A STORY ABOUT BERK THE DOG

There once was a dog named Berk who had a wonderful owner at first but had to go to a shelter because the owners could not take good care of her. Berk was placed in an animal shelter until a new owner purchased her and took her home.

The animal shelter could not say what breed the dog was because there were so many physical characteristics of many breeds. Berk was a mutt.

Berk grew up and became a wonderful and beautiful dog. The owner wanted to have Berk compete in a dog show taking place in the mountains of Massachusetts. Once Berk and her owner arrived at the dog show the judges asked for Berk’s “papers” to know what breed to place her in. Of course, Berk had no “papers.” Berk was a mutt.

Berk and her owner had never seen pure bred dogs of all different types. These dogs were well trained and gave no attention to Berk’s presence. They were regal in every sense. Controversy developed because Berk was not allowed to enter the contest because she had no “papers.” After much upheaval, Berk was finally allowed to compete but was placed in a category never before used called “other.” She was the only dog in that category.

Winners were announced with colorful ribbons in all the categories, and because Berk was the only dog in her category, she, too, received a ribbon. Once Berk got home she buried the ribbon next to a bone deep in the dirt near the doghouse.

Decades went by and Berk was getting old. She decided to dig up the wonderful ribbon she won many years ago. She found the ribbon to be intact but worn with decay. The bone had not changed. She decided to leave the ribbon out. It had lost it’s luster. She carefully reburied the bone.

Berk revisited the same dog show in her old age. The “other category” was still there and more dogs were in that category. Berk began to cry.

Michael Darden ‘74