What I learned from my Pets

[laila,]

I cannot and will not lie, this story is about a cat. The cat in question did not belong to me and was however my next door neighbour.

Rui

Oh ho, Rui was such a sweetie pie. He was a grey and white tabby with moss green eyes and a small white mustashe marking under his nose. Rui had claws but refused to use them to harm a human, he was the cutest. Rui wasn't only cute he was smart, he learnt the time that I would arrive home from school. He would wait and greet me before I ushered him into my own house for half an hour. Rui's owners went away often and would leave out packets of food for me to feed him, he was locked out of the house for weeks at a time and in the midst of a storm I was forced to tip over the recycling bin, put in a blanket and force Rui inside. Rui would leave me 'presents' of dead mice and wouldn't leave them for anyone else. Two years ago he moved away with a different owner, I remember him standing at the car window and tracing the window with his paw in desperation to get to me. I haven't seen him since and I loved him so much, he was so kind even though his owners neglected him. They actually asked before they moved away if we would like to keep him. My mother turned the offer down and I hate that she did. Rui taught me that the people who wanted you were not the ones destined to love you.

I hope you are well, Rui <3

[clover.]

Awwww. Rui probably misses you a lot.

Jake

Jake was a Great Pyrenees dog we used to have, we raised him from a puppy. We had to get rid of him about 2 years ago. He was a really sweet dog. He lived outside and loved to play fetch. If I walked to far away from our house he would bite down on my pant leg and drag be back. We had a lot of good times together. Well later he got the habit of chasing the neighbor's horse. He made it fall down a few times and almost break its leg. Well then we put him on a long dog chain that sticks into the ground. He kept getting tangled around stuff and he acted miserable on the chain. But everytime we took him off of it he would chase the horse again. A few weeks later we gave him to the humane society. I cried myself to sleep that night. About a week later my dad said that he was gonna go get him back because he felt bad but when he called the humane society they said that he had already gotten adopted (i hope he's happy in his new home) I miss him so much . I'm tearing up just thinking about him.

What that taught me was that if you love something, set it free, if it comes back to you its yours but if it doesn't it was never meant to be.

[kay.]

So as I said in another post, my guinea pig has died. But I have a new happy story.

After Lilek has sadly passed away, my parents said that we will get 2 degus. Then the degus changed into a chinchilla. And only 2 days ago, into my most dream pet, a Long hair german shepherd puppy! Mostly the puppy part. We went for our first visit yesturday to choose one, then when they're ready on the 15th Sep we would get it. There were 5 puppies; 2 males, but both reserved for the 15th, and 3 females, all free! The puppies were all so similar in colour, it was hard to tell them apart. But they all had different personalities (Read 'Dreams Can Come True' for more info about the siblings), but one in perticular liked us. She kept on comming upto us and she cuddled and licked us, she was just the most gentle and calm. Even my parents, who wern't as much keen as me on getting a puppy (They wanted one, just not as much as me), fell in love with her. My mum picked her up and then my dad picked her up (She made the cutest, scared, sad puppy eyes when he held her 8D) and it was like love at first sight. So now, obviously, we chose her. At home we chose a name for her, Fiona, and are going shopping later this week. I am sooo looking forward to getting Fiona!

I had learned that life goes on, alot of good surprises await you when it does, and that sometimes we don't choose our new family, they sometimes just choose us.

[Sadies]

My dog helped me out when I was going through a tough time by just being there. He also helped me when I was out walking, a group of people started to insult me and they came after me. One of them tried to kick me and my dog grabbed his trouser leg and stopped him. The guy got scared and ran off, my dog kinda saved me from getting kicked or tripped and attacked. My dogs my best friend, I don't know what I would be without him.

[seattle]

from my cat i learned that cups filled with milk or water are never safe.

[Wlyrout]

The first time I remember asking for a dog, I was three or four. Well, actually, I don't really remember it, but my mom tells me so often how I used to beg for one, it's almost like a memory. And the answer was always the same: maybe for your tenth birthday. By the time I turned nine I was nearly bursting to get my own dog. And then my tenth birthday came. My mom told me that she still didn't think it was time, that maybe when I was a little more mature she'd re-consider. I burst into tears. I had waited six years for this, and now she was telling me that I had waited for nothing. So me and my dad went behind her back. We went to petfinder.com and found the most adorable litter of Rottie pups you've ever seen. Only a couple of weeks old, and only one left. A little female. We submitted an application for adoption, which was approved a couple of days later. Only my mom then got on my computer and found the application saved on a Word document. She got furious and told me that I'd never have a dog, and that she couldn't believe I'd gone behind her back. It only led to more tears.

