Gone to the Dogs

Meet Tonkay! He is a rancho dog. He resides at the rancho down the road from my house in Paradise. Tonkay is a pit bull with a heart of gold. Tonkay is not the brightest bulb in the box but Tonkay is the poster dog for the words,"Eternal Optimist"! Next to the 'Dog' I own, Tonkay is my favorite dog in the whole world!





Tonkay is a young strong dog who is always happy to see you. He is at the, clumsy not yet used to his own body, stage in his life. Sometimes it looks like his front end does not know what his back end is doing. His body seems to be made of iron and rubber. I have seen him run full speed into an inanimate object and not get injured. I have also seen him lie completely flat on the ground with all four legs sprawled out like a rag doll.



Tonkay is supposed to be a guard dog but always welcomes anyone that comes to the gate of his owners house. He loves all humans. But his best type of guard work is warning his owners of predators like skunks or coyotes that are roaming near the ranch house or stalking their flock of chickens. He has also warned the house residents when a snake is in the area so all in all, Tonkay is good to have around.





However Tonkey is a big pest a most of the time. When you arrive at the rancho, he comes running towards you at full speed and leaps up and plops his big dirty paws on your stomach or legs leaving behind not only sand and dirt but also a big gob of slobber and sometimes unintentional scratches from his claws as he slides down the front of your body!

Your sharp exclamation of surprise, pain and then indignation at such treatment causes Tonkay to shrink in size until he is a small crouching figure that eventually collapses into the classic pose of complete abjectation which is the 'flat on his stomach all limbs out to the sides eyes cast downward' pose where he will lay completely still until he hears the least bit of forgiveness or sympathy in your voice which will cause him to again to jump to his feet and begin leaping up on your body!

This is when you start trying to convince Tonkay to go away which is only possible by threatening him which brings on the 'abject humility' pose which starts the whole process once more. It is a vicious cycle that can only be broken by violence when you are first in the company of Tonkay.

As you make your way into the yard and up to the rancho house, Tonkay continues to wriggle and writhe at your feet so you are stumbling and mumbling the whole way. The Senora is usually the first person to greet you and when she sees you at the mercy of the rancho 'guard dog' the first word out of her mouth is "TONKAY" and not in a nice way! Tonkay immediately begins his shrinking and skulking act but still tries to entice you into petting him or at least giving him a sympathetic eye but as the Senora gets closer he spies the switch in her hand and Tonkay slinks away to a safer distance from the Senora. Then you also are safe to do your visiting or other business at the rancho.





I have come to know my neighbors at the rancho and find them to be a charming, kind, hardworking, honest family who take pride in their work and good care of their animals. They are generous to a fault and willing to help you with any situation at anytime. I buy eggs and homemade cheese from them and bring them small gifts like chocolates or fruit or alfalfa hay from town. They give me the run of the rancho to photograph the animals and the way the family works and lives. They have also let me borrow a horse to ride which brings me back to my relationship with Tonkay.



I come to the rancho to ride the Horse and I ride the Horse to relax and enjoy the scenery of Paradise without the noise of an ATV under me and sometimes my legs are just too tired to do all the walking it would take to see all the beauty here. When I first started coming to ride the Horse, my first job would be to calm Tonkay down enough to let me get to the Horse. My strenuous attempts to accomplish that goal would alert the Senora that Tonkay was bothering me which would then make her have to stop what she was doing to get the switch and come out to discipline the dog. After that, I could go to the Horse and get the him ready to go for the ride. But then I would feel guilty for making the Senora stop her work and for getting Tonkay in trouble.

The second problem is trying to ride the Horse out of the yard. Tonkay would get so excited to see me on the Horse that he would run under and around the Horses legs which made the Horse mad and then the Horse would try to kick Tonkay which would get yet another family member out to discipline Tonkay with the switch! So once more, I was feeling unhappy because I was afraid the Horse would kick Tonkay and injure him and I know the rancho owners would not have the money to take him to the vet and then Tonkay had gotten disciplined again because of me!



