The First Post

Rather than give a long introduction of what I'm doing and why I'm doing it, I figure I will just jump in with both feet. This blog is about animals, plain and simple. It's about the three pets that I have, my friends' pets, pets that I have helped at the shelter, and pets (and their people) that inspire me with their stories.

I just watched the most incredible episode of "I Shouldn't Be Alive" on Animal Planet. A woman fell into a canyon in Utah and broke her pelvis...and her dog ended up saving her. Her dog Taz stayed with her as long as he could and when she felt like it was her very last hope (after being out in the canyon for three days and bleeding internally) she asked him to go get help...and he did! Taz left his owner in the canyon, found the search party, and brought them back to where his owner was. To say that this woman has one of the best dogs in the world is an understatement...this was one of those miracles that you can only read about or see on tv/in the movies. Or is it?

I, like every other good pet owner, believe my dog is the smartest, cutest, most perfect dog in the world, but I don't know that he could pull something like that off. Hopefully, he never will have to. Dogs do seem to have a six sense about human feelings though. One of my favorite parts of the book Marley and Me is when John and Jenny come home after the miscarriage of their first child (stay with me on this one) and Marley rests his head in Jenny's lap. It's the simplest gesture, but it speaks volumes for how dogs can intuitively sense when we need them. Ollie will sit with me when I'm sad or make me laugh with his funny noises when I need it the most...and then he will go eat my cell phone. It's this crazy juxtaposition of comfort and craziness that keeps me going on a daily basis. Cover me in sloppy kisses when I get home from work and then turn around and puke on the rug.

Volunteering at the shelter starts on Sunday. I've always wanted to do it and never did out of fear. I think a lot of people want to volunteer, but feel the same way as I do. It's gotta be depressing to see animals in cages that have don't have their own forever home. It's gotta be really hard to not take them all home yourself. I wasn't sure I could handle it, but I believe that the rewards will far outweigh the hardships and maybe, just maybe, there will be a story or two to inspire someone else.