But I wouldn't give up, and I re-recruited my dad to take me out to a breeder. There were Pitt bulls ("Your mother would kill you if you brought one of these home") and Labs. And there he was. A little golden Lab puppy, much more shy than his siblings. We took him out in the yard to play with him, and I fell in love. I nicknamed him Blue, and I thought he was going to be mine. But my dad said to not rush it, and so we thanked the owner and drove to the nearest shelter. None of the dogs there clicked with me. They were all small, fussy dogs, and I didn't really want a Yorkie or a Pom. So we went just outside the shelter, and my dad called my mom and told her where we were and that I had found a puppy that I simply adored. Well, she didn't explode as I thought she would. She just sighed and told me that if I was going to get a dog it had better be from a shelter, because she didn't like purebreeds.

I should have been satisfied enough with this judgement. But I couldn't be. I had fallen in love with Blue and I couldn't imagine leaving him behind. But she wouldn't give in. We drove home, and I cried the entire way.

It took me a long time to get over Blue. A really long time. And when my neighbor, who had worked part time at a local no-kill shelter, offered to drive me up there I was reluctant to go. But it was obvious that she was excited about something, and so I told her I'd go. In the car she showed me a picture of some furry black-and-white blob, explaining that she wouldn't sit still for her picture. I had sighed, thinking that I really didn't want or need a high-energy dog. But I didn't say anything.

When we got there she immediately led me to a restricted area in the back, telling me that she had to be kept away from the other dogs because she had just been spayed and they didn't want her to pull out her stitches. And then I saw her. I burst into tears again, but not from disappointment. She was the most perfect thing I'd ever seen. She reached up to my knee and was covered in black and white fur. She had been found on the streets at five months old, alone, thin, and covered with fleas and ticks. But she was the most loving, affectionate dog in that entire shelter. I brought her home a few days later and named her Katniss.

I have loved my Kat-Dog since the day I got her. I walk her twice everyday, we play fetch in the backyard and I teach her all sorts of tricks. She loves chasing her tail. I've even recently started her with a homemade agility course. She hasn't got the hang of it just yet, but she does really enjoy it. She sleeps at the foot of my bed and jumps all over me as soon as I'm awake. I couldn't ask for a more perfect companion.

What I've learned from Katniss? Everything. That in the end everything will turn out the way it's supposed to, that just because you've had a rough history doesn't mean you can't love. And that maybe love doesn't come to an end.

[Venatici]

(Note, this story is true and may induce crying. This actually happened to me, not some fake story I got off the internet.)



I never really asked for any dogs. Never did. Usually my dad or grandpa had one, and I treated it as my own. Well, when I was little, my dad had a little tiny toy dog named Peanut. She was a black and white Papllion who I adored and loved ever so dearly. She grew up with me, being the same age I was, even though she couldn't do too much as she was hit by a car when she was 1 or two, and had pins in her legs. She wasn't much fond of me when I was littler, because I had an admiration of her ears and always wanted to pet them. But, either way, we were pretty close.

I lived in a massive, and I mean massive five million dollar mansion. It was so big on rainy days I rode my scooter or bike inside. At the time we had six dogs. Peanut, Prosperity (A Malteese) and four dobermans, King, Queen, Sasha, and Dutchess. I loved the dobermans, since they were huge, but Peanut was my fondness of them all. She always follwed me around and always was worried when I was sad. So thats how it was for seven years, untill my Grandma died.

Now understanding my dad was almost never home, he had kicked my mom out of the house, so basically I was living with my Step-Mom, Grandpa, and Grandma. My Grandmother was a preacher, always dancing, always making me happy. She was the one who made sure that my dad didn't put my mom soley out of my life. Well, she had cancer, and she died in the hospital the day after I saw her.

Well, after she died, my mom asked my Grandfather to keep an eye on me. Well, he had a stroke. So my dad took advantage of this, and to shut me up he took the dogs, and told me my mom didn't love me. At the time, I was 8, so I wasn't too bright. So, for two years at that house, I never saw my mom, never talked to her, and was utterly depressed. But Peanut was there for me. She made me live through all that, as I became so pale and thin, never playing, having to take care of my step-sisters. I had always had trust issues, and Peanut helped me with them. Peanut was my best friend, and my practical only friend. At the time, it wasn't so bad. Well, compared to the next house, anway.

