MY NAME IS BINGO - MY STORY IS TRUE

PICTURES FROM OUR TRIP

SO MUCH TO DO 

                  

                             HELLO !    MY NAME IS BINGO !   MOM CALLED ME SCALAWAG !     YOU WILL NOTICE I HAVE CURLY HAIR !   YET I AM CERTAINLY NOT A THOROUGHBRED POODLE, FOR I AM PART SCOTTISH TERRIER.     I CAME INTO JUNE AND HENRY'S LIFE WHEN I WAS ABOUT A YEAR OLD.   I WAS LIVING ON THE ROUGH IN THE WOODS AT APPLETON WASHINGTON AND SOMEONE FOUND ME.

        RACHEL SAID  "I WANT THAT DOG - I WILL NAME IT  B I N G O ! 

   CARSON WA IS WHERE I LIVED WITH RACHEL, HENRY AND JUNE.    I DID NOT LIKE IT AT FIRST.   I WANTED TO GROWL AT EVERYTHING.   I HAD NO IDEA THAT MOM (JUNE) WANTED TO TEACH ME HOW TO be G R O O M E D and  H O W   T O   B E H A V E   so that I could be adopted in time to come.    MOM knew that Henry and June were GOING ON A BIG TRIP and she knew I would not want to be left on my own again.   So she set me on the path to learning new ways.

            

           Mom took me for walks on a leash.   Much of the time she had to pick me up and carry me, for I was not yet trained in the discipline of a leash.     I had to learn how to do everything.

           It seemed I would pull at my hair when it was so curly. I would hurt myself doing that.   So she taught me how to stand still while she clipped my hair.   I did not really like it at first.   But she gently persisted in teaching me.   A little at a time.  

       She gave me  "doggy treats" to help me do that.  And little by little, I began to look forward to our "training" times.  At first I would growl and growl....but Mom noticed my tail was wagging, and so she kept on.    Only once did she try a muzzle...which only made me miserable ... so she did not try that again.

           

.

HERE HENRY AND JUNE 

HAD BEGUN TO TEACH ME A LOT OF THINGS.

Henry worked for the U S F S and retired in 1986.

They had been training me since I came to live with them in 1984.

MOM (JUNEBUG) TOLD ME 

I WAS GOING TO TRAVEL WITH THEM.

SHE TALKED TO ME 

OFTEN TELLING ME

ABOUT 

PEOPLE THEY WERE GOING TO VISIT 

ON THIS TRIP.

MOM got me a special B A S K E T 

and set it out the week before 

the trip.

She put it where I always slept at the 

foot of their bed,

and she said,

THIS IS YOUR BED FOR THE TRIP.

I JUST KNEW IT WAS FOR ME.

I GOT IN IT AND CIRCLED THREE TIMES

AND SET DOWN IN IT.

THE NIGHT BEFORE WE LEFT

ON OUR TRIP,

I SAT UP AND BARKED LOUD 

ONCE.   

I WANTED MOM TO KNOW

I WAS READY.

READY FOR WHATEVER LAY AHEAD.

YOU SEE, 

MOM

WOULD SING WITH ME.

AND HOLD MY PAWS

AND TWIRL ME AROUND

EXERCISING TO MUSIC.

I LIKED JEWISH MUSIC.

I LIKED CLASSICAL MUSIC.

I LIKE CHRISTIAN MUSIC.

WE

WOULD TURN AND TURN

AND MY MOUTH WOULD OPEN

AND MY TONGUE HUNG OUT

AND I WOULD LOOK 

LIKE I WAS GROWLING

BUT SHE SAW

MY TAIL WAS WAGGING.

SHE WOULD SIT OUTSIDE 

IN THE FRONT FENCED YARD

AND SPEND TIME 

READING HER BIBLE

AND TALKING WITH GOD,

AND 

BONITA THE CALICO CAT AND I

WOULD SIT WITH HER

UNDER THE FIR TREE.

ONE DAY WAS QUITE AN EVENT.

MOM DECIDED THAT SHE 

WOULD GO OUT OF THE FENCE TO

WORK ON TAKING DOWN

DEAD LIMBS OF 

OF TREES THAT SURROUNDED

THE FENCE.

SHE FORGOT TO CLOSE THE GATE, AND

I FOLLOWED HER OUT.

FOR ABOUT TWENTY MINUTES IT

WAS ALL JUST FINE.

I WAS WATCHING HER.

STAYED PUT.

FOR SOME REASON, I JUST STAYED PUT.

NOT AT ALL LIKE ME TO DO THAT.

USUALLY I JUST WENT OFF.

AT THAT POINT,

SHE STOOD STILL, AND I DID TOO.

A WOLF WAS STANDING JUST BEYOND ME

AND SHE COULD SEE HIM,

HE SAW HER AND WAS LOOKING AT HER.

HE WAS NOT LOOKING AT ME.

HE KNEW I WAS THERE.

SHE LOOKED AT HIM AND

TOLD HIM

THIS IS MY DOG

DO NOT TOUCH HIM.

BINGO BELONGS TO ME

AND WOULD YOU PLEASE

LEAVE?

SHE STOOPED OVER AND

PICKED ME UP, SLOWLY,

DELIBERATELY,

AND 

FIRMLY

STOOD - HOLDING ME IN HER ARMS.

THE WOLF TOOK ANOTHER LOOK

TURNED 

AND LEFT.

Here is the house where I enjoyed 

being in the front yard with

Mom while she spent time

praying and singing.

It was fenced.

So I felt secure.  

Whenever I got outside the fence,

I would run

and run

and run.

Did not know what else to do.

So whenever she took walks

with Henry the leash was there

for me.

TAKING A BATH WAS 

HARD AT FIRST

BUT I LEARNED TO LIKE IT.

MOM  taught me that she

was giving me 

LESSONS 

so that 

when I got

adopted

I COULD BE SOMEBODY'S SPECIAL DOGGIE.

AND YES ! I BEGAN TO LEARN.

She succeeded in 

helping me 

learn to really get clean,

to cut my nails,

and to cut my hair

She found I like to stand 

while she was cutting my hair short

so that I would not 

pull my skin to pieces.

She found I began to let her 

do first one paw,

and then another

and then all four

each time

rewarding me with a doggie treat.

Here is the house again.

it was a pleasant place to live.

We had no neighbors close by.

No cars came by.

It was a quiet haven for me.

The birds sang in the trees.

Bonita would rest near me.

Then one day we saw 

Bonita was very sick.

The CROWS were up in the tree

waiting for her to be easy prey.

We were sad when she 

left us.

It was not the same.

I missed her.

So did Mom.

This was MOM (June) as I remember her.

She really loved me and cared for me well.

So glad she took care of me.

Rachel was off to College, so she 

could not be with me, as she had too much to do.

Here I was the day before the trip.

B I N G O  

was my name.

I had taken a bath.

I had my hair clipped.

I was ready.

Not sure what this meant.

BUT I KNEW IT WAS GOING TO BE A TRIP.

why don't you come with me

on the next post? to see what I did next.