The Bad Black Dog

The Legend of the Bad Black Dog©

We have all heard of the black dog that came to live on Martha’s Vineyard a long time ago. But this is the story of how the Bad Black Dog - our Bad Black Dog - found his way to the shores of “Rogue’s Island”, now known as Rhode Island. Rhode Island was a far, far different place back then. It was in those times a place filled with drunks, criminals, corrupt politicians. Some Rhode Islanders would say that not much has changed.
You’re probably wondering how a small black dog came to be known as the Bad Black Dog. Well, the Bad Black Dog was the result of a chance meeting between a black Labrador retriever who wandered the streets of Providence looking for bitches in heat and a blonde shepherd mix with a set of crazy eyes. In a brief fit of passion, the Bad Black Dog, along with his brothers and sisters, were conceived in a dark alley near Steeple Street. Eight weeks later, the Bad Black Dog pup was born in a crawl space not far from where he was conceived. The small black pup in question had inherited his father’s coat and his mother’s eyes- a mug only a mother could love.
The small pup was discovered one day by a local man whose name we do not know (or care to). All we do know is that he, not being the imaginative type, came to name the pup he had found the Bad Black Dog. Why the Bad Black Dog, you ask? We believe that his name was the product of his inability to control his bladder, going wherever and whenever the urge presented itself. So naturally, all he ever heard was the yelling of his owner whenever he lifted his leg: “BAD Black Dog!!” and the name ‘Bad Black Dog’ stuck. And even though he had ruined many a couch and carpet with his constant urinating, he remained a loyal companion to the man for many years.