APHRODITE” … our GODDESS OF LOVE, 1973
This beautiful Samoyed became part of our family in 1973. Her name was “Aphrodite” and we teased her relentlessly about being the “Goddess of Love”. We were living in a small, rural town in Upstate New York and Aphrodite fit right in with our 4 German Shorthair Pointers and our horse Thunder. The other animals were penned but “Aphrodite” had been used to a city apartment so she became our “house dog”. She was good as gold and we couldn’t have been more pleased.
About three months after “Aphrodite” came to live with us she came into heat. My husband was very old fashioned where this was concerned and he did not believe in “fixing” his female animals. “We’ll keep her in the house”, he said, “no problem.” and that’s what we tried to do.
This proved to be an impossibility. There must have been 5 or 6 Adonis-like dogs milling around our front yard and the pull was too strong for our “Aphrodite”. At the first chance she was out the door and away they went in a flash. We searched for her but with no luck and it was two days before she returned.
We had a large open field across from our house and my husband was the first to spy her. “Look at that little minx”, he said and sure enough, here she came. She was positively glowing as she trotted across the field. She had a big smile on her face and wasn‘t the least bit interested in the line of exhausted looking male dogs that were straggling to keep up with her.
Now she was happy to be home and the mixed-breed puppies that she inevitably had were easy to place since they were an adorable combination of brown fluff and her big smile.
But it became more and more difficult to keep her at home and we worried about the busy turnpike nearby. We had friends in West Virginia who loved her too and when they offered her a home on their 200 acre farm we let her go.
It broke our hearts to see her leave but we knew that she was a free soul and needed to wander. “Aphrodite” closely resembled her namesake, the “Greek Goddess of Love” and I can imagine the two of them roaming those West Virginia hills even today.
posted by Ginnie at 5:37 AM
9 Comments:
It does seem rather corny, but after reading this post I thought of the expression if you love something, set it free, and that is what your family did.
The sign of a truly caring pet owner is one who will let them go to a safer home. It is often hard but the best thing to do. I hope you had visiting privileges.
You could not have picked a better place for her than the hills of WV!!
Too bad the photo won't load.
Funny story in a way. I like the part of her coming home smiling.
I have known people who simply can't bear the thought of "altering" their pets. However, just as with your Aphrodite, those pets produces more pets.
Fortunate that you were able to find homes for the puppies. They sound very place-able.
Good memories.
Hello Ginnie,
A lovely photo of Aphrodite. A fantastic post. I enjoyed reading this story.
Best wishes
I wonder if they had her "fixed" and ended her Roman ways... oh, wait, that was Venus. Same goddess, bless her heart - and she lived up to her name.
Cute story. Beautiful dog.
I once had to give up a Corgi to a 'farmer.' at least I hope the Ex took her to a good home. Sounds like Aphrodite was a little bit like Delilah.
I'm sorry that you couldn't keep her. Now, there are so many effective ways to prevent having to give up a beloved animal. But I'm glad that for the time you had her, she was loved.
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