Day 17 - First pet

'Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions and pass no criticisms'.

- George Elliot

Happy Monday everyone

So for my Day 17 challenge, I am going to do a blog post on my first pet. The picture below is not my old dog, but its what she looked like. Our first pet was named Fluffy. I think most dogs that look like this are named Fluffy.

Now, I dont remember how old I was but I remember it was in our first home in Windhoek, which was in Eros, so I guess I was in primary school and my parents let my siblings and I get a dog. We loved her. We adored her, we played with her and had her for a while. Then she died. And we actually, had a burial service for her and buried her nearby our area. We put stones around her 'plot' and all said a little something. I am pretty sure I cried.

Afterwards when we moved into our second home, we again had a few dogs always small dogs, and we had fish, birds, during our WWF heyday, (We were crazy for Saturday mornings wresting) - we had ducks that we named Chyna and The Rock ( my parents had converted an old plastic swimming pool into a duck pond) and we had the ducks wings clipped - there is a mystery towards the dis-appearance of those ducks that only 007 can uncover. We also had, much to the dismay of my white neighbors, but ummmmm we had some chickens and at one point we had a goat. But my mom only had it for a while before she slaughtered it. I am pretty sure that was the first time I went vegetarian.

We have never had cats. I actually like to look at pictures of cats and kittens, but I am scared of cats. And I don't trust them. And I am allergic, so is my dad and sister. Which works out fine for me anyways. But I still don't trust cats. I don't know there is something fishy about cats.

Another thing about animals and dogs in particular. I am scared shitless of dogs. I mean, we have had pets at home and all. But even then, I would be scared to come into my own home. Its not like I was bitten by a dog when I was little or something. Its quite strange, I have no issues with dogs being in the same room as me, just don't come close, don't sniff me, don't even look in my general direction. And please don't lie on my bed or sleep close to my bed. And in the morning, please don't come say hello and we can happily co-exist. Yet somehow, I get along with all the pets we have had and I miss not having a dog. Please don't get me wrong, I don't mistreat any animal, I am probably more scared of them then there are of me. It just takes me a while to really get used to having a pet. But animals scare me. Except for the fish I have now, which I have adopted as my own, since no one else feeds them.

Ohhhh funny story, we once had a dog that was gifted to us by my friend L. Anyways, this dog loved us to bits and we loved her (even though she was ugly. I shouldn't say that because All of Gods creatures are beautiful, but she was a certain breed that was ugly. She was a cute ugly small dog. Ugly in a cute weird kinda way. She was a sweetheart though. Just ugly - will ask my friend what kind of breed she was that way you get me) anyways she would get into the car when my dad would drive us to school. Problem? Dog would get car sick and would throw up in the car, Every. Single. Time. So every morning, after dropping us off, my dad had to come back and clean the car. 5 days a week. And it would get bad during the weekends if us kids went some place with the car. We tried everything with that dog, leaving her indoors (she would howl pretty murder, which had our neighbors thinking we were abusing her), we would rush out the door - only to find her somehow in front of the gate, or worse somehow she would slip into the car as us three would try to get in. And she would nip us if we tried to get her out. She was a smart dog, sometimes, she would just stand in front of the door and wait for us to finish. Patiently. Unfortunately we couldn't keep her for long because we were going camping one summer and would requires days and days with the car, long stretches of open road and a sick dog is not the way. Sometimes you can go for hours in Namibia without seeing a gas/service station and leaving her at home was not an option. So one Saturday morning, whilst my mom and I were at the shops, this old man and wife walked up to our car and ohhhh and ahhhed about our little Angel....... Lets just say, I don't remember if my mom told that couple about the dogs' special condition, but I do recall us not visiting that super market for a while.

I had another dog, that would bark and try to bite my boyfriend when ever he came to visit. My dad loved that dog. Actually, that dog was kinda sexist, she only ever barked at guys, never the girls. We lived near to our high school and a lot of friends would come over, so we ended up giving her to my aunt, where she still is today.

I had one, my last one (I had named her Chrissy - after myself) well, she and I would take my bike to Parliament gardens, after making a stop at the library, and we would cycle round the gardens, take breaks, she would sit and I would read. I would have food for her and spend hours just there under the shades, just me and my dog. She was pretty well behaved - like me.

I will eventually get another dog. I miss having a dog. This time I want a Jack Russell Terrier, like this one.

I shall Name her Lola Monroe.

Blessings, Joy and Pets.