Growing up, my parents were registered breeders of Toy Poodles, and we enjoyed the companionship of our two dogs, Pepper and Penny. Pepper was my litle buddy. He would fetch frisbees by turning them upside-down with his little nose and carrying them back in his teeth. He would put his front paws together in a praying pose when you picked him up. Whenever he marked his territory on a tree, he would walk on his front paws for several feet to avoid stepping on what he just left behind.

Pepper and Penny were both very sweet dogs, and took care of me as one of their own. My mom taught Pepper to respond to the command “Go find Tim” by running into my room and jumping on my bed to wake me up, which he usually accomplished by licking my ears.

He was such a free spirit. When I was about 13, we had moved to the big city a couple years back, and had tried our hardest to keep our dogs contained in the yard and house, but Pepper got out one day. My dad drove around the neighborhood looking for him, but unfortunately found him dead after losing a fight with a car. Dad wrapped Pepper up in a bag so I wouldn’t have to see or smell him that way, and we buried him in our back yard near the place where he had escaped.

I miss that little dog.

Years later my mom eventually had to put Penny to sleep. I’m going to introduce her to this website so she can write that story herself. Thanks Mark.

Timothy from Texas