Roger Dodger

Since my husband and I married over 25 years ago, we’ve had many children…of the four-legged variety. The majority have been rescues we’ve found along roadways or who found our house. While most have been kittens and cats, we’ve had several dogs as well. Our story is about one particular dog.

Roger Dodger came into our lives about twelve years ago. My husband and I were headed to a University of Texas football game. As we approached the intersection of our street and the main road, we saw some eyes in the brush. We stopped the vehicle, and I got out to see what kind of animal was lurking in the tall grass along the edge of the road. Out came a large dog, but without hair on his face or head. It was the worst case of mange we’d ever seen. His previous owner chose to dump him instead of taking care of the problem. I held him by the scruff of his neck and walked him back down the street to our house. We took him to the vet where he was treated for mange, got his shots, and was neutered. We gave him the name “Roger Dodger.”

Roger liked his new home and soon made friends with our other dogs and all of the cats. Roger was a very happy dog who did most of the typical lab things. However, he was never interested in playing with a Frisbee or ball or going swimming. We took him for long walks in the State Park, which he enjoyed immensely.

We thought he was trained to stay inside the fenced yard, front and back, even with the gates open. My husband and I left for work each morning and Roger would be right where we left him that evening. Several months later, we came home with Roger nowhere to be found. We walked around the property and up and down the road calling, hoping we would not find him laying somewhere hurt or worse. We got ready to drive the neighborhood, when Roger finally returned home. He was filthy dirty and had a sheet of paper folded and stapled to his collar. It was a note from an employee of the school district bus barn located near our house wondering if we would be willing to let him have Roger.

The next day, my husband called and discovered that instead of staying at the house all day, Roger would head to the bus barn and hang out all day in the shop. The employees had even put Roger on a bus and driven the neighborhood, hoping to find which house was his. Roger never let on though; he would just look out the door of the bus each time they stopped at a house and wait to keep riding around. He was having a great time.

Roger was also helping at the high school baseball field and tried to catch a fly ball in the outfield during a game. This is how we discovered that Roger’s previous owners must have worked in construction or some related field. He really liked to hang out with all kinds of workers, including the guys who were working on the railroad. When they were done working for the day, Roger would return home. He helped with construction of the new homes on the block by leaving his paw prints in the wet concrete of the driveways.

Roger Dodger was about one and a half years old when we found him. He lived with us for over twelve years and was a great dog as well as a great character. He recently passed away to doggie heaven and is probably keeping everyone there well-entertained. My husband and I miss Roger very much, but our lives were definitely enriched by his presence.

~Elizabeth Beckcom