"Rancid":NCOIC of kids and critters.Part I

Don't know just where he came from or when he arrived in Normandy.First time I can recall seein him was one afternoon when he came along with my daughter from the town square where the schoolbuss drops off the kids.Looked to be pure black Lab. but a closer look showed he had a black tongue and a somewhat stockier build than most Labs so I figured that he musta had a bit of chow in him.I asked my daughter(Diana,who was about 11 at the time)if she knew the dog,and knew for sure that he was friendly.She said "Sure!He's just a big ole baby."and gave him a shove.He smiled real big and danced around like maybe he was gonna push her back or nip at her or some such but didn't do either.Just playin.Then he came over and introduced himself and let me give him a pat on the head.Just stayed for a few moments then took off back in the direction of the square like he had someplace he needed to be.He was wearing a bright blue nylon collar and I figured he was headed back to the folks that belonged to him.Didn't realize at the time that I had just become one of them.
Might oughta say right here that my concern about the dog's friendliness was entirely justified.We apparently live in an area that a lot of folks come to to drop off their pets when they get tired of them.These strays-if they survive long enough and are not adopted by a local family-tend to band together in packs of feral dogs,mate with coyotes(with which we are also overly blessed),and generally cause problems.They can present a very real threat to wildlife,livestock,and children.Seems like every 12-15 yrs., rabies get into em and then they are a very real threat to everyone.
Every school mornin I'd open the door so that Diana wouldn't run into it when she'd come runnin down the hall with her giant backpack at the very last posible instant that she might have any chance at all of makein it to the buss in time,and there would be that big ole dog waiting patiently by the porch to run to the square with her.Every evenin he'd walk her home then head right on back to the square.Thought it was kinda nice that Diana had an escort and began to pay a little more attention to his activities.Over a period of time it became obvious that Diana was not the only child getting the benifit of his escort services,there were two or three other kids that were also.He knew about what time each child would leave the house and made his rounds accordingly.In the evening he knew which kids would go straight home from the buss and which were likely to hang at the square an shoot the bull a little before heading home and he acted accordingly.
Then one Monday evenin Diana came walkin home without the dog.She'd waited a little while but he hadn't shown up.Couple of younger boys that lived a little further down the street were walking with her,and one of em suddenly screwed up his face and said "Oh my LORD!What's that smell?!Somethin has gone purely RANCID!!Got to lookin around and found what I at first took to be the remains of that big ole black dog liein beside the porch.Bout the time I started to go look for the shovel,he took a big gasp and I knew he wasn't altogether dead yet but he surely did smell like it.I checked him out and the more I checked the more I couldn't figure out what he was doing still being alive.He had obviously been in one HELL of a fight about Fri. evening or Sat. mornin because there were already maggots workin in some of the wounds.He had gashes all over his head and face.His ears were shredded.But the worst was his throat-torn from side to side with pus an maggots pourin out anytime he twitched.His neck was swollen half again as big as his head and that bright blue collar was chokeing him so I cut it off.There weren't any tags on it.I gotta tell ya that I thought awful hard about just goin ahead an puttin him out of his misery.Didn't see how he could live and it seemed like the best I could do for him.But,on the other hand,he didn't belong to me and he was too far out of it to be hurtin too much at that point.Thought it'd be best to find the folks that owned him and let them make the tough call.It may come as somethin of a shock to some of y'all,but I'm not what would be considered a real social butterfly.Been livin in this little town around 20 yrs. and know maybe 20-25 people to look at,maybe a dozen to speak to,and 8 or 10 by name.Don't get out much.But my wife and daughter know everybody everywhere,so I set them to tracking down the owner while I went about doin what I could for the poor thing.Put him on an old rug on the porch with a low pan of water by his mouth so he wouldn't have to move much to drink(didn't really think he could move his head at all) and gave him a shot of penicyclin that came from the co-op for use on cattle.Nancy(wife) and Di got home about bedtime after haveing talked to about half the people in the area and without finding anyone who would claim the dog.Was sure he would die during the night but he didn't and he even managed to drink most of his water so the next day I cleaned his wounds and put anti-biotic oint. over just about everything from his shoulders forward.This wasn't much fun for either of us.To make a long story slightly shorter he slowly recovered but we never were able to find anyone to claim him.The name "Rancid" kinda stuck.
In the course of trying to find the owner,I found out some very interesting things about him from other folks who knew and appriciated him.First off it was a given that all other dogs owned by families in town defered to Rancid.He was the Honcho.Nobody seemed to know just when or how this had come about but everybody agreed that it was in fact the case.Rancid was by no means a bully-seemed to love to play with all other town dogs and humans alike-but he DID expect his authority to be recognised by both dogs and humans.Rancid considered petting another dog while he was present to be a fax pas.He would gently-but firmly-take you by the forearm and pull you eight or ten feet away from the other dog.If you weren't bright enough to get the message the first time,he would patiently repeat the process until you saw the light.
Rancid was the only dog I've ever known or heard about that was really big into community service.He established a AO of about a half mile radius of the town square.Any pack of coyotes or feral dogs that came into his AO must kill him,retreat,or die.Rancid allowed for no other options.This is undoubtably how he recieved the injuries I've already mentioned.

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[Bill Farnie]

I'll be patiently waiting for part two.

Bill

[1CAVCCO15MED]

Good story, Doc. Keep it coming.

[DMZ-LT]

What Bill and Fred said. Hurry up Doc you can't leave us hanging. Where did you learn to talk so good ?

[SuperScout]

Grow brew up a strong pot of coffee, while I go gently rouse ol' Doc, so he can finish this tale of delight. Or should we just let him rest a spell, then poke him? Anywhoooo, like y'all, I'm waiting for the Second Installment.
Scouts Out, on the porch, waiting.......

[Seascamp]

Great saga for sure, really. I look forward to part two Doc. Sounds like one tough, gentle and smart dog plus all the kiddo's best pal.

Scamp

LT-

Weren't easy.

[Keith_Hixson]

Dogs are almost people! They are wonderful and do wonderful things for us.

Great Story.

Keith