Daisy Duke was the best thing that happened to me on Guam. Guam is full of bonnie dogs, essentially stray dogs that roam the island at will looking for food. One of them was a friendly female dog that started hanging around the South Fin neighborhood. At that time I was hanging out with a group of friends that included Joe Tedesco, Troy Francisco, Ray Key, and Jimmy Key. We had a small club (centered around a wooden shack we assembled near Joe Tedesco’s house) and basically “adopted” her as our club dog. She was so nice and followed us around all the time. She was probably about six months old and had bald spots/scars on her legs where she may have been abused or shot at. I can still remember her being at the bus stop in the mornings and chasing our bus as we all left. Troy Francisco tried to keep her but his dad told him he could not have a dog. One day in June 1980 I remember coming home and she was sitting on our front porch (in front of the sliding glass doors). I sat beside her and thought….this is my dog! We had not had a dog since we gave our terrier Rex to my grandma Irene when we left the states. I asked my parents about keeping her and they said it was fine. We named her Daisy, or Daisy Duke to be exact, after the sexy female character on the Dukes of Hazzard television show (played by Catherine Bach). I already knew she was special from spending time with her the preceding few weeks, but Daisy turned out to be such an amazing dog. She was simply the smartest, most mild-mannered, and well-behaved dog ever. Ever! When we left the island two years later I refused to leave without her. My parents paid to have her shipped back to the states and I was forever grateful. Daisy lived a long life and passed away in July 1997 when she was seventeen years old. I still miss her dearly. (Coming soon: Read more about Daisy at the OUR DOGS section)