(Does anyone else get paranoid with saying "real" names, even of pets or real locations etc? Is it because I've been dragged through the mud in court....or that I think my ex will latch on to this site and ruin it for me? That said....I feel funny telling animal names. forgive me)
It's tough for us animal lovers to pick out just one favorite animal experience to tell...they happen all day every day!
So instead: a bit of a remembrance "list"
My childhood collie/shep: He was the tenth child as far as I was concerned. A year younger than me, he lived til age 15...he had epilepsy and I found him once at the corner drugstore surrounded by kids while having a siezure. When it was over, he sure looked relieved to see me... loyal doesn't even describe my first best friend. Hated all men, except my dad (early trauma?).
My first "child": a female golden retriever: Lovely, sweet, bossy girl. Like all goldens, orally fixated. Had to remove all the water spigots or she would turn them on and play in water and mud all day (she never figured out to turn them off! We live in the DESERT for goodness sake!) Lived til she was 13,
I carried her in a sling around her middle for the last 10 months of her life when her back end became paralyzed. (the doggy wheelchair I bought scared her too much).
When I had my son, I stayed home a year, and above dog was so upset I went back to work that she developed bad habits (jumping into my truck and peeing on the seat upon removal, throwing herself in front of the garden gate and not moving out of my way....)...so I got her a buddy. Another golden (mixed with something larger). She bossed him around, even though he was huge (after you, dear, whatever you say, dear). I worried that he wouldn't be as good with the baby as the female, but the first day home from the pound, he allowed my son to cover him with towels and lay on him for a nap. This dog used to try and catch balls with his paws! He died at six when a hack vet over anesthetized him during a routine teeth cleaning (three other people I know had the same thing happen....same vet).
We got another pal for our female golden... and I still have him. Pound dog, but sure looks like a pure bred flat coated retriever (a long haired black retriever). The sweetest boy on the planet. Mellow always (except that time he tore apart my mattress when he was a pup). He performed on stage in a dance concert once and was pretty good. He "talks" and now that he is nine, pretty much cuddles all the time (except when keeping below dog in line)..Just the best dog ever.
When we finally lost our female golden, above black boy was pretty sad, I thought, so after a year we got our other current black boy, who looks just like him, except for a shorter snout, a double coat (I am told that gets him out of the pure bred catagory...like I care) and an obsessive compulsion for spots of light or shadow and television animals. He needs a job (I think he may be part border collie....that might explain). He fetches mail and the paper (he taught himself).
So, except for an occasional gerbil the kids bring home from science class (we had one for almost FOUR years.....) those are my furry, "never go to school or dress or feed themselves", children.
