therapy
Pets are more than just playmates; all about pet therapy and the healing power of animals.
Snow Bully
On more than one occasion, a typical walk through our neighborhood would include the disapproving sideways glances of neighbors raking and shoveling their yards and the quick crossing of nervous mothers with their children (and even some fathers) to the sidewalk on the opposite side of the road as we approached. Ratchet and I separated the ignorant and paranoid from the true dog lovers. Ratchet was my pit bull: my goofy, slobbery, people-loving, 80 pound wanna-be lap-dog who couldn’t resist an outstretched hand of a child for all the world. A favorite at his veterinarian’s office, Ratchet was a lover, not a fighter, but some people could only see the outside--the breed. But I saw personality oozing from every pore of that creature. How could they miss it?
By Dorothy Bromley Highsmith3 years ago in Petlife
Sarge My Beautiful Boy
I saw this challenge days ago and my instinct was to shut my laptop, let the sadness fester for weeks, and return to it, at a later date. Well, the later date is now and I have two hours to deadline. Procrastination, one of my greatest features. This one has lived up to the word "challenge" as this may be the most difficult and beautiful article I have ever had to write.
By Jamie LeFebvre 3 years ago in Petlife
A girl and her pup
Penny Farthing and I have been together just over two years now. We have shared many a wonderful experiences, but the one for discussion is a memory from our drive down to Valdez from Delta Junction. The skies were clear so we could see every mountain top. The temperature was warm enough that I could wear my amazing blue gnome like poncho with only a tank top underneath.
By Just a girl and her pup3 years ago in Petlife
The Danger of Aging with Grace
A dog’s life portrays the nature of time. A young pup bears a crescent moon that waxes into blustery, playful years, and then wanes before us as he ages. To be close to a pet, we become witness to mortality. We are given the lesson of acceptance at the ongoing realization that we have made the choice to bond with a heart that will beat for less minutes, less days, less years than our own. Tender lessons of grief and of growing old are inherent to this relationship. All the while, two souls are tied together by a cosmic cord, which signs an agreement to protect, care for, and love one another without condition.
By Mollie Sheridan 3 years ago in Petlife
A Good Bad Dog
I was phobic of dogs for more than 20 years. I would cross the street when I saw a dog coming. I would have silent, frozen panic attacks if a dog approached me. I would hide in cars until friends put their dogs away, and the thought of a beach, a park or a path would be tainted with the fear of encountering someone walking a dog. I once bodily threw a coworker towards a car with a dog sticking out of the window, using her as a human shield when he startled me.
By Regina Grimm3 years ago in Petlife
My Goose Caboose
I remember the evening she came into this world. My father's dog was heavily pregnant and had been pacing and panting for most of the afternoon. We knew she was going to have her puppies soon, though we hadn't expected her to start having them right on my younger sister's lap. The eight year old had been running her hand through the course black fur of the shepherd/lab mutt, when suddenly a mortified look crossed her face; “She peed on me!” Was the screech of indignation. But when Tally stood up, rather than a puddle of pee, there was a small squirming mass still in its birthing sac. A thick boy that would fondly be named Fat Cheese (a name that his future owners would thankfully change). The rest of the evening was a blurred memory of excitement, and by morning our house had twelve new lives in it; eight males and four females.
By Tianna Steinman3 years ago in Petlife
