Behind the Lines: by David Heiller

David Heiller The painting [below] of our dog, Ida, always makes me smile, because it really captures her personality. Shy, friendly, humble. Very lovable. All those human qualities that we throw on our pets. I smile as I write this on March 26, three days after Ida died. Just thinking of her brings a smile. She lived to be 12 years old, until some idiot ran over her with a car. We got her as a puppy from Harold and Gladys Overland in August of 1988, on the same day that we were going to see Queen Ida in concert. So the puppy got the name of Queen Ida. It was quickly shortened to Ida. Ida and her first friend and doggie-mentor, Binti. The reason we got Ida was that our other dog, Binti was getting old. We thought it would be good for Binti to have a companion. Ida was a good choice. She was half Collie and half mutt. It was a good mix. She never took advantage of the older dog. When Binti started losing her sight and hearing, Ida would tell her important things, like...

David Heiller The evening grosbeaks fought for food at our feeders on Sunday. They jostled for a spot with the chickadees, nuthatches, and blue jays. So many gathered there that when someone walked around the corner of the house suddenly, they would take off with a roar that made you jump, like the sound of grouse that you scare in the woods. But they soon returned. They are bolder this time of year, because they know they have to fill up for winter. One grosbeak sat on the edge of the dog’s water dish. I walked to within five feet before it flew off. Maybe it got the idea from the blue jay that I saw on Sunday morning. It was perched on the edge of the dog food dish and calmly eating dog food. And perhaps the blue jay stole its idea from my least favorite animal. Two weeks ago I woke up in the middle of the night, and headed out-side to answer nature’s call. Our dog, Ida, wanted to go outside too. I flipped on the outside light and started opening the door. At the same ...

 David Heiller Before Cindy and I had children, we decided to get a puppy. We joked that it would be a good child-rearing test for us. (There’s a lot of truth to that joke.) We even named the dog Binti, which means “my daughter” in Arabic, which I spoke from my Peace Corps experience. Our first day with Binti. Binti was part of our family back then, nine years ago. She slept on the couch, or in our bed. When we visited relatives for holidays or weekends, she came along. We took her for walks every day, and played many games. One of the best games we played was on the big round bales of hay in the field near our rented farm house. Cindy and I would climb onto a bale, with Binti leaping to join us. Then we would race to the next bale, trying to keep ahead of the imaginary alligator. At first, Binti couldn’t catch us, but as the autumn progressed, we became alligator casserole nearly every night. When our real children started arriving, Binti’s life changed. She was...

David Heiller When I come home from work, I am always greeted by our two dogs, Ida and MacKenzie. . They have different personalities. Ida, age seven, is part collie and part flugel-hound (a little bit of everything). And she is shy. If Ida were a teenage girl at a dance, she would try to blend in with the wallpaper. She probably wouldn’t dance if you asked her. Queen Ida, David, and MacKenzie. Mack, on the other hand, would be the life of the party. She would be doing the Mack-areena. She is a three-year-old Australian shepherd, friendly and playful, with a coat like silk. Her nickname is Happy. You couldn’t find two dogs more different than Mack and Ida. But they have one thing in common. They both are fun to talk to. That’s the subject I am getting at here: talking to your dog. It’s one of life’s simplest pleasures. When I get home from work, I often drop my briefcase and camera on the grass and lie down and let the dogs crowd around me. That’s when they are mo...