a Boston Terrier named "Spike".
We received him as a gift from a good friend of my Dad in 1957. He came to us at 6 weeks of age in a cornflakes box! So tiny and homely he was cute. He quickly fit into the family with his happy attitude and ability to learn but i of course had really wanted a hunting dog, and when told that Bostons did not hunt, i immediately set out to create an exception in the breed.
We had many rabbits, grouse, pheasant, in the area and i was well armed with a slingshot carved from a perfect willow "crotch" and of the finest "red tire rubber" remember that guys? It was not long until i stunned a rabbit with a lucky shot to the head, and Spike, then nearly a year old, saw the animal kicking in the brush, rushed up, grabbed it and shook it vigorously, finishing the job perfectly! After that he was a hunting dog and i seldom ever lost a critter that had been struck with my imperfect weapon.
In the late fall/early winter the rabbits would begin turning from their brown summer coat into the winter white phase. If the snow held off us boys had a heyday, as the bunnies were so easy to see, no leaves left on the brush and they stood out like beacons! We often made our spending money by selling rabbits to the local British people who did not share our disdain for such a poor meal
One day, under those perfect hunting conditions, tragedy struck! Spike had learned all about the white objects in the woods being his quarry, yummy rabbits! He would wait, quivering, until i had launched at least one rock or marble at the hapless bunny, i had to get good with the sling or spend half an hour chasing my "retriever"! This day we were wandering about and all the rabbits i had seen were leaving in a hurry or too far away, so both me and the dog were getting desperate. I had not paid enough attention to a piece of newspaper that had blown up against a tree and to my great "hunting dog", a white thing in the bush was a BUNNY!
Before i knew it he had lost patience with me and launched himself at the quarry as fast as his little legs could carry him and was in midleap before i twigged! He came down on the "rabbit" from three feet in the air at full speed and planted his head into the tree trunk, WHAM! The poor little guy lay limp and i thought my dog was dead

Wow....i was in big trouble, how to explain this great loss, particularly when i had been told that he was not a hunting dog, it was all my fault!
I picked him up and began to trudge home sadly, then i felt movement, he lifted his head and licked my face, he was groggy but soon seemed fine and i was one happy young hunter! After that i avoided areas that contained anything he could mistake for a bunny!
Wayne