Stopping By

By Herb Moore and Kathy Moore

Throughout our marriage of 50 plus years, one thing that we have consistently agreed upon is the inclusion of animals in our lives. The remembrances in this book recall stories of some of the dogs, cats, horses and other animals that have shared their time and space with our family.
Often relationships with these amazing animals brought us joy, at times they brought a bit of sadness but always we were enriched in some way. The many lessons we learned helped us to care for future animals and to open our hearts and minds to what they had to teach us.
As we explored our memories, and gathered our pictures, one animal story led to the recollection of another, then another. The remembering brought laughter, gratitude, a sense of wonder and sometimes tears. In these pages you will find stories about the uniqueness of many of our animals including Erichs ingenuity, Docs problem-solving skills, K.C.s dedication and Buddys impeccable training.
We hope you will see a reflection of you and your animal friends in the telling of these stories.
Herb and Kathy Moore

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Mar 13, 2017
• ISBN: 9781524672652

Herb Moore

Herb Moore resides near Orangeburg, twenty-five miles outside the South Carolina capital city of Columbia. Raised in Charleston, South Carolina, Moore moved to his present home in 1978. His interest in writing came early but was not put to practice until he wrote his first book. Moore served in the US Marine Corps from 1961 to 1968. His military service provided a background for him to write his first book, Rows of Corn, a nonfiction account of Marine Corps basic training Moore endured during the hot summer of 1963. It was while promoting his first book that Moore appeared on numerous television talk shows throughout the country, as well as on South Carolina ETV programs for writer forums. Moore states his feelings as, “I really don’t care to talk about me. I’m not too interesting, but I am thrilled to talk about the people I write about. History is full of exciting people with really amazing pasts.” Moore went on to author nonfiction magazine feature articles about interesting people he has met, such as the well-known artist Jim Harrison and internationally famous knife designer Blackie Collins. Moore also wrote feature articles about places, such as the world’s longest black water river, the Edisto River. Moore attended college at the University of South Carolina and Charleston Southern University. He and his wife, Kathy, were high school sweethearts and have two sons, Jeffrey (married to Inna and has two children, Silas and Addie) and Greg (married to Molly and has two children, Isaac and Elijah). Herb states, “Kathy and I live in the country on thirty acres, with horses, dogs, and cats roaming about freely. There is always a fence to mend and never time to do it all, but it’s home, and we love it in the country.”

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STOPPING By

Herb Moore & Kathy Moore

AuthorHouse™

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Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

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©

2017 Herb Moore & Kathy Moore. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 03/13/2017

ISBN: 978-1-5246-7264-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-7265-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017902690

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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Dedication:

To our treasured grandchildren-

Isaac, Silas, Elijah, Addie and James

May you each have a life filled with love- and with animals!

We love you greatly and always, Nana and Pop

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Herb, Cloud, Kathy, Cash, Barney and Sunshine

Stopping By

Prologue

And So It Began- Puzzle and Erich

First Horse - Apache

Uncle John and Nosey

Clark, The White Truck, And Buddy

Pronto

Susie and the Hat

Cotton Eye Song

Duke – He Was No Dog

Blackjack, Tom and the busted outboard

Coming Home - Maggie

Skoal – Not the Chewing Kind

Learning to Trust - KC

Norma

Woofus - Lost and Found

Home Again - Suzy and Buster

Never Wrestle a Goat

Lapdog Molly

The Doctor is out

Absolutely Abbie

And Now there is Barney

Epilogue

Prologue

Remembering - Kathy

I’ve always loved cocker spaniels. I’m not certain why- or even exactly when it started- but the sight of a floppy eared puppy or a heavy bodied old dog just makes me smile and almost always lifts my heart. Throughout my childhood I visited family who lived on rural property with space for dogs, cats, horses and even chickens. My great aunt had a blond cocker and some cousins always had tan and whites running around the horse stables - which was my favorite place to be. After all, I could be near horses and cocker spaniels at the same time!

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Aunt Sadie and Sandy in 1939

Also, that was where I first fell in love. He was an American Collie named Rex and he belonged to my great aunt and uncle who lived about an hour’s drive from my home. They had a country home in a small community in South Carolina’s low country. Going to their house was always a special treat for me and Rex was the highlight of my visit. He was a classic collie in looks and in temperament. I was outside with him as much as I was allowed to be. We played, explored and talked. One day, he stepped in front of me, completely blocking my way and pushing me back. I was very young and felt confused at this unexpected behavior. As I looked down, I spotted a snake crossing our path and crawling away.

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Rex as a puppy – picture taken at Tomotley Plantation about 1947

A cousin who lived with my aunt and uncle for a while rode the bus back and forth to school each day. Every morning, Rex accompanied him to the bus stop and then he met the bus on the return trip. Each afternoon, as Warner got off the bus, he said Hello, Rex and greeted the faithful dog with a pat on the head. He noticed one afternoon that Rex stretched his mouth into a great yawn as they met. Rex began to make a noise as he yawned and soon the sound became a Hu-woah greeting. Rex began to make the same sound for me every time I went to visit him. He only made this sound the first time he saw me on each visit and as far as we know, he spoke to very few people in this way.

