The Event ~ Loving Pets

Pets have always been a part of our household.  In my opinion, every home needs an animal pet, be it a dog, cat, fish ~ whatever.  Animals are therapeutic.  Animals return  love and affection unconditional.  Animals ~ specifically dogs and cats ~ are a joy to come home to as they happily greet you at the door.

Diablo

When Tim and I got married, we brought to the farm a big black German Shepherd named Diablo.  He belonged to one of the attorneys I worked for in Denver, and they needed to get him out of the city to a rural setting.  Shortly after we were married, we made the trip back to Denver to pick up the dog.  Diablo was so big he ate cookies off my kitchen cabinet keeping all four paws on the floor!  Eventually we had to find Diablo a new home because he wouldn't leave our pigs or chickens alone ~ he killed them.

Casey

After Diablo, we got a little white Spitz puppy.  I don't remember how long we had Casey or what happened to it.  From the picture here, we obviously had a black cat at the same time and they became good friends.

Randy & Janel

Next we got a beautiful collie puppy which we named Randy.  Randy spent alot of time guarding over Janel when she was about 1 1/2 years old.  We didn't have Randy very long when he got hit on the road in the middle of the night.  We were very sad!



Blue and Cash - March 1984

Then we got Blue - a blue Australian Shepherd.    He was Tim's favorite dog. 


Janel & Alexis with Sparky's puppies

















Somewhere around 1979 we ended up with another dog similar to Blue, but a female named Sparky, because we ended up with lots of fun cute Australian Shepherd puppies in 1980.    Puppies are always lots of fun and hard to give away when the time comes to find them a new home.   

When we moved to the farm north of Scottsbluff, we right away got a dog for the farm - Benji.  Benji disappeared one day, never to be seen again.  He looked like  a big polar bear.

We've had other batches of puppies as well.  We had a yellow lab named Sheeba that had a batch of puppies before she got "fixed".  We had Sheeba for several years until she died of old age.   Sheeba and Josie (Tim and Janel's dog) became good friends when Josie came to visit.

Sheeba's puppies

Josie and Sheeba

Janel and Alexis with Sheeba

Buddy

Our next dog was a red Australian Shepherd named Buddy.  Buddy was a beautiful, gentle  dog, but he would never stay home.  He was everybody's Buddy, and he always went visiting all the neighbors and would make himself at home on their door step until we came and got him. Buddy consequently spent alot of time on the long, long leash.  Buddy went everywhere with Tim in the pickup and even then would leave the safety of the pickup and go visit new friends.  We had to rescue him from the animal shelter at least twice!   Tim and Buddy would share donuts or treats when they would go to town.  We took Buddy on a road trip to Lincoln with us, and he got his own hot dog and ice cream cone at the truck stop!   Buddy died of a accident when he jumped too early out of the back of the pickup in anticipation of his run down the lane, a routine he did daily when going irrigating or checking the cows.    Buddy was the most beautiful dog we have had.

Josie and Buddy

Buddy also became good friends with Josie.  Josie would come to the farm and loved to run with Buddy.  On Josie's last trip here she stayed on the farm to linger longer for the summer.  She enjoyed accompanying Buddy and Tim in the old jeep.  Josie ended up dieing on our farm of old age before she had a chance to return home.  We all knew her time was near, and it was real sad, especially since she didn't have her real family around. 

Tim and Merle -  spring 2007

Now we have Merle,  a red merle Australian Shepherd.  He is  lovable, but quite annoying when he barks with happiness upon our arrival home, or when he is letting us know that company has arrived in the yard.  We've never had to deal with a barker like Merle.  Merle loves to spend time in the house with us and is so spoiled.  He too has learned to go with Tim in the pickup, but only on the farm.   He doesn't go to town much like Buddy did. He's such a gentle dog, but so obnoxious!

Through the years, we have enjoyed numerous cats and kittens.  We seem to have been partial to white cats for a long time.  I think we had several through the years.  It's so fun to have a cat nestle on your lap.



The white and yellow cat and the white cat were siblings born here on the farm.  We had so much fun watching them play as kittens ~ they were just hilarious.  Farm cats have a tendency to disappear after several years.  We've never had any of our cats fixed so they always strayed as tom cats looking for a wedding, or mama cats looking for a boyfriend. Or they just die of old age!



Steer



Steer was a big cat that was picked up by someone else  and needed a good home.  Steer was with us for about three years.  Tim named him Steer because he said the cat pooped in the corral as much as a steer did.   I remember having this black cat, but it must have been just another farm cat we let in and out of the house.    What lazy creatures!

We've even had pet ducks!  When Daniel was an exchange student staying with us, he wanted  a pet he could call his own.  We got him two ducks.  They stayed in his room for the first two weeks, and then the ducks were moved to the barn.  There they learned to hang with the sheep ~ they literally became sheep and followed the sheep everywhere.  They roamed free range and slept with the sheep!                 

Animals and pets are eventful friends.  They can be the best kind of friend to have because their love is unconditional. They are attentive.  They provide comfort and companionship, even through difficult times. Everyone should know the joys of having a pet as an Eventful Friend!