From the Desk of The DBeazy One-Man-Think-Tank

Since this is a new blog in which the idea originated from my regular Facebook posts, I am aware that many of you already know of my dogs.  But as it is my goal to attract readership from all over the world, if not over the galaxy, I am going to take this time to introduce my pups to the world and if you know them already, you already love them and won’t mind reliving their story. Three dogs became part of our lives, and though we didn’t ask for them, they wanted to stay. It has been fascinating to watch these three previously unwanted dogs as they bonded with each other and formed their pack.

In February of 2017, we experienced an extreme, life-changing event. My wife Melissa was home with our 3-pound blind Yorkie when she began to smell smoke.  She gave me a call, investigated, and found no evidence of fire. Within a few minutes, though, she called back and by then the house full of smoke.

Thanks to a great network of volunteer fire services in our area, the fire was contained to one room. Smoke damage was a different story. Our insurance company pretty much gutted the house, and we spent the next few months rebuilding. I did most of the work myself evenings after work and weekends, so in all, we were not living in the house for about 6 months. Sadly the aforementioned blind 3-pound Yorkie survived the fire but was unable to adjust to new surroundings and quit eating and drinking.  Being a slight 3 pounder, he was not going to survive the traumatic event and had to be put down.

One evening in July, we were out at the house working and found that we had a visitor in the form of a gangly, starving puppy that looked to be about 6 months old. He was a little timid but like puppies seemed happy to see us. Melissa had a hamburger and began to feed it.  He hung around until we gathered our stuff to leave. I hoped that he belonged to somebody, but in my heart, I knew that he had been abandoned on our road.

 

Sure enough, this little guy was there when we got there the next day. We brought food, and well, that was that. After that, he was waiting for me to get there each day and seemed genuinely happy to see me.  I named him Kanye B. West, and though he was a puppy and loved to play, he seemed content and never was too rambunctious. He would watch while I worked in the house, and before I left every night, he would hang out with me and listen to music while I had a beer or two. Kanye quickly became my buddy, and though I have no proof of it, I think at night after I left, he hung out with my cat. I say this because first of all, he has always liked to be in an elevated position, like in a chair or something. Secondly, he has a bathing ritual similar to a cat. He did fine and, though it wasn’t his idea, he sure seemed to agree with me when I told him that I thought I would transform one area of our house into a bar during the remodel.  By the end of 2017, we had moved back into the house by then, a gangly, starving puppy had turned into quite the handsome young lad.

Throughout 2018, Kanye B. West and I spent a lot of time together in the bar that is now home of the DBeazy One-Man-Think-Tank. He slept every night in a green fold-up chair while I listened to music turned up loud. Then I would put him out when I went to bed.  After a few days, I put some legs on an old pallet and covered with a piece of carpet, and when he left the green foldup chair, he would hop up on the pallet and sleep with the cat.  With pictures posted on Facebook of Kanye in the green chair almost every night, he developed a bit of a cult following.  People would ask about him when I was at work or out and about. Then in June of 2018, Melissa found a timid and scared female dog in the yard and you know it, she fed her as well. We feel like she had been treated badly as she was very cautious and especially untrusting of me. She responded better to Melissa for a couple of weeks before she would even look at me and she kept her distance whenever I was around. But she eventually began to trust us and decided to stay. She needed a name. I first wanted to name her Tammy Wynette Bracey, but we felt that since she would be paired with Kanye B. West, Loretta Lynn Bracey sounded better.

 

We worked and worked with Loretta, and along with Kanye’s help, she began to ease up. She began to trust. She responded first to Mel and as for me, well, she came around more slowly. I’d never experienced this before with a dog. If dogs weren’t sure of me, all I had to do was squat down and they would come running. If I might take the liberty of a brief sidebar here, many, many years ago, I was in the insurance business. One of my duties was to meet with people known as “orphan” policyholders. These are insureds whose original agent was no longer with the company. There was one guy who I just could never catch at home. Finally, one day I saw a car in the drive, so I made a quick turn and pulled into the drive. I stopped and just as I opened the door, a mammoth-sized German Shepherd sort of materialized. I made no sudden movements and I did not look him in the eyes. I stood perfectly still and I spoke softly and said,… Hell, How am I supposed to remember what I said? At any rate, the dog approached and I held my hands to my side and let him. He sniffed and sniffed, and I allowed a minute to pass, then I rubbed his head, and started for the door. I knocked on the door and a man appeared with a strange look on his face. I inquired if anything was the matter. He said, “You are the first person to ever make it to the door.” So, suffice it to say, I got along with dogs. I can only imagine, but Loretta must have been mistreated by men. Now, as long as I don’t get too loud or make sudden movements with something like a rake in my hands, she is fine. The most significant thing though about Loretta Lynn Bracey is that she sees herself as the matriarch. She is the Mama to everyone and everything on the hill at the DBeazy Tank. The cats, the other dogs, Melissa, Shelby, and of course me. She watches me as I leave, and she meets me at the truck door when I return. Oh Yeah, and MOST, MOST, MOST of all, she craves the human touch. She will go without food as long as you are loving on her.

