My Dog Tribute Page
Callie Moats
2002-2015
This dog belonged to a neighbor who moved off to college and abandoned her. To sum it up, this four year old dog lived in a grown-up back yard and had very little interaction with humans until I snatched her out of her dog house. She lived in this yard alone and the neighbors were throwing food over the fence for about a month. I wanted to call the cops, but it would have meant that she would have gone to the city pound. So on Monday, September 18, 2006, I stole her from my neighbor's yard. She was thin as a rail but in decent health. About four years after adopting Callie, I encountered the previous owner. It was awkward.
This dog was a darling that only wanted to belong to someone. She loved to play with other dogs and interact with people. She thought having regular meals and going for walks was a big deal. I was lucky to have her and she was one of my favorites.
Once I moved out to the country, this dog adapted to the outdoor life and loved it. It was amazing to witness and I regularly saw things that I thought I'd never see from this city dog. On top of that, she regularly hung out with my landlord's dog that was 10 years younger than her. Because of my situation out here, she commonly met visitor dogs, and that was a treat for both of us. It was the perfect situation for my old doggie.
Tootsie Moats
This little ball of fire arrived at the house on Wednesday, December 10, 2003 when she was 9 months old. She started off badly here but turned out to be a really good dog. She passed away December 29, 2011 because of a heart defect.
This dog really enjoyed playing with tennis balls, running, eating really fast, chasing things, and jumping. She used to pick up items of clothing and take them outside, but she stopped doing that after awhile. 
She used to be a really unfriendly dog, but as she grew older, she became much better. This dog was fairly friendly with little kids. She still barked a lot, but not to the point that it bothered the neighbors.
A lady passed by one day while I was walking the dogs and she looked at Tootsie and said, "So, what is Sparky's name?" That woman summed Tootsie up perfectly. She is missed greatly.
Bongo Moats
This is Bongo (November 15, 1994 to November 29, 2010). This little house wrecker came into our home on Thursday, January 19, 1995. A Border Collie-Sheltie mix, he was purchased from a store in Denton. In his career he ruined a dining room set (chewed), several areas of sheet rock including some flat areas (chewed), the living room carpeting (chewed), a brand new couch (chewed), and who knows what else that just disappeared that I didn't notice at the time. Fortunately he got over the chewing part.
While dealing with the sadness of Bongo's passing, I thought back on some of the highlights of Bongo's time here:
Discovering that he loved swimming when I took him and Pepper to the lake to see how they'd react. What a surprise that was to see that skinny dog swim and love it.
Stealing a cookie out of Minnie's hand while she was playing Pac Man on the computer.
Jumping out of a window of the Hyundai at North Lakes Park while Minnie was driving in the parking lot, rolling several times on the pavement.
Another time at North Lakes he ran through every stream he could find, including galloping along one stream for about 20 yards. It was 40 degrees that day.
And then there was the time at North Lakes that he worked his way out of his collar and went for a swim in a cold, nasty pond. Pepper and I had to wait for him to get tired of swimming before we could leave.
As a puppy, getting into the fireplace and getting soot on his white fur.
Deciding to drag a quilt into the living room one evening while we were watching TV. Who knows what he wanted with it.
In his younger days he was very difficult to walk and wouldn't mind at all. One morning his leash broke just as we went out the front door and down the street he went. Knowing the route we always took, he ran 3 blocks without stopping, then waited for us where we always turned to go south. Once we got there, I put Pepper's leash on him and let Pepper do the rest of the walk with no leash. Bongo did not like that.
Occasionally I would take him to the school with me. One time at Collinsville he went straight into the office, made several turns and ended up in the office of Dale Latham, the high school principal. Amused and not knowing whose dog it was, Dale simply said, "Well hello, dog!"
We had a lot of laughs and fun with this dog and miss him greatly. He is buried in the shrubs next to Pepper and Tootsie.
Pepper Moats
It occurred to me that there is one bad thing about adopting a dog. That bad thing is, they will probably die before their owner does, and with that comes a ton of sadness. And so it went with our baby, who passed away on a Sunday afternoon, July 20, 2003. She was buried underneath her favorite shrubs.
Pepper was adopted from the Coppell, Texas Humane Society in October 1994. When we pointed out the dog we wanted, some of the volunteers almost began to cry, they were so glad that someone adopted this precious puppy.
Pepper was part Catahoula Cowdog. When we first brought home our other dog Bongo, Pepper penned him up in the kitchen, like she was herding him. It was a funny sight.
Pepper loved to aggravate Bongo, wrestle, and jump on her Daddy in the morning to get him out of bed. It was fitting that she did this on her last day on this earth. Pepper was one of a few dogs that I have seen that "smiled" at you as she approached. I'm guessing it's caused from nervousness or somesuch.
She was a really good swimmer, although she preferred to stay out of the water. She didn't like riding in the car at first until she realized that her brother liked going for rides, then she thought it was the greatest thing in the world and she never missed out on a chance to go for a ride in the car.
Pepper always had her "place" for things. She had her own room and her own queen-sized bed, and that's where she slept. She had a favorite place outside, a shady variegated privet that was the perfect hiding place. She only had certain places where she would allow us to pet her: in her bed, out in the yard, or in the kitchen. Anywhere else was usually out of the question unless she was scared.
Thunder and lightning scared Pepper. At the first sign of it she'd come bounding into the bedroom and into our bed she would go, panting and pawing us until we'd pet her. I had learned long ago to just get up and let Pepper have my spot in the bed until the storm had passed us by.
We had Pepper over a year before she ever barked. It took a couple of years for this dog to warm up to us and accept us. For all of her days she was the perfect companion, was house broken, trained easily, etc. If every dog was only half this good, cats would be put out of existence.