GONE TO THE DOGS - the big blowout

One day we were blowing out the dogs. Blow outs are a strange practice of dosing the dogs with milk of magnesia which gives them a highly explosive, irridescent case of the shits. We gave them the milk of mag and left for Shoney's because you have to give the dogs a couple of hours for the medicine to take effect. We were gone for about three hours.

We came back to the kennel and were thankful that none of the dogs had diarrhea in their beds. We started the process of kicking out the dogs and as Terri walked in front of the crates on her way to the back of the kennel one of the dogs blew out all over the side of her head! I watched as she was blasted with a burst of irridescent, green, slimy shit with all the force of a super soaker squirt gun! Terri froze in place and started to wail. She looked just like Lucille Ball screaming as she was covered in diarrhea from head to toe. It streamed down the whole left side of her body.

She absolutely did not appreciate my response of unadulterated glee at the sight either. It didn't matter, I was helpless with laughter. All we could do was grab the hose and hose her down. Of course she went home and I had to finish morning work alone - but it was worth it.

Did You Sleep With Stuffed Animals When You Were a Kid?

I did.

In fact, fully half of my full sized bed was full of stuffed animals. I slept with my sister, Rhonda until we moved into our new house when I was in the 5th. grade. Then we got our own rooms. I guess I missed her and I was kind of scared so I filled my bed so full of stuffed animals that there was barely room for me in my own bed. They made me feel better. Not so alone.

I had one bear that was about 3 foot tall and he was like another person by himself. Then there was the mannequin head that my mom bought us for make up and hairdo's and stuff. I was scared to death of it. I used to hide it in my closet at night and turn it to face the wall. Then I would still shut the door tightly behind her.

Then I would flip off the light switch and try to dive under the covers before it got dark! I never did beat the dark???

Later when my nephew was one he was in the hospital with spinal meningitis. It was also his first birthday. My dad and I went together and bought him a 5 foot tall teddy bear which he dubbed "father bear" when he was old enough to name his own stuffed animals.

Both he and my niece had bunk beds and one of their bunks was for sleep and the other was for all their stuffed animals. They were raised in the same house I grew up in. Arny had my old room and Becca had Rhonda's.

Did you sleep with stuffed animals when you were a kid?

GONE TO THE DOGS - we make a pact

When I went to work the next morning I knew what I had to do. Nobody showed up as usual until Terri got there even later than usual. I was doing beds and she joined in to help me. I was right about thinking Sal would be too depressed to come in. We were getting ready to leave when she said, Pam, I need to ask you something."

I knew what was coming. "Good," I said, "I need to talk to you too. You first."

"Why did you tell Sal that I told you we needed testosterone? He knows I picked it up last week and he reamed my ass for it. I told him I forgot and you know I never told you that in the first place."

"Well, that's why I needed to talk to you. I told him that because when I walked out of the kennel last night I heard him start to beat on Kay. I had to have an excuse to come back in the kennel unexpectedly and it was the first thing to pop in my head. I was already kinda thinking that he had hit her before but I wasn't sure about it. Now I'm sure. I have to tell you if it happens again I will be going to the track about it. I don't care if you do fire me." I looked her directly in the eye when I said that last part.

"So that's what it was," she said to herself. "Listen I know he gets rough sometimes but he means well. I will do everything in my power to keep him away from her from now on and you have to too. It shouldn't be that hard for the two of us to do. I like you. We're friends. I don't want to see you go and the track will need proof, good solid proof, and you don't have it.

"I know. That's why I haven't gone already. If you promise me you'll protect her then I will too. That should take care of the problem."

"It's a deal. I'll see you at weigh-in tonight. Let's go home."

"Sure, weigh-in, see ya tonight."

As the days went by Terri kept her promise. Sal hardly came in the kennel at all anymore. They tried to hire Jeff back but he would have no part of it. He said, "It's better for the family if I don't work for them anymore."

