Remembering Past Fur Family - Ching

When I was just a young boy my uncle thought every boy should have a dog. He bred Chow's and those dogs seemed to have a mean streak and were not friendly and a poor choice. One day he showed up with a Cocker Spaniel with golden fur named Honey. We lived one house off a very busy traffic street and I had Honey on a lead on the front porch and went inside to use the bathroom. When I came back out a few minutes later someone had stolen her right off our porch.

Then my uncle brought over a pekingese named Ching that someone had shot with a BB gun and hit him in the eye. He only had one eye and he had black and white fur like in the above photo. He was my companion for years and later died of heart failure. I taught him tricks and he not only had a flat flat face but a flat butt as he could sit up for the longest time. A young boy with a fairly large paper route and school didn't leave much time for Ching but I cared for him and made sure he had plenty of water and food.

One day I was out with Ching and heard him gasp and I ran over to him and he had died. I was heart broken and at a young age learned how much you can love an animal. Ching was not the brightest bulb in the box but he was loyal and most of all he was mine. Looking back now I wish I had known more about dog behavior like I do now. Just giving a dog without some basic training on how dogs behave is clearly not right for a child. People need to teach children how to care for and handle a dog before one is brought into the house.