Our Precious Benjie

When our younger brother, Leonard, was about 12 years old, our mother called him from where she worked and asked if he wanted a dog. Of course he did. Mom worked about ½ a mile from where we lived so Leonard left at once to get the dog. When he arrived, he saw a group of women standing around this dog that was no longer a puppy but not quite an adult. He was told the dog is his if he continues to call him Benjie. Agreed. They found a length of rope and he walked Benjie home. Benjie's adventures would soon start.

Benjie was a real dog. Leonard and his friends loved to go hunting and Benjie went along with them. When they went rabbit hunting, Benjie would drag a rabbit back to place it at Leonard’s feet. The rabbit just happened to be missing his head.

Shortly after becoming Leonard’s dog, Benjie was resting out in the backyard when the dog next door, a boxer, leapt through the back window. Unfortunately, pieces of glass flew into Benjie’s eye. Leonard took him to the local vet who picked out the shards, treated the eye, and said the dog would probably be blind in that eye. He was but that didn’t stop him from having more accidents.

One afternoon, we got a call from a neighbor who told us that Benjie was lying on the other side of our fence and didn’t seem to be moving. Leonard rushed out to the yard and hopped over the fence. Benjie was lying in a pool of blood and it appeared he had split himself from stem to stern. Back to the vet he went. He was one sick dog for about a month after the vet stitched him back up, but he never did try to jump that fence again.

Another time, Benjie had an accident that severely injured his footpad---almost ripping it off. Leonard put some salve on it, bandaged it, and took the dog back to the vet. By this time the vet realized the close relationship the boy and the dog had. The vet asked who had bandaged the foot and when Leonard said he did it, the vet offered him a job. The vet only had to sprinkle some antibiotic powder on the wound to dry it up and sent them home. Leonard said, to the best of his knowledge, he never paid the vet any money for these visits.

Sadly, when Leonard was about 18, he received a call from the SPCA asking him if he owned a dog-named Benjie. Apparently, a car had hit Benjie and the whole side of his face was smashed, including the eye. Unfortunately, it was his good eye. They said his injuries were quite extensive and there were no guarantees he would live. They asked if Leonard wanted him put down. He said yes because since he was already blind in one eye, that would mean he wouldn’t be able to see at all. Plus, the injuries were so bad, he was suffering and Leonard didn’t want that. Benjie died in Leonard’s arms.

I have more stories of Benjie and our family but writing this is a start to more short stories about this adventurous dog.