One spring afternoon in the early years of our marriage, my husband went home for lunch one day and found a very skinny, very pregnant dog lying in our neighbors’ flower bed. They said they didn’t know where she came from, but they did know that they had no interest in keeping her. Since D has never met a dog for which he did not feel immediate, heart-wrenching affection, he fixed the dog some water and some food. And when I got home a few hours later, Mystery Dog had moved to the flower bed in front of our house. Since we already had a dog – a lab who was several months old – I was bound and determined that THE STRAY DOG, SHE WOULD NOT WIN ME OVER.
But she was covered in fleas.
And she was scared.
And she was clearly great with puppies.
So, you know, I took her inside and gave her a bath.
We decided that night that we’d take care of her until her puppies arrived, but then – AND WE MEANT IT – we’d find her a good home. Sure enough, we managed to find great people for every single of one of those puppies, but the dog – who we’d since named Ally McBeal because, well, she looked like she could use a good steak dinner – showed no signs of wanting to leave. We talked about it and made a decision to keep her, but she was going to have to be an outside dog. Plain and simple. The end.
One night a few weeks later D was out of town, and it was raining. In south Louisiana it always seems like it’s raining sideways, or at least it did to me, and I felt a little sorry for Ally the Skinny Dog who was in our backyard. I decided that spending one night in our bedroom wouldn’t hurt a thing, and besides, it wasn’t going to be a regular occurrence. So I put a towel on the floor of our bedroom, called her inside, and she curled up on that towel like it was the world’s finest dog bed. She never made a sound – but her sweet little eyes told me that she was grateful.
I’ll have you know that Miss Ally never slept outside again.
So now it’s almost twelve years later, and while we have no idea how old Ally was when she came to us, we tell ourselves that she was one. Because if she was, say, five or six, then that would make her a Really Old Dog at this point. And we don’t want for her to be a Really Old Dog. We want for her to stay with us forever. It’s where she belongs.
We know that Ally is getting older. The beige marks on her face have turned white, and her formerly jet-black coat is sprinkled with gray. But she’s just as sweet and loving as she was that day we found her in the flowerbed. She makes regular trips to the doggy beauty shop, rests on three different dog beds that are scattered throughout our house, gets lots of hugs and kisses from a certain second grader, and basically has the run of our house. And recently, when we switched her to Purina Pro Plan Selects food (the Natural Chicken & Brown Rice formula), she overcame her initial uncertainty and decided that mealtime is the very best time of day. She loves her new food, and we feel so good about giving it to her. It’s made from brown rice, real chicken, and it’s loaded with protein (it even has whole egg protein to make Ally’s coat all nice and shiny). After all, we want to take really good care of her so that she’s part of our family for a really long time.
What can I say? She really is the best dog in the whole wide world.
We’re so glad she found us.
If you’d like to enter win a $100 Visa gift card courtesy of BlogHer, just leave a comment that answers the following question: what’s something fun or special that you like to do for your pet? Do you keep a stockpile of special treats? Do you go on hikes together? Do you like to snuggle up on the couch and watch TV?
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Coda has a dog bed in our room that he falls asleep on but many mornings when I wake up, he has at some point jumped into bed and under our covers so he can be near us. Good thing he’s a 7 lb dog:)
Lucy likes nothing better than to curl up behind my knees on the couch. Unfortunately, I don’t sit still for long, but when I know she’s in a deep, happy sleep back there, I’ll stay down for awhile. :-)
We rent a house on a huge stream/river in the mountains every year. Our dog loves the water, and it is secluded enough he can run around and swim safely without anyone else around to get water shaken on them- except for his beloved family.
He absolutely is in his element when we take him there, and he almost always treats us with some sort of dead rat/mole brought to us as a prize. Ashli
Abby, the best Cocker Spaniel on earth, has a toy box. A full one.
Rascal, my Jack Russell Terrier Mix, knows his spot his on my lap whenever I read (which of often!)
When I was pregnant with my two-year-old, I was on bedrest for the last 10 weeks. My two kitties were determined to keep me company, and at least one of them was on me at all times. Now that life is back to normal, we all cuddle on the couch together. My son loves them, and they love having someone new to cuddle with.
