.... and missing Juna (see post below) ...
Certain music would set off her singing talent. I've already mentioned The Star Spangled Banner (she tried especially hard to form her mouth around the laaand of the freeeeee part). She could work up a good cadence for The Marine Corps Hymn (she was a good devil dog). When the theme for Jeopardy played on TV, she would perk up her ears & whine along with it, but I always suspected she actually hated that one. She recognized and stood at attention, but didn't try to sing along with Amazing Grace. If I turned up Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen), Juna went nuts during the group chorus. When watching "Immortal Beloved" on TV one night, she discovered the chorale part of Beethoven's Ninth ("Ode to Joy")!
And then there was Juna's favorite instrument, the harmonica. Oh.My.Dawg! We could barely listen to ANY music with harmonica because she would set up a plaintive howl that could split your eardrums. Had to keep her OUT of the house to listen to Neil Young or Bob Dylan.
This little sleeper of a Pink Floyd song always reminded me of Juna. Originally called "Mademoiselle Nobs", it was re-worked into "Seamus" on the "Meddle" album. Mme Nobs (a Borzoi, Russian Wolfhound, aka long-haired greyhound?) obviously found harmonica sounds irresistible in the same way that Juna did. Pretty rare vid ... I like the way they all sat down at the dog's level & gave her lots of pets & encouragement ... hope you like it, too:
I had to turn up the second half of the vid, when the album version ("Seamus") is played -- love the descriptive line, "my old hound dog sat right down and cried". "Meddle" was Pink Floyd, circa 1971. In many ways, I think it was a better album than their more commercially successful "Dark Side of the Moon".
6 comments:
geez louise..Juna is sure making me want a dog companion...what a special bond you guys had with her...I soo want one but my rationale says..it really wouldn't be practical...sigh...what an awesome god I mean dawg!! DK..take care and keep posting memories like this, they sure are sweet to read...
Ingrid
DK, Juna clearly had great taste in music. Big hugs to you. Email me if you need to chat.
We had a Pekingese that used to 'sing' along if I played my (fake) clarinet when I was a kid. It was just made of plastic but made a fairly realistic clarinet sound and he used to howl along to it. Our previous dog Alice, and now Diva, didn't/don't show any signs of musical inclinations.
I love all your memories of your special girl.
I'll listen to the Pink Floyd when I'm at home (at work right now). I love Pink Floyd.
DK~ Glad to see you are up to blogging, and remembering the happy memories of the phenominal dog singer Juna. Funny she felt an alliance with Dylan & Neil Young...a part of her pack. Either that or she thought- hey if Bob Dylan can howl & be famous, so can I.
Thinkin' good thoughts for you.
Ingrid:
I've loved all my pets, but they can be a big responsibility. You mentioned your son has allergies. Have you considered a poodle or other non-dander dog? I was a teenager when we ended up with a medium-size poodle because my sister had bad asthma & allergies. We didn't do the fancy frou-frou cut, just an all over buzz cut in the summer, and just around his eyes & between the toes in winter. He was a very handsome dog & almost too smart!
Diva:
Oh I am fine, just still processing the sadness. Thanks for the hugs, those are always welcome!
MauiGirl:
Maybe it was a flutophone? I remember that as a kid's version of something like a clarinet. I think anyone who wasn't already playing some other instrument got issued one of those in 4th grade music class. I've never had a bonafide singing dog before Juna, though I've had dogs who seemed to listen to music. Maybe Diva is listening, but just is not a singer. And I know Pekingese can be quite expressive!
Fran:
I'm still not feeling much like blogging, but listening to some neil young today reminded me of Juna & her reaction to harmonica. hard to say if it was attraction or repulsion, but she definitely could not stop wailing whenever she detected even a few harmonica blows. Thanks for the good thoughts!
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