The Vizsla Newzsletter (Dec 98/ Jan 99)
Another Hector Story

Another Hector Story

Sadly our first Hector is long dead - it's 1977 and Grandson Hector is about 10 weeks old. He's a rambunctious puppy and keeps jumping off the bed at night and tearing around the house so I got him a bunch of toys to, hopefully, keep him from eating anything TOO important!

It's about 3.00 am and I'm awakened from a sound sleep by a very weird noise -

SQUEAK ..... SQUEAK ...... SQUEAK ...... WHOOO ...... WHOOO ...... WHOO ..

- kind of quiet but VERY eerie! There it is again

... SQUEAK ..... SQUEAK ...... SQUEAK ...... WHOOO ...... WHOOO ...... WHOO .... What in the world is that? ......SQUEAK ..... SQUEAK ...... SQUEAK ...... WHOOO ...... WHOOO ...... WHOO. The wind? Something blowing, swinging in the wind .. like a rusty screen door. Its cold - I snuggle back under my covers and go to sleep! SQUEAK ..... SQUEAK ...... SQUEAK ...... WHOOO ...... WHOOO ...... WHOO!!!!

All right!!! NOW I'm UP!! What the heck is that?? ..... SILENCE!

I'm standing there, barefoot and shivering, head tilted to listen better - nothing; still nothing! I go back to bed. No sooner than I've gotten to sleep

... SQUEAK ..... SQUEAK ...... SQUEAK ...... WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

THAT'S IT!! I'm out if bed stalking through the house in the dark trying to find the source of this bizarre sound. NOTHING! SILENCE!

Then, just as I'm about to give up and go back to bed .....

SQUEAK ..... SQUEAK ...... SQUEAK ...... WHOOO ...... WHOOO ...... WHOO .. It's LOUDER! I turn honing in on the sound SQUEAK ..... WHOOO ....... I'm getting closer. SQUEAK ...... WHOOO;

IT'S HECTOR!!! He has his squeaky hamburger and is SINGING to it when he squeaks it.

That dog kept and treasured that silly toy for another 13 years till he too went to the Rainbow Bridge. He sang to it virtually every night and Lord help you if he couldn't find the darn thing (we did have to replace it a couple of times). Every other Vizsla I've ever owned promptly ate the squeaker out of those toys but not him. And every night I was serenaded by this mournful soft SQUEAK ..... SQUEAK ...... SQUEAK ...... WHOOO ...... WHOOO ...... WHOO.

We buried him with his toy so that he could take it with him - so if you get to the Rainbow Bridge before me and hear SQUEAK ..... SQUEAK ...... SQUEAK ...... WHOOO ...... WHOOO ...... WHOO .. - say Hi to Hector for me, and tell him I'll bring him a fresh hamburger when I come!