Our Dog Luke

Our dog Luke was a cattle-herding breed. I found him at the shelter and knew he was the one right away. He had a gorgeous set of dark outlined eyes that looked at you with adoration mixed with anticipation and a little bit of mischief. He had no cattle to herd around our house so he made do with keeping his various chew toys rounded up in a specific area of the lawn or the living room after playing. He would herd Gramma Morton up the stairs to her rooms by play-nipping at her ankles. She held on for dear life to that bannister and only half-seriously would fuss at him to get away. "Luke!" she'd scold him. He did it, we were all sure, just to "help" her. He was petrified of the water. No way would he get near the swimming pool or the ocean waves. It was pretty funny to watch him skedaddle backward when the water crept up the shore right in his path when we'd be walking along the beach. He didn't want even a paw in that water. He won the heart of all the family, even Nathan who'd not really been too keen on his gangly, puppy ways at first. When Nathan was out of town on business, Luke was right there curled up on the bottom corner of his side of the bed at night. Every time he got home from his trip and ready for bed the first night, Luke would be there first, resting on his corner in hopes he could stay, but would always get the evil eye look from Nathan and would go skulking off to his dog bed. It was a never ending thing. He was a constant source of chuckles.  Sadly, I had to give Luke up to a cattle-dog rescue group after Nathan died as I just couldn't keep him and travel.  It was like a second mournful death. Somewhere in my boxes I have a picture of that gorgeous dog and I'll post it here when I find it. I'm hoping he's still making people happy out there in California somewhere.