{"id":62002,"date":"2026-10-06T05:26:25","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T05:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"urn:motra-oct3:LSB:2"},"modified":"2026-10-09T21:18:57","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T21:18:57","slug":"lsb-lsb-first-ed-june-2003-big-foot-little-foot-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/?p=62002","title":{"rendered":"Bigfoot Littlefoot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Larry Gore<\/strong>
LoneStarBiker \u2014 First Edition
Printed pages: 27-29<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The puppy shivering in the December cold had the biggest feet I had ever seen. The snowflakes contrasted with his coal black fur making him look like a negative image of a Dalmatian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Posters were put up around the neighborhood and we ran a "found" ad in the local paper but no claimed the big-footed puppy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We intended to take him to the SPCA as soon as we got the chance. Somehow there just wasn't a convenient time \u2014 seems like there never was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eddy, our youngest who had just turned five, immediately loved the puppy with the big feet. Although we determined not to name the dog after all he was going to the SPCA soon Eddy started calling him "Bigfoot".<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spring comes fast in middle Tennessee and, after being shut in so much of the winter, Eddy and Bigfoot were inseparable as they romped together in the hills behind our house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By then it was apparent that though Bigfoot might be of questionable heritage, somewhere in his family tree there had been a black Labrador; a very large black Labrador.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summer came and Bigfoot's body had grown to a size that matched his feet. The hundred pounds of gangly, rambunctious puppy had become Eddy's shadow. Summer was a special time for the dog and the boy but when Eddy wasn't home Bigfoot would roam the hills along the ridge where we lived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bigfoot loved motorcycles. He never chased bikes or intimidated riders he would just romp along side them as long as he could. All of the bikers in our area new Bigfoot and weren't afraid of having him run with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sound of a V-Twin would almost always bring him running \u2014 even when he was out somewhere in the hills. It became that the easiest way to call him was to fire up the old shovelhead and in a few minutes he would come loping into the yard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fall came and Eddy started to school. Bigfoot would mope around the house whining until Eddy's school bus could be heard groaning and clanking its way up the long hill to our place. By the second week Bigfoot had figured out the routine and, as soon as Eddy was on the bus, Bigfoot would be off in the hills running rabbits and squirrels and an occasional deer. Bigfoot seemed to have an inner clock, by 3:45 every day he would be back on the farm waiting for the sounds of the school bus coming up the hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bigfoot never missed being at the bus to greet Eddy. Bigfoot, now 120 pounds of love, enjoyed jumping on Eddy, licking his face and knocking him playfully to the ground where the two would roll about and wrestle. Bigfoot would growl menacingly and close his massive jaws around Eddy's small wrist just enough to hold him but never doing anything that might hurt the child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bigfoot was a watchdog that made his imposing presence known anytime anyone came on our property. Many times friends and relatives would sit there in their cars and honk the horn rather than face the dog with the deep growl and the big, and usually muddy, feet. The only exception to this intimidation was motorcycles, when a biker rode into the yard Bigfoot was a bundle of tail-wagging excitement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years Eddy became involved with after school activities, scouting and visiting friend's houses. Bigfoot seemed relieved that he no longer had to be back in time to meet the bus each day. The romps through the hills became longer with Bigfoot sometimes not returning until after dark. He would come home tired and hungry but obviously enjoying his new lifestyle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

December mornings were cold and steely gray with the constant howling of the wind through the chimney. If was on just such a morning that we realized Bigfoot had not come home the night before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Late into the evening we called his name as we rode around the area looking for him, hoping the rumble of the v-twin would bring him running, but no luck. We feared the worst as the next four days passed with no sign of the big dog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, after dinner on the fourth day, we heard the familiar deep barking as Bigfoot announced that he was home and he was hungry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After that we were never sure where Bigfoot went on his travels but every few weeks he would disappear for several days. Sometimes other bikers would report seeing him miles from our house. When he got home he would have lost weight, he would be scratched from the blackberry thickets he loved to run through and he usually looked like he had been in a few fights. He was always happiest following these absences and would, for a while, become the old Bigfoot of times past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One change was very noticeable for miles around, on many of the farms there were young dogs who were black, looked like Labradors and had unusually large feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fall came once again and Eddy was in high school. Bigfoot was eleven years old and was beginning to show the wear and tear of the winters the fights, and the days he spent traveling. Always there was an unspoken dread around our house our house of the day when there would be no Bigfoot to so totally dominate our hearts and our property and the surrounding hills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bigfoot's travel became more frequent, he stayed gone longer and seemed to be a lot more tired when he got home. Each time Bigfoot left that winter we worried about him and wondered if he would make it home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In February he left on one of his wanderings and, after three weeks, there had been no sign of him. We kept a constant lookout but there was no trace of the big dog. None of our neighbors had seen him and there was no response to our "lost" ad in the newspaper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eddy missed Bigfoot the most, although it had been a long time since Bigfoot regularly met the school bus there had never been any doubt of the special relationship between the dog and his boy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sleet had been falling steadily and a major winter storm was coming when we heard the scratching and whimpering at the back door. We opened the door and Bigfoot bounded in with all the joy and energy the old dog could muster. The loss of weight caused his skin to hang in loose folds along his sides and there was weariness in the eyes that had not been there before. There was something else too a look of love and sadness and longing that we all noticed but could not understand.
Bigfoot had been in the house only a few minutes and had not touched his food or his water. When he went to the back door and scratched he looked as though his every joint ached. Eddy opened the door and Bigfoot went out only to return to the door within a few minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he came in Bigfoot was pushing a small, dark object. At first we thought he was bringing a rabbit or a squirrel he had killed, but as the light from the kitchen fell on it we all gasped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In front of Bigfoot's massive paw was a carbon copy of the little puppy we had first seen that wintry night so many years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost as though he had been coached in advance the bundle of black fur went straight to Eddy and licked his hand. Eddy gathered the wriggly pup in his arms and held him close: \u201cHello, Littlefoot\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bigfoot lay down by the fireplace and rested his head on his paws never taking his eyes from Eddy snuggling with the little black puppy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next morning was clear, crisp and cold as Eddy boarded the school bus and waved to the two dogs standing by the front porch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after noon, rested and fed, Bigfoot was off on another of his trips this time leaving his miniature shadow at our house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somehow we all knew this was the final trip for the dog with the big feet, the dog that had so captivated our lives for all of these years. We never saw Bigfoot again, although in our hearts he will always romp the hills and valleys he loved so much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Littlefoot likes to roam the hills and valleys and lately he has taken to staying away overnight. Today, while riding to the store, I saw a litter of puppies. They were all black, with big feet, and seemed to have a lot of Labrador in them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Larry Gore<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By Larry GoreLoneStarBiker \u2014 First EditionPrinted pages: 27-29 The puppy shivering in the December cold had the biggest feet I had ever seen. The snowflakes contrasted with his coal black fur making him look like a negative image of a Dalmatian. Posters were put up around the neighborhood and we ran a "found" ad in … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":900707,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[150],"tags":[144,391],"class_list":["post-62002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-places","tag-lsb-first-edition","tag-pl022"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=62002"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":900540,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62002\/revisions\/900540"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/900707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=62002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=62002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=62002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}