Growing up in the Jensen household had one prerequisite, you had to love dogs. Oh, sure, we had the occasional parakeet, goldfish and turtle, but our lifelong companions were the dogs.
My earliest recollections were our cockers, Nickel and Penny. Always affectionate to everyone, even to the two human rug rats (Ken and Lou). 
When we moved to Rockford, we had a cocker collie. We had expected it to be small like Penny and Nickel, so dad "bobbed" the tail. Well, it didn't. It took on the size of the collie side of its family. To make matters worse, we chose the name, "Knucklehead." Well, you can imagine calling the dog to come home when strangers are walking up the sidewalk. More than one person may have been affronted, but heck, we were simply calling our dog- clueless of the negative mental impact on strangers. "Knuck" was lovable and was RJ's sidekick for years. He lived to forgive us for his lack of a tail.
When we moved to Rockford, we had a cocker collie. We had expected it to be small like Penny and Nickel, so dad "bobbed" the tail. Well, it didn't. It took on the size of the collie side of its family. To make matters worse, we chose the name, "Knucklehead." Well, you can imagine calling the dog to come home when strangers are walking up the sidewalk. More than one person may have been affronted, but heck, we were simply calling our dog- clueless of the negative mental impact on strangers. "Knuck" was lovable and was RJ's sidekick for years. He lived to forgive us for his lack of a tail.Then we had Chang Wong, a Pekingese. Mom grew up with pekes and this was a natural. Over the years, we have had a number of these gentle creatures with long flowing locks that seemed to make everything in the house appear to be mohair. I don't know how mom came up with all of the names, but suffice it to say, my theory is she took names off of Chinese restaurant menus. I am still waiting for Moo Goo Gai Pan.
The real center of our dog world were our German Shephards. Rontu ( actually a Belgian Shepard RJ bought)was the first and most notorious. He could open doors, frequented neighborhood bar-b-ques, eat a dozen eggs out of the box and close it. If mom didn't hustle up, Rontu and Changy would take it upon themselves to hoof it two miles into town to meet dad at the train station. "Toozer" and dad were inseparable. With RJ in the Navy, Toozer Bud and dad would take their walks and share special times together. When dad repaired an Oldsmobile convertible, it was Toozer in the co pilots seat on one of the first test drives.
Years forward, great dogs have joined this family and we looked at them as an integral part. They will never be forgotten because they brought much love, joy, pleasure, friendship and laughs to a growing family.
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