By Staff
When it comes to animals, I will say I have a very soft heart.
I've always had animals – cats, dogs, birds, fish, a guinea pig – you name it, I've had it. They've all been different in so many ways. Some were stubborn, some were way too excited, some loved attention and some preferred to be left alone.
The group of animals in my life right now have personalities to die for. And I will say, every one of them was rescued either from a shelter, the outdoors or some other situation.
Let's start with my cat, Midnight, who really isn't even my cat anymore because my mom took him over.
I brought Midnight home a few years after Ziggy (a cat that spent the first 18 years of my life with me) died. I snuck Midnight in my room one night and figured I would "surprise" my parents the next morning. Surprised my mom was because she thought it was a rat.
Midnight was pretty small and skinny when I got him and he had a very long tail. He's a black cat and at first glimpse he did somewhat resemble a rat. Well, after days of her telling me we could not keep him, and me telling her how he was dropped off in a parking lot, she gave in. The funny thing is that it took me a few years to tell her he really wasn't dropped off in the parking lot, he was actually in a box outside of this feed and seed store, but I figured the "dropping off" story was more dramatic. Sorry mom!
Then there's Buddy. Buddy is literally a lab mixed with a deer – no lie! If you know me or my family or if you've been to my house, you know what I'm talking about.
Buddy is huge, his back stands almost to my waist. He was rescued from the woods. A friend of the family found him as a puppy when he was out hunting one day. We had just lost a lab, so he figured he would see if we wanted it. At first my parents didn't even want to see him because they were still having a hard time dealing with the loss of our other dog. However, when they saw him, they couldn't resist.
I must say Buddy is the smartest dog I have ever seen. He blows my mind. Last year, I was taking care of Buddy and Midnight while my parents were out of town. Buddy loves to play fetch.
This day, we were having a hard time finding his baseball. I kept asking him where it was (because usually when you tell him to find it, he comes back with it a few seconds later) and he just starred at me. This was odd because usually he gets excited and runs to find his ball, but this time he just looked at me.
I decided to look a few places where his ball usually appears, but there was nothing. After about five minutes of scratching my head, Buddy decided to talk to me. Not in an English language, but he started barking. It wasn't a loud bark, but loud enough to let me know he knew something. We were outside and he ran inside, watching and waiting for me to follow. He ran over to a shelf in the garage, sat down and nudged his nose against it. This shelf has a door which locks and his treats are kept in there, so I figured that's what he wanted. After opening the door, it was clear what he was after. He looked at me, barked again, and put his head right in front of a tied plastic bag. Sure enough, there was his baseball.
Next there's Boa. He's the one I can say is actually mine. He was rescued from an animal shelter last year and he is my baby.
Boa was clearly beaten at a young age. The shelter we got him from informed us of that when we went to look at him. He was very skinny also and desperately wanted a home.
It was evident in the way he acted when we first got him that he was beat and how he still is a little leery of people today. But, he has made huge progress thanks to my dad, who spent the past several months working with him.
Boa did get into a little bit of trouble recently, but I won't go into detail. I will just say that, no matter what anyone says, he is a great dog. He is protective of his owners, but what dog isn't?
Then there's Patch and Maddy. Patchy-Watchy (as I call him) is an Australian Shepherd and has more energy than any animal I have ever seen. He's is a big lap dog and no matter how much I say no, I usually can't resist not letting him sit on my lap.
And Maddy, well, she's just Maddy. A very laid back cat who, until just recently, wanted nothing to do with me.
I could go on and on about these animals, but there wouldn't be enough space in this little hole for everything I want to say. In fact, I'm out of room now!