Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Day 8

I'm thankful for my animals.

We have pets that enrich our lives and teach us about ourselves. Pets are SO important especially to little boys in our world. Girls play with dolls and they learn what you should and should not do, you learn compassion and nurturing. But boys don't generally play with dolls. They don't play a lot of those nurturing games that girls play and so pets help to teach these things.

Our pets give us love. They don't judge and they are always happy to see us. They teach our children responsibility and they keep us grounded.

Our basset hound (Dudley) is a cuddler, he is a love and he only wants to be a 50 pound lap dog. He's getting old but he still loves to run and play. He lets the kids do pretty much whatever they want but he's firm and lets them know what is not ok.
Chance is a viszla/retriever mix and he needs us as much as I need him. I had a golden retriever once upon a time and I had a special bond with him. When he died it left a huge void and I was afraid I would never feel that way about a dog again. When Chance came to us as an emergency rescue we both got a second chance. He's very much my dog but I know he would die for any of us.



Milkshake is a fun little girl that the boys have really enjoyed. She has a whole lot of personality for a rodent. She squeaks when shes happy and does this shudder thing when she's not happy and she's also pretty tolerant of the boys' antics. They have learned commitment and to be gentle with her. She also makes one heck of a garbage disposal for veggie scraps.


Then there are our newest additions; Fred and Daphne. Fred is a male red slider and Daphne is a female western painted turtle.
I had never even touched a reptile before we welcomed these into our home. I didn't have a clue about turtle care or what kind of pets they might make. I did a lot of research on the internet and learned all I could so that they could have the best home we could give them. I have seen and learned so many things through the turtles. Besides being down right cool I have learned that they are very social and I would dare to even call them affectionate. I was reminded that God cares for even the smallest creatures when I thought that our turtles should see a vet but we don't have the resources to take them or to get the supplies that they need. They were rescue turtles in a way and I just want them to have a good home. Sure enough a local vet emailed me and was happy to take a look at them and answer all my remaining questions that I had forgotten to ask my amazing knowledgeable cousins. I love life's little miracles and I love our turtles!


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