February 12, 2021 - Cass was actually afraid of her shadow. She noticed this dark figure following her around and she tried to run from it. She was in our family for several years and never did overcome her fear of objects.
It all began in Ft. Worth back in the early seventies. Our son, Doug, was in high school there and was dating a cute little girl named Debbie. One night they rescued this black, furry, part border collie puppy they found wandering around a convenience store. It had no collar or any other form of identification. Well, Debbie couldn’t stand leaving the poor puppy to fend for herself, so she took the dog home with her. Actually, she sneaked the dog into her room and kept her for three days. For those three days she was working on Doug to get him to bring her to our house. For three days Doug was pleading his case to us to adopt and keep the dog.
As fathers sometimes do, I relented and allowed Doug to bring Cass home and partner up with our white poodle, Curley. They never really liked each other, but things were fine as long as Cass left the older Curley alone.
Around Christmas time, we received a gift of a large tin of popcorn, maybe a five-gallon container. In an attempt to get the lid off the can, it suddenly popped up into the air, came down on the rim, hit the floor and rolled directly at Cass who was sitting nearby. It terrified her so much that she ran under a corner table in the kitchen and would not come out. From that time on whenever we wanted to keep her out of the way of company, I simply put her in our bedroom and placed the popcorn tin in the doorway and she would not go near it.
We were transferred to Birmingham a year later. Doug stayed behind to finish up a job. He took care of both dogs while we settled into our new home. Then, it was time to fly both Cass and Curley to Alabama. The veterinarian had given Doug a few pills to sedate both dogs for the trip. Doug gave Cass double the amount needed. She arrived in Birmingham asleep in her cage and remained asleep for almost two days.
We had a ceiling fan installed in our den. Cass refused to come into the den when the fan was on. She would look up at it, tuck her tail between her legs, and run for cover. We tried a little doggie therapy on her by holding her in our arms and walking into the room to show her the fan was harmless. It did not work. After several months passed, she would enter the den but always looking up at the fan and scurrying into the kitchen.
Doug was married a couple of years later and moved into an apartment with his new bride. They took Cass with them. Now Cass had even more new objects that would alarm her. But, after a few months at her new home she adapted well.
One night a year later, Doug and his wife knocked on our door. It was apparent that they were distraught about something as they had been crying. They gave us the bad news that Cass had been hit by a car on the street in front of their apartment. Doug held her in his arms as his wife drove to the animal hospital. However, she died before they reached medical help.
So ended the saga of Cass, the most unusual dog. There would be more dogs in our future, but none quite like her.
