I never liked little dogs, not even a little bit, then I married Sherry. She had this little male Shih-tzu named Peanut, which she called her "Little Man". When we first married, this dog was afraid of his own shadow and spent a lot of the time hiding under the couch. This was a good thing because where she lived she was not allowed to have pets.

Of course, the very first thing I did was teach this cowardly dog to bark and growl at anybody coming near the house. My philosophy was a dog must earn their keep or they aren’t worth having.

This did not go so well with Sherry because every time someone came to the door she was trying to keep Peanut quiet.

Although he was mostly our son Richard's dog, he started hanging out with me when the kids were in school. We would rough house, and he would do some of the funniest things. Well, it wasn’t long before the little turd muffin began to grow on me.

One of Peanut's favorite foods was spaghetti. He would devour the stuff, and when he was done he would always want more. He would look up at you with a happy look on his face, and he’d be covered in sauce, so we nicknamed him Red Beard.

He also loved hot dogs. He’d pick one up and carry it around, and it would look like he was smoking a cigar. When we first got the other dogs he was insulted for months; he wouldn’t eat or play with them or anything. It was like he didn’t think he was a dog, he thought he was a human.

Peanut passed away last October, and he is greatly missed. Whenever he saw a motorcycle, he barked at it. I think that he didn't like the sound that a motorcycle makes. I think what I miss most is riding in our car, and when we were just about home, I would say, “Peanut we’re almost home." and he would begin to bark and howl and jump around in the seat.

By: James Grimes
4/22/09

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