More Than “Just A Dog”

Jinx was four weeks old when I named her. Of the whole litter, she was the one no one wanted, but I did. I was there the moment she was born at 8:30 PM and I held her, marveling at this future streak of lightning and what her life would be like. I was there the moment she left this life too, heartbroken and sobbing uncontrollably.

The litter Jinx was born in was all sitting on command by the end of 5 weeks. Five little black and white fuzz balls wiggling for a treat. Of all the pups, Jinx had a tail that was curled up tight that was straight up and down. Her littler mates Hank and Jill each had curly tails that curled to the right or left. When we walked down the dirt road, Jinx was always in the middle, the pup with the tail that curled right was on the right and the other with the left curling tail was on the left. It didn’t matter when we walked, they were always that way.

Jinx was a jumper. The first time she jumped into my hands was from the couch. By the time she was 11 months old, she was able to launch from 12 feet away, into my arms. I never will forget the time she overshot and flew over my left shoulder. Not sure who was more shocked, her or me. That jumping came in handy when she needed to jump into a pen to help or get across a creek to stop the goats.

She loved to run and run she could! Many times she wanted out of the pickup just before we got home so she could ‘race’ me home on our dead end road. That quarter of a mile was clocked at 35 mph and she loped beside me like she was just getting warmed up. When she ran, she looked as if she was moving in slow motion but in reality, her long stride allowed her to cover the ground with ease. The other dogs were spinning their wheels to keep up and could never catch her. She outran the horses, cattle and goats with easy, as if she was playing games with them.

I don’t know how many times this dog scared me half to death. Four times she was mouth-to-mouth with badgers and lived to smile about it. Her only wound was a small cut in her tongue that she had the rest of her life. She made my heart skip beats when she jumped out of the pickup to chase deer. After the third time, I learned to keep her window half up. The time the horse kicked her when she was 8 months old, I ran to her, believing she was dead, only to just get to her and she raised her head up and looked around like, “Wow! What happened?”

Those who knew Jinx, knew better than to approach me with my back turned. She would run at them with this wicked bark, warning them that they would have to get past her to get to me and most knew from her sound, they didn’t want to attempt a try.

We had a period of separation. Three weeks she was with my friend Penny, while Jinx recuperated from a cellulitis while I was on the road. She had only been home again with me 24 hours, when I found out my parents were in a car wreck and Penny had to take all 4 dogs for six weeks. Jinx never recovered from that trauma and for the rest of her life, I had to take her with me to most of the events I attended, including cowboy poet gatherings or meetings. I too had separation anxiety from Jinx. She was never able to get bred because I called the breeder 4 times in 40 minutes to check on her and by the Second day, the breeder told me to bring Joy and come get Jinx.

When her sister, Joy’s puppies arrived, Jinx was curious but distant until the pups were up and wandering the yard. Fly took up with her aunt and when we gathered the goats each night, Fly was following Jinx and when the pup got too close to the goats, Jinx would turn to the pup and let her know she needed to back off. To this day, Fly hesitates to take the right flank of the herd because that is and was Jinx’s position. Fly learned much from Jinx and for that, I will always see Jinx in Fly as this young dog takes over as the lead dog.

It was the night I named Jinx that I received the scar on the tip of my nose. As a four-week-old, I held her on my chest while I was in my recliner. She hadn’t been named and I was going through all the J names I could think of and then I remembered the robot on from the movie “Space Camp” was called Jinx. When I said the name, her ears perked up. So I fell asleep with her on my chest and at midnight, the little devil grabbed my nose with those puppy sharp teeth, to play. Blood was everywhere but Jinx wanted to play. Every night since then, at midnight, she would come to me, climb on my chest and gently grab my nose to play our little game of ‘bite face’, where I would gently bite her nose and she would do the same to mine. I will miss this game.

Her ability to know what I was thinking made working livestock easier. I could tell her to go find the goats and she could bring them back by herself, even when they were over a mile from home. You can’t ask for a better dog. She was like lightning and was around the goats. She learned hand signals because she could get far enough away to see but not hear me. Those hand signals came in handing when she lost her hearing.

I could go on about this amazing dog but I am starting to cry again. The following is the a poem I wrote about my Border Collies and now two of the dogs that are mentioned in it are gone but never forgotten.

Border Collies

  “Get around them.” I said, and she flew out of sight,

A black and white streak that ran into the night.

The goats had escaped and all scattered,

But with Jinx in control, she’d catch them n o matter.

Her speed like the lightning, her skill beyond measure,

I smiled with pride at my wonderful treasure.

She stopped their escape and gathered them in,

She sat beside me, looked up and grinned.

No greater value, no better friend.

I can’t brag enough about my border collie,

She is worth more than gold and all the world’s coffee!

She’s constantly awaiting my command or a pet,

Is she my life? That you can bet.

Her sister is Joy, another true treasure,

She works much slower but is getting much better.

Jinx uses speed and pressure to herd,

Joy uses her eyes to control the herd.

Together they bring the herd back home

And together they help me, wherever we roam.

The old dog, she sat back and watched it all,

Miss Allie the dog that started it all.

This old gal, a while back did depart,

But the memories and love will forever fill my heart.

The puppy that follows Joy and Jinx,

The next generation and she knows how to wink!

Fly is her name; she has a great future,

Her daddy’s a champion and he’s a good teacher.

What would I do without my border collies?

I hate to think of that by golly.

To most, Jinx was ‘just a dog’ to me, she was an extension of me and part of my life that I can never get back but I can marvel and smiling, believing that God gave me this dog to get a taste of unconditional love that only a human body can understand, because God’s unconditional love for us is so great our human bodies cannot fathom it. I can also hope that one day, that beautiful dog that God created will be waiting for me, when I cross over to the other side.

“Get around them Jinx!”