Oreo (1991-2004)
So Long Oreo - Here's Your Story
Ever since 1991, Oreo cherished his time spent at Chikopi. He was one of few dogs who could say he went to camp every summer. Chasing chipmunks, nipping at swimmers ankles and barking at the dinner bell were his favorite activities. At the long course pool he was fast enough to nip the swimmers ankles to get them into the water, run down the deck, across the field to the other end of the pool and be at the end of the lane to bark a “let’s go” welcome to the swimmers at the turn. Being a Welsh Cardigan Corgi, of British Royalty, Oreo’s instinct was to herd sheep and cattle. To prove it, one day when Buck and Bob were riding back from town and passed a farm with white sheep in the field, Buck yelled, “Stop the car. Let’s see if Oreo can really herd those sheep”. Bob lifted him over the barb wire fence and when Oreo saw the sheep, he ran towards them, barked a few times while running them into a circle and chased them into a near by barn. Oreo had proven his herding worth and Bob ran to get him before the farmer came out with a shotgun. But without these animals at camp, he chose instead, bare swimmers ankles. Swimmers soon learned to get into the water before Oreo got them into the water.
The chipmunks at Chikopi never felt safe when Oreo was around, although they soon learned that when they paired up, they could out maneuver him between the trees. But when the dinner bell rang, he dropped everything and raced to the Mainhouse porch to bark and try to put his nose between the ringing bell and the bell stand.
He was ready to enter any soccer game and usually played for both teams, “nosing”, the ball down the field towards the closest goal. His basketball skills were phenomenal for a dog as he could stop almost any dribbler coming down the court. He loved riding in a canoe and would perch himself to straddle the bow deck standing out over the water on all fours. In earlier days when time allowed Bob to take out canoe trips, with campers, Oreo was the perfect partner, - calm and steady in the canoe and a scout on the portage trails. He used to fall into the water at Early Bird swims and once swam across the lake from the Chikopi dock to Rocky Reef. He has been in a C-4 and the war canoe. He would eat discarded hamburgers that fell into the fire during cookouts and would sit for hours waiting for a squirrel to come down the tree. With his short little legs he completed the 12k run from Chikopi to Ak-o-Mak almost every summer, his tongue hanging out so far that it almost touched the road. One spectator yelled to Bob, “Quick, call the police. Someone has stolen your little dog’s legs”. After sleeping during a long car ride back to camp, he always knew exactly when the car turned onto the Chikopi Road. He would jump up onto the car seat and strain to look out the window. If arriving in the dark of night time, he would dart from the car right under the back of the Mainhouse, looking for raccoons raiding the garbage shed. For fourteen summers, he appeared in every camp photo except one, when he was off chasing a little critter in the woods. He would rigorously chase tennis balls thrown to him throughout the house, but he would never fetch one.
His grandfather was the winning show dog at the prestigious Westminster Kennel Club show at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Oreo was never a show dog, but he sure knew how to show off, going from table to table in the Mainhouse begging for food.
Oreo went to sleep for the last time at his winter home in Fort Lauderdale. Age had taken its toll and he was ready to go to the chipmunk hunting ground in the sky. He was a tough little dog who always had that Chikopi fighting sprit. He was a survivor of many episodes of danger including a barking episode with a black bear at camp during the “off”, season. He survived five days on his own in Fort Lauderdale, lost in a concrete jungle which included crossing four lanes of busy highway traffic on Interstate 95, only to be picked up by a Good Samaritan who found him running against the interstate traffic next to the center barrier. Bob was able to find him five days after he disappeared. He survived eating five Neilson chocolate bars, (supposedly poisonous to dogs), when Bob and Colette left a gift box of 24 on the table when going out. Oreo opened the box and took all 24, he ate five and stashed the other 19 bars under pillows and furniture for later eating. He survived eating a bottle of Chikopi’s baseball coach Pro Boims’ medicines and had to have his stomach pumped while being paced on an IV. The vet said he had a 60/40 chance of living. He survived the wrath of Buck after Buck purchased a prime rib steak from the Burks Falls Abattoir and left it on the back seat of Bob’s car while he went into the post office. To this day, no one knows how Oreo ate a rock-hard, frozen steak in such a short time. Only the wrapping paper remained. Just two months ago when his stability was weak, his hearing was gone and his sight was depleted, Oreo survived a near disaster staying at Buck’s house at Ak-o-Mak while Bob, Colette and Teagan were visiting family in Scotland. Bucks description of the event follows.
Oreo was never one for sitting around when there were things to do. He always had his ears up straight and his nose to the air. He would give a lick or a “smile” to every hand that petted him and you never heard a growl of discontent. He ran hard and gave 100% effort in everything he did. We can all learn allot from this little black and white dog. And we did.
Excerpt of Buck Dawson’s near-death experience with Oreo:
During Bob’s trip to Scotland, this Fall I had Oreo as my house guest. As most of you know, Oreo, like me was somewhat feeble in his old age and did not get around as he used to. One morning he waited at the front door at about 2am, wanting to be lifted down the porch steps so he could relieve himself. There was frost on the ground and I was in my bare feet and underwear. I set Oreo down and ran back into the house to find my shoes. I went back outside, still in my bare feet and he was gone. I looked all over for him, walking even up to the main house, yelling and whistling, but of course Oreo was almost deaf among other things. I panicked and returned to the house to call Renee, who was awakened from a sound sleep. “What’s wrong Buck?” she asked worriedly answering the phone. “I’ve lost him” I said. “Oreo, I’ve lost him!” She said she would be right over, grabbed a flashlight and was there in minutes. I put on my shoes and pants and was still looking when I heard a weak bark down the steep bank, lake side of the house. Renee ran to check it out and I tried to follow through the bush, in the pitch dark. Renee yelled, “No Buck! Please stay back. I can’t handle the two of you if you loose your footing.” Flashlights in hand, we soon discovered Oreo was in the icy water, swimming the wrong way up the shore, into a dead cedar tree. Renee was in the water after him, leaving the flashlight on shore. I called down to her, “There’s got to be something I can do to help!” And she called back, “Go call Jim and tell him to wear his rubber boots.” I called him and went back again to find Renee trying to help Oreo who was caught in a tangle of logs and tree braches. She managed to hold his head up out of the water and get him back to shore. When Jim arrived he carried him up the bank and into the house while Renee lit the way. Oreo was shivering madly, but a quick hot tub soon took the chill out, and several towels later, he was cavorting around the house as he hadn’t for days. As a mater of fact, he hadn’t even barked in all the days since Bob had left. Thank God he found his voice as we never would have tracked through his grunts. All ended well, but all the time we were thinking, how would we have told Bob that his dog had drowned while he was my house guest.
Three days later, Oreo was very happy when Bob returned, but was still only grunting. Renee’s legs ached for days after the exposure to the icy water but it is good to know that old dogs will never drown when Renee is around. Ol’ Oreo survived another one.”
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