She swam in pools, lakes, rivers, the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico and Mobile Bay.
She could count to three, speak, howl, whisper, cry on command, sit down, sit up, and stand up on two feet. She would play dead while I told a long, sad tale of her getting hit by a truck. She could roll over, shake hands, switch hands, shake hands with my foot, switch to the other foot etc.
She would even match the number of syllables when I would ask her to say a word. I might say, "Pumpkin, say Jennifer." She would howl three syllables to match the word "Jennifer." I'd say, "Pumpkin, say Honda." She'd say "Woo-woo."
I'd ask her, "What does a choo choo train say?" She'd reply, "Wooo, wooo!"
She could climb ladders. She would jump up on walls, tables or anything on command.
When it came time to throw a ball, she would root around in a bush and bring it back out, no matter how hard it was, and if I threw the ball and it rolled out into the street, she would chase it until she got to the curb and then stop and wait for me to get it.
I could tell her to get in the shower or in the tub full of water, and she would get right in and sit down so I could bathe her. When I was done, I could say, "Shake your ears" and she would shake the way dogs do, to get rid of the water. I would have her do that three times before I would spread a towel out on the floor, then I'd say, "Okay, Pumpkin, get on the towel." She would get out of the tub and sit down on the near end of the towel so I could use the other half to start drying her off.
She would launch for distance into the pool. One time a dog was in the pool and it was brand new to swimming. It was trying to claw its way out of the pool in the deep end, unable to get it done. Pumpkin swam out there, put her nose between the dog and the wall, and the dog tried to swim to the left to get back to the wall as Pumpkin forced her to swim to the other end of the pool, to the steps. The dog walked up the steps and out of the pool.
At the motocross track, Pumpkin would get on my bike and put both paws over the bars, leaning toward the throttle side. She loved to ride.
When little kids next door playfully hit her with sticks that fell from the tree and she didn't like it, she laid out there in the yard and bit all of the sticks into short pieces so they couldn't hit her with them.
She would even do three-trick sequences. I could say something like, "Pumpkin, stand up on two feet, lay down with your head down and howl." She would do all kinds of multi-trick sequences like that, and I mixed it up all the time.
She would stand up on two feet and give me a "dog hug" on command.
I was at a motocross race, she followed us to the line and I told her to go back to the truck. She went through the pits and got in the truck and stayed there until after the race.
I took her to the Glen Helen national and many other races with no leash, crossing the track, walking through huge crowds, and she would stick right with me.
She could jump into the back of my truck with the tailgate up.
I could show her a piece of ham, tell her "stay" and walk away, get up on the diving board and put the ham on the end of the diving board, then come back to her and say "good dog" and "go get it" and she would.
I know I'm giving too much information, but that dog was the best dog I'll ever have.
Many people are sad today, she affected hundreds of people from coast to coast who grew to love and respect her.
JA
--Previous Message--
: Its truly hard losing a loved one especially a
: pet they were always a member of my family
: seems I took it harder them my kids.Thinking
: of you today and your familys loss.I'll hug
: my dogs thinking of Pumpkin and tip one for
: her and you today,sad way to start your B
: day. My thoughts and prayers to pumkin you
: and your family RIP Pumkin
:
: --Previous Message--
: I just got the call that my sweet dog,
: Pumpkin, has died.
:
: She died at 11:30 PM Pacific time last
: night, which was at 1:30 AM where I live
: now, or 40 minutes ago.
:
: She was truly a magnificent animal, and she
: touched many lives. There are many stories
: to be told about the things Pumpkin did
: during her 13 or so years on this Earth.
:
: She died 30 minutes before my birthday
: Pacific time, an hour and a half into my
: birthday here. All these people dying lately
: have been on my mind, and I've kind of
: wondered if I'll make it to my birthday for
: some reason. Maybe it's because Pumpkin
: wasn't long for this world and it was
: weighing on my mind.
:
: She was so special. You won't believe the
: things she did. People loved her dearly from
: coast to coast, and I mean from California
: to Florida.
:
: I'm going to go back to bed now. It makes me
: so sad that my sweet dog died.
:
: JA
:
:
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