Tuesday 7 May 2013

8. BEDM // Pets

Good morning guys!

Don't I look beautiful?!
I thought I'd get this post in early as I have a lot of studying to do today, so I need to be able to focus entirely on that. Having said that, I'll put in just as much effort to this post as usual, and I' m currently on the search for photographs of my pets, past and present. As, you guessed it, that's the topic of today's Blog everyday in May challenge!

I don't think I've ever not had a pet. In my family home, there are currently 4 animals; two dogs, one cat and one guinea pig, but last year there were 6 pets as we had 2 rabbits too. Pets are constantly coming and going in our house and, over the years, we've had 3 dogs, 5 cats, 3 rabbits, 2 guinea pigs, 1 lizard, numerous hamsters and goldfish, and even a stick insect... (it wasn't my choice!) So, yeah, we're definitely a pet-friendly household.



The first pets that I vividly remember are our old cats; Cougar and Benson. I remember that Cougar was the black-sheep of the family as she was quite aggressive (very scratchy!) so nobody really liked her that much. I preferred to interpret that 'hostility' as being a misunderstood character, and I loved her. Even when she scratched me, I still loved her. I don't quite remember what happened to her now, I think she ran away (once a rebel, always a rebel) but I know that Benson lived to be well into his teens and I remember how devastated my dad was when she was put down, as he'd had her for such a long time, even before us kiddywinks were born.

One other memorable (but for all the wrong reasons!) pet was my brothers gecko which is a rather tragic/hilarious/disturbing story! As a teenage boy, he was interested in all the weird things, obviously, such as lizards and he LOVED his! We had to drive all the way to Gateshead (about a 45 minute drive!) to buy crickets to feed it. Anyway, I'm digressing... One day, my sister and her friends (probably about 8-years-old at the time) were playing with the lizard and moving things around in it's tank... Somehow, a rock ended up on top of the lizard... My sister then managed to pull the lizards head off whilst trying to rescue it from underneath the rock!! My brother was only told the true story a couple of years ago... oops! My sister will never live this down as she's constantly reminded of it. *whispers* lizard killer!

The pet that I remember the best and that we had for the longest part of my childhood was our beautiful Irish setter, Willow (whom I, unfortunately, don't have any photos of on my laptop) who we had for the most part of my childhood. She was absolutely gorgeous and so playful when she was a pup. We used to set up obstacle courses and make her jump over tables and through hoops. She used to sing (well, it sounded like singing... weird, doggy singing) when anyone visited. The best word I can use to describe the way she moved was: lollop (def: to proceed with a bounding or bobbing motion, to move in a clumsy or relaxed way). She was my mum's little baby so when she was put down after a huge stroke, about 8 years ago, everybody was heartbroken.

Our current pets include the following two characters, our dogs...

Golden Retriever (Grace) & Irish Setter (Rowan)
These two are insane, but I love them to bits. We got Grace not long after Willow's death and she's been a brilliant replacement (in the nicest sense) as she's just a lovely dog. She's the 'runt of the litter' and has a podgy tummy and stumpy little legs (the complete opposite of Rowan, who is more like a gazelle than a dog!) but she's so loving and friendly. Rowan, on the other hand, takes some getting used to! Just like our old Irish setter, she's very affectionate... and when I say 'affectionate' I really do mean it. Say, for example, you're sitting on the sofa, reading a book and drinking a cup of tea, right? Totally normal day-to-day scenario. Rowan will come bounding in and sit on top of you. Not to your side, not on your lap, on top of you; arms around your shoulders, chin resting on the top of your head, and from then on there's nothing you can do but cuddle back!

We also have a gorgeous black cat, Shadow, who we got for my dad as he missed Benson so much. I must point out: my dad, my eldest sister and myself are 'cat people,' but my mum, youngest sister and brother are most definitely 'dog people,' hence why there is such a mixture in our house! Our situation with the cat is a bit odd. We had her at the same time as our old dog, but when we introduced Grace to the house, Shadow wasn't having any of it and she's actually lived outside ever since.


We do feed her and see her everyday and she's a wonderful cat that we got from a rescue centre, it's just a shame that she doesn't trust the dogs enough to come inside.

So, that was a very long post about my pets! Sorry if I babbled on a bit but there's lots to say about the numerous pets who have come through these doors! Hopefully our current pets will stick around for a while yet :)

I hope you enjoyed reading this post.
Are you a cat or a dog person?

Love, 
Becci xoxo

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