He was right but I missed him. Terri was fun to work with and we got along great. She missed a lot of work though and I was going weeks without a day off - just a turnout here and there. Luckily Bobby found a place for us and he moved us while I was working. It was a good thing because I had almost fallen asleep driving more than once and I was going to get killed if I kept it up.

Remember Baby Oil and Iodine

That used to be the miracle suntan formula when I was growning up. People used to literally fry themselves in the sun. The darker the better was the motto back in the 70's. Skin cancer was for old people. Nobody else had to worry about it.

Unfortunately for me I spent half my childhood (an exaggeration of course) in front of a fan slathered with noxzema from head to toe. That was the only cure for sunburn back then and I always had a sunburn. I was a blonde haired, blue eyed little girl with the whitest skin on earth and my mom wanted nothing more than for me to have a tan.

She would send me into the sun and tell me not to worry if I burned. Her logic was, "it will turn to a tan anyway." Unfortunately that never happened with me. I would just burn and peel, burn and peel again. Of course, I spent plenty of time in the sun playing on my own and once we hit a pool or a lake you couldn't drag me or my brother and sister out.

Sis told me that her mom and my mom used to drag her out and show off her tan! They would do this by pulling down her pants and showing the world her butt so they could see her tanline! Now that had to be humiliating! My mom may have complained that I never tanned but she never stripped me down to show it off. What a strange way parents had of doing things back then. Can you imagine if somebody did that now?

Once I got a little older and had enough sense to stay out of the sun (for the most part) I got into a fierce arguement with Bobby's sister's boyfriend one time. He was punishing her son, Dwayne. He made him set on the bottom step of the porch. Which would have been fine except for the fact that the boy was sitting in the hot sun and he was a fair complected as me. So I knew what was going to happen to him.

All I did was move the child to the top step so he would be out of the sun. This started world war 3 in the house. But I won. I didn't try to prevent the punishement. I just got him out of the sun but I got a big speech about undermining "his" authority. I didn't care. He was surprised that a mere woman would stand up to him but I didn't care. It's not the first man I have stood up to in my life and it wasn't the last.

gotts go.

GONE TO THE DOGS - greyhound abuse

"Okay Sal," I said. Sal was too quiet and that was not like him. I knew that the less I said the better off I would be. Sal went into the kennel as I was unloading the dogs from the truck. I heard a crate door open in the kennel but I couldn't tell what Sal was saying. I could tell from his tone that he was upset. I heard a crate door slam shut just as I opened the kennel door. Sal was standing by Kay's crate and she was cowering in the back of it. All the other dogs in the kennel were quiet. They should have been clawing at their doors clamoring to get outside for turnout. Something was wrong and I hoped it was not what I thought it was.

Sal shouldered past me into the kitchen, "get 'em out," he barked at me. I started turnout and he stayed in the kitchen. He was dressed too nicely to help with turnout - not that he would have normally helped in the first place. It was a running joke in the compound that he was the only one who could wear white and not get dirty. While I was in the pens he was in the kennel pacing back and forth muttering to himself. It was a quick turnout because I had to get back to pick up the next race. After I put all the dogs up I asked Sal if he wanted to go back to the track.

"No, I told you, I'm going home." Which made me wonder why he was still there. He could have left just as easy before I started turnout. He didn't need to stay until I was finished. "Get down to the track. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Alright Sal, have a good night." I went out to get in the truck and before I even got to the truck I heard a dog yelp and I heard Sal cussing. I went back to the door and I listened. I knew from the sounds that he was beating on poor Kay. He took everything out on her - but I didn't know that he would hit her. I wanted to report him but I knew I needed proof. I made some noise and I burst into the kennel.

"Hey Sal, I forgot to tell you..." he jumped back from Kay's crate, surprised that I was still there, "...Terri told me to tell you to pick up some testosterone at the vet's tomorrow. We don't have enough to shoot the bitches." I knew he knew I was in a hurry so I couldn't stay. I was hoping I had created enough of a diversion that he would stop his vendetta against Kay. It worked. He stalked out of the kennel muttering about having to do everything himself. He pulled out of the compound as I went down to the track. I finished my night and went home.

