Pet Storykeeping--Don't Lose Part of Your History

When you write about the pets in your life you can start with the first pet in your life and continue up to the present time or you can start with the present and work backwards. You can start with the pet you've had the longest or the pet that you felt the closest to. Some of the animals in your life may have belonged to someone else such as a grandparent's dog or an uncle's horse or the neighbor's cat. Sometimes photos will remind you of stories. My husband had talked about having guinea pigs when he was young. I came across a photo of the two guinea pigs. It reminded me of why he said yes when we were offered a guinea pig.
So, when you scrapbook look for photos of pets and record the stories behind the photos.

The most common pets are cats and dogs. What do you remember about your pets? Write the stories down, and preserve the photos of your pets, and add interest to your own or your family's story. As you write your story think back to the pets you had during childhood as they are a very important part of your childhood.

The first pet story I remember in my life was when our dog had puppies. I chose one as my own. My parents had decided they would keep one male puppy, and my puppy was female. So when someone came who wanted "my puppy" I was asked to sell her for a quarter. It didn't seem like a very good deal to me.

We had thirteen black cats on our farm when I was young. They lived in the woodpile. My mother counted thirteen black cats with little white spots under their chins. An illness went through all the cats and all but one died. After that my mother let the only cat who survived live in the house.

We had several other cats and dogs throughout my growing up years. One dog, named Poodle, liked to tease the cats until he could get them to chase him.
Our cats hunted mice. Our dogs herded the cows and barked to let us know someone had come to visit.

As an adult I didn't have pets for a while. As my children started to grow up, I realized they were missing a lot without pets; so I got some fish and a fish tank for them. Then we were given a kitten and it disappeared only a week after we got him. Then we were given a puppy. After a neighbor called the police because the dog was whining in the middle of the day, I decided I couldn't deal with a dog. We got another cat and for the next fifteen years we enjoyed that cat's company.

Today we have two cats and a dog. We got the two cats from the pound and the dog a couple of years later from someone who was going to take him to the pound. The cats are not brother and sister, but they are very comfortable with each other and have been together since they were about a month old. They are opposites of each other--one being male, agressive, mostly white, long-haired, tall and lanky; and the other being female, patient, mostly black, short-haired, short and stout. The dog was raised as a puppy with the cats and gets along with them; yet he, like Poodle, our dog while I was growing up, has teased the white cat into chasing him.

Remember your pets. Find their photos and write their stories.

Sharing your pet stories can be fun for family and friends who know your pets and for others who just love animals and enjoying reading about them. It is always heart-warming to hear of how a dog or a cat saved their owner. Maybe it was by barking or meowing or behaving differently which made the owner check out what was going on. Maybe it was getting someone else's attention so they could help the owner. I grew up watching Lassie and Rin Tin Tin and, of course, would have loved to have a dog that would save me or would get help for me if I were in trouble. A couple of months ago I tripped on my front porch and fell before I could open the front door. My dog was on the other side of the door and barked and whined for me to open the door. He knew I was in trouble. Although he couldn't help me other than make a lot of noise that maybe someone could hear and come to see what was wrong, it was nice to know he was concerned about what happened to me. He knew something was wrong, and he did the best he knew how to try to help me. Sharing the good things, the funny things, the silly things, the scary things can make others feel more connected with your pets.
You can send copies of photos of your pets. You can post photos of your pets online so family and friends can see them. You can create a blog and write about your pets and include photos. You could create a Squidoo lens about your pets.
You could even put your pet's photo on your checks and share them everytime you pay your bills at
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Share your pet photos and bring a smile to someone else.

Getting a pet is a big committment. Young animals have many things to learn to become good pets. Cats are easier to live with even if they are not well-trained. They can be difficult to train, but sometimes you can train a cat to do certain things especially if they see a benefit. Our big male cat has been trained to sit before he gets soft cat food. But I haven't succeeded in training him in some other ways I would like to like not fighting with the dog and not ripping open a bag of dry cat food when he is hungry.
Our dog was being aggressive and I studied to find out how to help prevent the aggression. I learned a lot of things that helped him. Going for walks would be a real test for me as he constantly pulled on the leash during the whole walk. He would pull the leash out of my hands running after dogs or cats while we were walking. He wouldn't even sit still long enough to get his leash on and sometimes ended up not going on a walk. Making him sit and be quiet before I put on the leash helped. Then going out the door before him helped. Then pulling back on him and making him walk with me helped. Then learning to push him down on his side gently but firmly if he started to pull towards another dog or cat helped. Now I really enjoy my walks with him. He walks right along side me without much pulling. He may whine when he sees a dog he wants to go over to, but he hasn't gotten away from me in a long time. Learning how to train a dog is very valuable. You can enjoy your time on walks with him. Every day life is much easier when your dog is trained. When our dog pulled away to ran across the street to see another dog, I would worry that a car might hit him. I worried that the other dog might not be friendly and would end up fighting with him. I worried that he could hurt a smaller dog or a cat. Now I enjoy the walks with him. I look forward to the time we spend walking.
If you would like to learn how to train your dog here is a link that might prove helpful. Click Here!