Belle
The Accidental Dog Lover
I found my first dog on the side of the road at a gas station deep in the rural South many years back. She was a pure bred beagle who had obviously had many litters of puppies. She was starving and stank to high heaven – beagles have that tendency to roll in something several days old and she was definitely no exception. I wasn’t much of a dog lover back then, but feeling sorry for her, I purchased some gas station bologna for her to eat, which she wolfed down. I was doing field work at the time and was with a bunch of co-workers, so we drove off to complete the day’s work.
Later that night, I began to think more about the dog at the gas station and I couldn’t sleep. I convinced one of my co-workers to drive back with me to pick her up and bring her back to the cabin we were all staying at for the week. I can not tell you how terrible the smell in the truck was whenever we had to stop at red lights. We both had to stick our heads out of the window to keep from gagging. Not to mention we discovered later that night that she wasn’t house trained. But in spite of all of this, I had just adopted my first dog. I named her Esmerelda (Esmie for short).
Anyone who has a dog knows what a responsibility they can be and also the joy that they can bring to your life. Although I was born a cat person (and even owned a pet rabbit once which I called my little furry ball of hate), severe cat dander allergies converted me to a dog owner and eventually a dog lover. I have had a couple of special dogs in my life and have learned a lot about dogs as a result. I’m writing this blog to share the experiences I’ve had with my pets and my friends’ pets, in case others are looking to solve some of the same problems I encountered or are just looking for some helpful tips or funny stories.
Charlie – the Little Furry Ball of Hate
I hope you will share your stories and comment on things I’ve talked about too; so that we can all benefit from the shared experiences and lessons learned.