Animal Lover

Anyone who knows me at all knows that I am an animal lover.  Cats I can do without...but any other animal I love!  I even like rodents (that was for you Theresa), reptiles, and insects. 

I'm kidding about the cats by the way.  I have never had a cat I loved or been around one that I felt any strong attachment to, but there's still time for me to love a cat.  Shawn would probably say I love my dogs too much...he's crazy though!  You can't love a dog too much!  They are able to add so much to your life if you let them!  No other creature on Earth will love you as much as your dog does.  It just seems like giving even a portion of that love back to them is worth it.

Mostly, my love of animals come from the dogs I have had through my life.  One of my earliest memories is of my dad calling me (when I was in kindergarten) to tell me that he had to put our dog to sleep.  His name was Mac.  He was an Irish Setter.  He was my first best friend.

My dad has many, many stories to tell about me and Mac.  I don't really remember him, but I know my love of dogs stems from my relationship with him from the day I was born.

When I was in elementary school we had a dalmation.  His name was Spot.  Clever, right?  I would like to point out that Mom and Dave named him, not me or Mimi.  He was a bit crazy but we loved him anyway!  I remember many times I would get my roller skates on and tie his leash around my waist and we were off!  Mom didn't like when I did that.  He was never really trained very well though and when Sara came along he just didn't fit with our family anymore.  Mom was worried that he would unintentionally hurt her, so he went to a new home.

When we moved to Indiana and got our house, Dave brought home a dog at Christmas from the animal shelter.  Unfortunately, Mom and Dave decided to let Sara (that 5 year old) name her.  She chose "Christmas Tree."  Mim and I were obviously dead set against that name though!  So we all agreed on Angel instead.  This was a pretty good compromise I think.  Angel had a litter of puppies when she was only about a year old (I think) and the one we kept was named Fergie.  He was named by Mimi but we all loved him.  His daily care was largely my responsibility so that go pawned off on Mom when I went away to the Academy.  I still remember the day she called me at school to tell me that he had been hit by a car.  He is buried beside the barn at our old house.  I still remember the heartache I felt.  He was Eric's first dog, although he was too small to ever remember him.

Now we get to the real doggie love...my Chandler.  He was the first dog I had that was truly mine.  He was  gift from Leif and I LOVED this dog.  I had him during college, when I was a full-time student and working almost full-time as well, so needless to say he was not trained properly.  I did take him to personal doggie training sessions with a man that had previously trained dolphins, but I didn't have enough time to devote to him.  When I moved back home after college he did not fit with my family dynamic and since I was not financially in a place to move out on my own, he had to find another family.  I put an ad in the paper and interviewed people.  I visited their homes to make sure that he would have the best home possible and would be loved.  I remember the day I dropped him off at his new home and left.  I cried for several hours that day, and for several days afterward.  He was such a beautiful and smart dog.  I still miss him.  I checked up on him for the next year then I decided I needed to let it go.  I will always love my Chandler boy.

Now on to my sweet Marcie!  Considering that I blog about her all the time, you all know why and how much I love my girl!   She's such a good girl and she's so good with Logan!  They really are best friends...no matter what Ian says!  He loves Marcie best :)  Anyway, Marcie was a shelter dog and I am pretty much convinced that I will never get a dog from a breeder ever again.  Shelter dogs need homes.   When we got Marcie she was on death row at the shelter!  She'd been there for 6 weeks...they only reason she hadn't been euthanized yet was because she was so cute, they felt sure she'd get adopted any day.  Thank goodness we went to find her when we did.  It makes me sad the number of animals that live in animal shelters.  They need loving homes!  Everytime I think of the 6 weeks Marcie spent there before we found her it makes me sad and makes me want to spoil her a little bit more!  So I do :)

All of the dogs I have had through the years hold a special place in my heart.  Dogs are only with us for a short period of time but the happiness and joy they bring to our lives during that time far outlives them.  I have many, many happy memories of my dogs and although there is pain that goes along with it, I think the pain of losing them is dulled by the happy memories.