When I was 13, my grandparents brought home what looked like a mangled rat in a box. My grandma immediately told me, “We aren’t keeping it.” They had found her freezing in a creek while it was pouring down rain, and it took them forever to finally catch her. After they got her cleaned up, me and Towdow sat on the car sharing a Nuddy Buddy, and from that moment on, she was mine. I had never had a dog of my own before, and from then on, I spent every night sleeping in a bed with a dog. MY dog. She had her own way of showing love, too. She liked sleeping underneath the blanket at the very end of the bed, nowhere near me because apparently cuddling was not her thing. She was a vicious little dog with a huge personality, and I loved every bit of her. We got her fixed, and from there, she stayed with us and lived her best life on the farm. One of my favorite memories of her was when I was heading out to the barn to feed the horses. At the time, I think we had five dogs, and I always raced them there. One day, I took off running with all of them like usual, and when I looked behind me to see who was winning, I couldn’t believe what I saw. That old fart was. She was just running along, smiling like she had something to prove. Somehow, that little old dog had outrun all the others, and she earned some serious dog respect that day. Towdow was my first dog. She was stubborn, vicious, funny, independent, and completely one of a kind. Most importantly, she was mine. She grew up with me, stayed by my side through so many years of my life, and gave me memories I’ll carry forever. I’ll always be grateful that my grandparents found that “mangled rat” in a creek that rainy day, because she became so much more than just a dog. She became my best friend.
Towdow is My Best Friend and is featured as a Dog.