Funny Looking Cat
After being away at school I came back home with a cat named Crier. She was a very friendly black and white kitty who was a great companion while I was out on my own. She adjusted nicely to being a farm cat. She used to be an indoor/outdoor cat. I was trying to watch out for her, but I had to go off to work, and when I was home I had to care for my parents.
After a few years on the farm, I didn’t watch so much. Then one spring after three days with no sign on my Crier, I knew she’d fallen to the coyote that was killing cats in the neighborhood. I was to later find out that the coyote had killed 17 cats in the area in a 6 week period.
I went to work, but was very distraught. My supervisor came to me and insisted I go to the breakroom. There, on one of the tables, was a newspaper with yellow highlighted arrows and a big circle around and add for a 4-year-old Borzoi. REALLY! The dog of my dreams.
I hurried to a phone and called the number stating “I want your dog; I mean, I want to come see your dog. When can I come out?”
When I got home that evening, I told my mother I was going to be getting another cat, but I wanted to take the truck, as I might make a side trip to haul some supplies for the feed store. Mom would have put up an argument, and I probably wouldn’t have been able to get the dog, had I told her the truth, so I lied. I said a friend was going to give me a cat. I also knew that once I got home with the dog, he would stay. It was a strange time at the house, as we were, for the first time I could remember, dogless.
The next day, I thought I was going to be early to meet the dog; however the dog, that I would call Thor, met me on the sidewalk in front of their house, and just wanted to be loved. I of course had to give in; after all he was going to be coming home with me. My new love was blocking my progress of 100 feet or so from the side walk to the house. It took me about 20 minute to get to the doorbell.
It was easy for me to fall instantly in love with this dog. I’d seen this breed of dog some 20 years prior, when my sister was in 4-H dog training. I had promised myself I would own a dog like that some day. This was now my day.
When I got home, mom said, “That’s a funny looking cat”.
Marie Agun
I grew up in Washougal. Our family used to have cows, and so we always had the usual farm animals; cows, chickens, cats, dogs. When I was 11, some one dumped a young, silver point German shepherd near our farm. Unlike almost all dumped dogs, this one was lucky and we took him in. He turned out to be a pretty good farm dog. We called him Charley. My sister decided to enter Charley in 4-H obedience classes, and her little sister (me) always tagged along. One day, while my sister was working with Charley, I went back to the car. Someone had come to visit the obedience instructor, and in the back of the visitors’ car were two amazing, tall, thin, long haired elegant, majestic looking dogs. I was instantly smitten. I did see the person who owned the dogs, and I never learned who it was; but, I promised myself that some day I would have a dog like that. It took me 10 years to learn I’d fallen in love with a Borzoi aka Russian wolfhound. It was another 10 years for my first Borzoi to enter my life. Just how he came to live with me is another wonderful story. He was my love, he was an amazing teacher. He taught me a lot about dogs and life. I’m so glad he was part of my life. Since a lot of people don’t know much about Borzoi, I took it upon myself to learn as much as I could about the breed as I could. It’s only been 15 years now, so I’m still learning, and love to talk dog with anyone willing to listen.