When I was nine, Tinker came into our lives. Tinker was a cocker-beagle mix. She was about the size of a cocker and she had slightly wavy hair on her ears. Her coloring was typical tri-color beagle.
Tinker
The best laid plans
The plan was that Tinker would live outside. She had a dog house, and all was good until the ear infections started. The vet said cockers have oddly angled ear canals that don’t drain well, and Tinker had those ear canals.
The vet also said Tinker needed to sleep inside or she would have repeated ear infections because of the cool night air. I don’t know if that was true, but she didn’t have any more ear infections once we started keeping her inside at night.
Tinker was a good dog. She wasn’t a big barker, though she loved barking at the mailman. Check out that story here. She begged for food like any dog would, but she wasn’t obnoxious about it. And she didn’t jump on the furniture. She preferred lying at someone’s feet. Of course, she loved having her ears rubbed and her belly scratched.
my grandmother, Florrie Thomas Martin
Grandma and Tinker
My grandma, Florrie THOMAS MARTIN (1894-1979), lived with my family. Grandma thought it was nonsense to bring a dog in the house. “Dogs belong outside,” she would say. She didn’t pay Tinker any attention in the beginning, but that changed.
At the dinner table, Grandma sat at one end and I sat alone on one of the sides. I noticed that Grandma started dropping little bits of food on the floor at our corner of the table. Tinker would eventually find them and eat them. In time, Tinker took to sitting at that corner of the table waiting for Grandma to drop food for her. Still, I’d hear Grandma say that dogs belonged outside. This puzzled me for a long time.
Cornflakes
Grandma had to go in the hospital for her diabetes when Tinker was five or so years old. While visiting Grandma in the hospital, my mom told Grandma that Tinker was wandering the house at night and wouldn’t settle down. Grandma asked, “Are you giving her her cornflakes?”
“Cornflakes?” my mom replied.
“Yes. When I get my bowl of cornflakes before bed, I put down a paper towel and give her a handful of cornflakes.”
Mom had no idea Grandma had been doing that. None of us did. We would see a paper towel on the kitchen floor every morning and figured Grandma had spilled milk and put the paper towel down to sop it up.
That night, Mom gave Tinker a handful of cornflakes on a paper towel. Sure enough that’s what she wanted. She settled down with her back against the front door, as was her usual, and went to sleep.
Tinker at about 2 years old
An a-ha moment
It wasn’t long after that when Mom told me the story of Grandma and her beagle, Jenny, and how Grandma saved Jenny’s life. Then it hit me why Grandma said dogs belonged outside, but still spoiled Tinker. I never saw Grandma pet or scratch Tinker, but maybe she did when no one was looking.
Copyright © 2017 Nancy H. Vest All Rights Reserved
Nancy, Yes, I remember Tinker (along with chipper, the parakeet that would eat my toast everytime I sat at your breakfast table and entertain us with her distinct English language!!!). Tinker was a sweet, loving cocker and as Nanny Martin traveled south to our home, she told us about Tinker. However, she never told us the story of dropping morsels of food. As you may or may not recall, we had two yappy. Chihuahuas named Trixie and Tiny. Trixie looked malnourished due to her side and Tiny was a poor pick for his name as he was large and had a fat tummy in comparison. Both were brown, Trixie being a light tan. However, the story here is when Nanny Martin came to visit, she made those remarks about those “yappy” dogs that should be outside. Naturally, you don’t take these small pedigree doggies in the yard and leave them, but, we were good to take them out for exercise. As Nanny’s summer passed with us, we noticed the weight change on the two of them. Trixie no longer look scrawny and Tiny became a Tug. Dad suspected they were getting into something like FOOD to cause this. Well, the food was yeast rolls! Our favorite treat of the week were the homemade yeast rolls we looked so forward too when Nanny Martin arrived in Pascagoula. She made a batch at the beginning of the summer and freeze, then another batch (as she called them) mid summer.I think we had them every night for dinner regardless what mom cooked. We found the pinched-off yeast rolls here and there and never knew we weren’t the mess, but, she was feeding the doggies snacks of rolls. (No telling, but, we suspected it was two meals a day.) Dad caught her one day with one in her lap under her latest croquet project. She would pinch off a piece and pitch it to them, there would be a scuffle and then one or the other won the treat. So, it was then we saw where the weight gain came from. I relate to your story very well and find it humorous how sneaky she really could be. There are many other quips of her humor, but, remember, she was a commanding female General when she had to be. This came from raising of that brigade of kids and having command of most of the grands at one time or the other. I miss her, as she was so smart and knew what to say when. When she didn’t answer, you knew she was going to come out with something profound. Thanks for sharing.
I love this story, Andrea! She was quite a woman, and I miss her, too.