Your Treasured Pet

[cherandbuster]

Hfra

Great idea for a thread :-6

I really enjoyed your stories

Buster is the first pet of my life. I can't believe I wasted 43 years without a dog in my life!

I'll think of some good stories and come back to this thread . . .

[chonsigirl]

Oh, I have had lots of great pets!

My first Siamese kitty was named Fa Ying, I got him when I was 7 years old. He was very good, was leash trained and I would walk him all over the neighborhood. His favorite past time was to climb the curtains, and wait for the cuckoo to come out of the cuckoo clock. Somehow that tweety bird always got away from him!:wah:

[LilacDragon]

Hmmmm.

When I was 12, we got our first dog. A white pomeranian. Female. My mom wanted to breed. Please bear in mind that this was a loooong time ago and things were much different then they are now. She died from a heart condition having her first litter of 4 puppies. Our cat was pregnant at the same time and shortly after she delivered her kittens, she took the puppies (there were now just 3) from my mom and raised them with her kittens as her own.

We kept two of the pups. My mom kept a young male and I got to keep the black female pup. Her name was Lynda Rottenpup. She was my constant companion. She drank the coffee out of the bottom of my dad's coffee cup in the morning. My friends got her drunk on beer once when I was in high school. She died of old age when I was overseas with my ex-husband.

Fast forward a couple of decades to my heart dog - Chase. She was a rottweiler that my DH and I rescued from the local shelter just days before I found out I was pregnant with my son. She was a doll from day one. She watched over my son when he was born and, in turn, he used her for a step stool on occasion. I remember the time he stood on her head (:eek: ) to put his sippy cup on the dining room table. She laid there, so still, except for her eyes and those oh-so-expressive eyebrows of hers as she looked up at him then over at me.

As my son grew older, he used her as a seat one night to watch Christmas cartoons. He often tried to ride her like a pony, but she just sat down.

She loved to go for car rides and a trip to the local family owned pet stores was her favorite destination. She loved to get treats from the employees and there were always some nice children ready to pet her.

We lived in a neighborhood where not many people had dogs and nobody had one as big as Chase. More then one parent came to my door, young toddler in arms, and asked if their child could meet her so that their first introduction to a large dog was a positive one. My next door neighbor's young neice would often knock on the door to see if Chase could come out and play.

Chase enjoyed a good rough romp with me or my husband. Complete with teeth. But the minute our son walked in the room - she was done. no matter what, she would not get rowdy with a child in the room.

I lost her a little over a year ago to Osteosarcoma. Typical of her, we had no idea that she was in any pain until the last day. The day before, she was roughhousing in the house with our other dog. There was running, jumping and plenty of teeth showing. The x-rays showed the damage all too clearly. The cancer was so far advanced that the bone was collapsing in upon itself. The vet told me that even morphine would not relieve her pain and that as advanced as the leg was, the chances were great that it had already spread to her lungs and such.

For 8 short years, she was my best friend and my son's protector. She is thought of often and missed greatly.

[cherandbuster]

LD

I just loved your story. What special pets you have had.

Thanks for sharing all the wonderful details.

Pets RULE :-4

[chonsigirl]

Oh, what a lovely doggie, LD! Chase will always be your favorite in your heart!:-4

[LilacDragon]

No problem! I love talking about my girlie!

[BabyRider]

Great idea for a thread, helefra! I had the greatest dog in the world some years back. Her name was Bogey, and she was the smartest dog I've ever seen. Her story is here on FG somewhere, so I will just go find it and add a link, as it's rather long. Back shortly...

[BabyRider]

helefra wrote: *I think this thread is going to be very popular*
I think you're right!!!

And thanks to Valerie, who found where I'd stuck Bogey's story, here it is:



http://www.forumgarden.com/forums/showp ... stcount=25

[cherandbuster]

TGirl

AWESOME stories.

I just loved reading them. :-4

[cherandbuster]

BR --

What a fantastic animal Bogey is/was! That story was so full of life I could actually see in my mind all the things she could do.

