Irene Whitfield Chisholm

Sycamore was the name of my first dog. He was a small white, smooth dog with black and tan markings. Probably a fox terrier. Also, I shared Bounce, a large blond curly dog, very gentle, and associated with Posey, Bounce's companion, cross patch if I ever saw one, a small yellow and white terrier.
Our dogs were 'Nertz' a stray mongrel we picked up. Roddy loved him. He was a baby, then, Nertz was the first word he learned to say. Then we got Lady, a black and white shepherd, very gentle. We all liked her but we did not know how or what to feed her. She got running, barking fits and also caught some of the neighbor's chickens. Wimpy was Lady's son.
Then there was Zipper, a cute wire-haired terrier who died shortly after we got Snap, of a broken heart. Snap lived up to his name. He would jump us and snap at your wrists. He learned tricks with remarkable ease but we couldn't teach him not to snap. He got in the way of a car.
Mike was adopted when Aunt Eve moved and couldn't take him with her. He was an Irish terrier.
Bounce was Penelope's dog, a beautiful long haired blue weymerainer. He must have had a touch of spaniel to have that curly hair. Everyone told me weimerainers just didn't have long hair. He did. He was very smart and very strong.
Buster was a hound sort of dog. He was gentle, but when he was left home alone he would bet even by chewing up something, preferably shoes or boots. Punishment never stopped him. He was a Basset Hound.
Daisy was a miniature fox terrier. We took her with us when we worked on the look-out. She went everywhere with us. Teddy was her daughter. She was a tad bigger than Daisy and had a black silky coat. She was like a live cuddly Teddy bear. Hence her name. She was still alive when Penelope was born but she was really showing her age.
Lady and Lassie are 'showing their age' now, 1982. We got them as puppies in 1971 when Penelope had just finished being a junior at High School. Bonnie Rose named Teddy. I remember especially because she wanted me to bring Teddy to the hospital where she was recovering from having her appendix removed. I brought her the stuffed Teddy bear instead which answered just as well without all the problems.
There were two other dogs in my life, Hector, Uncle Bill's collie dog. He got him when I was in college. He was nice to go for walks with but he got lost very easy.
Uncle Millard's dog was a stray that came to us. When I took him for walks he fought with every dog and bit every male human we met. We had to get rid of him. He was an Airedale and had strange, wild eyes.
Lady and Lassie are our present dogs. They are both darlings, though very different. People are surprised to learn that they are sisters. Both are affectionate and gentle. Lassie is timid and not as smart as Lady, but she tries harder to please people and minds better unless she is frightened. Lady probably would be vicious if she were mistreated. As it is, she will try to get away with something she knows she shouldn't do, then grin and argue when she is caught at it. Both of them 'talk' but Lady talks the most. Twice Lassie got a bone caught crosswise in her mouth. The first time Jack took her to the vet. It was a long time before she would have anything to do with that type of bone but eventually she did and got it stuck again. I unstuck it myself that time. She did not even protest and I know it hurt. They are eleven years old now (1982), I think.

Irene & Jack
Chisholm's
Link Page

IRENE'S DIARY

Part One, 1909-1916
Part Two, summer 1916
Part Three, 1916 on.
Songs & Rhymes
Chickens
Wild Animals
Male Chauvinists
Bathrooms
Odds & Ends
Fragments of Stories