that; it was music to my ears, but it actually scared some people.
I was walking into the main ranch house one day when Tiger took out after something in a great rush: Tiger was not the kind of dog you worried about being killed by coyotes or garbage eating black bears, so I walked on into the kitchen without giving a thought to Tiger’s latest escapade and started preparing lunch.
After about twenty minutes or so, I noticed two animals fighting in the yard: one was snow white and looked to be about the size of a late fall Grizzly cub, the other one was pink and much smaller. My curiosity was aroused, we didn’t many white and no pink animals in the North Country; although, they might be albinos and that would be something to see; I picked up my rifle and walked outside to see this strange apparition.
When I walked up to them, the situation was stranger than fiction. Tiger had jumped a porcupine and had absorbed all the quills. (A Northern porcupine can have 30,000 quills.) He had quills stuck in every part of his body, there were so many stuck through his mouth and tongue and down his throat he could no longer close his mouth. There were so many on his body that you could no longer see his brown color or his black tiger stripes; when he moved it sounded like a bucket of ice chips being stirred. The porcupine was now nude and his pink skin seemed pathetic and obscene while he rolled and gasped in the grip of death’s final agony. I finished him with a sympathy shot to the head; Tiger was incapable of finishing him with all the quills in his mouth.
We usually took care of all the doctoring on the ranch, for both animals and people; there had to be a drastic emergency situation to drive to town to see a doctor or a vet: after pulling out 50 or so quills from Tiger’s face, I figured this was one of those special circumstances. I was afraid of making a mistake with the quills in his throat and mouth; so without permission, (it would be years before I took my first driving test) I started up our 1940 Ford one ton pick up and told Tiger to jump in, he was thrilled with the thought of going to town and totally unconcerned with the thousands of quills that had perforated his hide. Tiger had to be hurt real bad to let some minor incident ruin his good humor for the day; thankfully, the quills had missed his eyes.
I pulled out quills with a pair of pliers while driving to town, I must have pulled out several hundred or more by the time we reached the vet clinic. Tiger was quite excited about getting out of the truck, because he rarely got out of the truck when we were downtown.
We walked into the waiting room and all the cats and city dogs had anxiety attacks when they saw a dog with a million porcupine quills that made such a strange clattering sound when he walked. The nurse screamed while people tried to gather up their cats and poodle dogs that were climbing the chairs and walls, actions that added to our feelings of bewilderment to the pandemonium in the office; we were looking around for the cause of all the commotion, until we realized it was us.
The nurse was asking me questions as to why I had intentionally done this to my dog and I told her I didn’t really have that much patience. She tried to lead Tiger away; but he wasn’t leaving my side, especially with all these excitable people, who didn’t seem to be wrapped too tight not to mention their timid pets.
I asked her where she wanted Tiger; she indicated a side room; Tiger and I walked into the small room and we were glad to be out of the asylum that passed for a waiting room. She asked me to lift the dog unto the operating table, I just tapped the table with my hand and Tiger jumped up on the table, happy as can be. The vet walked in and said he had never seen so many quills in one dog: I told him the porcupine ran out or there would be more. He explained that most dogs quit after getting a few quills stuck in their muzzle: so I told him that Tiger was a hero and how he saved Knarley Manner’s life in a fight to the death with a rogue boar Grizzly and that no one had ever considered him to be a quitter.
The doctor said he would need to do surgery to get out all the quills; especially, the ones in the mouth. I showed him how I had pulled out many of the quills and the doctor watched with a shocked expression as I pulled out quill after quill with the pliers while Tiger sat there as if it were the most normal thing in the world. The doctor said that in order to get the quills out of his tongue and mouth he would need to be careful not to damage sensitive tissues. I could see the bill getting higher and higher; but what could I do, I agreed to the surgery and I was promptly asked to take a seat in the asylum, I walked outside and sat in the truck.
After the three hour surgery, the vet once again told me he had never seen nor read about a dog with so many quills; needless to say, I had to guide a couple of hunters during hunting season just to overcome the vet bill and to get my checkbook in healthy again.
