It’s a Dog’s World, We Just Live Here

My wife Liz loved animals, in fact, she loved animals more than humans. This seems to be true in our society in general. A story of puppies or kittens stuck in a sewer or animals being harmed or mistreated and then being rescued is a very common and popular story I see when I muster up the nerve to watch the evening news.

Maybe it’s because most of the news is “gloom and doom.” There is a song called “Dirty Laundry” that described the news media pretty well. Bad news does seem to sell products much better than good news. So a sweet heart-warming animal story makes us feel better after watching all the bad news.

We all love animals and it’s our job as humans to oversee and take care of our planet and the animal kingdom. A person who does not love animals cannot be trusted. This was one of my wife’s sayings, which we called “Liz-isms.” Another Liz-ism was: if your dog usually loves everyone, but immediately dislikes a stranger, you best pay attention.

Who In The World Want’s a Chihuahua?

Anyway, we always had multiple dogs and cats. Most of the time we had a chihuahua or two, which was never my favorite breed of dog. I found them needy, pissy, snippy, hard-headed, always cold, and not the sharpest tool in the shed. But, Liz loved them and I loved her, so we almost always had a couple of the little turds.

Back in 1992 Liz inherited her mother’s Chihuahua after she passed. His name was Mickey because Liz and her mother named all male Chihuahua’s Mickey. I asked her why they named them all Mickey many times and was told to mind my own business many times. Through the years, each time a Mickey passed away he had to be replaced with another Mickey.

Our sister-in-law who raised the little turds gifted us with our first long-haired Chihuahua. He was no bigger than a rat and had sprigs of hair sticking out in all the wrong places that made him look like he was in bad need of a haircut. And the worst part was he immediately attached himself to me. He followed me everywhere. If I wasn’t there he whined and waited for me until I came home.

Chick Magnet

It took about three days for him to capture my heart. I began to take him everywhere I went. He rode in the truck on my shoulder and went into every store, home, or establishment I went into. As he grew he got better looking, in fact, he became a “chick” magnet. Women would follow and catch up to me just so they could pet him even if Liz was with me. Liz did not care much for that, but she was always polite.

From the beginning, he was obviously “my dog” so (for once) I put my foot down!! He would be the first male Chihuahua not named Mickey. I had already been calling him “d@m# you little rascal” so he officially became: “Rascal Boy Stanley.” Rascal had none of the above negative attributes that our previous or current Chihuahua’s possessed. He was the smartest dog I have ever had the pleasure of calling my best friend. Space will not allow me to relate all the intelligent and loving stories I could tell you about this wonderful dog.

Here’s A Sampling

We called Rascal “the policeman” because all other dogs, even cats respected and never questioned his authority, regardless of their size. If there was a fight Rascal broke it up. He would get in between whoever was fighting animal or human.

Rascal Had a Superpower

We all have had animals that knew our routines. They knew the times we went to work and came home. Our pets can also tell what we are about to do by the shoes we put on or understand what we are trying to say by our gestures and the tone of our voice. They know when we are sick, sad, or mad. Rascal knew those things and much more. He knew when I was on my way home. It didn’t matter what time I left work. It didn’t even matter where I left from. Once I headed home he climbed on the top of the couch and looked out the window until I pulled into the driveway. If I had to be out of town and didn’t head home that day, he never got up there and waited.

This is a tough story for me to write with these watering eyes, but they are tears of happy and tender memories. I loved that dog dearly and he worshiped the ground I walked on.

We all know that pets make us healthier and happier. Rather than taking my word for it, here’s a fascinating link to the AHA.

https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-bond-for-life-pets/pets-as-coworkers/pets-and-mental-health