I grew up with a cat, that would terrorize people. At our house you didn’t want to leave a toe hanging out of the end of your covers.

I married a dog guy. We have a dog. We used to have two. KT we “put down” about a year ago. She was an awesome, old, arthritic dog. Summer is an energetic, loving seven year old.

Summer and KT

I am not a huge fan of cats anymore. Unless you live on a farm, I don’t really see the point of having a hairy, furniture scratching, kitchen counter walking, kitty litter pooping animal in your house.

I love our Summer dog, but as spring begins to return (I hope), the amount of hair falling off this fairly large animal is copious. Copious could also be used to describe the size of her poop. Today, I am contemplating my fondness of all animals hairy.

UNTIL I saw this! Our youngest son, OC, loves our dog. I mean he LOVES our dog. If she is lying on the floor, OC is next to her. If Summer’s tail is wagging, OC is trying to grab at it.

This is what I found on my kitchen floor today:

Yup, I guess I am a dog lover! I think everyone that has children should have a pet, at least for a period of time. Even if it is babysitting a friend’s cat/dog or buying a fish in a tank. I think the value of having a pet and being responsible for its food, cleaning and tender love and care creates within everyone a little bit more compassion, patience and pure joy.