Yearn for a pet but worry you’re not qualified? In this post, guest blogger Cathi addresses just about every possible apprehension.
Can you think of more reasons?
Intro written by Cathi to her post below: “Cathi writes a blog about growing older with silliness, high spirits and a lot of heart. It’s a series of conversations with anything and everything in the universe. She believes we’re all still evolving and are part of something bigger. Here’s a conversation with a kitten who is wondering if he will be someone’s last pet:”
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Don’t care for dogs? Scared of them? No matter. Give one enough time and they’ll will make you fall in love with them. If you take a look first here, and secondly here, and then lastly here, you’ll understand how I’m my own best example of this!
I was truly honoured to be asked to write this, my first guest post!
I would like to introduce you to Molly, also known as ‘Mollymop’, ‘Fuzzbutt’, or several other less repeatable names depending on her current level of mischievousness. Molly is our little buddy.
Mollymop or Fuzzbutt?
A confession: Molly is not our dog. She belongs to our friends Abi & Tom who run the flower nursery where my wife Susan works. Molly has the run of the site all day and is utterly devoted to Susan, at least partly because Susan often has a pocketful of doggy treats.
Molly loves tummy rubs.
Molly is a Liver and White English Springer Spaniel, bred from working stock (very different from show stock Springers which almost look like a different breed). She is quite elderly now, at 11, and spends a lot of time snoozing. When awake her age does not seem to slow her down!
Still playful at 11.
My own relationship with dogs has been a complicated one. Like Susan, we had a black Labrador as a family dog when I was a teenager. I did not really trust dogs then, even our Labrador was a bit grumpy (rare for the breed). I also did a newspaper delivery round and worked as a postman/mailman for a time – these also taught me to be wary of dogs. We have never had our own dog in 30+ years together because of career and other commitments.
Admiring nature.
Then in 2011 Susan started working for Abi & Tom and regaled me with tales of how lovely they (and their dog, Molly ) were. So she took me to visit one weekend and I met Molly. I was smitten by this friendly, curious but slightly feral and very mischievous looking beastie. When out of sight her favourite hobbies are raiding rubbish bins and eating and/or rolling in carrion, so she is frequently a bit ‘fragrant’ but we love her anyway.
Demonstrating how to relax.
My own fondness for dogs has grown a lot since meeting Molly – I frequently go and make a fuss of friendly looking dogs that I see. For several years Molly was joined by a beautiful Golden Retriever pup, Ella, but Ella had to be rehomed with Abi’s sister in late 2016, leaving Molly alone again. Susan and I both adored Ella too!
Earlier this summer (2017), my struggle with depression came to a crisis point and I had a meltdown at work one morning. I was a shaking, weeping mess and went straight to my doctor. When Susan picked me up from the doctor my only request was that we go and visit Molly as I knew some dog therapy was the only way I was going to calm down that day. I spent the afternoon at the nursery with Molly and knew that even if I never have a dog of my own, I was now a devoted fan of dogs.
Now Molly has beds at two homes!
A few weeks later, when I was back on an even keel, a family emergency meant that Abi & Tom had to go away and were faced with the possibility of putting Molly in boarding kennels alone for the first time in years, and they knew she hated being in kennels. It was a no-brainer for us and we offered to have her for a few days. We loved having her and have since had Molly for two more weekends, with another planned this month. She now settles instantly and is completely at home.
We have attached a bolt to the food cupboard and bought a set of bowls, a leash and a dog bed to keep at our house. Basically all the paraphernalia except the actual dog!
I fully acknowledge my place in the pecking order is several rungs below my wife in Molly’s eyes. She really is devoted to Susan but that is OK. I obviously kind of like Susan myself – so fully understand. But it doesn’t matter. When Molly sees me she gives me the kind of enthusiastic greeting I have never experienced from a human being and makes me feel that there is a corner of my world where everything is OK.
Love demands ongoing practice and desire. Not always easy, but always rewarding.
Watch how Mengwen Cao comes out to her parents and how they respond. She’s a photographer, videographer, and multimedia producer. Born in Hangzhou, China, she came to the United States in 2012.
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Written by Ghanaian blogger Abigail Padi who’s written for Happiness Between Tails before, visit her new blog …
Pets are lovely and the children love them. Other than dogs, we have cats. Initially they were many but the neighborhood in which we live is not safe for big and healthy animals especially cats because some selfish individuals steal them for commercial purposes or to satisfy their own needs.
