Once when i was very young a small dog showed up and sat in my parent's driveway. They tried to shoo him away..before i could see him, but he would only return to the same spot, and stare at the house as if waiting for someone. Finally it happened and i spotted him, of course i asked, but the answer was NO. They kept trying to shoo him away, but he was persistant, so much so that eventually they gave up, and he became my dog.
He was a small manchester terrier, with a typical up yours terrier attitude. I wanted to name him Arrow, after a movie called "Me and my Arrow" but my Mother thought that a terrible name and called him Dinky..like that was better some how. Especially since he had a peculiar body odor, thus getting him dubbed Stinky Dinky. He became the dog that drove my parents nuts.
He would run after my bike so fast that only his front legs would be touching the ground..and i use to laugh because when he did run, he was always a little out of kilter..like a car that has had damage to it's frame..some of him ran right, and the rest..a little left. ONce while i was peddling down the road he detoured into a house and came out with a baked chicken...boy did i peddle faster than ever. He never came when he was called...which infuritated my father so much he would bellow after him..Dink would skitter himself right over the top of the hill, never looking back. I swear he was grinning.
He loved the ladies, back then neutering wasn't a common practice and he drove everyone to distraction with his constant whine.. He made his escapes and had reported sightings many many miles away. Finally my parents had had enough and decided he had to go.....they found a young girl that had polio who had advertised for a companion. Dink was taken away when i was not home...and brought back by her parents the next day. It was the one and only time he ever bit.
That was when my Mother got the dog of her dreams, a St.Benard puppy they named Andrey Bon Swizter, or Andy for short. Dinky did not take to Andy and he decided to take matters in his own paws..so to speak. Our vet had his practice 3 miles up the road on the highway...One day he looked out his window to see Stinky Dinky leading this oversized puppy away..and fortunately he ran out and retrieved Andy then called to say Stinky Dink had darted off... He always came back... much to my parents displeasure.
He got me out of school..sprung me out like a good outlaw would. First he would sneak into the building..running down the hall until he detected my classroom..the teacher would tell me to get my dog outside..i grinned all the way knowing what would happen next and shore nuff..he ran around outside to the classroom window and began barking incessently. I was then instructed to TAKE THAT DOG HOME. Much to my delight..i got to show off my freedom infront of the whole class.
Mom finally outwitted him on his escapades..she tied a thin rope to his collar, about 3 feet in length and tied that to an old tether ball. Stinky Dink could get himself out the door, but not the rope and the ball. We all called it Dinky's ball and chain. I cannot count the number of times i would find the ball in the corner of the door, with Dink out on the other side.When he went down the steps to the back yard..his ball bounced after him. She outwitted him good and i felt it a shame. The pound truck had caught him only one time, and that was when he was in the middle of a poop and couldn't stop..i had to beg like crazy for my father to bail him out. He couldn't stand the sight of this little dog, but i could be persistant too.
Dinky lived to a ripe old age (ripe being the key word) each year smelling more foul then before. He was 19 when they finally had him put down. Dinky was a stinker right to the very end....i hope that this story would have made him proud.
