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Likes: Running across the fields or through the woods while accompanying me on my horse.
Pet-Peeves: Dogs that want to fight him.
Favorite Toy: He liked to run around outside with really big tree branches.
Favorite Food: Chicken
Favorite Walk: He accompanied me on my horseback trail rides. If any dogs tried to chase my horse, Pharaoh got their attention real quick.
Best Tricks: Happy Dead Dog (he would play dead but his tail would still be wagging).
Arrival Story: We moved to the country and wanted a large dog. Our neighbor knew of a fledging no-kill animal shelter in the area and we contacted them. They didn't have any large dogs so the director went to county animal control. They had one large pup that was left tied to their front door. She took him and brought him to us on a trial basis. He was already growing out of puppyhood. He had big feet, long legs and a whipcord tail but he had a good personality so we kept him. Pharaoh grew into a beautiful, Irish Setter-red, 95-lb. dog. People would come to the animal shelter to ask if they had any more dogs like the red dog that lives at the house on the corner in Mt. Olive.
Bio: Although he was friendly, people were afraid of him because of his size. The vets loved working with Pharaoh because he was so well-mannered, but in the waiting room I would always try to sit way in the corner with him because everyone would look at him as if he was about to attack. Once, when Pharaoh was three years old, we were waiting in the vet's office. The office was filled, and, naturally, all the pets were nervous. Two women had a couple of lap dogs -- yap, yap, yapping. Their continual yapping was upsetting all the cats and dogs in the waiting room. The women sat next to each other, talking while their little dogs continued to yap up a storm. Finally, Pharaoh looked straight at the offending dogs and let out two loud barks that rattled off the walls. The lap dogs quit barking, their women quit talking. I don't know whose eyes popped out of their heads more -- the dogs or their owners. The women hugged their dogs as if Pharaoh was about to eat them, got up and went outside. Surprisingly, none of the other pets in the room seemed upset at Pharaoh's outburst, and they did settle down after the dogs' departure.
Pharaoh did things without having to teach him. He did a classic setter point on birds, which was beautiful to see. (We didn't hunt the birds, just watched Pharaoh point.) There were a few times when my mother had fallen and couldn't get up, Pharaoh came to her and held while she braced on his back and pushed herself to her feet. He would help carry the mail back in the house. He would find and retrieve the paper no matter where the paperboy would throw it. That really helped in winter. We didn't have to go out in the ice and snow.
Pharaoh won first place in beginning obedience. He loved going to class to meet the people and their dogs. He taught our baby Airedale the ropes (please check out Sheba's page for more pics of Pharaoh). He watched over our cats. (Note in the picture of Pharaoh on the rug, he has our kitten, Apollo, by his left elbow.)
Pharaoh was courageous, brave and was always there to protect us. It has been twelve years since he crossed over the Rainbow Bridge and we still miss him. PHARAOH -- May 1, 1984-January 18, 1997
Forums Motto: Let's go for a run!
The Groups I'm In: ☆Rainbow Bridge Pals.•*:•.★, ♥♥♥*~♥~*Luvers of C@ts & Dogs*~♥~*♥♥♥, ♪Little Music box♪, ♥Club Cool Dogz♥, ♥Picture Paradise☠, ♥A TEAM♥, Fancypants Cafe.. Where Everybody Know's Your Name, FOR THE LOVE OF LAUREL, ♥♥MISS DIXIE MONROE'S **DIXIE**LAND♥♥, Administrators of Catster & Dogster Groups, Horsester, In Memoriam, Luck of the Irish, New Site Homepage! Sweet!, P*I*F (Paw it Forward), Pawsome Pages, Pets from the Past, Rainbow Bridge Angel Babies, Raining Cats and Dogs, The Disney Group, Trekkies!!, ~~~*♥Dog Park USA♥*~~~
The Last Forum I Posted In: Goodbye My Boy
Recommended Book: Real Animal Heroes by Paul Drew Stevens
Quote: Recollect that the Almighty, who gave the dog to be companion of our pleasures and our toils, hath invested him with a nature noble and incapable of deceit ... Sir Walter Scott
Found tied to the door of the dog pound,
A large, mixed-breed, ungainly growing pup.
Whisked away from death's door by the Shelter,
The dog no one wanted came to us.
Big feet, long legs and whip-cord tail,
His cute puppy features were gone;
But with passage of time and maturing,
The ugly duckling turned into a swan.
Named after the great kings of Egypt,
He grew large with regal and haughty air;
And marched to the beat of his own drum,
Yet kind-hearted and gentle--traits so rare.
He ran with the strides of a Thoroughbred,
Untiring, powerful and long;
Head high with tongue lolling and eyes twinkling,
He outraced the rabbits for fun.
He tracked through the backwoods and fields;
Off his golden-red coat glistened the sun.
And defended our home with such vigor,
Never afraid, he backed down to no one.
His appearance attracted attention;
Flowing coat, burnished red, touched with black.
What type of dog is it -- the question.
One-Of-A-Kind, I responded back.
He loved meeting all earthy beings,
Children, women and men, young and old.
Even puppies and kittens found safety
At his side with his heart good as gold.
By my side he walked faithfully, always;
Guarding against perils imagined or true.
Against his strong back I was steadied.
If I stumbled, he was there, right on cue.
But time, as they say, waits for no one
And the illness, malignant and cold,
Commanded I make the decision
That everyone dreads to be told.
Kind hands assisted his passing.
Tears falling and holding him near;
Did he hear my last accolade to him?
"Good Boy", whispered in his ear.
The newspaper lays in the driveway
Unfetched, as is mail in the box.
His bed has been washed and put away
His cookies in the jar stay untouched.
I walk alone down the road now,
In the silence of the cold, blowing snow.
No loyal vigilant at my side.
Just the ghost of my faithful Pharaoh.
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