The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Gives Hope
September 16th, 2020-TCS # 704
Love Your Animals, My Readers! Well, That was an Interesting Greeting, Christian! What does it mean? Well, Believe it or not, It has almost been a Year since We had put Our Dog, Zoe (or Zoe Bear) to Sleep. I know! I cannot believe it either! On The 18th of This Month will be a Year. Often Times, When You think of An Event whether It is Happy or Sad, It feels like It has been Longer than A Short Time Period. It seems like to Feel like It has been Longer, like Maybe 3 Years since XYZ Happened when Really, It has only been Less than a Year. It is Very Interesting how that Works isn’t It? I find It Very Weird! I guess that is How Life works sometimes! Anyway, In Honor of a Year since Zoe Bear’s Passing, I am going to Reshare a Newsletter that I am sure that Zoe herself would be Very Proud of! Even though A Year has Passed, We still Miss You a lot Zoe Bear! So, Love Your Animals! Tightly!
This Newsletter was Originally Written on September 6th of 2017 (Refer to Newsletter 560)
Happy September, Everyone! This is The First Month of The Fall Foliage Season, so Get Yourself and Cameras Ready! I Love Fall (or Autumn) Foliage Season! It is so Pretty to look at Pictures of Nature’s Pure Beauty that is Fall Foliage! I wish to see it for Myself One Day! So, On to My Newsletter! So, Last Week, I got a request, along with Questions on a Topic that I should write about. So, Write about it, I will! So, This Topic is something I mention a lot about Briefly but, Never have really gone in Detail about. It is kinda Funny actually. I would think that after 11 Years of Writing and 500 Newsletters that I would have Explained Pretty Much Everything in My Life, in Detail, especially Something of This Importance. So, The Question from a PTLS Family Member says “About My Dog and How I care for Them. Thoughts on Animals in General. Did You like Them as A Kid and Do They help with Anxiety?” So, Most of My Childhood, after I was 7 years old, I remember that We did have a Pet. My Mom tells me when I was little I saw a Big Animal, like a Horse, and literally, Jumped up on My Grandma Honey, or when we went to a friend’s who had a really Big dog, I climbed right up the man who owned her, screaming and crying, I was so Scared! So, I guess, We will start with The First Segment.
“Do You like Animals as A Kid?” As I Mentioned about The Horse Story, Probably not, or at least, Big Animals. Regular Animals like Cats and Dogs, I was not sure about, but I came to love them. Other than One Time that I was playing at a Friend’s House in San Antonio and The Dog got a Bit Excited and nipped at me, I have been fine with Pets. You See, One Day, My Mom, Michael, and I went to a Friend’s House that lived near a Park that we played at. Anyway, I remember There was a A Tree House that We wanted to play up in it. I remember running to go up in The Treehouse with My Brother and The Dog nipped at My Foot, they did not really Bite per se, but to Me, It Hurt. But, that was The Only Crazy Animal Story that I remember.
The First Pet that I remember getting was at Michael’s baseball Game (Refer to Newsletters mentioning “Mr. Jeff Era”) and There was a Guy selling Kittens and one of us wanted it. It was a Cat. Yes, My Readers! As a Present-Day Dog Person, there was a Time in My Life when We had a Cat. “Honey” was her name. A Dark Gray and White Cat. Honey was a Very Sweet Cat and Very Quiet as well with My Sensitive Hearing. The Next Animal We got was again during “The Mr. Jeff Era” (He was a Guy that My Mom was dating, and going to marry, that We lived with for a lot of Our Childhood). My Mom had a Friend that lived near Canyon Lake (Outside of San Antonio) and We would go visit her before I went to go visit My Dad for The Weekend. Anyway, I was pacing back and forth on The Rock Driveway and all of a Sudden, this Dog came up and It startled me at First, wondering where The Dog came from. It came from The Neighbors that were not so Nice to it (Her). She crawled up to us and Michael was like “Aww, Can we have it?!” and Somehow, The Dog jumped in Our Van and Back Home we went. We named The Dog, Sophie. Honey was not Very Pleased with Sophie but, She got used to it. After a rather traumatic ending for Our Cat, Honey, Each Time that We got a New Pet, It was always a Dog. Until Recently, We have always had Girl Dogs. My Mom would rather prefer a Girl Dog over a Boy Dog. But, Now We have Our Family’s First Boy Dog, Paco!
