Shaggy

Yes. We had a dog named Shaggy.

My second son came home from school coaxing this big old shaggy unkempt dog to follow him. The dog was dirty and its long hair was all matted together. It was a mess.

He informed me that the dog "followed him home" and could he keep it.

It was obvious that it had no owner. I did not want the dog but I finally gave in and told my son he could keep the dog... outside.

We had a doghouse. I told my son to put straw in it for the dog to make a bed. He made sure the dog was fed and watered. He named it Shaggy.

Shaggy looked much better cleaned up. We realized Shaggy was a female and soon to have puppies.

Of course she was eventually allowed in the house. You know how that goes.

One day while the children were in school Shaggy began having her puppies. The first one died almost immediately. She had 7 more.

The children were all excited when they came home and found out she was in the midst of giving birth. They looked at the new puppies with stars in their eyes. I had to remind them that we could not have all those dogs. They would have new homes as soon as they were old enough.

I have to begrudgingly admit that it was fun watching the puppies frolicking as they grew. They were not pretty pups and I worried we would not find homes for them. As a matter of fact there was one that looked like a cartoon character who boomed out a loud Va-Voom to crumble mountains and other obstacles. Naturally the puppy's name was Va-Voom.

One day right before a Cub Scout meeting Va-Voom escaped and ran into the street. My children witnessed him getting hit by a huge truck. They retrieved the little body. I told them we would have a funeral after the Cub Scout meeting.

The kids were too upset so I canceled Cub Scouts and sent the other boys home. We had a nice little funeral for Va-Voom. It is a good way for children to say goodbye to a pet.

Shaggy was not a natural mother. Once her puppies were weaned she had nothing to do with them.

Eventually we found homes for all the puppies.

Shaggy hung around for a while. Then one day she wandered off and we never saw her again.