My concerned dad thought that he also was human and had the desire to taste the delicious part of those cats and so there was no way he was going to give those people the chance to enjoy for free anymore. He advised himself and since then, their number reduced, currently left with two; a male and a female. Obviously the next to be a meal is the male cat and I can’t help but think about it.
That cat is such a lovely one. It has a darker color and very beautiful in my eyes. I don’t know what you think about it but that’s how I see it. All my friends who have visited me at home can tell that that cat knows no stranger and I believe that’s what made those selfish individuals get hold of them without us knowing.
I instructed my young ones to keep an eye on my dad and be on guard so that on that they I don’t want to imagine will ever come, they should plead with him to spare that only cat.
I’m Abigail Padi and I love to tell stories about myself and those around me. I operate 2 blogs, the recent one is relationshippointblog.wordpress.com where I post anything related to relationship with real life experiences and opinions.
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The first of the monarchs (Danaus plexippus) I have been fostering on my kitchen counter this past month hatched today and it’s a female. Like any proud parent, I think she is perfect and beautiful! I feel hopeful for her future, but it will be a long road for her, fraught with obstacles. After fattening up on coneflower, Joe Pye weed, zinnias and other favorite flower nectars, she sails 2,500 miles to the Michoacan Mountains in Mexico.
Overcoming human activity such as speeding autos, loss of nectar feeding habitats, as well as excessive cold, drought and predation will be daunting. If she reaches her winter roost site in the few remaining acres of oyamel pine trees (which are cut for their valuable timber by the local people), she must safely survive possible severe cold or snowstorms, predatory birds and mice that take advantage of the bounty of millions of clustered…
Reading today in EurekAlert! – The Global Source for Science News (www.eurekalert.org) comes an article entitled: Your Dog Remembers What You Did
Henry, the Asylum’s mascot (to your left) and resident mischief-maker does indeed remember what we do here. He remembers that if he picks up a Locust pod and starts to chomp away on the poisonous seeds in the pod, that we’ll chase him all over the compound. Never mind that all pods have been raked and properly disposed of – he seems to have a cache of pods stashed somewhere outside that can be magically retrieved within seconds of departure time from the back yard door. He delights in the chase. Once the game is on, he blitzes in full gallop, pod proudly in his mouth, taunting us to even try to catch him. We never can.
He remembers that if guests come to the compound, he is NOT…
Travel has always opened my mind to fresh ideas and opportunities, new friends and different places, all overflowing with life, love, and memories. There is so much wonder and beauty out there to discover.
I hope these quotes inspire a wanderlust inside you that will take a lifetime of adventures to satisfy.
“I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads. Not knowing where I’m going is what inspires me to travel it.” – Rosalía de Castro
2. “Adventure is worthwhile in itself.” – Amelia Earhart
3. “It is better to travel alone than with a bad companion.” – African Proverb
4. “Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” – Maya Angelou
It was sometime in 1954 in Berlin, that I met this person in a shop. I do not remember his name, but one look at each other was enough to convince us that we both belonged to the Indian subcontinent.
We started chatting, surprisingly not in our common Urdu or Hindi, but in German, a foreign language which we were fluent in! He was holding a small book in his hand – Omar Khayyam’s Rubayyat – in German. I had heard about Omar Khayyam, but had never read the English translation as I disliked that language then. He praised Omar Khayyam no end and out of curiosity I just skimmed through the book. I was certainly impressed and made it a point to buy it the very next day. After exchanging pleasantries we bade each other goodbye, never to meet again. I read and reread that tiny booklet and even…
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The first of the monarchs (Danaus plexippus) I have been fostering on my kitchen counter this past month hatched today and it’s a female. Like any proud parent, I think she is perfect and beautiful! I feel hopeful for her future, but it will be a long road for her, fraught with obstacles. After fattening up on coneflower, Joe Pye weed, zinnias and other favorite flower nectars, she sails 2,500 miles to the Michoacan Mountains in Mexico.
Henry, the Asylum’s mascot (to your left) and resident mischief-maker does indeed remember what we do here. He remembers that if he picks up a Locust pod and starts to chomp away on the poisonous seeds in the pod, that we’ll chase him all over the compound. Never mind that all pods have been raked and properly disposed of – he seems to have a cache of pods stashed somewhere outside that can be magically retrieved within seconds of departure time from the back yard door. He delights in the chase. Once the game is on, he blitzes in full gallop, pod proudly in his mouth, taunting us to even try to catch him. We never can.
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“Fake it ’til you make it.” Smiling puts you in a better 
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Happiness Between Tails by da-AL 