Smokey
1960-1972
This is Smokey. She was actually was my mother's dog. But, when she got ready to have her puppies, I was always the one she waited for or woke up. She was a really a good dog. But, we couldn't seem to be able to house break her. We would have to put papers down every night. She was good about going on the papers as long as we put them down. The funny thing was, that after she had her first litter of puppies, she never had to use the papers again. From then on she went outside. My step-father had no job, so he spent a lot of time with Smokey. He taught her to heel, sit and stay, all without a leash. We lived on a very busy, four lane highway with paved sidewalks on both sides. He would walk her up and down the sidewalk every day. When she came to a corner, she would sit until he told her she could go across. If Stanley would go ahead and cross the street without Smokey, she would sit there until he told her she could go. Stanley would also take her to the bar next door. Smokey loved beer and every day she and Stanley would go next door and have their beer. Let me tell you, she had quite a personality.

Buda
1963-1969
This is Buda. She was one of Smokey's puppies. My mother had bred Smokey to a registered Collie in June of 1963. She was due to have her pups in August. We were scheduled to move at the end of July. By the middle of July, she showed no signs of being pregnant, so we felt it was safe to go on and move. About a month after we moved, Smokey started acting strange. Finally, after figuring out that she was indeed pregnant, we put out her bed and box and the labor began. She was in labor for over 5 hours. Finally, Buda was born. She was the only puppy. The vet said that Smokey absorbed the other ones. We don't know why Buda survived and the others didn't, but we were glad that it was Buda who did.

Smokey and Buda
Buda would hang on to Smokey's tail all the time. She thought she was an Elephant! Every time you saw Smokey, there was Buda hanging onto Smokey's tail. But, Smokey didn't seem to mind. She and Buda were great friends. They really had a mother daughter bond. Sometimes I think they were so close because Buda was the only child, so to speak.

Dixie
1969 - 1984
When Smokey died, my mother wanted to get another Collie. So, I started looking through the classified ads in the paper. I finally found an ad for puppies in the price range that my mother could afford. She asked if I wanted to go with her and I said sure. I wasn't going to miss a chance to see a whole litter of collie puppies!! Well, that was a big mistake!! We ended up with two puppies!!! I really had NO plans to get another dog. But, after seeing the puppies I couldn't resist. Now, all I had to do, was convince Ruben not to kill me when I came home with this dog. Especially since the last words that came out of his mouth before I left was, "And, you better not come home with two!". I was in deep sh*t!!! When I came home, I shoved the puppy in front of me as I went through the door. All Ruben had to do was to see her and all was forgiven. I was in a southern and Civil War mode and decided to name her Dixie Belle. My mother named hers Lady Belle Starr. Dixie and Star for short.

Aren't they prettiest things?
Now can you see why I couldn't resist?

Dixie' First Litter
1975
Dixie had her first litter quite by accident. I had no idea that she was pregnant. You see, we had a very short front fence and one year when we went on vacation for three weeks, Ruben's mother went over to our house every day and fed everybody. Which included 26 cats and Dixie. Well, sometime during those three weeks, Dixie came into heat and the inevitable happened. You know, short fence, which a dog could easily jump!!! It's funny, I remember telling Ruben that Dixie was finally starting to fill out and get pretty! Yea, she was filling out all right!!! Filling out with puppies! One morning I woke up at about 6:30 A.M. and heard what sounded like puppies crying. I just turned over and thought to myself that I was just dreaming. Only problem was, I was still hearing them and by now, I was fully awake. Well, she had six puppies. Even though we had no idea who the father was, they still looked like Collie pups. Only one of the puppies had short hair but, he still had the collie markings. We kept only one of the puppies. I called him Albert. Bill Cosby's cartoon show, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, was popular at that time and he reminded me of Fat Albert!!!

This is Albert at about 8 weeks.

This was Albert when he was grown.
Albert was a sweetheart. All he ever wanted to do was please everybody. I taught him to speak, sit,shake hands and to stay. He loved to play with filled balloons. He would carry them all over the yard. When they broke, he would come to me and beg for another one. Albert lived until he was about 17. He died very peaceably in his sleep under his favorite tree. I even buried him right where he laid.

Dixie' Second Litter
1977
We bred Dixie to a registered Collie and when she had her pups, this time I was ready for them! She had ten, but we lost two of the them right off the bat. I really think that they were too small. Dixie was a great mother. You didn't have to prompt her to do anything. She would get up just to go outside to the bathroom and when she was finished, she would run back to the door to be let in. Looking back now, if I had it to do over again, I wouldn't have let her have another litter. When it came time to give those puppies away, I think that it was harder on me than on Dixie. We didn't keep any of that litter. We had too many animals and we couldn't afford another mouth to feed. After that litter, I had Dixie spayed. She too died of old age peacefully in her sleep.

In the middle of so much love.

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