Pets

Well, we were down to one turtle and three cats.

At the height of of our family's pet ownership, at one time we had one horse, twenty-six chickens, five cats, one dog, two fish, and one turtle. I know the work that goes into pets. Pets come and go in most families and there is great value in that. They teach so much- responsibility, kindness, compassion, love.

It had become easy for me to have a romantic view of having pets. Our three outdoor cats and one turtle got fed once a day. Besides a monthly bowl and tank washing, there is nothing else that has to be done for them.

But then, I wanted a dog.

Because of changes in our neighborhood, we really felt like we can't have an outdoor dog. So our dog needed to fit specific criteria for our family - not too big for the house but not small and yappy, doesn't shed too much, and never ever be aggressive to children.

We've been in love with several breeds over the past year and convinced at one time or another that's the kind we should get. We've also committed to never get a dog if it has certain breeds. I was afraid to go to a shelter to look at dogs because I might have chosen one out of emotion.

The first week after Ray's graduation, he started looking at ads and making calls to shelters and dog adoption agencies. He searched high and low and made many calls to get the right one for us. Well he did the unthinkable. He stopped by the humane society.

Welcome Home

I knew when I started getting videos on my phone that he was hooked. It didn't matter that this dog was already fifty pounds at eleven months old. The workers at the shelter told him that the dog was a lab mix. So far every "expert" we've had look at him has said there's probably no lab at all, he may even be part German Shepherd.

There were a few days, okay a few weeks, that I didn't think we would make it. I told Ray more than once to take him back or call a friend who had offered to take him if we couldn't do it. (I forgot to mention that I've been afraid of dogs for most of my life, especially big ones, and Chihuahuas, and dogs that bite, and growl.)

But then I got hooked.

He came to us house trained - huge bonus! Our friend hired a trainer who comes to our house once a week for a few weeks - another bonus. We are figuring out how to keep his hair under control - much better help. And as of today, he would rather lay in his crate than anywhere else in the house - sold. I guess Gunner is a part of the family.

Snake!

In our house, that word brings a lot of noise with it and we've had three snakes in the past two weeks. This particular one was in Rachel and Adrian's house. I'm hoping it snuck in when they had the door open because in my opinion, any snake is a dangerous snake. Ohh, I miss our big dog Brandon! All these cats do is play with snakes.

The Journey of a Good Dog

Brandon came to us one night in 2002 in a parking lot in Gainesville. The family who had him couldn't take care of him because the single mom worked and the children were in daycare, so he lived in a small cage. They wanted a family who had a yard and stayed home to give him to. So, at eleven months old, he came to us... he ate our garage, he wanted to jump on the girls shoulders, he ran every where! Within days Ray had him trained to stay in our yard and not to jump up on us, and he eventually quit eating bicycle seats and trash cans. Each of the girls thought he belonged to them, but secretly, I knew he was my dog:) There were many days of dog shows where the girls would jump him over obstacles or lay on him under the shade trees. When we sat on the front porch he would lay his head on our feet, but if we sat down on the ground, he wanted to put a paw on our shoulder. The past few months, the postal carriers had gotten a little jumpy around him, and he wasn't very happy about them coming into his drive way. He was getting very serious about protecting his yard from the bad guys. I had gotten a little worried about this, I thought Golden Retrievers were supposed to be docile and kind no matter what.

Early this week, he growled at Lydia. We just thought it was because she was wearing a giant blanket as a cape and carrying a knapsack full of doll clothes. (This isn't really that unusual, it was just a different kind of cape.) Then a couple of days later he was acting funny and pacing around in front of the doors. Ray spent some time with him, bathing him and trying to figure out what was wrong. He perked up and seemed okay. Later, he was listless and couldn't lift himself at all. Ray took him to the vet and after a very sad morning, he died. There has been much crying and reminiscing.

This morning I took a short walk - there was no one at the end of the driveway wagging his tail to make sure I got home safely. There was tipping of toenails to greet me on the sidewalk when I went to water the plants. There was no one for Lydia to pretend adventures in the yard with. (Brandon was always Aslan in Narnia.) It seems that even our cats are very quiet and reserved these days and don't know what to do with themselves. They would sprawl out on the driveway while he was out there with them and rub on him. And who is going to pick up the fallen apples when the apple trees start dropping? Brandon will be missed. God is good to give us great furry compaions to love.

Apples

When we took a family walk this weekend we found that we still have apples on our trees that taste great. Ray took a few bites and gave his apple to Brandon. Who knew dogs like apples? What a funny site to see Brandon and Lydia enjoying their apples together!

Food Chain

This is just a funny picture of our cat sitting on a bird house watching our neighbor's dog. We got a cat about four years ago. After much procrastination and visits to the vet we have now stopped our multiplication at five cats. The good thing about so many cats is that there is never a bug or sign of a mouse (dead or alive) in our home. The outside is another story. We often find creatures in our yard that are no longer in the prime of their lives.
All of our cats are named after cookies (Cookie, Oreo, Snickerdoodle, Oreo Jr., and Chip as in Chocolate Chip). Children have a funny way of expressing what they really like.
Writing an article like this would lead people to think I really love animals. What is true is that I really love the benefit of animals - NO MICE!, teaching our kids to work, and stuff like that. We also have two dogs_ a golden retriever that should be a requirement for a household of children and a Chihuahua/Jack Russel mix that should be banned from a household of children. Our menagerie also includes a horse that holds a young girl's heart until her prince charming comes; a turtle that has more personality than you would've ever thought; and the newest member, a beta fish who likes to scare us all by pretending to be dead.