The good news is I finally was on the Horse and riding away. The bad news is Tonkay sneaked out and started to follow us down the road. My plan for the ride was to go to my casa, get my Dog and have him go for a walk with me and the Horse. Most of the rancho dogs in our area are pit bulls or pit bull cross breeds and almost all of them hate my Dog. I don't know why but they all want to fight him. Our Dog is not an aggresive one and will go out of his way to avoid confrontation. Pit bulls are loving family dogs but are deadly fighters and very territorial by nature so I did not want Tonkay any where near my Dog. I decided to go to my casa anyway and see if the Husband could run off Tonkay so I could continue with my plans to walk with our Dog. To make a long story short, Tonkay would not go away. Tonkay seemed so lovable and goofy I thought, oh what the heck, I will give him try with our Dog and see what happens. The Husband could stand by to break up any dog fights. As it turns out, I worried about nothing. Tonkay and the Dog were instant friends so we went out on the road for our ride.





The longer we four traveled down the road the more relaxed I became with Tonkay around. The only scary moments were when the Dog and Tonkay would get to running and playing and for some unknown reason always end up under or near the Horse's legs! That brought some tense moments to the ride. A little while latter, the Dog decided to run into the underbrush on the side of the road to check out a rabbit that had run by.

Tonkay was trotting alongside the Horse and I when we walked up to a large group of butterflies milling around the middle of the road. I have seen hundreds of them clustering around the flowering bushes on this road before. I then watched one of many such scenes to come, involving Tonkay and nature, that truly touched my heart and made Tonkay become precious to me. Tonkay put an eye on the butterflies flitting around his head and went into a clumsy, doggy ballet of leaping and running and dancing around in the midst of the butterflies!

I was at first spellbound by the sight of this goofy, powerful, dog enjoying life so much that it made him dance with delight. Next came laughter at the spectacle Tonkay and the Butterflies made for me to enjoy. Tonkay continued to make me laugh out loud on our walk that day, clowning with my Dog, running amok through the underbrush and then leaping out onto the road with that huge happy grin on his face with his mile long tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. Tonkay made that ride one of the best I have ever had. After a few outings with the four of us, me, Tonkay, the Horse, and the Dog even the Horse got to liking Tonkay and they would sniff nose to nose like good friends.





I later discovered that knowing how Tonkay would greet me everytime I came to the rancho, gave me the edge on how to stop him from leaping on me and destroying my clothes or skin. I would stoop down over the top of him and grab his great big block head with both hands and speak to him soothingly and start to pet him immediately. It made him squirm and wiggle but it also made him stop jumping. Tonkay still jumps next to me as I walk but not on me.



The more I was around him the more ways I was shown Tonkay's love of life and his tenderness to other beings. One day two abandon female puppies showed up at the rancho. Tonkay took over the role of big brother and nanny to the little girls like he was born to it. The two little puppies would run to him and he would fall to the ground so the girls could climb on his back or head and chew his tail or ears at will. Sometimes they just laid on him feeling safe and comforted as he licked them and sighed in contentment. If one became separated from him, Tonkay would worry and fret and search until the little female pup was back with him and her sister safely under his protection again.





Most of the time the rancho is quiet with only the sounds of goats, horses, cows, chickens and the pig eating, talking, scratching or rooting around. That peace is usually only broken by a loud voice crying, "Tonkay!!" and then the sound of the switch, whack whack and the plop of Tonkay hitting the dirt. He is never hurt by the switch, just sad at the discipline and Tonkay never seems to learn from or resent his lessons.

More importantly, Tonkay never gives up on any one or any thing. Tonkay is steadfast in his belief that life is always wonderful, water is always sweet and clear, a good meal is moments away, humans are always kind and loving, all animals are his friends, an adventure is just around the corner and tomorrow is another day to look forward to.



Tonkay has taught me lessons about life. I can be dark and moody and fretful sometimes. When those days come, I go to my computer and bring up a picture of Tonkay. It always makes me laugh and brightens my mood. I think Tonkay is like a guru or a spiritual leader. He is there to show me the way to a better life where I don't take my mistakes or my disappointments so seriously and instead of bemoaning my past, I should always look to the future with hope in my head and love in my heart. Not a bad philosphy to learn from a big, goofy dog.