Why I Love My Animals

Author: siggy

March 31st, 2018
Siggy

They never pretend to feign emotion. Each dog I have has a soul and personality. I find it comforting when I go into my den in the morning and usually one my three dogs  sits a few feet away from me. All that is very comforting. My animals do not care if do not have a degree. The animals you love, love you back, but each is his/her own way. I did not have a pet growing up. I now feel blessed with seven cats and three dogs. Pax, Tilla’s father, died a few years ago: we kept two of  his kids. Sweetie our dog rescue is their Mom and  Sweetie, still defers to her two pups, Coco and Tilla, even though it has been a long time since she gave birth to them. I just love petting all my animals and treating each one individually, for each animal has their own personality and I have to respect that.  They are gifts to me.  It is all serendipity!

I can’t imagine a life without animals. Each dog (I have three) and even my seven cats enrich my life. They give me more reasons to get up and greet them each day. Each pet has their own personality. Of course, I have favorites and so what?! Everyone has friends and certain friends who are favorites. Tilla is the dog I never expected. I lost the first dog I ever raised from a pup, Daisy, who died from cancer and then a golden retriever came our way.

Our one male dog, Pax, impregnated her before we could get her fixed and seven pups came our way, most of them born on our bed. We sold four (one died) and I did not have the heart to tell my wife to separate the last two, which we kept. One male, Tilla, and a female Coco both who I have learned to love dearly. They certainly complicate our lives but we had the means to build a fence around part of out property.

We did have one problem:  Tilla the most athletic of our four dogs could jump the fence so a year later we even built the fence higher now it was too high for him to make it over.  As time went by, I developed a close relationship with Tilla.  Maybe just by giving him belly rubs whenever he wanted them.  Wouldn’t that be something if we can make friends with other humans by just giving them belly rubs?!  Anyway, the human equivalent.  Whatever that might be?

I never knew what Coco, one of our dogs, caught.  She and the other two dogs were having their last “out” of the evening.  I thought, at first, Coco had a bone in her mouth and would not drop it to get her evening biscuit.

I realized it was more than that.  It was alive although I could not tell what creature she had in her mouth.  The lighting was not too good.  First I thought she caught “Oscar” our “local” rat but the animal had fur.

I grabbed the animal out of her mouth and it lay in front of the door.  My wife was screaming, “Get it out of the house!”

Finally I scooped it up with a cat scooper and dropped it over the fence onto our driveway.  At the same time one of our cats got out.

Seconds later I got a flashlight and shined it on the spot I dropped the animal.  It was nowhere to be seen.

It is possible the animal was just stunned (Coco has retriever blood in her) or the cat grabbed it who escaped.  My wife thought the animal might have been a baby squirrel.  I will never know for sure.  I felt bad for the animal hours (an hour) later.  There was nothing else I could do.

I was thrilled two nights ago when Tilla, my favorite dog, joined us on our king-sized bed. My wife had to “nudge” him over so she had enough space. Last night I called him repeatedly after I went to bed and he would not come. Finally my wife joined me and called him and he lay on the cushioned bed that is on the side of the bed, which was originally set up for his sister, Coco. My wife said he was standing on the pillow under the computer looking somewhat conflicted and “guilty” when I was calling him. He likes tight spaces. Anyway, I was happy when he finally came to our bedroom. The week I was gone hardly any animals slept with her. I guess we broke their routine.

Our three dogs must have been really hungry. I only fill the dogs’ bowls once a day in the morning. When I went to the vet with Coco, she had lost over seven pounds. She was getting really chunky so that was a good thing. I went away for a week. My wife was not paying attention and left an open almost full bag of cat food in the kitchen. I usually store cat food in the garage. Then she noticed the dogs had a “picnic” and must have been really hungry. Half of it was gone.

Tilla, one of my dogs, will often “nudge” you lightly when he comes in from the yard. He will tap you lightly with his nose as if to say, “I am glad to see you again.” He is the only dog of our three to do that. Coco, his sister, sometimes will “mouth” you in her excitement if she has not seen you for awhile. She does not bite. The two greet me differently. Each dog, each pet, is an individual and has their own personality.

What do I know for certainty? My wife loves me. So does my favorite dog–Tilla. Probably Coco, his sister. Maybe, that needs to be enough. Two dogs and my wife. Maybe, that should be sufficient. Let me bask in that love. I did nothing to earn that. Of course, I did not mention Jesus. He loves me, too. I don’t know why you can feel so separated and so alone sometimes?

Tilla jumped into our bed after were were both in it. We changed our routine last night: we both retired at the same time. Usually I go to bed first and read an half an hour and Tilla jumps on the bed then and leaves after my wife gets in bed. This time Tilla jumped on the bed and snuggled between the two of us. His head was right next to mine. I fell asleep and he must have jumped off at some point and went to his usual spot on the Lazy Boy in my den. Coco, my other black dog–his sister–was in her usual spot where she disturbs no one: asleep on the left side of the bed.

Tilla Has A New Routine

Author: siggy

Tilla, one of my dogs–my favorite, has a new routine (as well as Coco). At bedtime, Tilla jumps on my bed and waits for me to get there. He does not like to share his private time with my wife. I go to bed first and read awhile. He has learned to give me space on our king-sized bed so I can get under the sheets completely. When my wife makes it to bed, he simply jumps off. Often when I awake his sister Coco is lying right next to me. By that time my wife is no longer sleeping in the bed. And Tilla is still lying on the Lazy Boy in my den where he usually spends the night.

Coco, one of our dogs, has to greet my wife first before going out. When we return after being out for awhile, we let all the dogs out immediately into our fenced yard. Coco will not dash out before she gives my wife a big hello. She is the only dog of our three that does that. She enthusiastically greets my wife and then she runs out in the yard.

Coco immediately found the chocolate bar.  It was a Hershey bar that my wife put down briefly on the table after tearing it open and taking a bite.  She was not paying attention.  She heard a rustling of paper.  One of my dogs Coco was slowly making her way through the medium sized bar.  She thought no one would notice but the crinkling of the wrapper gave her away.  My wife took the chocolate away from the dog and I put the remains on top of the refrigerator.  There was no way she was going to eat the chocolate after Coco nibbled it.  I was not that particular.

I looked at my dogs outside.  All four.  Each was facing away from the large white pine tree forming a circle around the tree in a different direction.  I love my four dogs.  Each differently.  Coco, a female black long haired is simply sweet.  Pax the elder likes the sound of his own voice.  Sweetie the golden retriever is just that sweet and happy go lucky and loves to gnaw on branches.  Tilla and I have a special relationship.  I earned his loyalty by almost endlessly rubbing his belly.  In fact, he often gives me a hug by resting his upper body on me and then having me pet him.  He is no small dog–at least seventy pounds–very affectionate.  All of them are big.  They are enjoying the snow today.  I never in my wildest dreams expected to own four dogs (and that does not include the seven cats who roam the house).  To say the least, we have no mouse problem in our house.  I could not have imagined this menagerie twenty-five years ago.