Day 12: My First Pet

Me, age 3

In the Day 12 post for the Blogember challenge, I am writing about my first pet.

My first pet was a Lhasa Apso named Saratoga Gold Dust .. which we called Dusty. She resembled a dust mop - low to the ground, lots of long hair and flopped down on the floor in a pile.

Having her as a pet taught me lots of interesting lessons .. unconditional love, new life through her two litters of puppies and ultimately about death and saying good-bye.

Our family didn't have a pet to show any of us kids about responsibility, it was more about how she fit into our family. She really didn't live long - only about 6 years - and many other life-changing events happened during that time. In a way it feels like my first pet was a blip on the radar.

Perhaps that's like most things over the course of a lifetime. Unless you call them out as significant they may fall to the wayside.

As an adult I had several other pets - dogs, actually. The two lab mix puppies George and Ogden who taught me about patience, the experience of caring for a sick animal and the warmth of their head on my lap when so much else was missing.

And many years later, Jack - the yellow lab mix joined our life - and exited quickly when our daughter arrived. He didn't like competition and took to showing that very obviously. And more than 7years later at 9 1/2 he lives with my brother very happily.

My first pet is still that blip on the radar. But it marks a first. And we all have to start somewhere, right?

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