I don’t currently have a pet, but growing up I had the Best Dog Ever. Her name was Snickers. She worked at the nursing home my mom where my mom worked. She was a therapy pet for the residents. After she got big enough, she needed a place to stay overnight, so she came to our house. One morning we left her outside too long, and she thought she was supposed to go to work. So she did. We found her at the nursing home. After a few years, she was fired for nipping at a visitor because she thought she was protecting the residents. Then she came to live with us permanently. My sister was 9 years older than me, so I was practically an only child. And that dog was my BFF. She was a brilliant English Shepherd. Snickers was very protective of me – so much so that my parents started leaving me home alone while they traveled when I was in 8th grade. They weren’t worried, because Snickers was there. Her very favorite thing was a good game of fetch. And the day we had to put her to sleep was one of the only days I have ever seen my dad cry. Snickers is the reason I will one day talk the husband into a dog. And now I will do my periodic petfinder.com search.
Oscar the little white peekapoo was my first “child” and now shares the house with 2 (soon to be 3!) kids. He was an only child the first 7 years with us and has definitely had to accommodate the growing family. Now his pampering comes from spending time on the couch with just us after the kids are in bed. I don’t think he’d trade it for any toy or treat in the world!
We like to take our pups (6 and 7 years old) for rides in the car. They get so excited when you ask them if they want to go for a ride.
Something special we do for our dog? The real question is what DON’T we do… We always make pancakes on Saturday mornings. Yes we have given our miniature pinscher Axel a small “baby” pancake just for him. He LOVES it, and it is his only people-food treat.
We are on the lookout for a new dog right now… to love and spoil.
1. I love Ally. She had my heart, too, the first time I met her. Sweetness.
2. My dog, Piper, the 7 lb fluff ball, loves to go for SHORT rides in the car. She’s a CHAMP at carpool. But anything further than that causes her to pant and shake. So we ride (short distances) a LOT. Love her.
Here’s my tweet about the giveaway: http://twitter.com/#!/KSuzanne428/status/86481113777831936
I borrowed a DVD for my dog from a person who shall remain nameless. It’s some sort of dog babysitting DVD, which is supposed to entertain or comfort her while we are away. I am going to try it out for my dog today – that will be her treat. :)
My cats are pro-snugglers. They also like to play fetch and kill spiders, so they are all around amazing.
Maizy, our fur-child, likes to go for rides – you say the word, she goes nuts, running to the door and back to us until we go outside. She has a little ritual she does every time. It is hilarious. And it doesn’t matter where we go, so long as she gets her head out the window.
In between the time when my husband and I get up, our corgi/German shepherd mix likes to get up on the bed to snuggle with me. It always makes mornings 100% better!
Now that it’s summer, I make my dog homemade doggie ice cream. It’s bananas, peanut butter and yogurt, which goes into the ice cream maker. Crumble a peanut butter biscuit on top and it’s a great hot-weather treat! It’s tasty enough for humans to eat but not very sweet.
I tweeted this giveaway: http://twitter.com/#!/corgipants/status/86488774225305600
I let her sleep in the bed with us….and pretty much attach herself to me at all times AT ALL TIMES!!! when I am home :)
when I put Stella down for a nap, I go in the yard and play with Honey and Blossom. They like having a little private time with me, and I like it, too.
We like snuggling to watch movies and she has her own bin full of different toys and treats.
Our LucyMae is the darling of the household. We (of course) do keep special treats for her–the favorite being the dehydrated chicken strip. She sleeps in son #2s bed until mommy and daddy retire and then she assumes her rightful place in the master bed. Sometimes, I wake up in the middle of the night and there is a boston terrier laying beside me with her head on the pillow like a human.
We. Love. Our dog. sorry to blubber about it. Her birthday is coming up next week and you just reminded me that I need to go shopping for just the right thing. It might involve something edible.
My dog and I snuggle up and watch TV together every night. She’s the little spoon and I’m the big spoon. It’s the time I most look forward to each day.
I like to snuggle with our puppy.
Tag the Wonder Dog is older, but still hasn’t told a single secret that I’ve shared with him! We all “sneak” him treats, but pretend to be horrified if someone else does it!
My Ginger gets the bacon grease poured on her food every Sunday.
I use to share my popcorn with Domino, she loved popcorn!!!