Bobby was waiting up for me. He wanted to know about the stakes race. I told him about The Goose and I told him about poor Kay. He agreed with me when I told him I could do more for the dogs if I stayed in the kennel than I ever could if I went to the track with no proof. All that would accomplish was to get me fired. I needed to hang around and figure out how to get proof. So I went to bed and he spent the entire night making me forget about poor, little Kay.

GONE TO THE DOGS - the stakes race

As the weeks wore on Sal drove me crazy. He became more and more frenzied as the stakes race drew closer. The Goose ran first in the semi-finals and Sal crowed about it more and more each day. I saw Jeff at the track one day. He had started to train at another kennel. He tried to hire me away from Sal but he understood when I couldn't leave my dogs. He didn't know about my big raise until I told him. "You know Sal only did that to keep anybody else from hiring you," he said.

"Yeah, I know. I don't care as long as I get the money." I laughed as I told him. He thought it was funny too.

Finally the night of the big stakes race came. The Goose had drawn an inside hole but he liked the outside. Sal had bets with everybody that would take one and he had plans to bet thousands at the window. "Support our dog, you know, youse have to support our dog. Confidence that's what wins races," he told me time and time again.

Personally I had already learned, "if you take care of the kennel, the track will take care of itself." That was a quote from Jeff, a dogman, as opposed to Sal, a gambler.

When I saw Sal and Terri at the track they were more dressed up than usual. So was every other owner and trainer - even the leadouts were in tuxedos. I hadn't realized the race was such a big deal. Of course $10,000 to the winner was a big deal. You were guaranteed $500 even if you ran last. The other helpers and I were in for a tough night. We all had to do turnout and catch all the dogs by ourselves while the rest of the track was one big party. I was excited though. My first stakes race looked to be a doozy.

Finally it was time for the race. They loaded the dogs in the box after an elaborate introduction. Sal and Terri magically appeared by my side. "This is it," he said. "Time to separate the men from the boys."

"Heeere comes Sparky," The announcer called as the rabbit shot around the track! When it glided past the box the greyhounds shot out of it. The Goose broke second. That was good, maybe the dog on the inside wouldn't knock him out in the first turn. As he ran around the first turn he swung wide and two dogs scooted in underneath him. He came out of the turn in fourth place. That was good. He was a closer. He could still win from there. Coming out of the far turn he was still fourth. He didn't gain any ground. He finished the race in fourth place. I was happy. I looked over at Sal. I could see storm clouds gathering. He was not pleased.

"C'mon Sal, he ran a good race. You still get $1500 for fourth you know." I said to him.

"Yeah, fifteen hundred lousy dollars. I got more than that laid out in side bets. Geeze" he replied disgustedly. I knew a tantrum was boiling just below the surface. "Friggin' Bearcat ran second."

I knew that but I wasn't going to bring it up. Bearcat was Jeff's dog. Things were worse than I thought. About that time Jeff walked up with Bearcat. "So Sal, time to pay up?" He asked as he smiled at me and reached down to pet The Goose.

"Of course I'll pay up! Youse insinuating I don't pay my debts! Youse would be here the second the race is over to rub it in." Sal's voice was raising.

"Ah Sal, c'mon. You would be doing the same thing if you had beat me and you know it. Don't be like that."

Sal fiddled with his waistband. "Don't I know it. Congratulations, alright. Congratulations, I really mean it." I thought he was going to upchuck on the spot as the words strangled out of him. "Pam put Goose in the truck. We have work to do."

"Yes, Sal." I said. I took Goose to the truck and loaded him up. Sal was starting the truck before I was finished. "Sal, are you sure you don't want to go back up with Terri? I know you didn't plan on being in the kennel tonight."

"Nah, I don't want to fool with those losers. I think I'm going home. Tell Terri to take the dogtruck home tonight."