Theodore Trueheart (Teddy) would rather be sailing By Judi McLeod
Monday, November 13, 2006
Truly named is the irrepressible Theodore Trueheart, pictured above on one of his good hair days.
Theodore Trueheart is well named, because he comes at you straight from the heart.
But don’t expect him to answer to anything but “Teddy” or “Ted” because Theodore Trueheart is only the name on his pedigree papers, and the always ready to gambol Teddy, much more casual than that, is one of the guys.
Brine is in his blood. Teddy took to the sea as a mere pup, and longs to be right on deck anytime his master `mascot’ pulls up anchor.
If Teddy had a favorite song, definitely it would be Anchors Away. If he had his doggie druthers, dolphins would be his primary playmates.
Almost three years old, Teddy is a silver, eyes-full-of-soul poodle. “They call him a “toy” poodle, but he’s nobody’s “toy”, says his full time companion, America’s number one independent radio talk show host Dr. Michael Savage. “He’s a full blown DOG and as intelligent as any I’ve ever had or met.”
While other dogs are content burying bones in the back garden, Teddy prefers the wind in his face, and the tang of salt water in the air.
Let those other landlubber canines dream about treats and treeing squirrels. That’s sissy stuff for Theodore Trueheart, whose nocturnal dreams keep his black velvet nose aquiver for Long John Silver, buried treasure and messages in a bottle.
The sea rocked Teddy to sleep when he was still a pup and one of his most endearing pictures finds him asleep on the canvas of the flying bridge.
“Must be the sound of the diesel engines and the gentle rocking he likes,” says Savage. “He also loves to try and grab the lines as I untie them to a cleat. Ted thinks it’s a game, not really part of the yachting experience.”
There’s always been a special understanding between Ted and Michael. And when they’re sailing into the sunset, they enjoy the comfortable silence of true companionship.
There’s nothing yippy or yappy about this tail-wagging sailor.
“When he wants in, it’s a single, “Woof”, Savage said on one of his recent Savage Nation radio shows. Teddy knows a single Woof will get him what he wants.”
Besides, yipping and yapping is below the dignity of a serious sailing gent.
In this happy master and dog companionship, Savage describes himself as “Michael, Teddy’s mascot”.
While other traveling canines like to be in the car, it’s Teddy’s second choice. Cadillac’s, BMW’s and Mercedes Benze’s are lost on him because even the sleekest of wheels don’t come with sea spray.
Out on the highway all you can see is other cars, and fleeting pictures of roadside trees going by.
Every scrap of seaweed, every seashell with a pink as delicate as the pink inside his own ears are much more interesting to scout out along the shoreline.
To the forever-exploring Teddy, rolling happily in dead fish perfumes the air much better than anything that comes in a Paris bottle.
Seafaring fellows like Teddy learn so much more than those that loll on land.
There’s a sense of pure freedom that comes from leaving the land behind you, and an incomparable comfort knowing that your mascot is right there beside you.
“He now knows the bark of seals, the cry of the gulls, the sweep of pelicans and the sight of cormorants.”
Says his mascot of the lovable Teddy: “He’s my one and only “skipper-key”.