As far back as I can remember, my family had a dog. There was Babs, the English Setter, and Gretchen, the rescued Weimaraner. Then there was Greta, Gretchen’s granddaughter who was with me the majority of my childhood.
Greta had a way about her that just made you laugh. She loved anyone who would throw a ball for her. She loved to go for a ride or a walk. She was a companion in every way. Greta was also a bit of a thief.
It all started when my father taught Greta to fetch the newspaper. Eager to please, Greta brought us the paper every day without fail. One day, she decided that if one paper deserved an “atta girl,” then surely fifteen papers would be even better. No kidding, we came home and there must have been fifteen newspapers in our carport. My family and I tried our best to see that the papers made their way back to the rightful owners. Every once in while, we received a call from a neighbor saying, “My paper was missing today. Do you happen to have an extra one?” The neighbors didn’t seem to mind very much. You see, this was over thirty years ago when dogs roamed freely, getting into all kinds of mischief while people were at work and kids were at school. And boy, did they.
Greta’s thievery didn’t stop there. She loved apples and would wait patiently by my mother, hoping for a bite. A nearby neighbor had an apple tree and it wasn’t long before Greta found it. She began bringing apples home to my mother and dropping them at her feet. The silly dog could have eaten it herself, but insisted on sharing the experience with someone else—she was a companion after all. Greta brought home other things too. There was the five-pound bag of Vidalia onions, the bag of clothespins, a man’s girdle, some assorted clothing items of which we never found the owners. She even jumped into a UPS truck during a delivery. While on his route, the driver said that he heard a noise in the back of the truck and sure enough, it was Greta. Even the UPS driver knew Greta’s name and address.
