Pets have always been a very important
part of my family. I can't remember our house ever being with out a
pet.
Duke was the first pet our family had.
He was a a German Shepard and a gift from my Dad to Mom. He gave
Duke to her when she was expecting my oldest brother.
I never got to met Duke, I only heard
stories of him from my parents and my grandparents, the Becks. Mom
used to tell us that Duke would jump up and put his paws on her
shoulders and look down on her, granted Mom was only 5'1” but still
hearing this as a kid was impressive. Grandpa Beck would tell us
how he would toss Duke a ham bone and he'd have it gone in minutes.
Grandma always said that Duke followed Mom every where and never let
her out of his sight. From what we were told Duke was a gentle giant. Duke showed his gentleness all the time with my brother by letting my brother climb and ride him. Duke also actually let my big brother teeth on his ears. Other stories of Duke's gentleness included stories of how exceptionally patient Duke was with a neighbor girl who was developmentally delayed. Mom told us how the girl used to pull Duke's tail and tease him, the type of things that would cause most other dogs to bite. Duke could be also very protective of Mom and Bill. The story of his protectiveness that sticks out most is the one Dad would tell us about, was the one about the time He took care of Bill for the first time alone. Mom went to the store for a few things. While Mom was gone, Bill got hungry and needed a bottle, so Dad prepared one for him. Well like a lot of new dad's, he made the milk too hot. So when he tried to give it to Bill, of course he cried --- loudly. This caused Duke to go into action, which consisted of Dad holding Bill while backed in into a corner with Duke keeping guard until my Mom came home.
Unfortunately, like a lot of large dogs, Duke didn't live a long life, but he is still a part of the family through the stories told of him.