Dogs Gone

  The streets of Valley Falls used to be filled with dogs----dogs that were allowed complete freedom,  dogs that would make their regular rounds through the village streets, but would always find their ways home at the appropriate times.  Some dogs stayed close to home, some ranged the entire village.  Some followed their family's kids; others roamed on their own.  Upstreet, Buddy was the Osterhout dog, a very large hound type. The Spence hunting hound was named Blue, or something like that.   Skippy was the Walker dog, a shaggy whitish gray poodle type.  Lucky was a purebred springer spaniel that belonged to Bess McGraw.  Duke, Colarusso's dog, was also a springer.  Rospo's had a shepherd mix named Sparky.  Clum's had an overgrown terrier beagle type, can't remember his name, Sport maybe? (UPDATE: The Clum dog was named Boots.) A little later, Couser's had a collie named Dawn, who was hit by a train on the tracks in front of our house.  The only person I knew who walked her dog was Louise Clark, who had a large and bounding Llewellan setter, Speckles, I think he was named.  When Agnes Tyrell's mother moved in with her from North Pole Road, she brought her huge tan dog.  I didn't know his name but he ran out of the house and bit my leg and knocked me off my bike when I was about 9 years old.  The Carey family  had some ugly nameless mutt that also bit me when I was riding my bike at the playground.  Kids on bikes were fair game then,and nobody cared a great deal what happened to them.
    Sara McMahon used to go to Tancredi's in Mechanicville or Callahan's  in Troy for lunch and a Manhattan.  When she got back, she used to get all misty and choked up telling me about Jerry, her collie-shepherd from years ago.  We never forget our dogs.