My name is Col. Jim, and this is my Old Place. Here you will find good food, better conversation, rockers are available, and the dog doesn’t bite.
Up here, around the lake, we all have dogs. Oddly enough, as far out in the woods as we are, they are not all Huntin’ Dogs. An inordinate number of little “Poopsies” live up here, more like a throw pillow than a dog. Our Marine, Ruth, has a pair of Rhodesian Ridgebacks, though the closest thing to a lion ever seen in Livingston Parish was back in ’36. Down in the 7th Ward, a cougar killed one of Louis Scivicque’s cows. Scivicque stated, “Last night, I knew I heard the screams of a cougar!” Col. Jim, what’s it got to do with safety?
4.5 million dog bites a year, that’s what, mostly those pugnacious little Poopsies. Pit Bulls, Rottweilers, and German Shepherds? Not as many as you would think. A family over in Pumpkin Center has one of each! All are big, face lickin’, rub-my-belly Pooh Bears. Sure, even a well-trained dog can knock over Grandma or the children just by being playful. So, do think before you, “Let-The-Dogs-Out” and with love and training, WE can prevent dog bites!
You may ask, “What is this WE stuff, Col. Jim? Why am I a link in this chain?”
Your neighbor have an aggressive dog?
“Yep, a ferocious fence jumpin’, ankle bittin’ Pomeranian.”
Has he ever growled or barked at you? (The dog, not the neighbor.)
“Yeah, so what?”
Did you speak with your neighbor about it?
“No, I’m loadin’ my gator-getter and…”
Or maybe call the sheriff. A mediator (deputy) will gladly drive out to um…see you men about the dog. Try sweet talkin’ and tasty treats.
The cougar was found by a couple of hunters and their dogs on a wide Amite River beach, in the sun, paws in the air, and sound asleep under a hand-painted sign that read, “No Dogs Allowed.”
Sitting in a rocker at the Old Place, I am Col. Jim.