I'm so glad you have the memories of Bogey to make you smile

[BabyRider]

helefra wrote: The paragraph above reminded me of a dog my mum had called Prince. I remember taking Prince out for a walk one sunny day to a nearby large park in Liverpool. Before I let Prince have his run, I noticed a man approximately 200 yards away walking in my direction. I had a feeling of uneasiness, there were plenty of people in the park but felt uncomfortable about this person, in fact even Prince saw him and started growling - interesting.
They know don't they? They just always know....

[cherandbuster]

helefra wrote: dogs even know when there is a ghost lurking in your house.


Hfra

Sounds like a good story there . . .

[minks]

I have had all kinds of pets, and loved them all and as I type this my dog and the ex's dog have just had baths and we are cracking up laughing at them running round trying to try themselves on the throw rugs around on my hardwood flooring. My dog just shook and the spray drenched my cat and the pet antics are priceless

I can't pick out which pet was my most treasured. I have had dogs from Susies, to Tashas, and turtles named Jack and Jill to a cat named Ringo, Fish, a frog, some lizzards and some birds, they were all special in my life time.

[valerie]

This is going to be long folks, get out while you can!



My first most treasured pet was a black lab named Teddy. Dad had

him even before he married my Mom. Mom hated Teddy, she used to

always say Teddy had "seniority" over her. One time, as a toddler, Teddy

saw me headed toward the street (at 2131 Red Robin Lane!!) and threw

himself in front of my legs, knocked me on my little ruffled panties so I

wouldn't get run over by a car!!



There are pictures in existence of Teddy sitting next to my Dad, with

several phaesant spread out on the lawn in front of them.



Poor Teddy, he spent many years tied to the almond tree next to his

dog house, only getting free for a couple weeks a year to go hunting

with Dad. (Dogs deserve better!!)



Teddy got fed a can of Skippy dog food, morning and evening, and

whatever table scraps were around. He barked, a lot, and that was

part of the reason Mom hated him.



I was about 14 years old when one day, I went out to feed Teddy.

For many months, I had had to jerk his chain to let him know his

meal was ready... he couldn't hear any more. One cold morning, I'll

never forget it, Teddy wouldn't come out. I pulled on the chain

REALLY hard, and poor old Teddy came sliding out the front of the dog

house.



We had a small funeral processional, Dad put Teddy in the wheelbarrow,

and we all trooped up to the oak tree on top of a little hill, Dad dug

a hole and we laid Teddy to rest.



Zsa Zsa was our other family dog, my sister had asked our Grandmother

for "a French poodle". Zsa Zsa was great, we'd take her to get her

groomed and she'd come back and at the first opportunity, go roll

in the horse manure, she didn't care if she had a bow in her head and

her butt...



We lost Zsa Zsa one time, she was gone 2 or 3 days and we were

sitting around the kitchen table, and Mom said "I think I hear Zsa Zsa"

and we of course thought she was nuts... but we tracked down the

sound, Mom went over to the fireplace (one of those old kinds with

the "clean out" in the floor... apparently Zsa Zsa had gone in the

little opening after something and spent 3 days in the ash under the fireplace.)

Mom reached in the hole, and pulled out a dirty and dehydrated

but very, very happy Zsa Zsa out of the fireplace.



My first horse was Soapy. She was a white mare, not true albino,

she didn't have pink eyes. Dad paid $250 for her, in 1958 not a

small amount of money. In my memory, it was many times, but

couldn't have been that much... my Dad would bring Soapy to our

tract house and give kids rides for my bday parties, up and down the

street. Boy, did I think I was hot stuff.



Soapy was great, but she didn't like other horses, she had been

raised alone. So I begged and begged, and finally got a horse I

could sit on and hang out with my friends, and that was Sudsy.

I took Sudsy to the fair, with my 4-H group, and raced her around

the track that the REAL race horses went on. Sudsy gave me Dash,

and Dash was my baby. I used to take naps with him in the pasture,

my head on his flank. That prom pic I posted a while ago? I met that

guy, Ben, one day when I was walking to school crying. You see,

Dash had just been gelded that morning.



Dash was sold, and he went to Sacramento Sheriff's Posse, and I got

to see him on TV in the Rose Parade. I talked to his owner, who said

Dash was so smart he learned a "control" position faster than any other

horse ever had...