There are some fights that are inappropriate because of being un-winnable, Tiger’s fight with the porcupine was one of those fights; he was lucky to have survived and still have his vision and not be crippled. There was no way to win, the fight was a foregone conclusion; unfortunately, Tiger was a scrapper and it was his nature to fight to the death, rather than to take a few painful quills and call it a day.
In Florida, Charlie Crist is engaged in one of these fights with Mark Rubio. Crist can’t possibly win, but either he is so anxious to fight or he is so consumed with hubris that he is willing to run as an independent rather than concede defeat, while he tells the public they have a right to choose their leader. It is the hubris that prevents Crist from realizing that the public has already spoken and has chosen Rubio. There are more complications and dynamics to this situation than the implication that Charlie Crist is a scrapper. To be honest, if an incumbent can’t win the primary because of his past performance and his capitulation with the Obama administration, how is he going to gain enough support from independents. These are the swing voters who slide to the side with the candidate who best represents the will of the voter. Losing the overwhelming support of your voter base means that the new up and coming nominee has captured the attention and imagination of the voters, further contention becomes a forlorn hope for a lost cause.
Furthermore, using seven million dollars of Republican money to campaign against the Republican nominee is political suicide for future campaigns as a Republican; thus Charley ends up with a quill in both eyes, a man without a party.
There is also the chance that Crist’s run as an Independent will stifle the chances for a Republican win and further alienate Christ’s options in the future; particularly if he is thought to have been encouraged by the Obama administration in his run to specifically lessen the chances of a GOP victory. Obviously, in future elections, having been a member or an agent of the Obama administration will be the kiss of Judas to a political career; we are already seeing young congressional members, retiring rather than risk an humiliating defeat and a permanent branding as a part of the Obama team; an administration that is fast becoming known as not only an extremely unpopular presidency, but a failed and ignoble experiment in Socialism as well.
There are some battles that are lost early on and some battles whose results are a foregone conclusion before they are waged: when Crist let himself become portrayed and photographed as an Obama sympathizer, his political future was seriously compromised. Rather than prolonging the humiliation and ruining his chances of a political recovery, like Tiger’s disregard for the future and possible damage to his reputation, it is sometimes best to seek another battle, one that will have a better chance for success. Tiger was just a dog, a hell of a dog, but still just a dog: people assume Charley Crist would be more intelligent than a dog.
Author’s note: Although I love the Catahoula or Black Mouth Cur, I always advise people against purchasing these dogs as pets, they are hunting hounds and stock dogs, without a job they can become deviant personalities, much like people without a purpose or a job. They are not dogs for people who live in suburbia or for people who are not well versed in dealing with powerful and willful animals. In other words, these dogs do not make good pets for the average family. I am not sure about Charley Crist either.
Crist is the type that no dog would have for a friend.
“further alienate Christ’s options in the future”
A Freudian slip? Or is this guy Crist worse than we thought?
SKOOKUM;thank you for the special story of a special cataola dog, as not all of us are familliar with the breed;it’s very interresting to understand their caracters;all the best to you where you are,and why” number 2?” because you always will” be number 1″
bye
TALLGRASS:another good story from SKOOKUM ,
bye.i did not read you for a while.
proof: That problem is mine alone, I certainly never intentionally infer such a reference to the Big Guy. I am careful with references to John Wayne; to use G-d’s name in such a manner would be beyond my capabilities. An unfortunate typo, I will promise to try harder in the future to avoid such silly mistakes.
The Freudian Slip or underwear is by definition an unintentional mistake that reveals an inner feeling. I can only say that I hold G-d in the highest regard: a regard that is inversely proportional to the regard I have for Crist. Obviously Crist lacks common sense and integrity; but I can’t say with a clear conscience that he is evil.
Bees, I was working in Canada, British Columbia actually and my laptop connection doesn’t work up there so I used another computer. The computer was so old the keys didn’t have any markings; I found out I know where the letters are, but I have no idea where the special keys are, it was interesting. I wasn’t sure if the website would accept me from another site so I used Skookum 2. I just did the best I could under the circumstances; but rest assured it was me, on a computer that is several generations older than the one I use normally.
