 | by
Paige in my world of make-believe |
December 30th, 2005
these dog stories just keep popping up in my brain like magic!
* * *
Big Ben was probably the best thing that ever happened to me
and my family. Big Ben was big, that’s one of the reasons we gave
him the title of Big Ben. He’s big because, well, because he was a big
dog. Oh, didn’t I tell you he was a dog? Oh, well, I guess I didn’t.
Anyway, so yeah, he was a dog. He was a Saint Bernard to be exact
and he was the loveliest Saint Bernard there was. He was 3ft from
floor to nose and he was all white with a round brown circle on his
chest and a huge brown blotch on his back. That’s how we got the
second part of his name, Ben. The circle on his chest reminded all of
my family of a clock and since he was VERY big, we all decided to
name him after one of the biggest clocks in the world, yep, Big Ben in
England.
Big Ben was only 2 months when we adopted him from a Saint
Bernard breeder. From the moment I saw him I knew, he was the
one, he was the dog we were looking for. I felt that there was
something special about him, even though I couldn’t quite place it.
Was it the way he looked at me with his gentle brown eyes? Was it
the was his small tail wagged whenever I came to pet him? Was it his
cute little yip which gradually grew to a “WOOF!” that caught my
love? You know, I don’t think I’ll ever know what made my family and
I pick him, but whatever the reason I’m glad we did. For if we didn’t, I
might not be here today to tell you his story. . .
“Zoey! Come and feed Ben! He’s hungry!” Mom called.
“Already?! I just fed him 2 hours ago! Soon he’s gunna be fat!” I
yelled back.
“Well, he IS a big dog!”
“No.” said my older brother as he came out of the garage
carrying one of Dad’s wooden boxes. “He’s not big, he’s a GIANT!”
he said snorting.
“He’s not even full grown yet and you’re acting like he’s a
horse!” I replied.
“What are you talking about Zoe, he IS a horse!” my younger
brother said coming out of the garage also carrying one of Dad’s
boxes.
It wasn’t anything new that my family was teasing Big Ben on
his size. They did it probably twice every day, but I couldn’t help
feeling a little sorry for Ben. His size did make it pretty hard for him to
get around the house. His tail would always nock into things and he
had the worse habit! Putting his paws and nose on the table! Of
course, when we caught him doing it we would scold him
immediately, but his brown eyes always got Mom and I feeling sorry
for him. Dad, Joey and Marcus always would ignore him.
“Don’t worry Benny, you’re a good dog.” I replied putting more
food in his bowl as he licked all the other scraps clean.
“You and that dog, sometimes I think you two could’ve come out
of the same litter!” Dad said looking down at me as I patted Big Ben’s
forehead.
Ben was the family dog, but he was MY dog for sure. All of my
family knew it, but Joey and Marcus had the hardest time admitting it.
For instance, Ben would always try to follow me to school. One time,
the first day of 6th grade, he tried to jump onto the bus with me and
Dad had to hold him back. OH!, and I’ll never forget the time my Boy
Friend came over to give me a Valentines Card and Chocolates.
When he came to the front gate and opened it Big Ben was sleeping
out behind the house. As soon as he heard the door open and he
didn’t recognize Todd’s scent he leaped up to go and GREET him.
Greeting him meaning showing teeth and barking his head off. Of
course Ben wasn’t actually going to ATTACK Todd, but he did scare
him! I had to come out and tackle Ben to get him to stop. I’m sure
Todd was quite surprised to see his girl friend jumping on her huge
dog. He was probably even more surprised when Ben rolled over on
his stomach, tongue lolling out and licking my face. Funny, Marcus
never had any trouble with Ben ‘attacking’ HIS girl friends. He said
Ben just liked girls, male Hormones, but I KNOW that Ben was trying
to protect me.
Yeah, Big Ben was the family dog, but he was MY dog most of
all. Why he chose me, I may never know. But I’m sure glad he did.
See more stories by Paige