"We have a dog who looks just like Taffy. Anyone know the breed?"
wolfcreek, we called her "The Albemarle Squirrel Hound" in jest, because she was found by animal control running wild on Albemarle Street nearby, and she hunted squirrels.
As best we could determine, she was Spitz and Chow, with some German Shepard tossed in to the mix. We still see her siblings in the neighborhood.
If you click the Free Dominion link Calpernia provided, there's more there.
Wife Emily and I thank you, one and all.
I did not write the following- it's the way I remember a certain story being told:
Heaven’s Gate
A man and his dog died together, and finding themselves on the other side life, they came upon a long and gentle road through the country.
They journeyed on until they came upon a fork in the road- to one side it rambled onwards, but to the other side were the most magnificent gates he had ever seen.
Just like the storied Gates of Heaven, wrought of the rarest metals, studded with precious jewels, and hung from vast marble columns.
Seen through them was a green and verdant land, awash with light and life and color, and inside these gates stood a dignified gentleman wearing the most elegant suit the man had ever seen.
"Welcome to Heaven," he exclaimed.
Not believing his luck ( having lived a Godly life insofar as it was consistent with a life of sin ) he started to pass inside with his old dog following, but the suited gent stopped him with a hand-
"Hold it! We don’t allow the lower orders in here. He stays outside."
Looking wistfully at the gorgeous lands beyond, the man turned around, saying, "I can’t leave my best friend behind."
And so they traveled on, until they came across another fork somewhat like the last one, except here the gates were simple oak, hung on plain brick columns, although the land beyond seemed identical to what he’d seen before.
In the gateway was a somewhat scruffy-looking older fellow, rocking in a chair and whittling on a stick of wood- so they approached him.
"Howdy, Son."
"Umm- hello. I guess you don’t let dogs in here, either, do you?"
The old gent waved the stick in front of the dog, yelled "Fetch!” and flicked it through the gates, which the dog then bounded through...
"Why sure we do, Son- all God’s children are welcome here- that first gate was just a test."
"You don’t think we’d want anybody in here who’d abandon his best friend, do you?"