Part one of this column was published last week in the October 30, 2019 edition.

  The happiest dog you have ever seen was Bud. He looked to be a pure blooded Swiss Mountain dog. He just showed up one day at the house and acted like he had lived there all along. We let him stay. He had already been neutered, as all of our dogs have been. We tried to find his owner but could not.

  About three weeks after he showed up, he came home with his butt all chewed up, similar to JD but worse. The vet fixed him, but just as he was about to recover from the attack, he was attacked again. This time he could not be saved. The search for the culprit intensified.

  Jake and Jody were about four years old when Bud came on the scene. A pregnant female dog showed up at the house and a week later she had four puppies. A week after that, she left and never came back. Bobbie fed the puppies with an eye dropper. We found homes for two of them, but Jake and Jody became our yard dogs. Jake was as good a squirrel dog as any you have seen. He always knew which tree the squirrel was in. He would bark “treed” and if you did not go to him, he would lie down and wait for the squirrel to come down. He would catch it and bring it to me to show what he had done. His life centered on chasing squirrels.

  Jody, on the other hand, was quieter. She followed me everywhere I went on the farm. No matter where I was, she would not be far away. She followed me out to the end of the driveway every morning and then walked back to the house.

  One morning as I was leaving for work, Jody followed. A few minutes later a neighbor drove by and saw Jody being attacked. Not by coyotes, but by neighborhood dogs. Dogs that we passed by each day. A homegrown pack of terror had been formed. The neighbor called Bobbie, who went up to stop the attack. It was too late to save Jody, but the dogs were identified and the owners notified. Everyone was helpful in eliminating this pack of yard dogs. They were neutered, put up, and in some cases turned over to animal control. One owner tried to claim that the dog living at his house was not his and he was not going to put it up. Animal control explained the situation to him, issued a citation and that dog was not seen again. There have been no more attacks, but I still miss Jody’s company and Bud’s outlook on life.