No, They Are Not Just Dogs!

/ doubledacres

Kate

Eros

My dogs are family and treated like family. Yeah, I’m one of those!! If they don’t like you I probably won’t either. If you visit my house I guarantee when you leave you will have dog hair hitching a ride. I can’t imagine what life would be like without them. Kate is a 2011 model and Eros a 2012. Kate had a few problems when she was a pup. She had crystals in her urine and had hip surgery at a year old.

She slept on the couch and I slept on the floor beside her. When she was healed up she became my ride dog.

I am a retired farrier and she loved going to the barns with me. She took her riding shotgun seriously.

Then there is Eros. He was so little when he was a pup. He now ways 124 pounds.

He can be pretty intimidating. He is a big teddy bear. He is definitely a “protector”.

“A dog is the only thing on Earth that loves you more than you loves yourself.” – Josh Billings

They both have their own personalities. They are good listeners, loyal, and give unconditional love. They are always glad to see you and add joy to your life.

Now don’t get me wrong. They can get sick and leave a big mess to clean up and they can just simply be a pain in the butt. They are a huge responsibility. All in all I still say they are worth it.

Nope they aren’t just dogs. They’re family.

24 thoughts on “No, They Are Not Just Dogs!”

  2. Yes they ARE the best kind of family. Unconditional love. Always happy you came home. Always ready to protect you (even a 5# little fur baby will feel its 100# alter ego to bark at a perceived threat, so cute)

    Who hasn’t taken their dog to the vet on a hip deep snowy weekend or in the middle of the night, when you drive 40 miles away for a vet who’s open.

    I had an Australian Shepherd once, Shelly, who loved to go on trail rides with me. She was such a “staple” that she was invited by group organizers to come along (not many were invited when riding with 100 riders, mounts, and gear into the mountains above L A). Three days and two overnights, her face smiled from ear to ear every step of the way. It wasn’t a trail ride unless she came home with tumbleweeds in her tail and her tongue happily hanging out the side of her mouth. She was one in a million for sure.

    Even my Italian Greyhound (Lady) loved trails. Even after her black coat gave way to a face turned white with age, an infant sling over my shoulders carried her with me in her final years. She too gave feedback with happy full open mouth, tongue hanging out, smiles.

    I have a small dog again who loves dog parks, car rides, and the thrill of long walks where his pug like nose anxiously follows scents of other dogs, raccoons, groundhogs, rabbits, and recently, deer. He has seen horses and has yet decided if friend, foe, or something to follow. He’ll be exposed to more horses soon; who knows, maybe he’ll love trail travels as much as Shelly and Lady did. I hope.

    I obviously wholeheartedly agree, there is No such thing as “just a dog”. Mine is surely family too (they all have been)

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    • Thank you. I hope they thought I was the best dad ever. Losing them 3 months apart to cancer was devastating. I still cry over my loss of them to cancer. Just between me and you I grieve harder over animals than I do people.

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      • From what I see, I don’t doubt it one bit. So much has happened, I can’t remember if I knew of this/read of the losses of these angels. When did this happen, that I may visit your archives? If reincarnation exists, or whether it doesn’t, I hope you are with them again one day. When I lost Copper, I couldn’t work for a week. I woke during sleep only to cry myself back again. For so long, I’d tear up while shopping as I saw foods & stuffed animals I would buy for her. Yet, when my Mom left here years ago, I mourned, but not as I truly felt. I guiltfully try not to think deeply of her so that I may function. Not being able to function from the loss of my Copper was an experience I can’t revisit. Our animals are a purity of souls & personalities that seem to disrupt the world’s balance when they are taken from us. The ones here to love may give us fortitude.

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      • “Gone But Not Forgotten” and “Don’t Know How Much More I Can Endure”. Both January 2020. When my mom died it hurt and I grieved but nothing like I did when I lost Kate and Eros. I thought there was something wrong with me. Then more and more people said they felt the same.

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  7. If it wasn’t for a beautiful border collie called Jill I would have never met my husband walking his two dogs on the beach over 30 years ago. I was heart broken when we said goodbye to her at 15. Now we have escaped to the country and my husband is so hankering for another dog in his life. The trade off is he gets a dog and I get a horse! Loved your doggie tales!

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