The Catahoula is a breed that is virtually unknown and it is just as well; otherwise they would soon have the reputation of Pit Bulls or Rottweilers, breeds that need personal attention to avoid problems.
I am glad you liked the story.
PROOF:hi,i must say i sometimes put an “H”at the wrong place;as this “H: is my nightmare in many instances;so if you notice that on my comments,feel free to correct me in the same gracious manner that you did .
bye
I knew it was only a typo. Making typo’s with this guy’s name make for some comic (and scary) sentences, that’s all!
Munchausen
I suppose Crist has been held to a higher standard because of typos all his life; hopefully, in a few months, his name will no longer be a matter of contention for us amateur bloggers; but merely another speck of Obama’s jetsam and flotsam to be ignored on its journey to obscurity in the waste bin of insignificant history.
JOHN RYAN:hi,” munchausen”? does it have some similarity to “munching?”,bye
“in a few months, his name will no longer be a matter of contention for us amateur bloggers; but merely another speck of Obama’s jetsam and flotsam to be ignored on its journey to obscurity in the waste bin of insignificant history.”
From your keyboard to God’s email!
I am a florida voter, charlie crist can just kiss my ass. He has a ad running thanking him for his veto on the education bill, a bill that would not allow tenure if a teacher’s performance was unsatisfactory,,,,,,,,,,,wtf…..
OK, I have to be devil’s advocate here. As always Skookum, great posting – I always love reading your work. But here is my uneasy question. Didn’t we approve a few years ago when Lieberman did something quite similar? I want to see Crist go down as much as the next guy, but I am feeling a bit hypocritical right now.
This is one time I really would like to be proven wrong. I asked a similar question in a guest posting I had here a few months back comparing Obama’s unpopular stance on health care versus Bush’s unpopular stance on Iraq, but never the question completely answered
http://www.floppingaces.net/2010/01/19/a-question-about-our-leaders-reader-post/#comment-265040
Brother Bob, you are asking a multi-faceted question.
Concerning the Health Care Bill: Was this a health care reform issue, an entitlement for blacks and unions, or a government takeover of one sixth of our economy?
Could we have insured the 20% of people without health care without complete government control?
Could we have corrected the glitches in the present system without complete nationalization?
I think the answer to both of those last questions is, if we wanted to truly amend the present system, we could have without a nationalization of one sixth of our economy; but that isn’t the goal of Socialism and Obama wanted to reach for the highest apples while he was at the top of the ladder. He succeeded; but at the cost of his presidency, a statesman with the interests of the American people in his heart and his mind, instead of an ideologues blueprint for Utopia, could have pulled it off and actually passed a bill that would stand the test of time and beneficial for America.
When Lieberman turned, he was a Democrat problem: Crist is a Republican problem. We were hoping to benefit from their problems, just as Obama and his machine is hoping to use Crist’s defection to their advantage, and Crist may prove to be one of their biggest success stories. The wise political students told us not to weigh the defection of Lieberman with credence and they were right; in war and politics, the ones who change direction are never dependable allies anyway. It is best that we realize the full measure and weakness of Crist’s character now rather than at some more critical point in the future.
I don’t feel the slightest hypocrisy for the condemnation of Crist’s behavior, if we are to share in the guilt, we may as well excuse Obama for being a Socialist and accept our past collective stupidity at electing such an anti-American Socialist Radical. Normally, we select and grade these candidates on past performance, either Crist’s weakness of character was well hidden from the Florida voter or they were led down the garden path like the rest of America In 2008, by electing a personality without a past and no credentials. If there is hypocrisy, this is where it is hidden; that is a politician not revealing his true nature to the electorate, and what politcian doesn’t reveal his true nature? A politician who would never be elected on his true nature.
Our president certainly did not get elected on his true nature.
And on the health care bill, I think I’m with you 100% on everything that is wrong about the health care bill and how it was forced on us.