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Rex as an adult with Kathy and her cousin Warner about 1950

I begged for my first cocker spaniel for years and when I was in middle school I finally wore down my mother’s resistance. We found a little black and white male puppy and Grimsby’s Prince Charming became my first very own cocker spaniel. Prince was physically a small dog with a calm and sweet disposition. He taught me about the responsibilities of pet ownership and helped me learn about the unconditional love a pet brings.

During the early years of our marriage, we had other dogs; a rescue terrier and a pseudo-German Shepard named Erich whom we greatly loved. This was just the beginning of a lifetime shared with amazing animals.

Prologue

Enter the Animals -Herb

We married young. Kathy was nineteen and I was twenty-one. That may account for many errors we made without thinking everything through like we would later in life. One of the best decisions we made was that of continuing the love each of us has for animals. Kathy had owned Cockers (not my favorite breed at the time) while my dogs had been mixed breeds that showed up at our home with no credentials and with no registered bloodlines obvious in their appearances. We each had observed and cared for our dogs. That shared characteristic was something we brought into our marriage.

Just how encompassing the love for all animals would become was lost on our youth but reaffirmed with each animal we have owned since that day of June 6, 1964. Yep, over fifty years she has put up with me. Astonishing. Still, we look forward to more years and more animals just as enthusiastically as when we were in that small white cottage we rented for $55.00 a month in 1964.

Living out in the country for the past forty years has given us the space to house animals, not always in luxury but in a space comfortable and safe for them. Vet bills, feed costs and 24/7 care are part and parcel of owning animals and we knew our budget might have to be adjusted. That was OK, too. Money well spent as far as we were concerned.

Our lives changed in some way with the addition of each animal whether it was a dog, cat, horse or cow. I even once had a squirrel that fell out of its nest. We adapted to them and they adapted to us, for the most part. We have a mustang now that we have owned for over two years and we still haven’t gotten a halter on her! It will happen. We’re patient.

What follows are stories of some of our animals. It is not in chronological order. It is not about every animal we’ve owned. It is a random effort to tell about some of the animals that impacted us powerfully enough that their memories live within our hearts. They will remain there and in our thoughts throughout our lives. Enjoy!

And So It Began- Puzzle and Erich

We were newlyweds, finishing college, living in a small rented house near campus, working part time and counting our pennies. We certainly didn’t need the responsibility or expense of a dog. When you are young, nothing seems difficult. We went to the animal shelter.

Looking at us through a wire cage was a sad face with watery eyes. What is she? we asked. She is a Manchester Terrier whose elderly owner died. The family turned her in to us. You probably want a younger dog, the attendant said. She might not adapt to a new home.

We’ll take her, we said. The papers were signed and she was in the car with us in twenty minutes. We counted out change to take her to a veterinarian who discovered she had an ear infection and he couldn’t really determine her age. We named her Puzzle and not one of us ever looked back. She traveled everywhere with us – long and short trips- usually riding on the high headrest part of the front seat behind the driver. Sometimes she rode in the long window ledge over the back seat. There were no seatbelts for anyone in 1964.

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Puzzle on our front step soon after we brought her home.

Puzzle loved our next door neighbors and carried notes back and forth between the two houses. She slept in our bed, trained us to give her treats, and politely accepted visitors. After graduation, we moved to Charleston, SC. Puzzle seemed contented in her new home and the big yard gave her lots of exploring opportunities- but she was an indoor girl at heart.

Perhaps it was out of boredom or inquisitiveness that we started to teach Puzzle some new tricks. She already knew the basics of Sit and Lie Down and Stay, and she eagerly headed for the front door when we said Car. We upped the ante. We taught her that when we pointed a finger at her then said Bang, she was to lie down and roll over onto her back and hold her legs up as though she had been shot. She picked it up after only a few repetitions. She added her own take to the trick. She wouldn’t lie down and play dead on a cold floor. She would stagger around until she got to a rug or carpet, then plop down and roll over. We never could get her to ‘die’ on a hard floor.

We didn’t fully appreciate how easily Puzzle fit into our daily life and routines.

Furthermore, we didn’t ask her about our idea of getting a puppy- we just did it.

Never believe that you can just go look at a litter of puppies. Your life will be changed in some way. My husband, Herb, wanted a German Shepherd and as a young married couple we knew we couldn’t afford to pay for magnificent breeding so we began to look for individuals with registered shepherds of rather common heritage. One day, advertised in the paper, we saw 6 weeks old German Shepherd pups - pureblood the ad said. Once again we went to look at puppies in hopes of finding just the right one. The mother was a good looking dog with an apparently good temperament. As the puppies tumbled all over her, we watched them carefully and asked about their sire. He belongs to a family right around the corner, we were told, and off we went to see him. He was a beautiful, large shepherd and we were increasingly impressed with the health and personalities of the parents. Once back with the puppies, we studied them intently. All those little black and tan bodies were very similar in markings but one male kept attracting our attention especially when he tugged on Herb’s pants leg with his little puppy teeth. He seemed happy, bright, and friendly. Even though we had been looking for a female, we couldn’t leave without him.

In the car, the puppy curled up between us on the front seat and fell promptly asleep while we began discussing names. Puzzle sighed when we walked in with this squirmy, furry ball of energy and decided that her responsibilities were changing. We explained to Puzzle that the puppy was staying and set about to feed both of them and