Before I begin, a quick thought...
It's strange how life works out sometimes. I had my topic for this post in mind last night. It entails my pets and you'll learn a thing or two about them, maybe even more about me. ("See, I knew he was weird!")
The reason I'm not jumping right into it today is that I started drafting this out and then stopped to catch up on some blogs that I follow. While doing so, I discovered that Megan Rebekah over at A Blog About The Write Stuff had recently lost her dog. That makes me sad for her. I'm a sensitive dude. I cried at Marley and Me, in spite of knowing what was going to happen (which I'll not mention in case you want to see it and haven't yet, even though it's an old movie at this point) (well, you never know, right?).
Anyhow, I was planning on sharing about my pets and saw that Megan lost one of her own. Just makes me remember that you can't take things for granted. If you love someone (even if they walk on all fours...), make sure you appreciate them while they are still around. Not to get all preachy, but take some time and let those who are important to you know how much you care.
And if they are of the furry, freeloading variety, snacks usually seem to work!
If you haven't been there before, make sure you swing by A Blog About The Write Stuff and check out her blogs, new and old. She usually has a lot of great stuff to share!
I'm blanking on a decent segue from that to this, so let's just jump into it...
A long time ago I discovered that Tweak Dog isn't very good at karate. She and I would do some non-contact sparring, but this mostly entailed her sitting, staring at me as I kicked and punched the air two feet in front of her. Sometimes she yawned.
I was reminded of this yesterday when I tried to play a rousing game of "tag" with the cat. I've written about her before, so you all know that I love our freeloading feline.
But she's even worse at tag than Tweak is at kung fu.
Whereas the Tweak will sit like a Zen master and disarm me with her patience, Kitty Meow just ran the opposite direction after I tagged her "it." This (did not) lead to the following exchange:
[I just tagged the cat]
Me: "Hey, you're supposed to chase me."
*The cat: "No, I'm going to run this way."
Me: "But that's not how the game is played."
The cat: "Well, I don't feel like playing it that way."
Me: "But those are the rules."
The cat: "I just changed the rules. Now feed me."
Me: "Uh, okay."
* Well, obviously she doesn't speak English -- I'm an incredible cat trainer and all, but not that incredible -- so I filled in her end of the dialogue. Based on the steely glares in my general direction, I think she's offended.
My pets are horrible at playing games the way they are "supposed to." Tweak doesn't do fetch. Occasionally I'll toss a ball and, invariably, what happens is we both stand where we are, watch it land and then look at each other with "so, are you going to get that" expressions on our respective faces. I can sometimes get her engaged in a little soccer (there's sometimes a random soccer ball at the dog park...), but that only lasts for a short while.
Mostly, Tweak Dog, Esq. just likes taking walks and sniffing random stuff. And sleeping on the couch even though she isn't supposed to. I think that's her favorite game. She calls it "let's see how long I can get away with this before someone 'yells' at me."
My dog sometimes has the same temperament as a four year old testing his boundaries.
Much like a parent of a boundary-exploring four year old, I love her in spite of it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Since I've been blogging I've seen posts where people lost their pets, and always said how sorry I was, and how my dogs were like my babies and I didn't know what I'd do without them. I'd go home that night, look at them and appreciate everything they gave me in life. I loved them to pieces, and they returned the sentiment.
ReplyDeleteThose precious moments are so important now that Romeo is gone. I wish he were here. But I know that his time with me was filled with nothing but happiness and love (even when he got into the garbage and I came home to find a squirmy dog trapped in an old food box).
You obviously love and appreciate your pets, and that's wonderful to see. Remember that each of their days with you is a gift, and you won't have regrets when they're no longer with you.
Sorry for the chapter-length comment, but obviously this is a topic that's been on my mind all week.
oh, those darn pets :) My cat has just had five little kittens and they are the main stars in my backyard this summer :)
ReplyDeleteThat's why God made them so cute - so we'd tolerate their poor sportsmanship and wily ways ;-) (I'm owned by two cats, by the way.)
ReplyDeleteMegan - No need to apologize for "chapter-length" comments here at the Ducks! This might come as a shock, but I have a tendency to write a lot myself... ;)
ReplyDeleteDez - If we lived close to you, my wife would probably try to obtain one of the kittens, hopefully by legal means. Every once in a while I receive random email messages containing ads for adorable kitties.
Wendy - Our cat -- cleverly named "Kitty Meow" -- is certainly wily. The problem is that she knows she's cute and can get what she wants. (Admittedly, all she usually wants is cat food.) :)
They're so manipulative aren't they? So cute. Yet they know how to push our buttons...it makes me almost want to get a puppy, until I think of the pee stains in my house.
ReplyDeleteWhen my dog was a puppy... yeah, lots of pee stains had to be cleaned. Good times.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, though, I love my dog and don't regret having had to clean up after her.
ah, if we lived close to eachother, your wife wouldn't need to steal them, I'd give them up voluntary :) I don't know what to do with them anyway :)
ReplyDeletemy dog would answer: let's play, let's play, let's play-- what are we playing?
ReplyDeletemy girlfriend's cat would answer, as you noted: feed me, leave alone, feed me.
How do I get my hands on some of Dezmond's kittens????!!!
ReplyDeleteI hate to be The Kitten Nazi, but "No kittens for you, one year! Next!!"
ReplyDeleteI love you, though!