Our Lives Are Enriched By Our Pets

I don't think I have known anyone that has not had a pet in their life. I have had many dogs; my first one was named Pal. He was a black cocker spaniel that was already older when I actually received him as a pet. Soon he got into trouble with one of the neighbors, so my father decided that he needed to go to the farm, and that is where he lived out the rest of his life.

The next dog I had as a pet I called Lady. Lady was a cross between every dog I believe there is, but mostly cocker spaniel. She would follow me everywhere, always two steps behind me. She did have one bad habit, she loved to chase cars. All of the training and persuading of lady never did do anything to help overcome her problem. Many times as she ran by the side of a car, biting at the tires, she would get too close and be spun around by the tire she tried to bite. Sometimes she would get so close that her body would be dragged underneath the car tire and she would really go for a roll. One day when our family was getting ready to go on a short trip, my father came into the house and announced that lady again had been run over by a car. He felt that she was not going to make it this time, so he had put her in our garage on a blanket hoping that she would come around, but was afraid she would not. About 30 minutes later we heard from the garage a familiar bark; she had survived her 13th time of being hit by a car. Again my father felt that it was time to take lady to the farm, away from all the cars.

My favorite pets were always dogs, and so again I was able to obtain a new puppy; she was white as snow so I called her Snowball. I was older now and knew how to handle dogs a little better, so this one I trained not to chase cars. She was my best buddy and was with me all of the time. Through the experiences that I have had with these pets I know how much they mean to other people.

When I was married my wife's favorite pet was a cat named Charlie. I had had no experience with cats before; I wasn't even sure if I liked them. They seem to do whatever they wanted to do, whenever they wanted to do it. I was used to dogs following me everywhere I went, but I couldn't even get this “cat” to look at me, let alone follow me. When Charlie finally did try to get friendly and crawl up on my lap, I found out how soft and cuddly these furry animals were. I began to tease him, play with him, and enjoy his antics. I would tie a rubber mouse on the end of a string and throw it in the middle of the room and wait until Charlie wanted it, and then the fun would start. Every time he would go for the mouse I would pull it back a little, when he got tired of my tricks, he would run and pounce on the mouse and of course he would win. One other fun thing we always did with Charlie was to put scotch tape on the bottom of his paws. When we would set him down he would jump around like he was dancing, in an attempt try get the scotch tape off of his paws. It looked like it frustrated him a great deal, but it sure was fun watching.

There are many people that have fish for pets, or may have a bird, or one of hundreds of other types of pets; each pet giving its owner some pleasure and many hours of companionship. It is said that a person with a pet will live many more years than one that does not have one. Many times we will see a very sad person light up as he comes into contact with a pet. This may be the best evidence we have that pets are an important part of life. May each of us find the love, companionship, and compassion that we need through caring for and watching over a pet.