Peanut at this time was ten, as was I. We moved again, me knowing deep in my heart that my mom loved me. At this house I got my own room again, where I spent most of my time, because I never saw the light of day. I did alot of things there. Dishes, cleaning the pool, the backyard, the house, dusting, Vacumming (Never did it agian, I broke 3 vaccums in the cycle of a week), taking care of my sisters, making all the beds, feeding the pets and sweeping the floor, cooking, among other things. I was quite stubborn, often getting whacked and abused, as my dad got so mad once he pushed me down the stairs. Things gradually got worse, and then I had a snapping point. It was 5 Am in the morning, on a Saturday or Tuesday. I let out the dogs, at wich at the time I had Peanut, Prosperity, and Dutchess, (Whom everyone thought was Sasha, but I spent alot of time with them so I truely knew.) and then let Peanut back in a mintute or two later, since it was cold and I didn't want her pinned front legs to be cold. I went to do the dishes, Dutchess continually whining for no apparent reason. I went outside and shooed her away, and she kept going, so I let her inside. I called for Prosperity, but no answer. I of course thought,
"Oh, he is blind in one eye, he must've gotten lost in the small clump of trees."So I brought Peanut out, with a flashlight, in my Pajamas, looking for him, my maltese who was older than me. I searched around, and as I went to walk towards the shed, I accidentally flashed my light on the pool. Rather, an object in the pool. I dropped the flashlight and jumped in, to see my other best friend floating lifelessly at the deep end. I senselessly swam to the middle of the pool, grabbing him and hugging him to my chest before getting out of the pool and rushing inside, bursting in tears. I then was even more mad and angry, now sometimes refusing to do things and getting punished. Peanut and Dutchess were my only friends, Peanut always by my foot, by my side as the conditions got worse. My Step-Mom was an alcoholic, so about two years ago she started going insane. Her and my dad got into fights, me hiding in my room as they broke doors, sinks, you name it. The DHYFS got involved, and she was removed from the house. My dad was a Repo-Agent, meaning he wasn't home at night. So, just before my Step-Mom was removed, she found my mom. I was so happy, so elated. And my dad, no where else to turn, went to her, letting her take me to the movies, but then it got worse for him, and he had to ask her to watch my step-sisters.

So the one weekend my mom came over, she saw how bad it was. She said that she was moving to Colrado and that I was welcome. At the time, not to get my dad mad, I said I would stay with him, even though I wanted to go with her to bad. She said that I was allowed to go with her for the weekend to her house about 30 miles away, and so I did. I asked if I could take Peanut, since I was worried she might get hurt. So I took her with me to her house for the weekend.

Well, I told her that I wanted to go with her to Colorado. She called my dad, and he had a fit, threatening to kill me and her. Luckily, there was a PD station down the road, and a few days later I had a restraining order against him. We moved to Colorado, Peanut helping me along the way with my trust issues, teaching me that you always got to fight. She taught me almost everything, that dog. Sadly, were we were there were bears and coyotes that might take her while she was outside. I wanted the best for her, and that was to let her go. I gave her to a very nice lady who now is her comfort, as she was mine thirteen years ago. Peanut, the dog who lived through all the Kidnapping, the stress. The dog with the butterfly ears. The dog who taught me how to trust, how to fight, and most of all, how to do almost anything.

(Lol, sorry the longness. I've been meaning to get that out for a long time.)

[Farrah]

Wow, what an amazing story! Thanks for sharing it. Peanut sounded like a great dog.

[peppersdots]

So many sad, yet touching stories. Amazing what our furry friends can teach us.

Freda

My parents found her when she was just a kitten, alone on the street. They took her in, nursed her back to health and accepted her into the family. A few months later I was born. I would crawl around and smack at her batting tail, and she would bear it. Once a bit bigger, I would grab her and hold her tightly in the way a little kid holds their most beloved pet. She would play when she felt like it, nap when she could and slept in sun beams every chance she could. As I grew up, I began to appreciate her more. The world around me was shifting but she was my constant; we lost three cats, gained two more, and a puppy. We tried to have fish, then they all died. All manner of people came to see us.

In the past year, she grew weaker and more frail, especially mentally. She would stand on the table and utter a wild howl when she thought she was alone. She lost weight in her hips and finally it got bad enough that she could no longer put any weight on one leg. My parents decided it was time for her to be put down. After I had said one last goodbye, I went up to my room and cried for the first time since my grandpa died. I lost a friend and a teacher. She was 17 and a half when she had to be put down.

She taught me that, life is short, but sweet. That somethings never change while everything else does. And that just cause you're a little older doesn't mean you still can't do something, anything.

[Farrah]

Aww, I'm sorry about Freda. She seemed like a great cat. And I think your lesson is a good one.