Balto, on the left, is the elder statesman in our house. Bryn, on the right, tries Balto’s patience constantly. She is about 10 years his junior. They love to go running, especially in the snow. Photos by Susie Taylor
Lessons from the animals in my life
The only time I remember not having some sort of pet was when I was very young and my family lived in Cleveland. My dad wouldn’t allow us to have pets. He said it was because he didn’t want to deal with crying kids when the pet died. But I think the real reason was that he was heartbroken at the death of Bozo, the boxer we had when I was still a baby. I don’t remember Bozo, but even up to right before he died, my dad still talked about this silly dog, who only barked twice in his entire life and scared himself to death both times.
When I was 11, we moved from Cleveland to the wilds of rural Union County. My parents built a house in the middle of what used to be a farm field in central Ohio. We were surrounded by acres of corn and soybeans – plenty of room for a pet here and there. My five siblings and I had a long line of hamsters, fish, gerbils, birds, cats and, every now and then, a dog.
Pets can be teachers, therapists, best friends, nurses, wayward ball retrievers, swim partners, running buddies, and more. For me, this steady stream of animals and all their antics have taught me quite a lot about life. Here are just a few of those lessons:
- Enjoy what you have right now. Live in the moment. Don’t think about what happened yesterday or what might happen tomorrow. Now is the time to be present and connected to the important people and things in your life.
- Let your emotions show. Put your whole body into the excitement when the leash comes out or the treats container is opened. You were given the ability to prick your ears, smile wide, tilt your head and any number of other methods to get your point across. Use the skills the Great Dog in the Sky gave you.
- Someone else’s trash can definitely be someone else’s treasure. The unmatched sock, the t-shirt with holes, the old slipper that’s been forgotten under the couch, an old cat toy, a new cat toy. We seem to always have the dogs that can destroy those indestructible chew toys. And when you play, do it like no one is watching. Really enjoy yourself.
- Sleep where it’s soft. It doesn’t matter if it’s in the cat bed, or on a pile of clean clothes. If the space is soft and can support your weight, it’s fair game. Also, as soon as someone stands up and leaves a seat, hop on that bad boy! Not only is the space soft, but now it’s warm!
- Be happy to see someone, even if he or she have only been gone for a few minutes. I remember when our kids were small and I would be home with them all day trying desperately to not pull my hair out and make sure everyone lived until supper time. My husband would walk in the door after work and the kids would go crazy. “Daddy’s home!” Be like that when your boy walks to the mailbox and then comes back into the house. “You’re home! I missed you so much! Can we play now? Will you throw the ball?”
- When a lap is made, take it, even if it’s only for a few moments. I used to have a cat named Smokey. We affectionately called him a “lap whore” because the moment someone sat down and made a lap, he was right there to climb into it, curl up, and go to sleep. These days, I have a couple cats who try to get to my lap first every evening. I can almost see Cassie’s “Darn it” look when she jumps onto the couch only to find Jesse already occupying the most coveted sleeping space in our house — my lap. With her first choice already out of question, Cassie (the oldest of our six felines and a former barn cat who has three legs) curls up on the couch next to me as close as she can, and purrs away. I guess next to the lap is almost as good as being on the lap itself.
- Bark for the fun of it. We have a 100-pound shepherd mix and a 35-pound pit mix who doesn’t see very well. The big dog, Balto, will run to the middle of the back yard and start barking. Bryn, the little one, can’t see what Balto’s barking at, but it must be something good, so she runs to the same spot and looks where Balto is looking and starts barking, too. It’s even more fun when they do the barking game in the house, because we humans run from window to window to see what the commotion is all about. Besides, Evan (my oldest son who is blind) thinks it is the funniest thing on Earth when he hears the dogs bark. I think the dogs know he likes it.
- A well-timed hiss can save the day. Not only do we have two dogs, but we also have six … yes SIX … cats. Everybody usually gets along pretty nicely with each other, but there are those times when someone just wants to be able to walk through the house without being noticed by anyone else. So when the kitten, Bean, tries to chase or pounce on my “scaredy cat” Jeeter, a hiss, usually accompanied by a swipe of some outstretched claws, gets the message across really well. And if one of the dogs is a little too interested in the cats’ food bowls or try to join in the chasing and playing, a hiss and a swipe calms everyone down in no time.
- Sing loudly no matter what time of day it is. One of my older sisters had a parakeet when we were young. When that sister moved away to go to college, I became the proud caretaker of Lady. She would sing along with me while I practiced my flute, and if she wanted attention, she’d chirp and whistle until I opened her cage door and let her fly around my room. It didn’t matter how my day was going, or what kind of mood I was in, Lady’s songs always made me smile — except for those times I would forget to pull her cover over the cage before I went to sleep. Parakeet chirps at 2 a.m. are usually not welcome. It only took a couple times for me to ALWAYS remember to cover her cage before I went to sleep.
- Ask for what you want … food, water, outside, inside, pats on the head, ear scratches, whatever. You won’t get what you want if you don’t ask for it. Even though our dogs know they won’t get any food from our plates, they still beg with their big, sad, dopey dog eyes. Every now and then, someone caves and throws them a scrap. And they want to go in and out and in and out and in and … You get the idea. We have been joking that we need to get a button for Evan that will open and close the back door. Animals sit at it and scratch or meow or whine to be let out or let back in and Evan just laughs at them. I think he’d have a job if I could figure out how he could open and close the door from his wheelchair.
- When your people leave, you can be sad, but focus on who is left at home. They will need your kisses and attention. After my mom died a few months ago, I inherited her cats. They always were HER cats. They didn’t want to associate with anyone else in the house and used to hide from everyone except her. Since she’s been gone, Doodles and Jesse have come out of their shells. They jump up into other people’s laps and seek out attention from almost everyone in the house. They have been such a comfort since my mom’s passing.
Maybe the lessons they’ve taught me aren’t all about how to live. They’ve taught me how to deal with death, too. And, even though saying goodbye to a beloved pet is heartbreaking, the love they gave while alive more than made up for any regret I may have had after they died.
So, to all the pets I’ve loved before (Patches, Penelope, Ben, Bandit, Bo, Hunter, Lightning, Chevy, Smokey, Gidget, Kara, Coalby, Goatee, Jack, and all the others) and to all the pets I continue to love today (Balto, Bryn, Cassie, Jeeter, Bean, Taco, Doodles and Jesse), thank you for sharing your lives with me and for showing me that love comes in all sizes, shapes, colors and species.
How about you? What have your pets taught you? Post in the comments below or email me at susie@stix-n-stonez.com
Until next time … blessings to you,
Susie from Stix-N-Stonez.com