Change Your Life—Get a Pet…or Pets

theflyingcharlie
*Photo of Charlie from The Pioneer Woman

Welcome to a new week! I hope your weekend was wonderful. Mine was busy and it is cold here in Utah, snow yesterday and today, so no outside fun. Thanks to my troops we were able to get some cleaning done here and I even used white vinegar on my wood floors and baking soda to scrub the kitchen sink. I’m not sure how productive weekend cleaning is, though, with the whole family at home and Riley’s entourage partying in the basement.

Speaking of animals…did I write that out loud? Sorry, I needed a transition and that one seemed a bit funny…maybe?

Do you have a pet or pets at your house? Do your pets live inside or outside? Do you consider a goldfish a pet? We have pets and if you do consider a goldfish a pet, we have 6 pets and 3 live inside always and 3 are inside or outside depending on the weather, the shedding cycle, the bathing cycle, and how irritating they are at the moment. As I write, the dogs are outside, and the cat is inside playing with Joe and his laser pointer…I think I will send them both outside with the dogs!

Here are some of the reasons our family acquires pets…and some of the reasons we keep pets:

-we are suckers for baby animals…and then they grow up and we have to keep them.
-we think it is good for our girls to learn to care for animals…and they really do so we have to keep them.
-we think it is fun to watch our dogs run around the yard…and they are great companions when we run around the fields for miles and miles and miles so we have to keep them.
-we get bored and we think a new pet will add some zest…and then we have to keep them.

We have had several pets come and go over the year. But our Springer Spaniel, Bo, has hung in there for the past 8 years…and we are hoping he will hang in there for a few more. A few months ago we were worried that he wouldn’t be around much longer. We were sad and we knew we would need another dog right away, so when Belle showed up on our porch every day for a week, we decided to keep her. She is a good dog and she makes us happy, but most of all she has gotten old Bo to not act quite so old. Our springer spaniel now has a spring in his step again and that makes us all happy!

Here is a story about Bo…and Belle:

This is Bo.

DSC_0287

Bo likes to eat and lay around because he is old.
Here he is gazing over the fields remembering when he was a pup.

DSC_0288

Now he is leisurely grooming as he lays in a warm patch of sunlight.

DSC_0290

Now Bo is ready to rest.

DSC_0289

Bo is snoozing…but not for long.

DSC_0276

This is Belle.

DSC_0279

Belle like to run and play because she is a puppy.
Here she is trying to get Bo to play with her. “Please play, Bo.”

DSC_0319

Bo doesn’t want to move, so Belle gives him a playful nip…

DSC_0299

…that isn’t so playful anymore.

DSC_0298

Scary!


DSC_0314

Bo still doesn’t want to move and Belle still wants to play.

DSC_0320

Another nip from Belle to Bo.

DSC_0326

Bo finally gets up and looks at me like this… “Why did you do this to me?”

DSC_0329

Belle looks at me like this… “What?”

DSC_0328

I look at both of them and say “hey…things change!”

For more dog stories, read about Ree’s new puppy here and Amanda’s muddy dogs here.

If you are thinking about a pet, read about some of the health benefits of owning a pet here.

No comments:

Post a Comment