Our son Jarrett is out of the country.

I don’t know how much I am allowed to type about this.  No, I am sure I am good.  I am joking.

As we speaktherights, Jarrett is a body guard for the United States Ambassador of Iraq.  Yes, this is a big deal.  I doubt that Harrison County, Indiana has produced many body guards for American diplomats.  That says it all.

While Jarrett is out of the country, my dear wife, Carrie, and I are occasionally called to take care of Jarrett’s dog, Hot Rod.

Hot Rod is a great dog.

He is a pain in the butt sometime.  If you are walking him on a lead he can nearly dislocate your arm if he takes off.  But a sweeter animal you will never find.

Part Russian Ridgeback and a part Karelian bear dog, Hot Rod is a spirited fella.  Is also VERY smart.

This is Hot Rod, after he moved to his chair,  when I caught him sitting on the couch he was not supposed to be sitting on.

Jarrett was in the Army and stationed in far west Texas when he and a buddy found Hot Rod in a New Mexico desert.  Hot Rod was not much more than a pup.  He had been shot and left for dead.  There is still some buckshot is his hind-parts.

This is a classic story of coming back from the dead.  Hot Rod would have perished in the desert had Jarrett not found him.  I think Hot Rod knows that.  A sweeter animal you will not find.  He is protective.  He is sassy.  But there was time when I was not in good physical condition with a back ailment and I was not moving very well.  Hot Rod knew it.  He was so kind to me.  He looked worried. The guy he played with was not moving well.  He was afraid something was wrong with me.

Though I doubt I will be there, I would give anything to see Hot Rod when Jarrett comes back home after his first stint at the Embassy in Iraq.  There is a bond between them that is palpable.  Jarrett and Hot Rod found each other.

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson