Dominic and I are considering adding a new member to our family. Yes, we all thought this day would never come (especially for Dominic), but it is officially on the table. We might get a dog!
A little background ... Dominic grew up with zero pets. That's right nothing with fur, nothing that cuddled, nothing with a name. He would argue this because at one point he and Anton had a hermit crab. I believe hermit crabs are a far cry from a real pet. It is kind of like saying the garden slugs are a pet because they live on your property.
I on the other hand don't remember a phase of life without a pet. It started with Max, M'Lissa's dachshund. I think Max was around before I was even born. Grammy had Rachel, who was my mom's spaniel growing up so I visited her frequently. My first pet was Mr. Cat who we rescued. One afternoon Mom and I saw him meandering through the field at Grammy's house. He was wobbling and seemed drunk. We scooped him up and took him to the vet where we learned he was severely dehydrated. Some animal rescue foundation paid his vet bill if we agreed to give him a good home. That was the beginning of the "Robertson Farm". Mr. Cat was the most peaceful cat ever - he even let Katie "dance" with him. After Mr. Cat came a whole pride of cats ... Mr. Cat #2 (because apparently we just loved that name), Smoky (who was also adopted from the woods), Simba (named after Katie's Lion King phase), and about 100 of Smoky's kittens. At some point we added in a guinea pig named Lucy who we adopted from Evergreen's preschool. Around then, Hannah fell in love with the movie, Space Jam, which led to Lola the white bunny. Katie became interested in 4-H and cats aren't very fun to "train" so we made our first pet purchase - a purebred Lab puppy, Jake. Unfortunately Jake got hit on the highway near our home on Christmas Eve. Katie was then enrolled in 4-H with no dog so we got Ruby Valentine, another black lab. Next came Maggie Brown (who still lives with my family) and Murphy, a dog from the pound who ran away at every chance he got. Murphy was trouble to say the least. Somewhere during our elementary years we had guinea pigs, Carmel Buns and Kokomo Joe, along with two cockatiels Dad adopted for a friend who was moving into an apartment. Dad was always ready to help out a friend by letting their pets live with us which is how we got Chloe the Basset Hound. The first "Gretchen Only" pet came when I decided I couldn't live on without a cat. I begged for a black and white fat cat for my 13th birthday. I ended up with a skinny orange cat who I named Zipporah. She quickly became fat with her diet of canned cat food, but she is still orange. Over her life she has been called Zippie, Porah, Zip, Po, and now, Posie. During high school I developed a cat allergy and I was forced to "disown" Posie. Katie still gives me grief, but gladly adopted Posie into her room where she still lives. She is now on diet food to counteract my goal of fattening her up. At one point we got a bit over zealous and ended up with 2 more labs from an auction, Mac and Mia. Auctions make you buy crazy things. Mac and Mia ended up going to live with two of Mom's kindergarteners when we moved to an unfenced house. Last, but not least, was Hannie's Yorkie, Riley. She babysat for a crazy Yorkie breeder for 2 weeks (which meant she, with Katie's help, cared for over a dozen yorkies) to "earn" the runt of a litter.
There, for posterities sake, I have chronicled each and every Robertson pet.
They say pets are good for children because it teaches them responsibility and when they pass, the concept of death. My parent's obviously believed in this concept, because we have loved and lost many 4-legged friends.
We've talked about a dog for quite a while (more like, I have talked and Dominic has given me blank stares). Yesterday, Mom met a lady in the Trader Joe's parking lot who had a Westie, which I have determined is the perfect dog for me in both cuteness and size. The lady happens to be a part of a Westie Rescue and the Westie with her is looking for a new home! We spoke with her today to learn more and ended up visiting. Harry (pictured above) is a champ and very sweet. He wasn't scared of Dominic and he sat right at my feet like a perfect companion. He is 11 years old and we have determined an older dog would be a good fit for our first. Unfortunately, Harry has a bit of a territory marking problem which we witnessed first hand. Seeing that this is Dominic's first pet/dog, we've decided this problem is a no go. The good news is, Dominic has very much warmed up into welcoming a dog into our home. I think we'll be submitting an adoption application to the rescue in the next few months to be considered for an older female dog (AKA no territory issues).
Harry - I hope you find a new home soon. I also hope you lose the urge to mark your territory ... humans are not very fond of that practice. Thank you for being nice to Dominic. We love you!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Man's Best Friend
Dominic and I are considering adding a new member to our family. Yes, we all thought this day would never come (especially for Dominic), but it is officially on the table. We might get a dog!
