I have been blessed to have shared my life with some amazing pets! Growing up, it seems we always had a pet in the house...cats, dogs and even a rabbit! My parents were both animal lovers. I know my Mom's family had several dogs, even during the tough times. My favorite photo of my Mom's father, Adolf was taken with his wife and my Aunt Ellen in front of their Sod House in Meade County, South Dakota about 1910. Besides the historical interest of seeing an actual sod house, I love the fact that the dog has the seat of honor and my grandpa is standing! I don't know this dog's name but he does bear a striking resemblance to a dog, Prince we had growing up (more on him later)!
Mom also had a dog named Beans growing up - not the most original name but it beats some of the other pet names in the family! My Dad never mentioned any pets by name (that wasn't his nature to share much about his family) but growing up on a farm, I'm sure he had a dog at more than one point in his life. He was a real softie when it came to animals. More than once, after having a pet die or be put down he would say, "No more pets"...but soon after, one would magically show up and become his favorite!
The first pets I remember around the house were cats. I know we had 2 cats named Friskie (how original) and one named Rhubarb. I don't remember if they were inside cats or outside cats, or a little of both. Looking back with the knowledge of my allergies and reactions to cats, it's lucky we didn't have more cats in the house!
One day when I was pretty young, we had a little dog just show up at our house and make himself at home. Back then, most people let their animals run around town...they seemed to always come home. He used to wander all around town liked he owned it and came home when he pleased. I think he was some sort of terrier mix...kind of a brown, orange and black color. My parents decided to let me (the baby) name the dog! In hindsight, I'm sure they thought I would pick Fido or Rex or something boring and unoriginal, but not me! I decided to name him...wait for it...Fruit Juice! I'm not sure why they didn't try to talk me into naming him something else but it might have something to do with the strong, stubborn streak I was born with. Anyway, can you imagine a grown man or woman standing on the front porch and yelling "Here, Fruit Juice"! What a hoot! About the same time, my sisters boyfriend at the time, bought me a huge rabbit. It really was adorable but one day someone let Fruit Juice in the house when the rabbit was out and the poor rabbit almost bit the dust! Then we learned the "he" rabbit was really a "she" rabbit and going to have babies so she got farmed out...literally! One day I came home and my parents told that Fruit Juice had run away and wouldn't be coming back! I cried for a long time but eventually life returned to normal again. Years later, I learned that he didn't run away - my Dad had to put him to sleep and it really hurt him to do it. It would be a few years before we got another dog.
Our dog, Prince was brought home by one of my brothers when I was in Junior High. He was part Irish Setter, Black Lab and German Shepherd. Although he wasn't a puppy when we got him, he was very smart and learned all sorts of tricks: shake hands, speak, catching objects, etc. He could also really understand what we were saying. When we would go away for awhile, he would have to stay in the garage and he hated it! One time my parents were in the hallway talking about putting him in the garage and couldn't find him...he was in the basement hiding under a table! When he got older, we felt it wasn't fair to keep a big dog in town and gave him to a nice family that lived on a farm.
Our next dog, was a Silver Poodle named Muffin that was a sibling of my sister's poodle, Princess! She was definitely my Dad's dog although she tolerated my Mom and I because we would feed her and let her out, etc. She had a lot of attitude and could have a little bit of a mean streak! She definitely held a grudge! If we left her at home alone too long, we would come home to find something of ours torn apart! Her favorite spot was out on the front porch under the buffet. You
did not reach under there to get her unless you wanted your hand bit! That was her domain! Looking back, perhaps the mean streak had a little to do with the outfits I made her wear (see above - this was one of many!)
When my kids were growing up, we didn't have pets mostly because we lived in apartments or rentals where pets weren't allowed. Also, money was tight so it was hard to justify adding another mouth to feed. When my daughter, Alicia was 15, she got very ill and spent 9 days in the hospital. Since she had pneumonia they moved her from the Pediatric wing to the Cardio Pulminary unit where most of the patients were over 70! Luckily we had a nurse that worked several days in a row and took a liking to Alicia. She even smuggled into the hospital a couple of puppies that she had just had bred! One of them was a puppy they named Blue because when she was born she wasn't breathing and the Nurse had to give her mouth to mouth to get her to breathe. She was kind of their favorite puppy and hated to sell her. Somehow, I just knew this was supposed to be our dog. So a couple of weeks later, we were meeting her halfway in Rock Rapids to pick up our new little Shih-Tzu Poodle mix (Shih Poo) puppy!
Alica wanted to name her Abby...I think it was wise giving her a "people" name because I think she thinks she is a person not a dog! She has truly been a joy in our life! She has helped us thru Alicia's illness, Dan's illness and everything in between! My Mom absolutely adored her and always made sure that we brought her when we came to visit. I don't know what I would do without her now that my kids are off building their own lives...she truly is my best friend!
All of us kids were brought up with a love for animals and all four of us currently have pets in our homes. My sister has always had Poodles, my brother Layne has Cairn Terriers and my brother Rich finally got with the bandwagon with a cat! What I've learned is that the name of the pet doesn't matter, but the love they share with you does! Would love to hear if any of you can match the name "Fruit Juice"! Keep it clean though...this is a family blog!
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