[Granville-Hough] 29 Jul 2009 - Bob the Terrier

[Trustees for Granville W. Hough]

    When we moved into Grandpa Jim Richardson's home, he had a 
rodent-catcher named Bob.  Now Bob was a small terrier whose forte was 
digging out rats, mice, and any other incidental rodents which got into 
our barns and storage houses.  Now, this Bob knew he was Grandpa's dog 
and he took no instructions or guff from anyone else.  He did allow my 
mother to feed him, along with her favorite cats.  He paid no attention 
to Sunday visitors or to the rest of us during the week.
    When he and Grandpa went for a rodent hunt, they would walk along a 
fence until they came to a storage house.  Then Grandpa would begin to 
poke around with his walking stick into all the visible holes and Bob 
would check out each one.  When one was occupied, Bob would begin 
digging avidly; and he frequently reached paydirt.  It seemed like such 
a natural activity that this must have been the way terriers were 
developed, back in England, I believe, hundreds of years ago
    Now Bob did not like cold weather, thunder and lightning, and rain.  
When these happened, Bob came in the house; and we would hear the back 
screen door slam as he made his way to get under Grandpa's rocking chair 
by the fireplace.  He would stay there quiet as a mouse, until he got a 
nature call.  Then he would go sit at the back screen door until someone 
came by to open it.  (Bob could come in just by pushing on the screen 
door, but we never made a way for him to get out.)  If Grandpa noticed 
he was gone, he would go see if he was waiting by the door.  I never 
knew of Bob having an accident.
    I also wondered how Bob and Grandpa worked out the dangers of a 
rocking chair, but I never knew of Bob getting his tail or paws pinched 
under the rockers.  He had learned how to space himself, and he also 
probably recognized the rocking chair's sqeaks when it was about to 
move. If Grandpa got up to leave the room, Bob would be right at his side.
    When I left home in 1941, Bob was still there, just about as Senior 
as Grandpa who had been born 8 Dec 1861.