Bandit

This dog was awesome. He was rescued from some teenage miscreants who were bent on his destruction by my aunt's brother, who was half their size. (Let's just say that's the reason why he only had half a tail.) He had markings of a bandanna - like a bandit - on his face. This dog was known all over several neighborhoods. Everybody knew his name. He loved to play, and would play fetch for hours. He'd go into the closet and chew open a tennis ball canister if there were no balls to play with. He would also do the job of fetch and carry for the kids. Auntie M said if the kids put the groceries away strategically, all they'd have to say was, "Bandit! Go get a can!" and he'd go down to the food storage and nose a can of food off one of the lower shelves. Chances are, their mom had asked them to get a can of tomato sauce or tuna fish, so they'd put them on the lower shelves. If he brought up the wrong can, they'd just say it to him again, and odds were, he'd bring up the right type of can so they wouldn't have to do it. This dog was also like a homing pigeon. Auntie M grew up in Orem and one night her brother took the dog on a Boy Scout camping trip up Mt. Timpanogos. At dinnertime, the boys noticed that Bandit was gone. They looked and looked, but to no avail. No Bandit. Her brother felt sick, thinking a cougar had gotten him. They went home, and lo and behold, there was Bandit, sitting on the front porch. He had walked miles, all night, to get home. If he got bored, he'd just go home. He always knew how to get there. He was part homing pigeon!



You Can Teach an Old Dog New Tricks: Sometimes Bandit was a bad dog. One time he had gotten ahold of a kitten and was the means of its demise. Auntie M's mom got really mad and chased him around with a broom yelling at him, telling him how inappropriate his behavior was and what a bad dog he'd been. He sulked for hours. But he never did it again. In fact, years later, Auntie M's dad and his crew of kids were in their big car and were pulling in the driveway when all of a sudden Bandit dashed in front of the car, a little white streak. He wouldn't move out of the driveway. Auntie M's dad got out of the car to see what was making Bandit be so stubborn, and there was a cat and her brand new litter of kittens exactly in the path where the tire would have gone. Another time, Auntie M's mom was putting away the hide-away bed - the old fashioned kind that you fold up and then insert into the couch - and she'd left the sheets on. Bandit immediately started barking and barking and standing at attention by the couch. Auntie M's mom was curious - what was Bandit being so insistent about? She could have just left it but she didn't. She started pulling out cushions, and there was no indication of what Bandit might be after. Finally, she took the bed out again because Bandit would not stop barking. It turns out that their cat had been hidden in the sheets and was probably so surprised that she had no time to make any noise, and had no air with which to meow later. Bandit knew she was there, and saved her life. So you see, you can teach old dogs new tricks.

Bandit also apparently was a good dad. One time, he insistently barked and barked at one of Auntie M's brothers and gestured for him to follow. Bandit took him two miles across town, and waited while Auntie M's brother awkwardly tried to figure out what was going on. The lady of the house came out and said, "Are you Bandit's owner?" When the answer came back affirmative, she showed him to the backyard, where there was a litter of puppies just a few days old. Bandit was a proud daddy and wanted to show off his springoffs (as my dad would say). 


Sadly, Bandit would eat almost anything...and one day, it turned out to be his ruin. The neighbor, Mr. L, hated Bandit, and always claimed that Bandit did his dirty business in Mr L's yard. One day, the mean old man actually put a shovel full of dog droppings that were far too large to be Bandit's doing on the front porch. That made Auntie M's mom mad. (Go figure.) Anyway, Bandit was poisoned, and it was a sad way for an awesome dog to go. Auntie M suspects Mr. L had something to do with it. But at least he had a good long life first.