My Dog's Nose Was My Alarm Clock

My Dogs Nose Was Long And Wet

Back in my teen years my family had a Collie named ‘Buffie’. For some reason it just fitted her bubbly personality and happy demeanor. She had a long dog’s nose and every morning she would come close to my bed and put it an inch from my face until I woke up. She would jump back in surprise and wag her big bushy tail and yawn to tell me, ”hey man, I NEED to go outside!”  So I would get up and let her out and I was up, so I stayed up.

My Dog’s Nose Was Curious

As it is with noses, every living creature is forced to follow it around their whole life long. Buffie’s talents had a bit of blood hound, chasing rabbits and stuff, but she never caught any, I think she just liked the race. She was fast. I remember in winter once, there was a guy who had a snowmobile and he took us for a ride on it. Buffie ran behind us with all of her speed, her shiny golden coat bristling in the cool air and her red tongue flapping from her smiling face.

The great dog’s nose would be stuck in bushes, beneath snow, in the dirt to go and find what it was smelling. She would run out on the nearby golf course and try to herd Starlings, causing them to fly away and she would yelp and get frustrated that they wouldn’t do what she wanted. But, it was fun to watch her be herself.

My Dog’s Nose Got Her In Trouble

Buffie was curious to a fault. One night we were walking around the neighborhood and she discovered a skunk, which wasn’t thrilled with the idea of getting discovered, so Buffie was sprayed… she went nuts, running around trying to get the smell off of her, rolling in grass and just miserable, the poor dog. We finally got her home and doused her with tomato juice and the rest of the kitchen sink, until it got to a manageable level. Boy, was that smelly!

Another time Buffie went missing. We were fairly worried, because she usually came back on her own, but this time was different. Anyway, she had her neighborhood pals just like we did, dogs from around the neighborhood would walk up the street, get together and go off for the day looking for adventure, sort of like Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer I guess, in the evening they walked home and dropped Buffie off here.

So, when she didn’t return with the troup, we got worried. Finally, the next morning Mom decided to go to the Humane Society, the dog pound, and see if she had been picked up. Sure enough, there she was, behind bars, caught by the dog police for herding cattle on a farm nearby. Mom said she looked very ashamed of herself, but we were glad she was safe.

My dog’s nose was the symbol of her proud personality. What a beautiful animal, and she is enjoying the fields of heaven, romping through the grass or snow, happy that her spirit lives with all of nature around her. I miss Buffie to this day, and maybe I will get another dog to just hang out with, for the fun of it, after all, everyone needs an alarm clock!

Leave a Reply