Old dogs don’t need new tricks

I had to have an unexpected root canal yesterday. Root canals aren’t something you generally plan with a flourish — I didn’t have time to make a party punch that matches the drapes because I was too busy dying from the pain. The tooth that went bad on me had already been worked on once, so I thought it was all tucked away back there, behaving itself, when in fact, it was plotting to kill me by having a hairline fracture and quietly decaying underneath the expensive filling we paid for a year ago.

I was ever so thankful to be at home and even more thankful to Dr. Heck for squeezing me into his already busy schedule. My regular dentist is out for nine weeks with a shoulder injury, so I got super lucky to be at home and able to find a dentist to take me at such short notice. I cannot imagine the terror of having to go to a truck-stop dentist, and my heart goes out to those who have done it.

I spent the 24 hours I had to wait for an appointment laying on the bed, weeping into the fur of my oldest, stinkiest dog. Ol’ Buck will not leave my side when I’m sick or sad or hurting. He smells gross and leaves clumps of himself everywhere he goes, but he’s the most comforting animal in the world when you need it. Buck is a good dog.

Ol’ Buck

We’ve met a lot of cool dogs on the road, I gravitate toward truck dogs, because our dogs are too old to ride with us, and I miss them a lot when we’re out. I’ve always had a dog, I can’t ever remember a time in my life our family didn’t have at least one dog. We never had “show dogs,” which is what my Grandad called the fancy little poodles the neighbor had – we always had rescue animals or strays. My Dad picked up one of the best dogs we ever had off 285 in Atlanta, after watching someone throw him out of a car. Daddy was on his motorcycle, he scooped the little dog up and zipped him in his jacket and brought him home to us. We named him Petey, and after he realized we weren’t going to abuse him like the assholes who had thrown him out on the highway, he was the best dog a kid could ever ask for.

A trucking friend of ours lost their old buddy this week – he was 13 years old and we had the pleasure of meeting him a couple months ago.

Blade the dog rode with cattle haulers — he was Ace DeReu’s sidekick when he wasn’t at home with Chris, begging for table food. He was a cool dog, and we’ll miss seeing him when we visit on the road.

Dogs are good for the soul, and even if you can’t have one on the truck, there are several you can follow along with online.

The Trucking Titan is a cute little guy, running North America and Canada hauling produce with his truckers. He’s a rescue from a Wyoming animal shelter, and he makes a great case for adopting rescue animals.

Calvin is a sleek black lab who travels with The Continental Cowboy, Jerry Blevins. Jerry is a good ol’ boy from Southern Ohio and he loves his dog as much as his wife and his truck. The best thing about his daily video is the look of pure joy on his face when he’s interacting with the dog. It’s good stuff, it’ll make you feel better about life in general.

One of the best things about these animals is the appeal they have to the general public. Little kids love Titan, and it gets them interested in how their food gets from point A to point B. People are a lot more inclined to be interested in a cute little dog than a big, burly trucker. Sorry, truckers. Animals just have a way to capture people’s attention and adoration. It’s not just you. (I was going to add that it must have something to do with the fur, but I know a lot of furry truckers, so I’ll leave it at that…)

So here’s a shout out to our furry friends of the road – keep up the good work. Even when it’s ruff out there, you make it better. (I’ll go ahead and apologize for the horrible pun.)
from Overdrive http://ift.tt/1MorhET

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