Monday, June 27, 2011

Animal hugger? fido friend or fido foe?

Charlie is an animal lover. a fido friend. Already. I'm pretty sure.




















You know how you hear, 'it takes one to know one'?

Well, in this case... let's just say 'it takes a non-one to know one'. :)

I'm not an animal hater. Promise. I love learning about animals; their habitats, how they care for their young, their instincts, the creativity of our Maker that is so evident in their unique appearances.... but I usually steer clear of them. Cats, dogs, hamsters, horses, squirrels, and of course the wild cats and snakes and the typical fear inducing animals-- they all make me tense up.

However, it seems that Charlie is going to have a soft spot for animals. He loves to pet any dog, runs to our windows after breakfast to watch birds and squirrels, and picks his favorite animal books to read over and over again. I've seen him get in a trance over tadpoles and become obsessed with a turtle. When we are playing out in the front yard and dogs are being walked down our street, I tend to walk towards the safety of our front door. While charlie runs to go pet the random. This makes me think of the whole nature vs nurture debate.

As for Annette, she doesn't seem to be too interested. She would rather read about an animal than touch it. Much like her momma. As for dogs, she is always saying 'go away, dolly sue!' to her Nonnie's dog:) ha! I'm just so Glad she isn't jumping onto her daddy's shoulders like I used to do!

Why am I so standoffish to four legged things? Bad experiences with certain species... and never ever having had a pet (with the exception of fish and a stray cat named Gloria who hung around our north spruce house) have both probably contributed to my tendency to keep a certain distance from them.

When Isaac and I first started dating, back in the good ole year of 1999, I was so scared of their two big dogs, Wilson and Wyatt, that Isaac would have to put the dogs out before I would come in. I think the whole family thought i was either crazy or a drama queen or high maintenance. Probably all three. But, after many months (maybe years), I finally became less scared of them. I got used to Wilson first. I thought black dogs were scarier, so it took awhile longer to conquer my fear of Wyatt.







Now looking back, its those two dogs that have allowed me to see how people can fall in love with animals. They made me realize that not all dogs jump on you. Or bark at you. And that dogs can be well behaved and be enjoyable to be around. It showed me the possibility that I could one day allow my kids to have a pet of their own. With the help of a dog loving husband, of course.

I do. I do want to have a dog one day. A lab. In honor of my favorite dog ever:) Not this year or next. But one day when my kids start begging for one. We will get a dog. Maybe one that is already potty trained and a few years old. I don't mind skipping that part.

Even to this day, I'm still unusually scared of dogs. New ones that I don't know especially. Big ones, small yippy ones, loud ones, etc.

BUT...

Being a dog owner. Having a pet. It will be good for me to have one less thing to say I've never done. And maybe I'll even turn into an animal hugger like my little Charlie.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

1 comment:

Kristie said...

Morgan that is just to cute :) Totally understand.. Some dogs I just can't seem to like either. I'm so proud of you I know it is hard to over come fears... I have a fear of water. :)

-Christie