"Takin' Time Out"

Definition: 

A domestic or tamed animal or bird kept for companionship or pleasure and treated with care and affection

 

I am sitting at the computer with a blank screen, sipping on my scrumptious cup of TAZO Wild Sweet Orange Hot Tea.  Yummy it is soooo scrumptious.  Maybe you should go pour a cup of your favorite tea and you too can enjoy the warmth I want to share as you are reading this next post!  Hmmm what shall it be? Pets came to mind as I began to type…How many of you have a pet or Pets?  One with 4 legs, two legs, a fish, a snake a hamster or maybe it is a Rock? Remember the pet rocks growing up? Is it alive or maybe it’s virtual with all the technology we have today.  I am thinking my Mom and Dad might opt for virtual since they have been there done that and have the T-shirt no more live Pets for them unless you can count a plant as a pet.  None the less Pets can bring such love especially when we are “Takin Time Out”.

 

We have a precious chocolate lab named Sage.  She is absolutely the best dog we have ever owned.  Her pleasant easy going demeanor and friendly personality brings so much joy to the family and neighborhood.  In fact two of our neighbors have labs, so when they are playing out in the front yard it is quite amazing to watch.  Buck and Sage are buds and can’t wait to escape and find one another to romp around the yard and share a dog chew together.

 

Sage was actually born to Belle, who lived next door.  My kids loved the anticipation of Belle expecting and couldn’t wait to experience the whole birth and big litter of puppies they were expecting.  Well that big litter ended up only being three.  All the puppies were spoken for until they developed mange.  What is that you might ask it is a skin disease caused by several species of tiny mites, common external parasites found in companion canines?  It was curable but the couple that originally requested her decided against it; since the puppies and mother lived next door I asked if we could buy the runt as a surprise for Christmas.  It truly was a surprise and one of their best Christmas presents the whole entire family could enjoy.  We just celebrated her 10^th birthday in human years but are 53 in dog years.  I always thought you multiplied by 7 years but that is incorrect according to the internet.  The formula is 10.5 years per human year for the first 2 years, then 4 dog years per human year for each year after.  After reading this I was very happy to know she was only 53 and not 70! LOL…

 

Pets have a way of bringing security to your life. Did you know pet owners are less likely to suffer from depression?  They help in lowering your blood pressure along with many other health benefits.  They teach responsibility and help you find meaning and boost vitality.  If you truly think about it, they are sad to see you go, miss you while you are gone, and very happy to see you when you get home.  I call that unconditional LOVE… I love Takin Time Out and just sitting to pet Sage, or throw a ball out in the front yard, she used to dive for the torpedo in the bottom of the pool but has gotten a bit old for that and I love how she wants to be in the same room you are.  The most precious thing was when the grandkids would take a nap she would lay right by the crib as a protector until they woke up.  Their instincts are amazing to me.

 

Personally I prefer dogs over cats, we had a mother cat on the ranch that lived outside and those are the best kind.  They catch little rodents and are very self-sufficient.  My oldest daughter went off to college and her boyfriend now husband decided she needed a pet and they went to the shelter and found a cute little baby kitten.  They named her Bailey and yes she was cute then she grew up and became a cat…well the roommate my daughter later moved in with was allergic to cats so guess who got to take Bailey…yes Mom and Dad.  We as parents somehow inherit things we don’t always ask for. I know my parents took on a few of my responsibilities as well while growing up.  You know what?  I grew to truly love that cat!  She and Sage got along perfectly for a cat and dog, I loved when they curled up together to sleep!  My dear nephew came to live with us for a short while.  He accidentally let the cat out one evening while she was in heat and guess what?  Yes, that sweet little cat became a very promiscuous neighborhood tramp, we couldn’t find her for two days, she had multiple lovers we determine when those litter of kittens were born as none of them looked alike!  Looking back it was such a neat experience for my kids to encounter.  I grew up on a ranch and had the privilege of witnessing several live births of calves, colts, piglets, puppies, chickens and even kittens but living in the city my kids were sheltered from those fond memories until Bailey came along.  We had made a nest of towels in the laundry basket in the back of our closet, I was sound asleep when I heard this loud unstartling cry for help…it took 5 hours for 6 precious baby kittens to be born.  We petted, stroked, and talked her through each and every one.  It was so awesome to see Bailey lick them clean then they would wiggle, struggle a bit and then finally begin to nurse, however the 6^th one didn’t look quite right and Bailey wanted nothing to do with it.  Unfortunately it didn’t make it but that happens and another great lesson for my kids.  There is life and there is death.  Bailey was a great little Momma and we eventually found homes for each of the kittens.

 

Looking back my family has had some wonderful Pets I truly laugh now that I am a parent of the sacrifices we sometimes make for our children.  My mom and dad had their fair share between my sister and me.  One summer my best friend and I rode the Greyhound bus to Salida, CO to stay with her cousins for the week.  Their neighbor had rabbits and they wanted to get rid of a few bunnies so we each talked our parents in letting us bring one home.  We named them the Duke and the Duchess and yes we eventually let them mate and had more bunnies.  My friend had a beautiful hutch that stood on legs in the back yard, mine on the other hand was a wire cage we laid on the grass I had to move it around as the rabbit was kinda like a lawn mower keeping the grass neatly trimmed.

