Puddles III

So by now you know Puddles had an extremely loud piercing bark. He was half beagle. Riding in a car or truck with him was painful, he had to have the window down and barked at everything we passed. Dad had a blue Ford pickup with a toolbox up near the cab. When Puddles rode in the truck, he stood on the toolbox with his head sticking around the cab barking in the window. Everywhere that truck went, Puddles would soon be there.
One day Tom sold his truck to another fellow. Puddles went to that truck. The next morning the guy was trying to go to work and Puddles wouldn't let him get near it. The guy ended up calling Dad to come and get the dog. For a week that dog did not let the guy drive his own truck because he was protecting it for Dad.
I also told you how he would bark to stop traffic...it wasn't limited to cars either. When a train would come through town and Dad had to stop while it passed, Puddles would run up and bark at the train until it was gone. He would bark in circles in the middle of intersections or by the trains attempting to make everyone stop so Dad could go on...and he would follow in chase. Anyway one particular time he got too close to the train and got his nose clipped by a step hanging down from the train. It knocked him in circles down into the ditch. We thought he was dead. Dad went over to pick him up and miraculously his nose was knocked sideways but he was still alive. After another trip to the vet, we took him home and put him on the well platform under a huge maple tree. He laid there for 3 weeks hardly moving except to drink out of our hands. He was tough though and he got better and went back to doing the same old things everytime....except he kept more distance between himself and trains!

Puddles II

Tom acquired Puddles from my uncle Buck's brother M.C. from Springfield. While they had him, he would go to the local tavern and all the locals would give him beer and candy bars. (I'm guessing snickers bars) Afterward, Puddles would wander down to the vets office and they would call his home. The conversation was always.."just give him another shot and send him home!" Amazingly Puddles would do just that.
After we moved to Texas Puddles became acquainted with rattlesnakes. His first run-in with snakes, Puddles came out on the losing end of that battle. He had seven bites, on his neck, face and front leg. He came home swelled up like a balloon. We took him to the vet and they miraculously saved him. For about a month he was in a leg splint. They nearly amputated his leg. He wouldn't get up for anything so my Mom would pick him up and carry him around for water or food, she thought he wasn't able to move around. One day she got in the car and was leaving the driveway...and here came Puddles with that leg sticking straight out running his ass off with three capable legs! 
It turns out that he got into a den of them again months later and was bitten all over. Once again the vet patched him up and told us that he may not survive. Again, in a few weeks he was up and playing just like always. Ultimately he ended up going back and lost his final battle. Puddles was the coolest dog I ever saw and to this day when I am in Nokomis, people still talk about that crazy dog. I wish there were more like him!    

Puddles

Back in the 60's and early 70's Tom had a beagle/basset hound mix named Puddles. I've got several stories to tell about Puddles. While we lived in Nokomis Illinois, everybody in town knew that dog. His bark was piercing and alarmingly loud. Everywhere Tom's truck went, Puddles followed. Nokomis is a very small town and Puddles would run behind the truck as fast as he could to keep up. Tom would turn his blinker on and the dog would start cutting across to shorten the distance. Tom thought it was fun to signal the wrong direction and watch him go the wrong way until Puddles realized he was duped again. Puddles had tons of character and he really was the smartest dog I ever saw. Dad would pull up to an intersection and Puddles would run out and bark in the intersection until the other cars stopped and let Dad drive on. In the mornings Dad would go down to Murray's cafe for coffee and Puddles would wait right outside the door. 
At one time Nokomis also had a pool hall. Puddles would sneak in the front door, go around the counter and grab a snickers bar and run under the pool table. Nobody could get the candy back because he would growl and bark until he was able to eat it. So when Dad would go to the pool hall he would have to pay for all the candy bars that Puddles had eaten. He did it so often that the owner would make bets that Puddles would do that exactly! He never bothered with any other candy except a snickers bar.
There's more to come about Puddles!