Ruby The Strong

No story about Ruby is complete unless her strength is mentioned. She was strong. Her back legs were so strong she could pull me over if I wasn't careful. One day she was getting over excited by company in the back yard so I tied her leash around a leg of my picnic table. This is a heavy picnic table with redwood table top and seat and iron bars. I can barely move this picnic table and then only a few inches at a time. Ruby, over exuberant as usual, pulled that picnic table five feet in one direction before giving up. Another incident that featured her strength was at the Coon Rapids dam. I had joined 4 girlfriends to listen to live music at the dam and enjoy the summer evening. We were sitting at a concrete table with concrete benches. Ruby was under the table and we were chatting and listening to music. Unbeknownst to me, a mounted police was coming along behind me. Ruby took off toward that horse like a rocket. Her leash was around my wrist and she pulled me off the concrete bench and I landed flat on my back, very surprised and stunned. I turn my head after her to see her barking at the horse and the horse rearing up on it's hind legs. I got up as quickly as I could and brought her under control. The mounted police chewed me out in public. I can only imagine how horrible it would be to have your horse rear up in such a crowded setting. We both returned to the table with our tails between our legs. I was very upset with her behavior that day. Ruby and I used to walk in the Humane Society fundraiser called "Walk for Animals." This is an event with thousands of dogs. When I first got her out of the car, she would bark at a few dogs but after seeing a couple hundred, she generally gave up and calmly socialized with us. One year we had a bunch of kids with us and toward the end of the walk, along Theodore Wirth parkway, there was a huge hill of green grass dotted with thousands of dandelions. The kids wanted to sit on the hill and pick the yellow flowers. We were all tired from the 5 mile walk. I stood with Ruby at the top of the hill and watch the dog and owners go by on the street below us. Something down below triggered Ruby. She took off down that hill at a high speed. My hand was on the other end of the leash and I was standing there relaxed and unaware. She about pulled my arm off when she ran out of slack on the 4 foot leash. I had no choice but to follow. If I stopped, I would land flat on my face. I couldn't stop. Once you start walking fast down a steep hill, you have to keep going. But I didn't want to keep going. Down the hill we went, against my will, woman following dog yelling all the way, "Ruby! You consarnit dog!" The language might have been more colorful. Once we got to level ground I could stop and stop I did. It's funny to think of it now but I was so upset with her that day. The people on the road were alarmed by us. The people up on the hill, my so-called beloved family and friends, were laughing their heads off at us. They knew Ruby and they knew me so this was insanely funny to them. Ruby loved exercise. When we stayed at the cabin and I used my Dad's mini-bike to travel to the farm 2 miles away, Ruby loved to run along side the mini-bike. We'd stop at the lake so she could swim but she'd generally run the 2 miles several times a day. 12 mph was a good pace for her. As much as she drove me crazy sometimes, she was a strong dog; a friendly yet pushy dog. Even my memories of her are strong.