Member-only story
Are You Part of the Pet Loving Culture?
WHEN I WAS A YOUNG BOY AT HOME, my Mother loved our German Shepard, Wolfgang. He was a big, clumsy playful dog with a hyperactive bent. He was what dog lovers refer to as a good dog. One who protects and obeys.
Wolfgang was perfect in my eyes; slightly apprehensive around strangers and loving around family. He would accompany my little brother, a toddler at the time, as he wandered around in the grass and among the bushes in our big back yard of rolling hills. He was my brother’s unofficial guard dog — and he did it instinctively.
He had no formal training. He was simply, a good dog.
My Mom and Dad always had a dog around, even in their early years of marriage before having children. Neither of them had an appreciation for cats, but my mother did have a parakeet from time to time. She always named them Mr. Peepers and taught them to say a few words like “Get me a beer!” or “Mama’s home!”
That’s why it was surprising to me that after my Dad passed, and while in her late seventies, my Mom got a cat. Tasha was a beautiful Persian Long Hair. Mom took care of her like she was a princess. I witnessed the care and attention she gave Tasha because Mom lived with my wife and me for 15 years before she passed, and of course, Tasha was an important part of our family.
