By G. Michael Dobbs
news@thereminder.com
The world can be divided up in many ways and pet lover and non-pet lover is one way to divvy up humanity.
Now, being a pet lover myself, I do admit I really don’t understand the position non-pet lovers take. I only know why I do love pets.
I’m sure it’s both a product of DNA and environment. Both of my parents were dedicated animal lovers. My father would recount his closest friend growing up poor and hardscrabble in Depression era Alabama was the family dog.
My mom kept photos of her and her dog when she was a teen to the day she passed.
It was difficult for me to escape my fate. Dogs and cats have been an integral part of my entire life.
As a little kid living in 16 Acres, my brother and I had turtles and later a hound dog named Pete. Pete made an exit – it was unclear to me for years – and replaced by a beagle my parents dubbed Lulu. The name was chosen because I had problems pronouncing words with “l” correctly and the speech therapist believed this would help me.
Lulu was a character and lived with us for years. While we lived in Granby, she disappeared one day and despite an extensive search, we never found her. She was quite up in years at that point and we believed that she might have wandered back into the wood to pass.
Weeks later, my father heard a story of a family that took in an elderly beagle. They were happy with her and the dog seemed happy with them. He never pursued it, as he didn’t want to upset the family or Lulu.
My wife and I had cats but not a dog until we bought our home in 1990. We adopted a Husky/German shepherd mix we called Bear.
Bear was soon joined by two sisters, Tia and Shadow, lab mixes. We had cats and three dogs. Yes, we are nuts.
The three dogs were wonderful companions, but for the first time in my life, a dog chose me to be her person. Bear literally loved everyone in the family and our friends, but I was her boy.
The number of dogs swelled with the introduction of Lucky, a bichon our foster daughter bought, then found could not stay with them. My wife bought a baby carrier, which she wore around the house with the puppy in it. That way the three adult dogs could get used to his scent. Eventually we introduced Lucky to the three dogs and for the most part they became fast friends.
The three older dogs passed, leaving Lucky as the sole dog. Yes, we had several cats who were always special to us as well, but the attitude a dog exhibits frequently makes the species a little more enduring.
Lucky was a willful little guy but very loving and a great companion. If I was gone someplace he would sit and wait for me. If my wife were absent, he would sit and stare at the door waiting for her. He had to sit next to her, but he had to sleep next to me.
Lucky and our parade of pets has been on my mind as Lucky, at age 19, had to be put down to prevent any more suffering. It was a very sad day.
Pets have been a blessing in many ways, but they also have caused the pain and grief that the departure of a beloved family member causes.
My wife and I have five cats, all of who have contributed love to the household. They are all rescues.
Ginger was a cat a friend gave us because she could no longer keep him. DG and Juliet were strays that came into our yard and didn’t leave. Boo belonged to a neighbor and he adopted us. The neighbor, who was constantly asking me for money to pay for cats, willingly gave Boo up.
Our final cat is Troi and he was again a stray living on our front porch. He is a playful cat who loves my wife but obsesses over me. He will follow me from room to room, sitting and watching me. I think he is actually Bear reincarnated.
We have decided, now that we are officially old, not to have another dog. We wouldn’t, however, trade any of the moments we’ve had with them.
G. Michael Dobbs is the managing editor of Reminder Publishing LLC, and Prime’s local columnist.