And just to clarify, where I find the potential hypocrisy from both sides is in supporting a leader from their party for doing one thing and condemning a leader from the opposite party for doing the same and vice versa. I agree with you on ones who change sides never being dependable – I remember Sun Tsu saying the same about turned spies.
But your article gave me pause about my dislike for Crist. Myself personally, I was impressed with how Lieberman handled himself and stood by his principles when his party tried to push him aside. Of course, Lieberman was always the one Dem who could be counted on to take national security seriously. To be honest, I’m not familiar with how Crist has run and governed in the past. Has he changed over time? I haven’t followed Floridian politics since I left in ’99, with the exception of one presidential election… I still feel like I’m condemning Crist for the very reason I admired Lieberman.
Of course, all of that said, I look forward to seeing Crist go down in flames! I’m just hoping he doesn’t help a Dem win…
Skookum: I really can’t complain about you using cute puppies as a draw to readers. Not after I did an entire series on cute polar bear cubs.
Brother Bob: To quote Charlie Chan, “Ah-so”; I often find myself guilty of circumlocution or periphrasis, but you outran me on that one. Your point was so much more to the ‘point’ in your second comment; the first one left me wondering about my encroaching dementia.
Yes, you have jump started my memory. Lieberman deserves credit for standing up for his convictions; unfortunately, today’s capitulating Democrat has only the name in common with the Democrat of the past, who believed in national security and defense. Lieberman is definitely a throwback or a recessive gene to those former statesmen.
Crist has no higher morale conviction to fall back on except for personal glory and advancement. If he could state a reason to run in the race as an Independent that reflected something other than promotion of self, I would have written a different article; but there is no motive that is being expressed other than he believes he is the better man. This is the difference between Lieberman and Crist, a matter of conviction.
Thanks for helping me fight the dementia.
Mike, I missed that one; must have been on the road. Those cubs are cute, too bad they grow into bears. I have only seen polar bears in the zoos and that made me a little edgy.
I knew a game warden for the Yukon and he told me that when a Polar Bear sees you, there is no hesitation, he comes on the run to make you his dinner.
The Grizzly will disappear most of the time, unless he is starving and then he loses his aversion to these human TV dinners.
The puppies are cute; grown Catahoulas look intimidating. I think the contradiction of imagining such a cute puppy being able to attack a Grizzly or Mountain Lion is so funny it is hard to imagine. That and the fact that women love to look at cute puppies; truthfully, I like to look at them as well. However, every time you see a puppy, you must remember there are three hundred messes to clean up and several chewed up pieces of leather.
Polar bears in baskets!
Comparing Charlie Crist to a dog
that’s an insult ….. to dogs 
.
Skookum,
Yep, sorry for the confusion on my first post. And thanks for clarifying – I feel better about how I view both situations now. Keep on posting, brother!
Brother Bob, a Black horseshoer that I knew on the race tracks of Chicago and New Orleans told me, “it is much easier to see someone else’s mistake than it is to see a worse one of your own.” He was talking about the balance of a hoof and the fit and finish of a race horse shoe; but I think his words hold true in most aspects of life as well.
Often times, we can find the most profound logic in the simple words of an artisan: as opposed to sanctimonious degree holders from institutions that have come to symbolize the worst of the ivory tower syndrome. Where admittance and acceptance through legacy, endowment, and Affirmative Action is a guarantee of a degree in a specified amount of time. Thus the churning out of substandard product is inevitable; a result that we, as a country of freedom, are trying desperately to survive. The promotion of the institution’s higher standards is imperative because of the risk of becoming insignificant as a result of the nature of their exclusionary methods of student acceptance.
Surely in the future, we will be able to look past these overly valued degrees of irresponsibility and recognize the simple wisdom of a simpler, wiser, and more profound individual for leadership.
Introspection is good; otherwise, we are at risk of becoming ideologues, a common affliction of those in Obama’s administration, including the ‘Won’ himself.
SKOOKUM:hi, no dementia for you for sure,pick on another disease far from the brain.
bye. where is DONALD BLY?,is he still sleeping in the laundry room?,MAM,that punition should end sometimes, 
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