Pets are definitely part of the family | The News & Advance

By: By Karin Sherbin/The Bedford Humane Society | The News & Advance
Published: August 27, 2012 Updated: August 27, 2012 - 8:24 PM

Doting pet owners sometimes refer to their animal companions as children.

There are similarities, as I found with my dogs ? responsibility and testing of will and patience.

Workday mornings, I can?t just jump out of bed, eat breakfast and drive to work.

I have to greet the enthusiastic and youthful Jezebelle and let her out immediately. Next up I fill food and water bowls and coax the teenage Baguette out of bed, letting the senior Misha rise at her convenience.

When Jez and B finish supping, I walk them, playfully referring to them as the twins ? Jez tall and slender and B. short and stout.

By then, Misha wakes up and it?s her turn to eat and walk. Finally I secure them for the day and am off to the office, though, by the time I arrive, it already feels as though I?ve worked half the morning.

In the evenings, I return home and take time to properly greet each dog.

How was her day? How does she feel?? Then it is dinner and walking again. Play time!

Add to the mix education (classes and homeschooling), field trips to parks, play dates, and medical care consisting of daily pills, cleanup from sensitive digestive tracts and the occasional run to the emergency clinic.

Then there?s the testing of will and patience.

B. purposely taxes both, behind a face that mugs dignity and banality simultaneously. One evening, B. lounged in the backyard. I commanded her to come. Baguette gave me her look as she stayed in place. As if she didn?t understand me!

I didn?t repeat the command or chase after her. Instead, I leashed Jez in the yard and walked her solo. Upon my return I conducted my own testing.

?Baguette come!? I said sharply, and B. zoomed over and sat in front of me, classroom perfect. She got her walk.

Jez tests my patience without trying, like playing in red clay before coming inside as I ready to leave for work. Roll out the hose, again.

Sadly, pets differ from children in one major way ? their lifespan accelerates past ours. Now that I?m older, I find that my aging pet becomes a companion in commiseration.

A youthful Misha used to wake me like clockwork at 7 a.m. by staring at me with her border collie intensity. Now we prefer lounging in bed late. In the mornings, we hobble down the stairs with tender joints. We sometimes find the child-like antics and energy of the twins irritating.

My dogs as furry children?

Maybe not. But they definitely are family.

Tethering feedback

Of the half dozen readers who commented onHampton?s ban on dog chaining, only one disagreed.

He explained that while he trained his dog to stay in the yard while loose, she may need tethering at some point.

?I am educated enough to make an objective decision without the interference of a bureaucrat who knows nothing about my particular situation,? he wrote.

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Source: http://www2.newsadvance.com/lifestyles/2012/aug/27/pets-are-definitely-part-family-ar-2153687/

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