The history of pets III

I am talking about my pets because pets are cultural artefacts, and give an insight into a way of life.
I’ve always had pets in one form or another. When I was a child we always had a cat about the house. Then there was my first very own pet: Fred the mouse, whom I’ve already mentioned. Later, when I had my own house, I had two cats and two dogs. I got the cats first. Anyone who knows cats knows they are pretty independent, and do what they like, so they are no trouble at all. (Although, having said that, my mum once had a cat that had a flea allergy, which had to be specially treated, so that was a bit costly.) At the time, I was living across the road from the woods, and my cats would disappear for days on end. I’ve always been prone to wandering about the countryside myself, and thought if I got a dog I wouldn’t look so conspicuous. I bought a Jack Russell bitch puppy from a local farmer. When I first got her she was so small she could fit on the palm of my hand. When she was a bit older, I saw a dog advertised in the local paper - free to a good home. He was a grumpy, wired-haired Jack Russell terrier, and he growled at me the first time we met. He was cute, though. So, I got him. Fortunately, the two dogs got along; it was love at first sight. I never got around to training them. They were house-trained, of course, but when we went for walkies they’d just run amok: terrorizing other dogs and running off after squirrels, and they’d often escape from my garden. My neighbour also said they’d howl all the time they were left alone in the house (I don’t know why because they had everything they needed, and they were not left for all that long). You have to show dogs whose boss, and it was a continual fight for top dog status – them or me. They ended up having a litter of pups together. One night, I was woken up by a whimpering sound, and something moving around on the bed. I put my hand out and felt a warm, gooey mess: the bitch had got on the bed and had her pups on the duvet next to me. It’s a wonder they didn’t end up splattered on the wall, because I was so alarmed and it took me a while to realize what had happened. Anyway, there were four super cute puppies, which I had the pleasure of seeing growing for about three months, until they went on to other homes.  

Up next: my tropical fish aquarium. 

I am busy over the next few days.
My blog will return next week...Don't go away   : )  

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