Orien Family News

Dusty - The dog who had no idea he was a dog and not a people

Dusty came to our home as a cute little blonde-haired pup in 1995. Orie and the kids had been talking about getting a dog but no definite plans had been made. Orie did say IF we got a dog he favored a Yellow Lab so Erin began scouring the paper and found an ad for some lab puppies. The two of them jumped in the car and went off to “look”. Little did I know they would come home with one of the pups….a registered Lab named Dusty. We all fell in love with him at first sight. He was a cute little fella.

Joseph claimed Dusty for his own, and maybe he was. He might have been a birthday present for Joseph. Anyway, Joseph loved him and they developed a cute relationship. Joseph wanted to sleep with him and cried when Mom said no to dogs in his bed. So Joseph dragged Dusty’s little bed into the entry way and slept on it with his new little doggie friend for several nights until that got old. (Mom later learned that Jason and Joseph let Dusty in through their bedroom window and he did sleep with them quite often …probably until they realized how much hair he shed and what a mess that was.)

When Dusty was a young dog I took him to obedience school. He didn’t do very well with some of the commands we tried to teach him. He never could do a proper “sit”. He had to repeat the class and still didn’t master some of the basic commands. But at home the kids taught him lots of fun tricks so he wasn’t dumb…maybe just a bit distracted by all the other dogs in class? Spencer taught him how to play dead. Dusty would lay dead still on his side when commanded and not move until released. Spencer would put a treat just out of reach near his nose and then make him lay there. One time Spencer walked away and forgot about him only to come back half an hour later and find him still laying there in a large pool of saliva with the treat at this nose and his eyes focused on it. Dusty also learned to hold perfectly still with a treat on his nose and not eat it until he was told he could. He was very good at these tricks and we had a lot of fun with him.

Dusty was a really fun dog to play with outside too. He loved to retrieve and the kids spent hours throwing and hitting balls for him to bring back. He was very athletic and fast and would often end up with grass in his mouth as he raced hard and scooped up a hard hit tennis ball. We spent many hours outside playing retrieve with Dusty. The family used to play baseball in the front yard and Dusty always liked to be included in the game. Usually he played in the outfield and would retrieve the balls and bring them to home base fast enough to tag out the runner. One time when we were playing Dusty was in his usual position in the outfield. All of a sudden he decided he wanted to change positions and play catcher so he raced in and jumped up to catch the ball just as Joseph was swinging the bat to hit the ball. So, instead of hitting the ball, Joseph hit Dusty square in the eye and knocked him goofy. He staggered around for a few seconds and fell down. Joseph was mortified and fell down on Dusty crying and wailing loud enough for the neighbor to come running to see what was happening. We took him to the vet and had to leave him there for 4 days while the vet tended to him. Doc Odum was a special kind of vet and with love and tender care managed to save Dusty’s eye.

Dusty was a very good watch dog so if anyone or anything came into the yard he made a big fuss with his deep bark so anyone within a quarter mile could hear him. Moose came into the yard frequently so he chased after them barking ferociously and dashing in and out and around their deadly slashing feet. We would watch in horror as the moose, irritated by his barking, would charge and kick at him. We feared for his life whenever a moose was around. I think a moose may have grazed him with a kick a time or two but it didn’t make him stop chasing them. He could not and would not leave them alone until later in his life when his eyes and hearing grew dim. I knew he was getting old when he sat on the porch and just watched the moose walk through the yard. It is probably a good thing because his arthritis got so bad he couldn’t run anymore and would never have gotten away from those deadly hooves.

I think Dusty loved swimming more than anything. We took him to the lake with us and he loved swimming and playing with the kids in the lake. He could not stand to be left out if anyone was in the water. If someone was going waterskiing he had to go. He was a menace though as he would race back and forth in the boat from front to back barking like crazy and watching the skier. One time he nearly scared us to death when he was flipped off the front of the boat and run over. It was always a chore to contain him inside the boat so we tried sneaking off and leaving him on the dock. He would bark and howl and make such a commotion that was deafening. Then he would jump in the water and try to follow the boat around and around the lake trying his best to catch it. Some days when he was younger he would be in the water swimming most of the day.

Dusty loved to race the kids into the water. It was a fun game they played. We would all be sitting quietly on the dock, including Dusty, when one of the kids would jump up and run for the end of the dock and jump in or pretend to be jumping in. Dusty was always alert and would jump up as fast as lightening and beat them into the water. They did this over and over. It was quite entertaining to watch. He loved to dive into the water and would do it by himself if no one else wanted to play his game. Even the last summer Dusty spent at the lake he when was nearly 14 years old and had a hard time getting around he would go down to the lake and swim around a bit. He always wanted someone to go with him though but if no one was willing, he would eventually go by himself. Most often he would stand at the door and whine and beg until finally, usually Orie, would say okay and walk down to the lake with him while he swam.

We will miss our Dusty dog. He was faithful and loving friend. He had a gentle nature and he always had a friendly wag of his tail. He loved our family and we loved him. We were glad to have had him with us for 14 years and wish it could have been longer. Good bye Dusty. Happy trails.