So, Next Question “Thoughts on Animals in General”. Animals in General, I feel, are Very Smart! All of Our Dogs (and, Honey) were Very Smart, they could do a lot. Horses, in the Big Animal Category are more than Smart, They are Intelligent. One Thing though that Bothers me is when The Animals are in Distress, just like People in Distress (Barking distressly, Yelping, Whining). My Sensitive-Loving Heart can not take It! For Some Reason, When We have to scold them because They did Something Wrong, I hate that because I feel bad for The Dog. I think I can understand them, and they understand Me, even without Speaking.
So, The Next Question, “About My Dogs and How do I care for My Dogs”. So, Each Dog that We got All of Them Rescues and Three of Them were what Animal Lovers refer to as “Foster Failures”. The First and Original Foster Failure was Mandy, Our Black Lab. A Friend of Ours was moving and could not take the Dog with them, so They gave Mandy to us and for us, to find Mandy a Home. After a Couple Months, I was pretty sure that We were Keeping Her. After Having Her for Several Years, It was Pretty Clear. After Sophie past away, Mandy went into a Depression. So, My Mom and My Aunt Kathy, took Mandy to The Shelter to find a Companion Dog for not only us, for Her too. She was a Mamma Dog as My Mom says, a Dog that likes to care for Another Younger Dog, Keyword here, Younger. So, in comes a 6 Month Ago Tea-Cup German Shepard that literally ran around The Room and Mandy put her paw on Her Head and Called her, Hers. We named her Zoe. So, Several Years Later, We were to “Foster” another Dog, A Rhodesian Ridgeback that needed to be Rescued from It’s Previous Home. We were only to keep Said Dog for 2 Days until The Previous Owner could find a Home. Well, needless to say, 2 Day became, 2 Week became, 2 Years and We did have Her. We named her Sadie Good-Lord. After Mandy passed away, We narrowed back down to 2 Dogs. that’s Perfect! I can handle Two Dogs! Hold On, says God! For I have a Humored Plan for You! God does that sometimes (Clearing Throat) A Lot! My Mom’s Friend, Barb was at a Flea Market in a Town called Canton (about an Hour East of Dallas) and She rescued a Brindle Colored 4 Month Old (NOT Potty Trained) Puppy, Boy Dog. After Attempting to Take The Boy Dog up to Michael, who He would have been perfect for, We had to bring him back, to Potty Train Him, and then Send Him back to Michael. Well, You see where This is going, Foster Failure! He was been here ever since and Him and I have Bonded. Funny thing though, I was not sure that having a Puppy, Especially that Young! I did not want him at first, I wanted him for My Brother. Well, Clearly, I have earned myself, The First Boy Dog that Our Family has ever had! Boy, He is probably the Most Vocal of The Dogs that We have had.
So, How do I care for Them? Well, While My Mom is at Work, I sleep in until 2:45PM. Sadie really likes it because She can lay against My Leg and protects me. A natural Companion Dog! Something that Years ago (when Mandy and Sophie were around) I would not want Dogs laying with Me on My Bed, or Dogs on My Bed at all. I have certainly become more relaxed about that! Of Course, Paco, He loves to lay under The Bed as does Zoey sometimes. and after that, If My Mom is not home yet, I usually feed the Dogs and Let them Outside, and helped with the potty training of Paco (That was a Feat of It’s Own), letting him in and out all morning and afternoon, and evening. I do My Best to make sure that Paco stays out of Trouble because He has a Sensitive Stomach. I feel oddly that Me and Paco are Very Much Alike because If We are doing something different that He is not used to, I talk to Him about it and I let him know what is going on, and He listens to My Every Word! He understands me and I understand him, even if he is not able to talk. There are Sometimes I feel like He is a PTLS Puppy because He is non-verbal but, He makes these noises which I called “Talking” which is like me when I was little, I made noises thinking They were Words and I was Talking. So, I understand what Paco is saying. I understand Him like His need for Predictability, and He is Hyper leaping across The Yard not knowing where He is going or why.
Regarding, if They help me with My Anxiety, All of Our Dogs are Very Intuitive and Paco is, as well. I call them My Companion Dogs even though They have not been officially trained and I Love Them Very Much. I think that us PTLSers have a Special Bond with Animals like Dogs and Horses. It is like We understand each other and It doesn’t take talking or words to Understand Each Other. All in all, I think that All Children should have a Cat or a Dog as a Companion.
Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Animals have a Very Important Place in Our Life. To Make us feel Loved and Understood!
