Behind every successful musician is a dog.
Rajah’s Timeline of Events
Rajah becomes a star in the back of REO’s Limo with the mini spots directed at him. Every passing car strains to see what celebrity is in the back eat only to see Rajah and wonder.
Rajah causes Broom the St Bernard to pee on the door of our ground floor flat that creates a tidal wave coming at Dan’s hippy style floor bed and Claude’s D35 Martin Guitar. Dan awakens and avoids disaster by stuffing a towel under the door.
Unable to provide dog food, Rajah finds Ralph’s Pizza in Champaign Illinois up the street from the McDonalds. Seen many times begging with his girlfriend, Muffy for pizza bones.
Rajah disappears then reappears looking better than he left. Found under a different name living in some sweet grandma’s kitchen.
Rajah is a babe magnet.
Rajah saves the recording of Home Free after a bottle of Rum almost spills on the Quadrophonic sound board. In a move that only could be described as mystical, Rajah relaxes to hear the playback.
Was present for every early Dan recording from Nashville to the Record Plant in LA.
Receives a copy of Souvenirs Gold Record dedicated to him and some other guy. 
“Rajah was an asshole” the most repeated memorable phrase uttered by many of Dan’s friends.
Despite the character defects that Rajah often exhibited on other dogs, mainly fighting and some uncontrolled humping, he lives on in this blog.
Dan decided that he would get a dog when he lived outside Boulder on Beak Peak. After careful searching, he came up with Pancho a full-blooded Sheep Dog. Rajah and Pancho did not get along right off the bat. I can still remember the sound of their first meeting. It was a flurry of fur and teeth. Rajah unfortunately never got a chance to hang out there again.
Further on, Pancho got a companion, Maggie’s dog Loki. Together they formed a pack and brought down the neighbor’s prize steer. Both dogs were caught and had to be put down to appease the neighbor. It was a sad day for man’s best friend. Reminds me of Willie Nelson’s lyrics. Instead of Pancho and Lefty, it was Pancho and Loki the dog banditos.
All the Federales say
They could have had them any day
They only let them slip away
Out of kindness, I suppose
If only they had escaped to Mexico.
Rajah faired slightly better but got caught killing a kitten in cold blood belonging to my sweetheart. It was only a matter of time for Rajah. Dogs running free were being shot by the sheriff’s posse in Coal Creek Canyon. I tried to keep him safe and tied up in the mountains but eventually couldn’t stand to see him like that. I took him to the Boulder shelter in hopes he would be readopted, I will never know what happened to him. It was a sad ending to a fabulous life.
Another friend sent this picture of the old days with Dan, Loki, Pancho and of course, me.
Happy New Year 2012!
January 3rd, 2012 at 7:23 pm
I think I might have preferred not knowing the fate of these dogs. Having seen photos of them before I guess I assumed that they’d lived happy lives and died of old age. Sadly enough it is true that dogs tend to pay the price for “owners” who don’t train them properly, and/or who allow them to run where they please.
January 4th, 2012 at 9:55 pm
Different time, different place and people who are now gone or grown up. I’m sure the dogs were happy in-between, and, given the chance, we live and learn, no? Still, doesn’t make Rajah, Pancho and Loki any less important in the stories. Good dogs.
Thanks for hanging in. Happy New Year to All!
January 8th, 2012 at 12:52 am
What a wonderful story… We dog owners as myself, sometimes we have this love hate relationship with our dogs… no matter how much we love and train them, they have that natural instinct that we humans just can’t break. That’s to bad about what happened to Dan and Maggie’s dogs..I believe Loki was the ring leader,look at him, he looks like a bandit with that mask across the face,and poor Pancho, he probably got forced into it! Once a dog(s) starts something like that you have no other options, It had to be heart breaking for them to make that decision as it was for you on Rajah. Here’s to Rajah, Poncho and Loki, their time on earth may been short, but boy did they leave tales to be shared !
Happy New Year!
January 8th, 2012 at 4:06 am
What a sad ending to a noble story!! It couldn’t have been easy to make those decisions. Poor doggies!!
January 16th, 2012 at 7:49 pm
I always wondered why Dan was so attracted to cats, and whether he ever had a dog. I now understand his choices. If as a dog owner, I had that same experience, I would not want to try again. Thank you for sharing your memories. Another reflective soul searching for a way to keep Dan near.
January 20th, 2012 at 9:02 am
I remember Rajah…I also remember one time on a walk with you in Urbana when you ran out into traffic after Rajah to pull him back just in the nick of time before a car nearly hit BOTH of you!
February 26th, 2012 at 8:58 pm
Davey was a gray tabby cat who showed up on my doorstep and adopted me 15 years ago. He was my best friend. In January 2012, due to medical problems, I had to have him put to sleep. And now, after reading your story, I am stunned and saddened again by the senseless tragedy to these animals.