Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.
Roger Caras

       As a boy I would often wander away for most of the day, steadfast hound protector watching over me. Off we would go exploring every animal burrow, pad & trail on the million acre cattle and sheep properties I grew up on. Roaming the hills, engaging in constant adventures of imagination & discovery in the desert country, chasing rabbits and kangaroos, creating secret hideouts around caves and unusual rock formations, while pretending I was a bold Ben Hall or Captain Starlight or some other notorious Australian bushranger (highwayman). Funnily enough I'm still doing that, though not the bushranger part! My parents never seemed too concerned I may run across a deadly snake, wild bull or dingo. I guess knowing the Blue Heeler (Allie), Kelpie (Red, what else?) or Border Collie (Buster) was along for the journey, and of course to share my sandwiches, eased their anxiety. Besides, country kids and dogs just seem to do these things and rarely come unstuck!

These are the stories the Dogs tell, when the fires burn high and the wind is from the north.
Clifford D. Simak