Lightening Our Hearts

Meet Oscar.  He is our newest member of the family.  I'm not really a dog person, though I do like dogs.  Growing up, we almost always had a dog - usually very big dogs, in fact.  We lived on a gentleman's farm and the dogs could roam all over the property without needing to be walked or cleaned up after.  My dad was the one who took care of them for the most part, so dog ownership was pretty easy from my perspective.

Getting married meant I adopted an Akita - my husband's love of the furry kind.  Sweet dog who was quite protective, but sadly had to be put down due to hip displaysia.  As our children grew, we wanted them to know what it was like to have a dog, so adopted a variety of shelter dogs: first, a dog with a broken leg who, when he had his medical cone off, bit my 4-year old.  The second was a little puppy (read - tons of work) which we called Zoe, who after about 8 months had to go back to the shelter after she chewed through every piece of wooden furniture and learned to jump the fence.  After Zoe came Tieyo - a stray hound mix from Virginia who we loved for a year.  He also loved to eat our home, and after many hours of training and many dollars of personal assistance, we had to return him to the shelter - he really needed a farm to run around on.

So several years have gone by, and now we wanted a dog for the holidays.  But I insisted on a few points first:  It had to be free - no high-priced re-homing fees for us.  It had to be small - no 5 x 60 minute walks to get him tuckered out would work, sine I figured I'd be the one doing all the walking.  It had to be good with kids and cats - I refuse to stress the cats out with an annoying dog.  I looked and looked for the 'perfect' new pet.  Finally, I found Oscar - 3 years old, needing a new home, free and sweet as could be.

It's been almost 6 weeks since Oscar joined our family, and I must say that he has brought light and love to our hearts.  None of us in this household can look at him and not smile.  We have all become silly and energetic around him, since he loves to play and run around.  He has a great personality, and also loves to lay in our laps for a snooze.  This is the dog-ownership I was looking for all along and not getting.   And as it turns out, everyone in the family chips in to walk him - what a treat!

Are You An Animal Lover?

I often ask my boys to 'feed the animals'.  And then, when they ignore me, I start asking why we have the animals after all.  I started to think about this, wondering why I have just about always had animals in my life.  I grew up on a gentleman's farm, with horses, sheep, goats, chickens, ducks and dogs and cats.  When I went on to college, I got a cat.  And then for grad school, I 'adopted' my boyfriend's (now husband's) dog, while introducing him to my siamese cat that had come across country with me.  Now, we have 2 cats, 2 guinea pigs, a bunny, a gecko and many house mice.  What is it that we animal lovers get from these 2-4 legged creatures?

I get unconditional love, and entertainment.  I get a warm fuzzy body curling up in my lap just when I seem to be feeling lost or just the slightest bit blue.  I look at the bunny - who pretty much just gets fed, and doesn't really provide much cuddle or communication experiences for us.  What do we get out of keeping pets like him?  We don't get his fur for warmth, or eggs to eat.  He doesn't provide us with much, per se.  Somehow, just by being a part of our family, he has found an important place.  He now sits in our kitchen, to keep him warm and out of the chilling winds and blowing snow/rain of New England winters.  But I think maybe he'll just stay through the spring.  He's looking a little slower and thinner and just a bit older to me, and he needs my watchful eye to protect him.  Although we don't get to hold him (he bites), he has burrowed his way to my heart, and I will miss him when he moves on.  (I'm not pushing him along - but I don't think it will be too long now)

My younger son BEGGED for guinea pigs at Christmas.  And of course I said no no no.  I knew who would end up feeding them, cleaning the cage, etc - yep.  You guessed it.  Me.  Well I made a pact that I would NOT be the one taking care of these new girls.  No.  No Way.  Uh Uh.

Well.  I don't let them starve.  I go in after my youngest goes to school and make sure they have their food and water - he's 11 and he's trying to do a good job.  Sometimes he forgets, so I take care of that.  They're sweet little girls in that cage - and I just love animals!

What animals must you live with??