Pets

Currently, Don and I have 2 pets. Oliver is a 2 year old neutered cat. We've had him a little over a year. Mikey is a goldfish that Matthew got last summer and hauled around Presbyterian and back home again. I took over, gave him a new tank and clean water and now he is mine. **a I've always had pets. We had a dog and cats when I was little. Our dog , Whitey, who was mostly black was my birthday present from my grandmother. The one I never liked, Sybil. But I loved Whitey. And she was a fantastic dog. Perfect size -- about 20 pounds. Perfect temperament -- cautious around the babies, liked to watch us play, was way too proud to engage in fetch or anything remotely similar. Minded my mother, thought she was the nursemaid so she never minded us. We got Corkey when Nathan was 1. Now that was an arrogant dog. He and Nathan were best buddies. I am grateful that he had already died when Nathan was killed. I think it would have killed him. I like to think of Nathan running around in heaven with Corkey. My mother said he was arrogant and I guess he was. He certainly didn't mind her. But he was an English shepherd so he knew his role. One time when Nathan was about 3-4, a guy stepped into our yard to ask directions. Nathan was out there playing and I was supposed to be minding him. Corkey was laying in the grass watching Nathan. Corkey growled, I told the guy, watch it, my dog doesn't like you near my brother. He came closer and Corkey stood up and growled again. He was a big dog. He weighed 60-70 pounds and was tall. I said, Mister get out of our yard. He just laughed and came closer to Nathan and Corkey bit him. I thought it justified but what was I. A kid of 12 or 13. We had to start chaining him after that if he was in the yard alone. We would go let him off the long chain and Mother would whip us. ** When I moved out, I first got a cat. He was killed after I had an accident and he got out. Then I got Coal Cole aka FatDog. I made all my mistakes with FatDog. He was undisciplined, frequently pooped in the house, chewed things up until the day he died, and was in general a bad dog. He did not cope well with Matthew and when I was pregnant with Cole and he was 14, rather than put him on anti-anxiety medication, I put him to sleep. ** We went through several other dogs that didn't last for one reason or another until Matthew was 6. He asked for and we got a dog for his birthday. Matthew had already named him Howler. Fortunately he didn't. Howler was THE BEST DOG EVER. I really mean that. I have such a full heart for him that he is a post unto himself. I put him to sleep when he was 14 and still grieve him 2 years later. I am thinking it is time to get another dog. Don is not excited about this -- he'd rather we got another cat but I want another dog. ** So there it stands.