Brutus

Brutus

When I was about 16 years old someone gave us a pure white French poodle, named Bridget. But the story is about Bridget, or about Bridget's daughter, Henry. It's about Bridget grandson. We don't know who the father was, but he was a German Shepherd. When Henry had her litter my youngest brother had his pick. The story was; he chose the ugly duckling. When it came time for a name he was given a Brutus because it seemed to fit him so well. It is barely four weeks old and his temperament was evident.

But as he grew he displayed a different set of qualities. He once got hit by a car and learn very quickly. He was extremely intelligent and would follow us (me and my four brothers) all over the city without a leash. My older brother trained him to walk at your heel and many other things. When the dog pound picked up one of our other dogs years earlier my father threatened if we didn't keep him on a leash than the SPCA could keep him. So from Brutus's earliest days we trained him to jump fences and return home. It started with very small wire fences no more than 12 inches high. I would jump over and he would try to follow, little by little we increase the height. Soon he was jumping over a 4 foot fence. But when he came to a six-foot fence he crouched down and sprang to the top, and from there he leaped to the ground. We didn't think much more of it until we found a taller fence. We challenged him once again; I climbed over the fence, he whined, whimpered, wagged his tail, and even barked. This went on for a while until we were ready to give up, and just then he crouched down and sprang up as high as he could and began climbing the fence. He climbed all where the top and leaped to the ground. Now we weren't sure no fence to keep them. But we still trained him every time we seen a fence be merely pointed and said, “Brutus over.”

The dog catcher tried many times to get him, but he disliked people in uniforms from his earliest days and he knew his mission was to return home. One day the dog catcher picked him up off the front step because he could not get in the into the house. Somebody seen it happen so my parents went down to get Brutus from the clink. When they arrived and asked for them, the attendant went to get him but he was already gone. Without a doubt be scaled their six-foot fence and was on his way before they could sit down at their chair. This frustrated for dog catcher so he became more determined than ever. Several days had passed and once again they pulled the same stunt. They weren’t going to be made fools of twice so they locked him in a covered cage with many other dogs. This time they called our house with a smug attitude stating they had our dog. Once again, my parents went down to get him and when they went to retrieve him he was gone the cage was empty, and they were furious. They threatened to charge my parents for the recapture of all the other dogs. My mother in turn threatened them for endangering our dog and saying how can you prove that he let those dogs out. This went on for quite a while and by the time my parents got home Brutus was already there.

This story still brightens my day after all these years and they never again attempted to take Brutus to the Big House.