I am guessing that many of us learned how to treat our animals from the watching how either Dad or Mom treated our childhood pets.

Growing up, I never had a dog. Early on, my parents had a dachshund, Dagmar von Sauerkraut, but like many dachshunds, she suffered back problems and my mother thought it was best if Dag was put to sleep to end her misery and before I could get too attached to her.

Dad tells wild dog tales

Too late. I got attached to Dag through my dad’s wonderful stories of her long after she was gone. He loved telling how she would ride in the car and eat Dairy Queen ice cream if they went through a drive through and how she could stick her long dachshund tongue in a beer bottle to get every drop out.

As he got older, my father’s stories would become a little bit more embellished. But no matter, I loved them and by extension, I loved the dog even more.

For every story my Dad could spin about his escapades with Dag; my mother would counter with a story about the responsibility of having her; the clean-up of her occasional accidents; and the anguish of watching her back go bad.

On the dog front, Dad prevails

Thankfully, my father’s stories won out. So from Dad I learned that pets were privileged members of the family who you could never cherish enough. That you could never go wrong in being generous to them with your time or the treats. They were your companions in ice-cream runs and helpmates in temporarily putting aside responsibilities of day-to-day life. They were one of the good things in life and should be cared for as such.

Thanks, Dad for another great lesson and Happy Father’s Day to all the dog and human Dads out there. We love you all very much!