Watt Espy's Pets

the backyard of his family home in Headland, Alabama - 1988
w/ two of his three dogs - Penny, his "loveable little mongrel, and Tee-Lock, his "protection"

Tee-Lock looks ferocious!

I remember his chow, which scared the hell out of me.  There were a few times when I wanted to drop by to see Uncle Watty, but I was afraid he actually didn't have the chow penned up in the backyard, so I kept driving.  That dog was scary to me.    

and Watty's friend Mike Radelet recalls........

Yup, the big brown one was named Teelock.  I couldn't see what Watt saw in it, but you can never get between a man and his dog.  Your comment that the old house may be a family heirloom certainly rings a bell, but my memory is not good enough to pinpoint who the original owner was.  I always thought it was a firetrap, and worried that Watt's whole collection would go up in flames (or be lost to Halloween vandals).