by Rex Trulove

Created on: September 13, 2008

I've had the good fortune to have many dogs that loved to go fishing. Many just enjoyed getting out, while others were truthfully interested in the fish. My fondest memory though is of when I was living at home and my mother and I had a dog, named Sheba.

I got Sheba for my Mom, when Sheba was just a puppy. There was a problem, though. Sheba was a poodle mix, and my mother didn't like poodles. I told Mom that I'd take Sheba back the following morning. Naturally, by then Mom was already attached and had even given her the name. Sheba became a constant companion for almost 15 years, and everyone who met her loved her.

A large part of that was her great intelligence. People who think that dogs are stupid never had the opportunity to meet Sheba.

Until her final years, Mom was always an avid fisherman. She could easily out fish most men, especially with a fly pole. I suppose that it isn't surprising that Sheba quickly learned to share the enthusiasm for fishing.

Mom had a special shirt she always wore for fishing, and Sheba knew that when Mom put it on, it was fishing time. Sheba would go nuts, whining and whimpering, running around in circles, jumping up and down, and such. She even learned what 'fishing' meant, and would act the same if someone even said the word.

When Sheba would get to the water, invariably the first thing she'd do is wade out to her belly to get a drink of water. After that, she'd whine if she could see fish. I don't know if it was because of better eyesight or because she was so lower to the ground, but she could see fish when nobody else could. The whining was a sure sign that there were fish, and it was never wrong.

One day, my uncle Darrell took my mother and Sheba out fishing. They were worm fishing that day, but that was all right since Mom was also adept at bait fishing.

Sheba immediately whined, so they knew there were fish there. Sure enough, it wasn't long before both my uncle and mother were catching trout. The fish weren't large, and many of them were too small to keep. Those large enough were put on a stringer, set near a big rock, so the fish could remain in the water and stay fresh. The small ones were carefully removed from the hook and tossed back in.

They noticed some strange behavior in Sheba, though. Every time they would catch a fish, the little dog would leap over and over, trying to reach the fish while it was on the hook.

After a time, my uncle wondered aloud why she was doing it. My mother said she didn't know. That spurred him

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