Three or four weeks passed and yes, you guessed it, someone decided that we didn’t have enough dogs and dropped another off on us. This one was a female and we feel like she is a sister to Kanye B. West. At this point, I’m getting pissed about someone using us to dump their dogs on.  I really, really, really didn’t want to keep this dog.  She would approach and just hunker down and whimper. She was driven forward only by her need to find food and it didn’t matter who or what she had to submit to. It took weeks for her to start interacting with any of us. She did, however, learn to appreciate the food that was offered on a mostly routine basis.

The dogs more or less settled into a routine and we decided it was time to get Loretta to the vet to have her spayed. Now, readers who are dog experts out there have probably seen this phenomenon, but I have not. We brought Loretta home the next day from the vet and from the time her feet hit the ground, Kanye was trying to mount her and as if Betty could sense weakness, she became aggressive toward Loretta. We got them separated, but the next morning, as I was feeding them, I’m not sure who jumped on who, but this is where I learned the role that Betty Wright Bracey would play in the pack. Thankfully, Loretta’s stitches held and even more so, I didn’t require stitches myself, though Betty got a pretty good hold on my arm.

Faced with the possibility of having to put one or both of them down, I elected to watch them another day. and to my surprise, by the end of the second day, I let Loretta out and fed them. Once finished, they ambled off, seemingly as nothing had happened. So I watched and observed, keeping an open mind, and these three dogs learned the role that each played in their pack. Of course, the pack includes all of us, humans, dogs, and cats alike, but it is as they realize that the three of them make up a sub-pack, which consists of this hierarchy. Loretta is Queen and leader, Betty is Police or military, and Kanye is Sentry and Support.

Betty Wright Bracey is now a calm and loving member of our family. She still has some times where she shows a little caution when she approaches, but mostly, she has evolved into a precious soul, trusting, loving, with a willingness to share her love with us. While I don’t value any one of the three over the other, I look at Betty Wright Bracey and I see the love in her eyes that she possesses for me and I understand that this is a being that would give her life for me without blinking an eye. While she would do this without blinking an eye, I can guarantee that it wouldn’t come without a fight. I’m reminded here of a Sunday when another young dog followed them home. This was a young male, and I made up my mind that this dog was not staying. I hated to think of the measures I would have to take, but we have a special thing going with these three and I am not going to upset this applecart. Anyway, I observed throughout the day and noticed that not only was he making plans to stay by dragging up crap into the front yard but he began to jockey for a higher position in the group. Every time Betty would get up to move, he decided he would get up and insert himself in her path and nudge her away, showing dominance over her. I went on about my business of piddling around with some chores and I kept an eye on the situation. By evening, he was still here and still trying to push Betty around and I just figured that I would have to intervene before dark. I hated the thought of it, but I was not going to betray Betty’s trust. I guess it was about 4:00 o’clock or so, and I stepped out to go somewhere and as I made my way to the truck, I guess Betty had decided that she had had enough. It was an awful sound, but Betty jumped on that dog and the last I saw was him running down the road.

 

Kanye B. West, Loretta Lynn Bracey, and Betty Wright Bracey have settled in and have established routines. Typically, each day starts with their breakfast, then off on an adventure.  Melissa and I ofter question what we would find if we put a GPS on them or a camera and tracked their activities while they ramble.  By the end of the day though, I almost always find them awaiting my return. We have covered a love seat in “The Tank,” and that is where we spend most evenings. Whether it is listening to and watching videos really loud, or watching TV, they get some quality sleep and we get a chance to love on them and talk to them and continue to build our bond with them.

So, after all is said and done, these dogs decided that we needed them in our lives.  I am not by any means patting myself on the back for the selfless act of taking in these unwanted living beings.  Truthfully, they are a huge responsibility.  They depend on us.  They limit our freedom to the extent that we must consider them whenever we decide to leave for a day or two.  We have to adapt our routines to make sure they are fed, protected, and their health is seen is about.  But in the end, it is the humans that have been blessed by their presence.  Thank you so much, Kanye, Loretta, and Betty for choosing us to be part of your pack.