Fast forward a few years, I had moved away from home, and the guy

I was living with had a Siberian Husky named Maggie. I went to the

liquor store one day and there in the back of a pick-up was this very

handsome dog, he looked to be Mal/Husky, I went in the store and

asked "Who owns the dog outside" and some guy said "I do what'd

he do" "I said: Nuthin' but do you want to let him have puppies?" :-5

And so I talked in Maggie's ear the whole time she was preggers,

saying "Have a little black and white female for me" well one night

she whelped and I thought she was all done... but no, next morning

there was puppy number 7... my dear, sweet, Kolyma. I have a pic

I'll have Paul scan for me... it is my friend holding the pup I gave

her, Levi, and me holding Kolyma.



Kolyma and I were very close, when I moved away from the guy, we

had good times. She eventually died, she had mammary cancer (he

wouldn't let her be spayed, thought all the animals should be "natural")

and it spread to her lungs.



And now, comes Tamsen. What can I say about Tamsen? There is so

much, and I feel inadequate. When we were thinking about dogs, Paul

(Who had never had a dog) wanted a black lab or a Husky. I put my foot

down on both of those breeds. We got a book on different breeds, and

the gsd section was great, it said "Good with children and other animals,

easily trained" and I said "That's IT that's what we're getting" boy little

did I know.



13 1/2 years later, our old girl is in the twilight of her life. Our relationship

with her is very different now, still good, but much quieter. Today when

I had her on the front lawn, she "Buffed" at the gardeners down the

street, hey, Miss Protecto-matic wasn't sure they belonged there and

she had to alert Momma to that fact!! I just can't begin to face the

very real idea of losing her...



Thank you sooooo MUCH to all the good ones I have known... I know

you are all at the bridge waiting for me, and I very much appreciate

the impact you have made on my life...

[cherandbuster]

Val

Your memories are beautiful

Just beautiful :-4

[chonsigirl]

Oh Val, such sweet memories of your pets!

:-4

Yes, they all wait for us over the bridge. When someone I loved very much was dying, he asked me what I wanted him to do for me in heaven. I asked him to watch out for my one baby (through a miscarriage) and take care of my beloved animals until I got there. I know they are in good hands and happy until I see them all again one day.

[Sheryl]

all the stories have been wonderful and so filled with love.



People are always dumping animals out at the farm. A few years back someone pulled up and shoved a full grown border collie out the door. Dave saw it all happen and thought of going after the folks, but he got sidetracked with the dog. He checked her over and saw she was just a little malnourished, so without calling me he brought her home. I didn't mind, she was a gorgeous dog. Dave ended up naming her D-O-G. We had just had Zakk so I was weary of how she'd react to a baby, but she was wonderful. If Zakk started crying she would go and sit in front of his swing or baby carrier and just stare at Zakk. When Zakk started crawling he spent many a hour crawling all over D-O-G. She would just lay there and let him, even when she was big pregnant. When she grew tired, she'd just get up and move. Sadly she had a thing for chasing diesel pickups and one day she was hit by one when she was out with Dave on the farm.



At Christmas that year we got Blue, a red heeler pup. He was given to Dave but we soon figured out Blue wanted Zakk for his master. Zakk was just bout to turn 2, and they were inseparable. In fact it was Zakk who gave Blue his name. So we often get comments on why our dog who is red named Blue. We just smile and say our son named him. I remember one day starting a load of laundry and Zakk waltzes in the back door holding a dead rabbit. I of course screamed and told him to throw it outside, but he was so excited because him and Blue had been rabbit hunting. So I listened to his story and had to laugh. He told me had shot the rabbit, but I knew it Blue who had done the hunting.

Blue is also the house guard dog. At night you can hear him making his rounds checking to make sure everyone is in their beds.



Now we have Blue and Bodee. Bodee is still a pup, a giant pup though. He's a Wiemaraner. He's goofy and cracks me up all the time.

[cherandbuster]

Sher --

I think Weimaraners are especially beautiful. Their taupe-colored coats, so soft and velvety, and the light eyes that sparkle.

Loved the stories :-4