 

The first dog I really remember was a collie named King she was a wonderful ranch dog and great with the cattle and horses.  My sister on the other hand had a teacher who had Skye terrier puppies and she begged and pleaded with Mom and Dad to get one.  They finally caved and said yes.  Now I am not sure how many of you know what a Skye terrier looks like.  This one was named Magi and she was smoky black she had long hair that drug the ground because of her short legs and their hair grows down over their coal black eyes.  They are beautiful dogs when properly groomed but not one I would suggest raising on a ranch.  Unless you kept it indoors at all times.  That wasn’t an option Mom preferred all animals to stay outdoors.  However, she did allow Magi to come in at night and sleep on the back porch.  Our corrals were kept neat but again they are corrals.  For my city friends let’s say most of them are filled with rich organic nutrient fertilizer and for my country friends it is better known as manure.  (Oh and by the way I never truly appreciate the free manure we had to put on our garden and flower beds until I moved to the city and they wanted to charge me $5.75 for .75 CUFT in a bag and a bag doesn’t go very far…are you kidding me for manure?  LOL)   Needless to say a long haired short legged dog couldn’t help but get herself into a mess on occasion.  My sister eventually got married and moved to town but left the dog behind…I cried the day Magi died.  Mom and Dad said Amen!

 

We also had a wonderful horse named Vany, now Vany was the smartest horse I ever knew she could actually open the gates from corral to corral, as a child I thought that was true talent.  Dad on the other hand would get so frustrated and sometimes those really bad words would come out of his mouth especially when he had spent all day sorting cattle and in the night she would open the gate and they would all get mixed up again for him to find in the dawning of a new day …or she would let herself out and be free to roam all around.  You literally had to pad lock the gate shut to keep her in and out of mischief.  She also was the horse when riding if she didn’t really like you would take you under low limb trees and nearly knock you off if you weren’t careful.  It was great memories and I am so thankful I experienced growing up in the country.  I truly think it helped define who I am today.  Watching my parent and grandparents work hard, work the land and appreciate God’s gifts through nature and living creatures.

 

The Bible speaks about living creatures and livestock or Pets in Genesis 1:26  “Let us make man[a] in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 

 

Pets can bring so much contentment like I spoke about last week!  They can add a bit of humor too.  My sister loves dogs and one time she had a black Lhasa Apso dog she named Seepsi.  Now I have to tell you as a small child she had an imaginary black friend named Seepsi…well Seepsi came to life but as a princess dog in her adult life! LOL  Seepsi as a small puppy was crate trained and many lessons learned stay with them through life.  Seepsi meant everything to my sister, she owned a Hallmark store in the small town I grew up in so she would go to work every day come home at noon to eat lunch and let her out and go back until closing.  Well one day she came home at lunch and everything was fine but that evening she came home from work Seepsi was nowhere to be found.  She hollered and looked inside and out, called the neighbors to see if they had seen her, called her daughter and yes she had ran by the house to take a shower and Seepsi was there when she left.  Hmmm where could she have gone?  Finally my sister gave in and thought she must have run off, got ran over and was dognapped.  It was getting late and she needed to go to bed so she went in to take her bath, opened the cabinet to grab a towel and low and behold there was Seepsi sitting on the pile of towels quiet as a mouse just wondering when then heck someone was going to let her out of that dark place.  She had crawled in earlier when my niece had come home to take a shower.  My sister broke down in tears…silly dog not a peep, a scratch, a bark all because she was crate trained!

 

Just last month I had a friend who was hospitalized on a short notice, I promised I would run by her apartment and pick up her dog Zooks and coordinate getting it to her daughter’s house in Fort Worth to stay until she was released.  It had been kinda crazy day, I picked the dog up in Dallas, I had Bible Study and had promised I would pick up a friend and her 1 year old son who lived in Irving because her car was in the shop to take to Bible Study at my neighbor’s house in Coppell, it was pouring down rain so traffic was awful, I get to the neighbor’s house to let them out and I was going to run home to let Zooks stay at my house until Bible Study was over.  I helped her get in with the 1 year old and all the stuff you take with a baby and I get back to the car of which I left running because it was hot and raining and I was in a hurry as usual.  Well low and behold Zooks was sooo excited he was jumping back and forth from seat to seat in the front and had pounced on the arm rest and hit the automatic door lock.  Yep there I was standing in the drizzling rain, car running with my purse, cell phone, house key and garage door opener all inside.  Hmmm and Oh my what is a girl gonna do?  I go back into my neighbor’s house and they have to drive me down the street to my house of which at all times no one is home and no door is unlocked, the keyless entry on the garage is not working, spare key is missing from where I hide it (darn kids)…so I am going around to every window in my house in the rain and finally find one that is unlocked and I crawl through the window in my work clothes and high heels to get the spare key to the Tahoe.  We retrieve the dog, I enjoy Bible Study and by 10:30 so happy to give Zooks to my friends daughter.  Yes I have Onstar but I am blonde and wasn’t thinking about that option until I laid my head down on the pillow replaying the day’s events of trying to do the right things and help my friends out…Some Days you have to just LAUGH a little or allot because Life Happens and not always according to plan!

 

How many of you have a pet that brings such Joy and Humor to your life?  Sometimes while you are in the moment it might not be so funny but later on after the crisis you just have a good belly laugh and a great blog story to share.  I might have to do another pet blog later as there are so many other stories popping in my head about our wonderful Pets but it is late and I have lots to do tomorrow… I hope each of you are well and “Takin Time Out” this fall or autumn and enjoying the change of seasons!  Blessings and Contentment to each of you my dear friends until next time…

 

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