The Man’s Best Friend
“For the body is not one member, but many.” I Corinthians 12:14 KJV
Reaching way back in my mind, I just have a few bits and pieces of my earliest childhood memory. It is about the first pet I remember our family owning. We probably owned it before I even started school. It was a black puppy.
I believe we kept the dog outside, but I wouldn’t swear to it. My Dad told me later that we didn’t own it very long. Like I said, it was just a puppy and all three of us kids were very young. Apparently, the puppy, like most puppies, nipped at us all the time. This caused us kids to be very scared of it.
My father gave the little puppy away. I’m not sure who he gave it to or what ever happened to the little fellow. For the rest of our lives, when we lived with Mom and Dad, we never had another pet except fish and rabbits.
When my wife, Cathy, and I were going out, she had a cute little dog named Tucker. She got Tucker at dog rescue farm. The poor little mutt was so dirty Cathy didn’t realize she was white until she got her home and cleaned her up. Tucker was the sweetest dog you could ever imagine.
When Cathy would come over to my house, she would often bring Tucker with her. Tucker loved playing in my fenced backyard.
Once, I was cooking some chicken. When I was cleaning up the pot, I took it into the woods in my fenced yard. On her next trip to my house, we let Tucker out into the back yard. I confess, I completely forgot about dumping the chicken on a pile of brush in my backyard.
A while later, Cathy and I looked out the window to check on Tucker. We did not see her anywhere. So, we went out into the backyard to look for her. We found her looking through the pile of brush where I had poured out the chicken scraps.
The funniest part of all, was every time we let Tucker out in the backyard after that, she would always head to where I dumped those scraps, even long after they were gone. It wasn’t that she ever found anything, it was just that she always hoped she would.
Most of the Presidents owned pets. One of the top Presidential pets were dogs. If you go to Washington DC and visit the FDR Memorial, one of the things you will find is a scene with several statues. In this one, FDR is sitting and his dog Fala, another statue, who is close by his side.
This other President was perhaps one of the greatest dog lovers among the Presidents. If you were to line up all the Presidents and pick them out by who you thought was the greatest dog lover, I doubt he would be one of your top ten picks.
It is probably a shame that you don’t think of this President as a dog lover. But that is probably not your fault. This President had so many other things people remember about him that being a dog lover never popped into your head.
This President’s love for dogs started very early in his life. When he was young, his family moved. This was in the days before moving vans or even before cars came along. His family came upon an icy river with their wagon. The wagon was loaded with all their belongings. They pulled the wagon aboard the ferry which was there.
As the ferry started its travels across the river, the family noticed that they had left their family dog on the shoreline. This upset the one-day future President very much. He jumped into the icy water and waded to shore.
Although the young lad rescued the dog, his father was quite upset with him for jumping into the dangerous river. He yelled at the young lad expressing his dissatisfaction. The young lad replied, “The dog feels better, and except for cold feet, so do I.” So began this young lad’s lifelong love of dogs.
It would be really hard to find too many “pets” in the Bible. I remember Nathan offering a parable to King David that was a sort of scolding by God. David had basically cheated on his very loyal soldier, Uriah, by sleeping with his wife.
To cover up his misdeed, David had Uriah placed on the front lines and had the soldiers retreat leaving Uriah to a near certain death. It worked. David thought his plan was working perfectly and that he had fooled everyone. The problem was, it didn’t fool God.
God sent Nathan to David with the story of a poor family that had a pet sheep. He said the family loved the little lamb so much that it ate and slept with them. A rich man, who owned lots of sheep, comes along and notices the little lamb. He decides he really wants it and he takes it from the man.
Instead of taking the little lamb in as a family pet, he slaughters it. The worst part is, he had so many other lambs he could have slaughtered, but because of his selfishness, and the fact he could, he choses to slaughter this one.
This angers King David. “Surely, that man must die or at the very least pay four times what that lamb was worth,” David exclaims. Then Nathan utters those words that none of us wants God to cast on us about our guilt: “You are that man!”
It would probably surprise no one, not even his wife who wasn’t a great fan of dogs, when this future President brought home this yellowish, mixed-breed dog with floppy ears and a stubby tail. He named him Fido.
Fido was a constant companion of the future President. When the future President went for a walk, Fido was right there beside him. Fido would sit beside his owner while his master chatted with neighbors or anyone else who walked by. This future President was known for engaging in deep conversations at the drop of a hat.
When the future President needed his hair cut, Fido would sit outside the barber shop with the other dogs. After his master’s hair was all cut, Fido and his master would head home. Sometimes Fido could be spotted carrying a package for his master in his mouth.
Fido’s master decided to run for the Presidency. This did not work out well for Fido and his master’s relationship with him. Upon winning the Presidency, there were lots of celebrations and fireworks. This scared poor Fido to death and his master knew that it would not be a good idea to take Fido to Washington.
The now President-elect started looking for a good home for Fido. He found a great fit in John Eddy Roll. Roll’s son played with the President-elect’s son, so Fido was very familiar with them. John also agreed to all the rules the President-elect set up.
Fido had a special sofa that he loved. The sofa was designed to accommodate Fido’s height. It was also where Fido would go hide when the fireworks started.
That sofa would go along with Fido. Fido’s sofa is a little famous in the Presidential pet world. One of the first known pictures of a Presidential pet is that of Fido sitting on that sofa.
Some of the rules the President-elect sent along with Fido included:
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Fido was never to be tied up outside.
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He was never to be scolded for coming into the house with muddy paws.
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When he scratched at the door, they must let him in.
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Fido must be allowed to wander freely around the table while the family ate.
