The Story of my Pets
OK. Finally, I have time to type something out about my beloved pets.
First of all, let me tell u a little bit about my previous pets. Throughout my childhood I have always loved dogs, cats, hamsters, rabbits, birds, lizards, turtles, guinea pigs, basically anything you could keep as a pet (except for frogs which i'm terrified of for some reason). My first pet ever was a golden retriever named Tramp. He was such a sweetheart. He was given to my parents after my mom's coworker's golden retriever got pregnant by the golden ret. next door. I was about 5 and my sister was 3. He was a fun pup. He ended up contracting parvo but he lived through it after 3 days in the hospital. My parents wouldn't let us keep him inside but he was in the backyard with lots of space and a nice doghouse. He was probably only ever alone when I was in school because in the morning and in the afternoon, all my sister and me would do was play with him. He was really smart and never got in the habit of jumping up on us or anything. He ended up contracting Lyme Disease and having joint problems and arthritis at an early age. He died from a poisonous spider bite when he was only 2 1/2.
After Tramp, we had doves, parakeets, hamsters, turtles, and lizards. We ended up finding homes for most of them with friends and then gave the hamsters to my second grade teacher since her classroom hamster had died.
We then had no more pets until we got two rabbits, Snowflake (a himalyan) and Feline (who we then had to change to Felix after realizing "she" was a he). We had them for several years until we moved to Puerto Rico and could not take them with us. We gave them to a man who had a farm and raised rabbits.
In Puerto Rico, I found my best friend, Lady. She was a lab/mutt mix who was being given away by her owner on the street corner. I took one look at her and made my parents stop. She was gorgeous, even though she was flea/tick infested. I went to a local grocery store and bought some puppy chow, flea/tick stuff, bowls, and puppy shampoo and got home and went to work. I got all the ticks off her and was able to get most of the fleas out with the flea comb. I took her inside with me and put her in a box with a blanket, a ticking clock and a warm water bottle becuase I knew that puppies were comforted by the ticking and the warmth. It didn't work and she ended up sleeping on my pillow the rest of the night. She grew up to be a lovely, sweet dog. She picked up on training easily and though she never had formal training, she knew down, sit, stay, and come. She never tore anything up and she loved us very much. (She passed away this year after she got loose and got hit by a car.
She was 5 1/2.)
Goldie came to us in PR as well.
Goldie's Picture She was free becuase my father's cousin gave her to us. We got her when she was 6 weeks old. She was full of worms and fleas and we noticed she was very weak. We made an appointment to get her shots and dewormed but it was a few days later. 3 Days after we got her, before we were able to take her to the vet, she collapsed at night and stopped eating and began vomiting. We took her to the emergency vet an hour away and we found out that she was severely anemic due to the worms. She had to stay for 4 days, having tansfusion after transfusion to save her. She eventaully got better and was put on a high calorie food to build her strength up. A few weeks later she was running around, active and chunky like a puppy should be. We have had her for 3 1/2 years, she'll be four in December 25.
Tyson came along later.
Tyson's picture He came when we moved to AZ. My husband saw some people selling puppies on Valentine's Day and he called me to go see one that he fell in love with. (this was before I really understood how terrible backyard breeding is.) He originally had his eye set on a yellow male but he was sold already. His next favorite was the largest chocolate male. I got there and Tyson waddled up and fell asleep on my shoe. It was love at first sight. We took him home and could not think of a name for him. I thought he was so gorgeous he should have an extra good name. I then thought of my favorite model, whose first name is Tyson and I said "a ha!" And so he was named. He is a great dog. He's 8 months and the sweetest dog you'll meet. He follows me around all the time and is content to lay at my feet while i'm doing homework or watching tv. he's afraid of the sewing machine so he wont hang out with me then, but otherwise, he's like velcro. He is good with my dd too. She loves to pet him and hug him and he just stays very still and cuddles up with her. Becuase of him and all the research I did when he was younger, I now know all about byb and how to avoid them and I volunteer at the animal shelter so that hopefully, dogs just as great as him can find good homes.
There's the condensed version of our pets and their stories. I am soooo glad we finally have this forum at MDC> Where else could I go on and on about my furries?
I'm sorry. That's really old for a greyhound, isn't it? My sister was just talking about getting a greyhound track rescue later this year - I hear they're great dogs.
mamallama, I'm sorry about Jerry. I know it must be hard. I still cry for my girl who died from complications of kidney disease in February. She was a seven year old German shepherd dog.
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