Stryder, the Dog

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When I was married to my last husband he brought into the mix a Blue Heeler dog named Stryder. He had been living with my ex's sister. Stryder was a dear. He was one of those dogs that you could say anything to and he would look at you like he totally understood and would do just what you had asked of him. One time I dressed him up in a hat, coat, and scarf and took pictures. I have one of him dressed for winter somewhere. He had one thing going for him that wasn't necessarily a good thing. This dog could fart the worst farts I have ever experienced. I mean talk about nuclear explosions or rotten food these were like nothing I had ever smelled or have smelled since. And, he would pick the most inopportune times for this experience too. Like when we were just setting down to eat or when we had company over who didn't know about these Stryder bombs. Quite often my ex and I would go for walks around the neighborhood in the evenings. A few minutes in we would look back and sure enough, there would come Stryder trotting along behind us. And, coming up in the rear would be Murphy, the orange tabby. (Now he is another tale entirely.)We would always chuckle thinking about what the neighbors must think seeing us and our menagerie loping down the street. One day I went out for a walk by myself. I couldn't find Stryder anywhere in the yard so I took off down the alley. Low and behold there I see Stryder walking back from the convenience store which was just across the alley from our house. Hmm. I went inside the store and asked the manager about Stryder. She laughed and told me that he came over quite often and she would give him out-of-date burritos. I took a mental note. Later my ex and I came to realize this was why Stryder's farts smell so horrible. It was the out-of-date burritos. Ugh! When I left my ex and made my home elsewhere I really missed Stryder, the dog. He had been my pal for a long time and I missed him. One day out of the blue my ex called. Stryder had gotten really bad. So bad he had fallen down the stairs. My ex had had him put to sleep and invited me to ride along when he took him up to our favorite camping spot to bury him. It was a sad day indeed and I think of him fondly.