Life in West Virginia: IGA Dog

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

IGA Dog

From my previous posts, you can tell that we have a lot of animals that have curious habits. Well, Mom, Charleigh-Anne and I are at the local IGA. Well, the one in MW. MW is quite the large community now, Dollar Store, 7-11, tons of housing developments and very recently, some sidewalks were added. I was just picking up a few items, so Mom and C-A stayed in the car.

The IGA is a small, local grocery store. Not the place that you would expect a Fox Hound to walk into. Yes, walk INTO, as INSIDE. The doors are automatic, the dog smelled food and well, she stood in front of the door, it opened automatically and she came right inside the grocery store. She even went into the manager's office, since the door was open. LOL She didn't have a collar, which any good owner of a Fox Hound would have on said animal, since if you take them hunting, sometimes, they lose their way and it is easier for those who find them to locate the owner quickly.

I am well educated in the art of American fox hunting with dogs as I used to go with my Grandpa Shepard fox hunting (this is done late at night) and I would fall asleep in the back of the parked truck and he would take me the short distance home, later in the night. On these nights, we would always stay close to the farm, so his trip back would be short and also, I suppose so the dogs would easily find the way home. I even had my own hound, Elizabeth, whom he called "Lizzy". He would go other places and it always amazed me that the dogs would normally come back to the location where they had been let loose. Sometimes though, if they hadn't returned by Sunday afternoon, we would go looking for them, always finding them over one ridge or another. Don't get the idea that they rode horses and followed the hounds on the chase as the gentry in England do . . . my Grandpa and his cousin Glen Sommerville, would sit and drink beer, while listening to the "chase".

This particular fox hound "looked" like she might be in heat (don't ask), which would explain her "wandering" away from her home. The part that threw me off was that it was a FOX HOUND in the MIDDLE OF TOWN. I haven't even seen a fox hound in at least 10 years probably longer. I live smack in the middle of rural WV where they do practice the sport, as they also do coon hunting, but can't say that I even know of anyone who owns them around here anymore or that practices the long lost art of fox hunting.

Brought back a lot of happy memories and I even pet the friendly hound dog as we escorted her out the door. I just hadn't thought about those outings with Grandpa and Glen for years.