Pet Love

I had a professor in college who did not believe that animals had personalities. This man obviously did not own animals. Anyone out there with pets know this. Research shows that animals help reduce stress. The feeling of loving an animal is unlike any other feeling! Talk about unconditional love! However, that is not my point here. Find whatever it is that eases your stresses. It does not have to be animals. My pets just happen to be mine.

I grew up in rural Iowa on a small farm where my dad was brought up. Just a quarter mile down the road is my Aunt and Uncle's farm. All of the surrounding cornfeilds are owned by a member of my family as well. My dad raised cattle and I spent many hours bottle and bucket feeding calves as a kid. He also farrowed pigs while we were younger. We always had at least one dog on the farm and several barn cats. However, we NEVER had animals in the house. Adam on the other hand was raised with several animals in his house. I was indifferent to animals in the house until Adam and I found Mudge...

Mudge is seriously one of a kind. He is a Puggle, and I was never sure where the name Mudge came from until one day when I took him on a walk. As I walked past a park, a little girl {maybe 6 years old!?} came sprinting from the playground to pet him. She obviously loved dogs and asked me what his name was. When I told her, she gasped and said "LIKE THE BOOKS 'Henry and Mudge'?" I told her I never heard of those books. She then told me about it. Apparently there is a series of children's books out there. Very cool. I may have to purchase them some day for my own kids. Very sweet.

 We got him from a great family in town who just decided they didn't want another dog; and really wanted Mudge to go to a good home. I like to think that Adam and I have provided that for him. He is very spoiled. He goes on vacations, camping, and has even been canoeing. I see the results of raising a dog who is spoiled: He thinks he is above the rules. For instance he is not allowed on the couch, but everytime we come home he jumps off the couch quick. And sometimes, Adam lets him on the couch. Thus why he thinks he is above the rules. :)

We are so blessed to have Mudge. He lets me stick my cold feet under him and constantly wants to sit on your lap. He sleeps under the covers in our bed with us and is afraid of weird things. (Like permanent marker, for example.) He has spent some time being a tad overweight, but I think we have cut some pounds off of him lately. He is very loyal and likes to warn us that there are deer in the yard at 2 am.

And then there is Shadow. Shadow came to us from my cousin Catelyn who took wonderful care of him and spoiled the crap out of him. {Catelyn is my first cousin who grew up down the road from me, but most importantly, she is a very good friend}. Her and her husband decided that they no longer wanted a cat in the house, but loved him too much to give him away to just anyone. I will warn you, Shadow is a monster...

He rules the house. He has intimidated Mudge, and Mudge is scared of him. He wants things his way and is constantly making his presence known.

He wants to be petted at the strangest times (like when I am trying to type) and has walked across my computer keyboard several times. Shadow is not allowed on the counters in the kitchen or bathrooms. However, the minute we go to bed it is like a free for all. Mudge sometimes jumps right on the couch if he doesn't sleep with us, and Shadow jumps on the counters.He loves to be petted, sit on Adam's lap (not so much mine), and hunt outside when we let him. He also went through a time where he thought 4 am was wake-up time. Uhh...not so much. So we had to change that!

There you have it. One of my main stress reducers and the loves of my life. :) Hug your pet today.

-Be Kind to One Another-