My family have always been dog people. There has rarely been a time when we did not have a dog of some form. After our beloved Sassie, the little black and white cocker spaniel passed away, we were left with only Murphy, the evil Tibetan terrier. Also black and white.
Murphy is good company, though. But mother longed for a puppy to replace Sassie. I was against it, based on that mother always says "when 'x' passes away, there will be no more dogs!" and that no dog could replace Sassie.
We're all hypocrites.
Fig. 1: Baby Data
A friend of my mother's had three golden retrievers, two females and a male. All gorgeous and well cared for. Unfortunately, when you get males and females together, they do what comes naturally. So, we went and visited with the litters. I chose the pup above, which I named Data after my favorite character in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
He's very smart, in a conniving sort of way. I should have called him "Q".
Fig. 2: Data, older. Sans pillow.
Being a typical golden, he has to have something in his mouth at all times. This means that he retrieves anything and everything, including clothing and pillows. He has not learned, despite our best efforts, to give us back that which he retrieves.
Any time he goes into the living room, he will make a beeline for the couch and pick up one of the two cream-colored pillows situated thereon. We keep trying to break him of this, to no avail. We have plenty of toys all over the house, so it isn't like he should be bored. We play with him and Big Dog and Murphy quite a lot. Big Dog doesn't do these things, and Murphy is too small to play with the pillows...not that they interest her anyway.
Since he has a fascination with pillows, we now call him the "pillowhound".
They live at mom and dad's place, because I don't have a fenced yard. When I said that I would like to get a fenced yard, mother stated quite clearly that I could not have my dog. Data is mine, as I paid for him, but mother and father have taken care of vet checks and food. Plus, I couldn't bear to separate him from his brother Big Dog, or his best friend Murphy.
And I don't have to deal with the hair in my house. I shed enough on my own, thank you very much!
Murphy is good company, though. But mother longed for a puppy to replace Sassie. I was against it, based on that mother always says "when 'x' passes away, there will be no more dogs!" and that no dog could replace Sassie.
We're all hypocrites.
Fig. 1: Baby DataA friend of my mother's had three golden retrievers, two females and a male. All gorgeous and well cared for. Unfortunately, when you get males and females together, they do what comes naturally. So, we went and visited with the litters. I chose the pup above, which I named Data after my favorite character in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
He's very smart, in a conniving sort of way. I should have called him "Q".
Fig. 2: Data, older. Sans pillow.Being a typical golden, he has to have something in his mouth at all times. This means that he retrieves anything and everything, including clothing and pillows. He has not learned, despite our best efforts, to give us back that which he retrieves.
Any time he goes into the living room, he will make a beeline for the couch and pick up one of the two cream-colored pillows situated thereon. We keep trying to break him of this, to no avail. We have plenty of toys all over the house, so it isn't like he should be bored. We play with him and Big Dog and Murphy quite a lot. Big Dog doesn't do these things, and Murphy is too small to play with the pillows...not that they interest her anyway.
Since he has a fascination with pillows, we now call him the "pillowhound".
They live at mom and dad's place, because I don't have a fenced yard. When I said that I would like to get a fenced yard, mother stated quite clearly that I could not have my dog. Data is mine, as I paid for him, but mother and father have taken care of vet checks and food. Plus, I couldn't bear to separate him from his brother Big Dog, or his best friend Murphy.
And I don't have to deal with the hair in my house. I shed enough on my own, thank you very much!
5 comments:
My mother used to say the same thing about the dogs she got... "When (dog) dies, we're not getting another one!" And, as is the case with your mother, it was always a lie.
I love dogs and I think yours is beautiful but I'm unlikely to ever get one again. When I was 12, my mother had accumulated 4 dogs or so and decided it was too many and she'd get rid of some. One of the dogs was mine and she decided that mine could be given away without my permission and without asking how I felt about it. I was furious and haven't bonded personally with a dog since.
I'm more of a cat person anyway (though I can't have one in my apartment in Japan).
Thanks for the kind comment! Yes, Mr. Data is quite the handsome one. As with most large breeds, the ears are my favorite part. The tips of his ears are so soft!
I am sorry to hear that your dog was one of the ones that had to go. That would be heartbreaking. Mother says that we have to many dogs quite often, and sometimes I think she wishes that we'd not collected so many. However, when dad or I tell her "Ok, let's load 'em and take 'em to the pound!" she comes undone. They are her companions and guards while dad is on the road all week, and I don't think she would survive with out them. It will be a traumatic experience to lose them.
I like cats, too, except for my pal Chris' demon spawn Russian Blue, Dylan. Beautiful cat, but bites and hisses and caterwauls at anyone and everyone. For example, it attacked his sister whilst she was using the potty, and she ran out into the living room with her pants down. We've an understanding now...he leaves me alone and I leave him alone.
I'm allergic to cats, quite allergic. I had a girlfriend that had two cats, and I eventually got used to them and they didn't affect me after about a year of contact. This, however, did not carry over to other cats. Chris and his wife keep their house really clean, so visiting with them doesn't tend to bother me. Same with my Great Aunt who has two beautiful cats, an orange tiger and a calico.
I had hoped recently that this whole allergy thing was gone, since I took in a young black cat with a very sweet personality several months ago. Unfortunately, within an hour I was sneezing, coughing and swelling. I lasted the night, but took it to the shelter the next day. It broke my heart, really.
My mother was just being cold-hearted. The only dog she gave away was mine. She kept the ones she considered hers and my father's. And I don't even think that 3 dogs really made much difference compared to 4 in terms of maintenance. The thing is, my dog wasn't even as troublesome as hers. She just wasn't fond of my little mutt.
Holy crap! My goodness, I am very sorry about that. That is totally uncool. I can see why you would be apprehensive to bond with another dog, or pet of any kind.
I hope that I didn't dredge up any bad and/or painful memories...
Nah, no bad memories that weren't already there. I've got a lot of issues with my mother (who has a lot of issues herself) and am pretty bitter about the entire time I lived at home. I need to just get over it. ;-)
I hope you'll continue to write about your life and put up pictures of your gorgeous dogs. :-)
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