The Protecter

"Where's George? Go find him." Jimmy bolts down the stairs then looks back to see if you are following him, he continues to run into his boys room, jumps into George's lap and howls, "Here he is!" All the while licking him as fast as his tail is wagging.

We rescued this little black terrier from the animal shelter nine years ago and gave him to our son for his 11th birthday. The first night in his new home, Jimmy slept with George. Tucked under his covers, all you could see was his tail wagging. From that night on, George became Jim's' boy and Jim made it his duty to keep watch and protect him. While George would be practicing the piano, you would find Jim laying under the bench. If someone was wrestling with George, Jim would become nervous placing his little five pound body between the opponent and his boy. Respecting the family and knowing his place he never became aggressive, but in his own little way he showed he didn't like it when rough housing involved his boy. They went everywhere together, just a dog and his boy. Then at the close of each day when night rolled around, Jimmy would find his spot on George's bed, curl up next to his boy, and go to sleep. One particular day when my dad came to visit, I had George share his room. During the middle of the night I heard a low growl coming from down stairs. I followed the sound into George's room and found Jimmy laying on top of his sleeping boy growling at my dad who was also asleep, but snoring loudly. Jim looked at me with a sigh of relief, "Hey mom, glad you came in, this beast is growling and I don't know what his plan is." I reassured Jimmy that everything is fine, patted him on the head and thanked him for keeping George safe.

Now that his boy is in college, Jim has a spot at the foot of our bed where he curls up at night - but when George is home all it takes is a whistle and a, "Come on Jim, lets go to bed" and you would think he had wings. All you would see is a black blurr as Jimmy leaps off of our bed in a single bound, flies down the stairs and on to George's bed, where he takes his place next to his boy, curls up and goes to sleep.

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