A little background ... Dominic grew up with zero pets. That's right nothing with fur, nothing that cuddled, nothing with a name. He would argue this because at one point he and Anton had a hermit crab. I believe hermit crabs are a far cry from a real pet. It is kind of like saying the garden slugs are a pet because they live on your property.
I on the other hand don't remember a phase of life without a pet. It started with Max, M'Lissa's dachshund. I think Max was around before I was even born. Grammy had Rachel, who was my mom's spaniel growing up so I visited her frequently. My first pet was Mr. Cat who we rescued. One afternoon Mom and I saw him meandering through the field at Grammy's house. He was wobbling and seemed drunk. We scooped him up and took him to the vet where we learned he was severely dehydrated. Some animal rescue foundation paid his vet bill if we agreed to give him a good home. That was the beginning of the "Robertson Farm". Mr. Cat was the most peaceful cat ever - he even let Katie "dance" with him. After Mr. Cat came a whole pride of cats ... Mr. Cat #2 (because apparently we just loved that name), Smoky (who was also adopted from the woods), Simba (named after Katie's Lion King phase), and about 100 of Smoky's kittens. At some point we added in a guinea pig named Lucy who we adopted from Evergreen's preschool. Around then, Hannah fell in love with the movie, Space Jam, which led to Lola the white bunny. Katie became interested in 4-H and cats aren't very fun to "train" so we made our first pet purchase - a purebred Lab puppy, Jake. Unfortunately Jake got hit on the highway near our home on Christmas Eve. Katie was then enrolled in 4-H with no dog so we got Ruby Valentine, another black lab. Next came Maggie Brown (who still lives with my family) and Murphy, a dog from the pound who ran away at every chance he got. Murphy was trouble to say the least. Somewhere during our elementary years we had guinea pigs, Carmel Buns and Kokomo Joe, along with two cockatiels Dad adopted for a friend who was moving into an apartment. Dad was always ready to help out a friend by letting their pets live with us which is how we got Chloe the Basset Hound. The first "Gretchen Only" pet came when I decided I couldn't live on without a cat. I begged for a black and white fat cat for my 13th birthday. I ended up with a skinny orange cat who I named Zipporah. She quickly became fat with her diet of canned cat food, but she is still orange. Over her life she has been called Zippie, Porah, Zip, Po, and now, Posie. During high school I developed a cat allergy and I was forced to "disown" Posie. Katie still gives me grief, but gladly adopted Posie into her room where she still lives. She is now on diet food to counteract my goal of fattening her up. At one point we got a bit over zealous and ended up with 2 more labs from an auction, Mac and Mia. Auctions make you buy crazy things. Mac and Mia ended up going to live with two of Mom's kindergarteners when we moved to an unfenced house. Last, but not least, was Hannie's Yorkie, Riley. She babysat for a crazy Yorkie breeder for 2 weeks (which meant she, with Katie's help, cared for over a dozen yorkies) to "earn" the runt of a litter.
There, for posterities sake, I have chronicled each and every Robertson pet.
They say pets are good for children because it teaches them responsibility and when they pass, the concept of death. My parent's obviously believed in this concept, because we have loved and lost many 4-legged friends.
We've talked about a dog for quite a while (more like, I have talked and Dominic has given me blank stares). Yesterday, Mom met a lady in the Trader Joe's parking lot who had a Westie, which I have determined is the perfect dog for me in both cuteness and size. The lady happens to be a part of a Westie Rescue and the Westie with her is looking for a new home! We spoke with her today to learn more and ended up visiting. Harry (pictured above) is a champ and very sweet. He wasn't scared of Dominic and he sat right at my feet like a perfect companion. He is 11 years old and we have determined an older dog would be a good fit for our first. Unfortunately, Harry has a bit of a territory marking problem which we witnessed first hand. Seeing that this is Dominic's first pet/dog, we've decided this problem is a no go. The good news is, Dominic has very much warmed up into welcoming a dog into our home. I think we'll be submitting an adoption application to the rescue in the next few months to be considered for an older female dog (AKA no territory issues).
Harry - I hope you find a new home soon. I also hope you lose the urge to mark your territory ... humans are not very fond of that practice. Thank you for being nice to Dominic. We love you!
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