52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy #17 DID we have pets!?

Through the years many animals have graced my life and allowed me  to be friend them.

My very first best friend was a border collie named Tippy.  I don’t really recall him other than pictures that family members have.  He was my grandparents dog (family dog).  Mom told me that anytime we would leave the house or come visit. Tippy had to come over and wash my face, smell me and make sure I was okay and all in one piece.  I am not sure how he handled me walking, probably as graciously as he handled not being the center of attention anymore. Babies do that to dogs, the poor things!

The first animal that I recall was a black and white dog, that was a stray. I don’t recall if I gave it a name but he/she was a friendly dog ( of course Mom warned me not to bother strays)  we made a place for the dog to sleep in the garage. I can’t recall what happened to it. I am not sure if we took it to the pound or if it just stopped coming around.

Along about 1972 Mom brought home a lil black momma cat. We named her Geraldine, I dare  you to figure out how she got her name..”the devil made us do it!” She was a sweet heart of a cat. We would share ice cream cones and such. Yeah I know some of you are thinking yuk! Yah know when you’re a kid you don’t much think about the fact that she cleans herself with that tongue. Next came her kittens and her grandkittens, Boogles and Ned. Oh did I mention they were all of them black cats. They crossed our paths often and I would say nothing bad, other than those things that natural happen in life, happened to us while we were in their company. They both were great cats with amazing personalities. Ned I think was the one with the most quirks of the bunch. He was totally my sisters cat,well okay she was his human,  by that time I had  married and  living in my home.

By this time I had gained a dog in lawher name was Princess and she was my husbands dog. She was a wonderful little cocker/collie mix. The vet told the family that she would never have pups. Heck what do doctors and vets know anyway! Not much for when she was seven years old a she became a Mommy for the first time. Three pretty little pups, I am not sure where they all went, but I do recall one pretty little brown/black/white young lady that we had for awhile and her name was Mandy. Mandy taught her Mom how to get out under the fence (such a bright child!) and we would find them sitting on our front porch when we got home from work….well she then again met up with a male friend and was with pup again. We then decided that she needed to be fixed. So much for the advice of the vet!  She lived to be 18 yrs old, and was a wonderful member of our family for many years.

Wow this list is getting big and I am not even near done! When Princess was about 17 or so, hubbie thought that the kids needed a dog of their own to take care of and I am sure he knew Princess would not be around much longer. So the “Easter Bunny” adopted a six month old pure bread Basset Hound that the kids and mom names Buster Brown The Ugly Hound and that is the way it was put on his official papers! Buster or Buzz for short were his nicknames. He was a great dog, loved the kids and was protective of anything that entered his yard. The neighbor kids would come over and play in the back yard and he would let anyone in, but if you were not to leave with his little friends! If you were a stranger you were allowed into the yard and not out. You were now his!
He was with us for about 10 years and we lost him to what I think might have been cancer. That was about 1998.

Oh wait I forgot two guinea pigs!  Their names were Goofy and Chocolate and belonged to my oldest daughter along with a bunny named Ihop.

The next critter to adopt us was a wee little yellow kitten.  On a cold fall evening we heard a pitiful sound in the front yard, thinking it was some-kind of injured bird or wild animal. It certainly didn’t sound like a kitten, but there she was and when I opened the front door she made herself at home and has been here ever since. Her name Shadow and her names comes from the fact, she loved to chase shadows as a kitten. Shadow has been with us for about 8 years now and attached herself to our youngest daughter. Now that she is away at school, Shadow, who we almost lost because she grieved herself sick when her girl left, has become my best buddy.

Shadow has this thing for socks or any loose cloth on the floor, she gathers them up in piles maybe I should have named her socks 😀

 

 

We’ve had a few scorpions and few fish tanks full of fish. Our son at the moment has a  bearded lizard named Lizzy and the last addition to our home is a

dog. His name is Tanner. He is Daddy dog and the biggest baby and heart breaker that has ever been in this home. Tanner is now a 3-year-old Pug, Beagle mix and  called Puggles. He is smart little fellow.

Animals can be a great addition to any family.  Our pets have  been wee little blessings and wonderful little friends.

I can’t say if there will be any more little friends, but I am guessing with out track record there will many more little critter roaming our hall ways.

 

 

Julie Hogston - Visit Website

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