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Music Soothes The Savage Beasties!

There's too much negativity on the internet these days. Political crap, negative rants (yes, I'm guilty), conspiracy theorism, etc. I wish there were more positive posts...so as I'm a "put up or shut up" kinda guy, here ya go!

I'm sure most of you have seen this picture before:


This was the logo for the old RCA Victor label. Nipper hearing his master's voice. Iconic in it's own way.

Anyhoo, it's long been said that music doth sooth the savage beast. Let me share a personal story about just this!

I used to have 2 weiner dogs; Otis & Dixie. Otis was a pure bred miniature Red Dachshund and Dixie was a Beagle/Dachshund mix. Really two of the best pets/companions/roomies a guy could ever want.  Otis was one helluva chick magnet too! Take that dog for a walk and the women gathered round!

Anyhoo, when one has two dogs in the same house, there's bound to be all sorts of noisy moments. These two were no exception.

One day, I was in my dining room (which I tend to use as more of a workspace than actual room for eating), working on a guitar on the dining room table. The dogs were chasing each other all over the house, going nuts as usual.  At one point, they came running into the dining room, still barking and chasing and acting like four-legged fools.

I had an old boom box in the room and was listening to a 2 disc set by Les Paul. It was his output prior to teaming up with Mary Ford. Lots of Rhubarb Red and Georgia White and Les Paul Trio stuff. 

As the dogs were carrying on, the track "It's Been A Long, Long Time" came on. It was Les Paul & his trio backing Bing Crosby. Well damn it if the dogs didn't stop in their tracks at the sound of ol' Bing's voice! They stopped, looked over at the boom box, and slowly, almost reverently, walked up to the boom box, sat down, cocked their heads and just stared. It was like a 21st century version of the old RCA Victor picture!!!!! Oh how I wish I'd had a camera handy!

This was no fluke I found out. These 2 dogs just LOVED some Bing Crosby! Whenever something by Bing would come on...whether it be on a CD, the radio, TV, etc., they would stop whatever they were doing and come sit and listen. Seriously! It was a hoot!

I was still gigging a LOT back then, so I found that if I was going to be gone for anything more than 4-5 hours, all I had to do was put a disc of Bing Crosby music on continuous play, and the dogs would be well-behaved the whole time I was gone!

OK...that's pretty much the whole story. The weiner dogs are both long gone now. I miss them. My cat is pretty cool...but she's not as characterful as the weiners were. Don't get me wrong...she's a character...just more laid back.

Take good care of your pets. They're taking care of YOU in their own way.

Woof! Meow! Chirp! etc!!!!

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