My Pet Ownership (Part 2)

Some pets stay with us for a long time, while others much shorter periods. After the loss of my Persian cat, (see Part 1) I did not want another pet of my own. However, in her infinite wisdom, my aunt gave me a Chihuahua for my twelfth birthday. As I was used to a large Alsatian, this tiny little thing seemed so fragile in comparison. I called her Poppet and cradled her in my arms most of the time. At the same time, my youngest sibling was maneuvering a baby walker around the house and bumping into everything, including everyone’s ankles. This would result in peals of laughter from him and screams of pain from us. Chasing Poppet became a great game and the poor animal would squeeze herself behind the sofa to escape. Unluckily, for Poppet, she was not always fast enough, and my baby brother would grab one of her back legs and swing her around before letting go. This was too much for me and my parents, so Poppet was returned to my aunt with thanks and an explanation that for her own safety it was best. I satisfied myself with our new Alsatian, also called Nikki and the puppies she produced, all thirteen of them for some time as well as the guinea pigs and rabbits.

With the event of leaving school, nursing training and young adult life, I did not have a pet of my own for a long time. This changed after I saw at a local fair the most magnificent dog I had ever seen. A Rottweiler. It was love at first sight. I vowed to have one. It took longer than expected but eventually I was the proud owner of a six-week-old Rottweiler puppy. I religiously trained him and kept a routine for over a year, of walks, training and feeding. Bru was such a special dog and grew to be enormous! He was a gentle giant. My life changed with marriage and a baby and Bru was my constant companion and protector of me and my young son. When we lost him, I vowed no more pets. Famous last words, as they say.

It took a long time for the idea of another dog to come to fruition, another baby and a new home to be exact. We found our little mongrel at a rescue organization b chance. The dog we thought we were going to adopt took a dislike to my son, for whatever reason so the volunteer showed us a little scrap of a black puppy. She was a strange mix of what we thought was a Labrador and a lurcher. Spindly legs, rounded body and a long nose. Having been handed in unwanted, taken to one rescue and then driven to another the poor thing was afraid she was being left elsewhere for a few days. She was so small I could carry her around in a cat carrier. I noticed she would get into the carrier when I was getting the kids ready for school. She knew the routine within days. Luckily, at that time I worked from home, so she always had company. She became my shadow. The children named her Twinkle, because of the white marking on her chest. She even travelled with us to Canada when we immigrated and enjoyed life on an acreage a lot. We lost her to cancer and that was devastating. No more pets, I cried and meant it.

Fast forward nearly five years and my life has changed a lot! The kids are fully grown and living in their own homes and I have a single life. Just over two years ago, I found myself looking at small fluffy dogs and knew the want only too well. I resisted – until I couldn’t resist any more when I saw two sorrowful brown eyes looking up at me from the rescue website. My newest faithful companion is Sammie. And I can’t imagine life without her now.