A Dog's Life - Part Two

Meanwhile, some friends of the Alvarezes (we'll call them Mike and Gena Roberts) had started an outdoor theater up in Virginia City (Papa's ol' stompin' grounds). Papa, Jr. was invited to participate in the first production of the season, and once rehearsals started in the dusty rustic amphitheater, a plan hatched in Junior's brain.

"Hmmm, " thought Junior, "I could leave Dingo here. And if he runs off, he would find himself in the hills he knows and loves. He would forget Papa."

And so, Dingo came to rehearsal.

The cast thought Dingo was adorable. He wandered around the set (which was a big house that opened up for "indoor" scenes), hid out in the "house" (the audience seating which was a huge slope dotted with straw bales), and took off into the hills beyond for hours at a time. Mike was concerned about Junior's plan to leave Dingo there overnight. He didn't want the responsibility of having an "unleashed" pet. But then again, if Dingo stayed at the amphitheater he might keep any would-be squatters from taking up residence in the set.

And so Mike took Junior's plan, and made a few changes. "This dog is a stray," he explained. "He wandered onto the property and we just sort of adopted him. But he isn't ours. He comes and goes as he pleases." Once spoken, the story was set. In fact, you'll never hear it differently (except for this unauthorized version you're reading right now).

By the time the second production got under way, Dingo was a fixture. He always wore a bright red or blue bandanna (so he could be seen out in the hills, but he thought it was his costume). He would greet the audience before the show, begging for handouts from their picnic baskets and concessions. Eventually, the concession stand started selling official "Dingo snacks" for people to give him. Dingo would always accept these gifts, and if he was not hungry, would take and hide them up behind "his" straw bale, saving them for later.

During one of the melodramas, when the heroine was despairing, Dingo ran in and laid his head in her lap. Scene stealer! And later when the hero was tied to the railroad tracks, Dingo ran in to start untying him! Classic!

It was soon discovered that Dingo did not like guns. He would always run out the amphitheater before the shooting started. He also became a bit of a diva, and would not go onstage at all the night his bandanna got left up in the dressing room.

He squirmed his way right into everyone's heart. And after the third trip to the sheriff's department to bail Dingo out of doggie jail (he was picked up for causing a disturbance - a neighbor claimed he barked all night, although no one had ever heard him bark, and the deputy couldn't get him to bark even with the other jailbirds barking up a frenzy), the Roberts started taking him home with them after the shows.

Dingo, the wonder dog had a new home.