A Doggie Tribute

A lot of my friends are saying that I should get a dog, or a cat and I always try to come up with a good excuse for not wanting to have one… yet. (A cat is not even an option, they’re just too ninja for me.) Thing is, I am not emotionally ready to have a mammal pet, and that’s the honest to goodness truth. I do like watching puppy videos on YouTube and I always say “I want one!” afterwards, but that is short-lived.

A Cute Puppy

See, growing up we didn’t have a family dog until I turned 9 when we moved to our new house. Our first family dog was a mutt, a white dog with tawny spots named BOOMER. Boomer was fast and jumpy. Kinda like a spring-loaded, nervous wreck. Unfortunately, Boomer was hit by a car after 5 years of being with us and it was very, very sad. Boomer was my first dog and like true love, he never dies.

Next came a white dog named BLANCHE. We have a knack for white dogs, I guess. Unlike Boomer, Blanche was a mean girl. She would bark all the time until she would get canine laryngitis. She would bark at a shadow and at me coming home from school. Blanche had too much drama going on. And to be honest, I don’t remember what happened to her.

Then came this black dog named AYTOM. What a weird dog! He was pitch black and reminds me of Voldemort. He was quiet and stealthy. I kinda liked him because he minded his own business. Now Aytom passed away on my birthday. He died of old age. I turned 18 on that day. That was a sad day for the family.

We had a canine hiatus for years after that. Dunno what happened but my parents decided to take a break from dog drama. Then came our current dog STRATUS, borne in 2006 and given by our hairstylist family friend, Stratus is named after a type of a cloud because of his wispy, light white fur. He is now 5 years old and as mischievous as ever. Because we don’t usually let our dogs get in the house, Stratus has a house in the garage. He destroyed his house one day and decided to wrap a barb wire around it. I wasn’t sure what kind of Rambo tactics he was thinking but Stratus got hurt from this shenanigan and was in the Vet hospital for days.

Arturo "Art", The Tortoise

Stratus makes my mom chase him, stops, and runs away again. He’s always fluffy because of Downy. My mom swears by Downy on fur and I never questioned that. When Jeff and I went home last year I was apprehensive to pet him because of fear of unfamiliarity. I was happy just seeing him play.

I believe that dogs are our best friends. I have no doubt about it. I just think that having a dog is a life-long commitment. No one should take care of one just because they’re cute and cuddly. I know I will have a dog someday, maybe once we have kids. And I already know that it’s going to be a Westie.

For now, our pet bestfriend is a tortoise named ART. Art may be slow and scaly, but he’s cute in a non-fluffy, granpop kind of way.