We love to snuggle up with our dog and jogging together.
tcarolinep at gmail dot com
tweet.http://twitter.com/tcarolinep/status/86529928434155520
I’m getting a maltese puppy next week and I’m def going to be cuddling and sleeping with her!
tweet http://twitter.com/#!/aes529/status/86543512404901888
Patches, the Best Cat Ever is a cherished member of our family. We love to pet her and brush her, which she loves. We also give her treats. One of her favorite treats is juice from a can of tuna!
My dogs Annakin (yes as in Star Wars) and Bella love the sprinklers…I think more so than the kids and literally chase it back and forth as it goes around. They also happen to love sno cones and will catch the ice in their mouth as we throw it to them with our straws.
Our Henry likes when we throw his dragon so he can chase it. He also really likes to be brushed. We do watch a lot of TV together, but not so much on the walks. He has really bad hips and walking for very far or very long really makes him hurt. As for treats, he has a veritable stock pile. He loves a good treat, but really loves cheese and eggs! Henry may be a tad spoiled. We got him at the animal shelter and I think I may be trying to make up for his bad life before… He’s a great dog!
I downloaded an ipad game called Cat Fishing for my fur baby Pumpkin. She gets the fun of pawing at an ever-moving fish, and I get to say my cat wins at iPad games. ;)
My dog Cleo and I love to take walks through our neighborhood. She even has a new “boyfriend,” Buddy, who is a Pomeranian and lives a few streets over.
Okay, no joke, a stray cat just showed up a couple of weeks ago in our backyard and watched us for a week, A WEEK OF THE STARING FROM A CAT ON THE BACK FENCE, and eventually decided we were safe enough to come down. Being a Smart Cat, he knew to go straight to my hubs who is also 3800 kinds of tenderhearted towards animals, and not to me, who is downright sassy and practical about the whole “pet” thing. So anyway, Mr. All Heart fed the thing and henceforth and heretofore we’ve unofficially adopted him as our cat. First pet for the kids.
So, to answer the question. We have given our new “pet” a family, now isn’t that a nice story? His name is “Oliver.” (as in “Oliver Twist”)
Oh so sweet!
What I do for my pet is nag my husband to get us a dog! :) I really want one and so do the kids!
We currently don’t have a pet, because I have four children who take enough time and energy to care for, but growing up we had the best dog ever named Max, who let us lie down by him and use him as a pillow. He also didn’t mind when the barn cats brought their kittens to snuggle with him!
We have a rescue lab that my daughter loves to suprise with stuffies! with squeekies that take the dog all of 10 seconds to remove. :)
Well, our pets are our chickens so we mostly just feed them. It keeps them pretty happy. I do throw the old blueberries and blackberries to them and they like that a lot!
We love to watch our little malti-poo run and run across the house when she gets too much stored energy which makes our blind scnhnauzer bark and bark. Oh, it’s a good time in our house when this happens!!
Our family loves the sweetest little poodle named Lizzy. She is the queen bee around our house. For fun, we love to watch her chase the squirrels in our yard and she is also a “kitty” wrangler. If our outdoor cat sneaks inside….Lizzy rounds her up and runs her out. All we have to do is say….”Lizzy, GET THE KITTY!” and she is on it. :)
What a SWEET story–lucky Ally (and you!) :)
Most often the fun thing I like to do for my sweet Cosmo is rub the inside of his ears. It makes him SO happy and relaxed, and for that simple thing he looks at me like I’ve just given him a piece of Angus beef!
Our dog Maggie doesn’t get to come upstairs with us, because our old cats had that area staked out way before she came along, but we snuggle lots on the couch when downstairs together, and keep her toys all over the place, even though I don;t let the kids do that.
Duchess, our black pug, is pretty spoiled. She has bad knees now and so she has a hard time jumping up into our bed. Usually she falls asleep in one of the kids beds and sleeps with them a while. Then, sometime in the middle of the night she comes down to our bed. When she gets to our bed she comes to my side and pushes against the mattress until I wake up and reach down to lift her up onto the bed. Then, she proceeds to take up all of the room in our king size bed. Not sure how she accomplishes this, as she only weighs 20 pounds, but trust me – she does. And, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Tada used to take naps with me on hot summer afternoons. The best dog ever. I still miss her.
we gave our dog a really great home! When he “found” us – he was
digging in our trash looking for food. he was so cute we started feeding him and now he has been with us ever since – we’ve had him about a year now
i tweeted here:
http://twitter.com/#!/bellows22/status/87226403040411648
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