I will be the first to admit that I was never an animal person. I couldn’t handle the fur being everywhere, the constant need for attention and the ruckus they tend to cause which is why God blessed me with a child who loves animals to the point where she stopped eating meat for a long period of time (yes I love a good steak, chicken, pork almost any meat dish except venision). Danyella absolutely loves animals and has since she was a baby and fell in love with Happy Feet but I dreaded that one day I would have to fulfil her need for animals in the house.
At 5, Danyella received Stinky, a little hamster, for her birthday and he was her first love. Then at 6, she adopted Hannah, a Havana bunny that was the runt of the litter. We house trained Hannah so she was an indoor bunny and Danyella couldn’t give enough love to Hannah. Right before Christmas, when Danyella was 8, Stinky died and she was so upset but had Hannah to keep her loving animal spirit going. As a runt, Hannah had medical issues and there was a couple of times we didn’t know if Hannah would survive the infections she got. Everytime she pulled through Danyella would dote on Hannah even more. Now animals in cages, I handled that because Hannah was allowed out a couple hours a day to play but she didn’t make so much of a mess and little noise.
Right before Christmas this past year, Hannah became very ill to the point that I hand fed her through and eye dropper. Danyella, Doug and I took turns holding Hannah until she died 2 days before Christmas. Danyella cried nearly everyday since Hannah died because she lost her best friend. I knew that Danyella wanted a dog but I have always resisted because I cannot handle fur with my business. After my miscarriage, my feelings towards a dog started to change….
A little over 2 weeks ago, Doug and I decided to stop by the local animal shelter (after weeks of stalking their facebook to see what kinds of dogs they had coming in) just to see what they had. I got the lecture from Doug “we are only looking, we are NOT bringing home a dog today!”. Well that lectured didn’t work so well on him at all because one look into each other’s eyes and Doug wasn’t leaving without Max!
Max is a Plott Hound/Pitbull mix that was fostered by someone I know locally. He is 12 weeks old and full of love. He is a Mama’s boy and my protector when someone comes to the door. He loves to go for car rides but hates that Mama won’t let him sit on her lap when she drives. When I get home, Max will shimmy his body around my body to climb up and give me kisses. Adopting Max was the best idea we ever had because now this non-animal loving girl is a New Puppy Mama!
