Ajax, The Attacking Airedale

When my boyhood best friend and mentor Jaybird accepted Ajax, a four-month-old Airedale puppy from a neighbor who was moving away, man and dog soon became inseparable. For Ajax, a dog’s life was heaven. His luminous eyes shone in quizzical, mischievous anticipation, his mustache-framed mouth smiled permanently, and his wiry coat glowed like amber. He had rocket fuel energy and an anvil’s tolerance for pain. With Jaybird’s constant love and care, he grew quickly from puppy-size to pony-size, and had three modes of action — eat, sleep, attack. Anything that moved was prey, especially cars on a nearby road. On countless post-car chasing occasions he limped home, bleeding and missing divots of fur. Once he lost half an ear. Determined to break this dangerous habit, Jaybird attached a burlap bag to a hubcap on his pickup, hoping that it would twirl the dog and end the dangerous habit. When he drove by, Ajax chomped down on the sack, flipped several times in a dusty blur, and galloped away triumphantly with a mouthful of burlap.

---

Support Canada Free Press

---