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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, AUGUST 24, 2018
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Erick Bengel | Features Editor
ebengel@dailyastorian.com
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The Daily Astorian Publisher Kari Borgen took this photo in June.
Pictured are father Brutus, 14; son Brody, 6. Granddog Jet is an
8-year-old cockapoo owned by Borgen’s daughter, Hallie.
GOING TO
THE DOGS
POOCHES FILL OUR LIVES WITH FUR, FUN, LOVE … AND MUDDY PAWS
National Dog Day is Sunday
M
ore than one-third of U.S. households have
a dog, and on average, there are 1.6 dogs
in each of those dog-owning homes, accord-
ing to the U.S. Pet Ownership and Demographics
Sourcebook.
This Sunday, Aug. 26, about 36.5 percent of our read-
ers will have their own 1.6 reasons to
celebrate National Dog Day.
I have two. Brutus and Brody are a
father and son pair of English springer
spaniels who moved with us to the North
Coast last December. When we looked
for a place to live, “fenced back yard”
KARI
was on the must-have list.
BORGEN
They are good companions. And a
pain.
They will always need to be cared for and fed. We will
always have to clean up their poop, and go with them for
walks. At least our kids grew out of those things. Dogs
never do.
A day for the dogs
National Dog Day was founded in 2004 by Colleen
Paige to encourage dog adoptions and call attention to
dogs that need to be rescued every year. Not everyone
looking at an adorable puppy thinks ahead to the 15-plus
years they need to commit to caring for that pup. Those
dogs often end up needing new families.
Paige picked Aug. 26 because her family adopted her
first dog on that date.
Chainsaw
May 25, 1996, was our family’s first adopted dog day.
We were moving from a rental to a house we bought in
the woods, when my father-in-law, Bob, showed up with
a massive black Lab.
“Well, I thought if those girls were going to live in the
country, they needed a dog,” Bob said.
“Geez, Papa” I replied. “Couldn’t you wait until we
had moved in first?”
Turns out, he couldn’t.
He’d gone to the animal shelter to look for the perfect
companion for our 3- and 4-year-old daughters. Bob found
a great big 3-year-old black Lab who had been given up
by a young man headed for the military. Bob asked the
shelter if he could bring the girls by later to meet the dog,
but it was Memorial Day weekend, the shelter was clos-
ing and the dog was to be euthanized on Monday.
So he brought Chainsaw (the dog’s given name) to us
the day we were moving.
Chainsaw turned out to be the perfect family dog. Big,
gentle, affectionate, protective. He was mainly the girls’
dog. When they went to the pond, Chainsaw went to the
pond. If they sledded down the driveway or biked down
the road, he ran beside them.
When the girls were older and caught the school bus,
he went with them; and at 3:45 every afternoon, he went
to meet the bus and escort them home. He only barked
when someone or something was warned to stay away.
Essie is a 1-year-old choco-
late English Lab living with
Joe and Nicole Cleary in As-
toria/Knappa. He says she is
“friendly, loving, funny.”
Moose, 2, and Stark, 5, are
Australian cattle dogs and
the “best boys,” accord-
ing to Colton and Roxanne
Schwarz of Astoria.
Diesel is Allison Williams’
4-year-old
Newfoundland
pup. They live in Raymond,
Washington.
Goldendoodle Jamie, 5, and
golden retrievers Jaxon, 9,
and Jinger, 1.5, love living
life on the Oregon coast with
Steph Buffington of Gearhart.
Duke, 12, is an escape artist
Boston terrier, says Jeanna
Black of Long Beach, Wash-
ington. He’s blind now, but
still is a model of patience.
Lyra likes working hard for
her family and helping Asto-
rian Cati Foss at work. She is
a Shetland sheepdog and is
almost 2.
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Chainsaw became legendary in the neighborhood for his
massive size and his huge heart.
If you’ve done the math, Chainsaw would be 25 now,
so I’ll spare you the sadness in this story. But know that
he’s resting at the forest house he loved. (And that I can
never watch “Marley and Me” again.)
Chainsaw spoiled us. We became dog people.
Dog people
If you’re dog people, you know the rest. Dog hair
and muddy footprints are part of life, and now that we
live near the beach, so is sand … everywhere. But so is
the happy tail wag and wiggle when you come home
from work, or the comfort of that head on your lap as
you read, or the fun of throwing sticks on the beach and
watching them dance with joy, running circles in the
sand.
Take a look through this section at the happy faces
of the dogs who have people who loved them enough to
send their pictures into our Going to the Dogs contest in
honor of National Dog Day.
Enjoy the pictures of the dogs of other Daily Astorian
staff members, who couldn’t enter the contest, so we have
featured their dogs on Page 3.
And if you think you just might be ready to be dog
people, too, muddy paws and all, take a drive to one of
our local animal shelters and start your own National Dog
Day adoption story.
I hope we’ll see your dog photos entered in the con-
test next year.
Kari Borgen is The Daily Astorian’s publisher.
Molly, 10, and Cameo, 8, are
great Danes adopted by
Alissa and Vince Stevens of
Ocean Park, Washington.
Gulliver, 5, is a Leonberger
living in Astoria with Christi-
na and Greg Merten.
Kiki, 1, is a miniature pin-
scher mix and lives with
Naomi Carruthers in Astoria.
Oak, 3.5, is a golden-Lab mix
and former Oregon Guide
Dog. She lives with Robbie
Mattson and Jim Hallaux of
Astoria.
Check out our
local shelter to
find your next
furry family
member!
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