Pets

Spending my childhood living on a farm gave plenty of opportunities for having pets.  There were pets that I didn’t care for much, and ones that I loved with all my little heart.  I’ll begin my story with the two I cared for least, and end my story with two I loved the most!

First was my dad’s hunting dog Red.  I don’t remember much about this dog, except that I get mad every time I see a picture of him.  I think my dad liked the dog better than he did me.  I am told that sometimes I ate his dog food and it would make my breath smell absolutely horrible!

 

 

 

Next was my little brother, Peter’s pet rooster.  I hated that chicken.  Peter taught him to attack everybody.  (He also attacked Peter.)  He would fly up and try to peck you.  Peter thought it was funny.  He wore big leather boots and bib overalls that protected his body.  I did not, so I would run for cover.  That stupid chicken would sometimes come running from the barnyard when you came out of the front door, ready to attack.  Most of the time he stayed with the other animals.  It complicated the heck out of doing any farm chores.

We owned a small flock of sheep.  One of my fondest pets was a little lamb.  For some reason it had been orphaned because it’s real mother couldn’t or wouldn’t take care of it.  Sometimes sheep will have twins and won’t have enough milk for both.  Sometimes a ewe will not bond with their baby and will butt it away when it tries to nurse.  If the lamb isn’t fed by hand with a bottle it will die.  An orphaned lamb is called a bum lamb.  My dad gave me this little bum lamb and gave me the job of keeping it alive.

I took this responsibility very seriously.  I cared for my little lamb.  I fed it, played with it, and loved it!  Sometimes this was difficult because of Peter’s stupid chicken!  Once when I went out to the barnyard to feed my lamb his rooster came at me and I had to climb a wooden gate to get away.  That dumb chicken paced back and forth in front of me waiting for me to come down so he could get me.  I was stuck sitting on top of that fence for what felt like an hour until the retarded rooster would leave so I could feed my baby.  I don’t remember what I named my lamb, but it would come when I called and would follow me anywhere.  I would take it on walks without a leash. I was like its momma.  It grew up and joined the rest of the sheep.

My most favorite pet of all was our dog, Ringo.  We got him when he was a pup.  Dad would bring him in the house and he would chase Peter and I.  It was so much fun.  To get away we would jump up on the couch.  I still remember the shock we felt when Ringo got big enough to jump up on the couch after us.  He literally grew up with us!

Dad would bring him in the house to wake us up.  He would bound up the stairs of our old farm house and jump on us in our beds, licking our faces.  When Ringo was done with us we were very awake!  He was our constant companion when we were outside.

We thought he had magic powers.  We would go down to the dry bed (a huge canal that was more like a river) that flowed by our house.  There we would find a rock, mark it and let Ringo sniff it.  Then we would throw it into a huge mound of other rocks and he would bring the same rock back within seconds.  We were too young to understand how sensitive dog’s sense of smell is.  Like I said, we thought he was brilliant!

I loved Ringo with all my heart, and one day that heart was broken into bits!  My dad had taken Ringo hunting with him and came back without him. I ran out to meet them and wondered where our dog was.  I found out my dad had shot him!  I learned that when dad had tried to lift Ringo into the truck to come home, Ringo had whipped around and tried to bite him on the face.  Evidently Ringo had gotten into a porcupine and had a couple of quills embedded in his neck.  Dad was afraid he would hurt one of us kids so he shot him then and there.  I couldn’t understand why dad didn’t take him to the vet to have the quills removed instead of killing our dog!  I cried hot tears and was determined to hate my dad forever.  I don’t think I ever got completely over it because as I grew up, I never bonded to another animal.