A Dog's Life - Part One

Once upon a time, oh about 15-20 years ago, on an old Nevada ranch outside of Reno, a purebred German Shepherd went into heat. She was locked in a high fenced kennel while arrangements were completed for an appropriate "suitor". However, in the morning it was discovered that she was not alone - 3 coyotes had made it into her pen to keep her company. The coyotes were run off, but the damage was done. Fraulein Shepherd was with child(ren). Is it even possible, you ask? Well, I dunno, but it's my story, isn't it?

Obviously, Fraulein had been sullied, and her progeny (is that a word?) was worthless. I don't know how many were in the litter, but one puppy was taken in by the Alvarez clan. They named him Dingo (I have no idea why - he didn't look like a dingo, he looked like a coyote). He would be a gift for Papa.

Dingo was greatly loved by Papa Alvarez, and Papa Alvarez was adored by little Dingo. Together they lived and wandered the Nevada desert (Papa was something of a hermit, though he did check in with the rest of the family now and then). Dingo was never collared or leashed, and loved to chase rabbits and other critters up and down the Nevada hills. Many times he had to fend for himself foodwise, as Papa sometimes couldn't feed himself, much less a dog. But Dingo loved to "hunt". He was fond of roadkill and horse poop was an extra special treat.

There was an incident once when Papa and Dingo were riding in Papa's pickup truck. A bit of an accident (the truck flipped over) caused a toolbox that was also riding in the truck to land on the little pup. Dingo was ever after skittish about riding in vehicles.

Years passed and finally Papa's family made him come home. They wanted to keep an eye on him; make sure he ate, bathed and wore clean clothes (at least once in a while). And so began a new phase of Dingo's life - confinement. This was a difficult time for Dingo. Although the Alvarezes had a large back yard, he was required to stay inside the fence. Oh how he longed to run with the pack - he could hear the coyotes calling as they roamed the nearby desert. Sometimes he could talk the family dog into breaking out with him, but mostly he had to go solo. He never meant any harm - he would always come back.

But the Alvarez clan, though they did have a fondness for Dingo, came to realize that they just could not train him to stay. He was after all part coyote and needed to roam free (plus he was a bad influence on their border collie and the neighbors complained about his howling). And so the family took a trip to the other side of Pyramid Lake and left Dingo there. Don't judge - it wasn't abandonment - they were trying to help him find his way back to the wild.

The bond between Dingo and Papa was strong. And two days later Dingo was home, thrilled and tired from his adventure. The Alvarezes did not know what to do.