Good Dog

Berg Family about 1940. Front row far left: Leif
Just off camera: Patsy

Without Patsy, things could have ended much differently.

Maybe I should explain . . .

Patsy was a German shepherd dog. Unremarkable in looks.

But loyal, playful, smart, fun, an excellent companion and confidante and—as you will see in this story—attentive and protective.

Patsy was little Leif’s constant companion.

Where the one went, so did the other.

If Mother was looking for her small son, she simply stepped to the door and called Patsy.

Who immediately steered her young companion home.

On a large mixed farm like the Berg family ran, it would have been easy for the youngest son to find himself in difficulties.

But not with a Patsy as companion.

And that’s where our story begins . . .

Leif and Patsy had been playing in the warm sun of a late summer day. Their explorations had led them to a large field of grain immediately adjacent to the farmstead.

The combination of the warm sun and tall, ripened grain were most inviting to a small boy and a snooze seemed appropriate. He curled up in a comfortable spot and nodded off.

At the same time as our little explorer drifted off to sleep, his elder brother and their father arrived with tractor and binder to begin harvesting the field. A small boy happily, rosily asleep in one of the furrows was completely invisible to them.

As they approached the place where Leif was asleep, they noticed Patsy.

Remember where I said ‘constant companion’?

Well that comes into play here.

The faithful dog was standing guard at the edge of field. They decided to stop the machinery and take a moment to check things out.

Patsy led them to where Leif was sleeping.

The boy was roused. With Patsy in close attendance, the two started the trek back toward the farm.

Instead of tragic, the incident was written off as 'another bit of farm life adventure'.

Just a regular day in the life of a good dog.