Day 16: Pets – Dogs

I decided to split todays post into two and write separately about the dogs and cats that have been a part of my life.If you’ve known me for about 5 minutes, then it’s possible that you know that I am a mom to fur children. I have no human children, but my fur babies mean the world to me! I have three dogs, one of which lives with my husband and me. The other two live with my parents because they have much more room, and the dogs really love living out in the country where they can run free and hang out with my retired father.

Shelton is my oldest and will be 13 next month. He’s a small, 5 pound maltese dog and will steal your heart before you know it. I got him during a lonely time in my life. I had been married to my first husband for a little more than a year and we had just graduated college and started our careers. I worked a regular Monday-Friday 8-5 job, and my husband worked crazy days and hours in the 2nd-3rd shift range. I was coming home to an empty apartment most every night to cook dinner just for myself. There were some days that I would take the  long way home or find something else to do after work just so that I didn’t have to go home. When Shelton came along, it was SO INCREDIBLY WONDERFUL to have someone (even if it was a dog) so excited to see me! His whole body wagged right along with his tail. You know what’s even better? 13 years later he still has the same excitement when I come home. Shelton has a Facebook Fan Page because everyone who meets him falls in love with him. He has a following.

Copper is 10 and my second oldest dog. He came along right after my first husband and I bought our house in 2002. Since we had more room and a back yard, we talked about some day getting a larger dog and companion for Shelton. One day at work, someone came in asking if anyone wanted a puppy, and I WAS IN LOVE! Copper is a Bassett Beagle, and one of my favorite childhood movies is The Fox and the Hound, so naturally I named him Copper. Copper is the biggest of my three dogs but is the most lovable and cuddly dog among all three.

Penny is 5 and is my youngest dog and only girl, but she’s the roughest among them all. She came along when my first husband’s co-worker said that she had Corgi puppies. I had a Corgi mix in high school named Patti, and I adored that dog! Even though we weren’t looking to add another fur kid to the family, I couldn’t resist. I swear, I’d be an old dog lady if my husband let me! Penny may be rough and tough, but she is very sensitive, too. She likes putting her head on your feet and rolls over on her back for belly rubs. She and Copper are like peas and carrots…always together!

I would also like to add that my dogs’ names were not planned around The Big Bang Theory, though that is definitely one of my favorite shows. I had all three dogs way before I started watching the show. I would also like to note that while it DOES seem that I probably named Penny because I already had Copper, I actually didn’t plan those two names to go together. Someone pointed out to me that I have a Copper Penny about a month or two after I got Penny. Copper doesn’t like having his photo taken, and even let me know when I snapped the one of him below.

October 16th is National Feral Cat Day. My friend, Rebekah at We Live Inspired is writing this month about how a colony of feral cats in her neighborhood entered her life during a time that she needed some extra love. Go check out her blog to read about her experiences with pets and homeless cats.

Tell me about your pets. Are you a dog person, a cat person or not a pet person at all? 

“Pets have more love and compassion in them than most humans.” – Robert Wagner

Shelton, Copper & Penny

Read more about the 31 Days of Journaling Prompts
Today’s recommended 31 Day Blogger: 31 Leaves @ Egg Thoughts