He started out as a family dog, a gift from my oldest son’s girlfriend. He was solid black, with a shiny coat and a fat little belly, and that Labrador puppy soon became a part of the household. Still, he was just a pet, and required a lot of work and care, and shed that black hair everywhere he went.

 

“Hoss” was his name, and over time he grew into that title, eventually weighing in a bit over 100 lbs. He really grew up with my two youngest kids, and slept on the twin bed with Slade almost until he went off to college. He liked doing everything we were doing, but most of all he liked riding in Dad’s truck.

 

Not in the bed of the truck, but in the front seat facing forward like any other human being. And as the kids got older and had less time for him, instead of staying home and waiting their return, he preferred just to go to work, and that’s how we ended up with a shop dog. A “sign shop dog.”

 

I had not planned to have this big old dog around the shop every day, or to ride in my truck every day, hair and all. I fussed about the hair, the dirt, and the drooling, but he took it all good naturedly, never letting my complaints spoil a perfectly good road trip.

 

But, as a sign shop dog, Hoss was perfect, and like Will Rogers, never met a person he didn’t like. Though he never growled at a single customer, it was interesting how different clients reacted to him. Most clients easily recognized he posed no threat at all, but it was still comical that a few, looking at him laying on the floor, probably dead to the world and often without even opening an eye, would take one look at a dog his size and back out the doorway as fast as they came in. 

 

Our sign shop is the only one I know of that has its own half-acre pond, and when we bought several baby ducks to raise and live in our little oasis, it was more than a duck hunting Labrador could resist. Quickly he had one of them completely in his mouth, and my son, Sloan, instantly intervened. “Hoss you put that duck down, and I mean right now!” he demanded.  

 

Just like Sylvester the cat in those old cartoons, he spit that bird out, all in one piece and completely unharmed, the terrified ducky running away as fast as he could just a little damp from the experience. There would be occasions later when I would catch Hoss acting like a traffic cop out in our small parking lot, trying to keep those crazy ducks out of harms way.  

 

I don’t know that every sign shop needs a shop dog, and I certainly never thought we did. However, from our employees to our regular customers, I do believe that having that old dog around gave everyone something to look forward to, to enjoy while they were there, and often dropped the stress level around the shop a notch or two. 

 

The last thing Hoss did was make me be a better friend to a good customer of ours. A few days ago, Louis, one of our regulars, came in the shop and I had known I would need to talk to him the next time he came by. Immediately I shook his hand and said, “Louis, I owe you an apology.” Louis said he couldn’t imagine what I would be apologizing to him about, but I explained. 

 

“About a year ago you came in the shop obviously upset, just about in tears, and when I asked what was wrong you told me you had just lost your dog, actually both of your dogs within a few days, and you were just torn up about it. Though I didn’t say it, I thought to myself that you were taking this a bit hard, and since dogs didn’t live forever you ought to get over it. Well, I just want to apologize for not being more considerate of how you were feeling. We lost old Hoss the other day, and I have to admit, I cried too, and I haven’t felt the same since, so I just wanted to apologize.” Louis smiled a sympathetic smile and said, “Now you know.”

 

Old “Hoss,” the sign shop dog, may yet be making a better man of me. Since he’s been gone, I have come to realize this truth: that it is a rare person, who, when they die, will be missed nearly as much as a good old dog. I’m sure you and I are trying hard to be an exception to that rule, but for me, at least, the competition is tough, and his old self will surely be missed around this sign shop, missed around here hair and all.