Life changers | Tracks In The Dust

08 Jul 2013

A “Dog Person” or a “Cat Person”

Having become a new owner of a dog for the first time ever in my life, I imagine there are a lot of people who will say “what took you so long?”

For most of my life from early on there were cats in my home. My mother was a “cat person” and we had several cats over my childhood, mostly they were my mom’s (one in particular was certainly hers alone) but I liked them (except for that “one”). It was something I became accustomed to. My dad hated them really. He saw no use for a cat. Once he figured out that one of the cats we had didn’t like the sound of the food blender, he spent a period of time with the base of it plugged in next to his favorite chair, and if the cat came near he would switch it on.

After my wife and I got married, we lived in small apartments where a dog was not very practical. At one point when we finally decided on a cat, we found out that it was not allowed in our apartment area and it factored into a decision to move.

So then…many cats later (and 4 kids)…my wife finally got her dog (did I mention she grew up with dogs?). So she became a dog-owner several years ago, and the dog was perfect for her. Just what she’d always wanted, but for some reason or another we never had gotten to having a dog in our family before.

The last cat I had was a big grey Russian-Blue type of cat, with a bit of tabby in him I am sure. What some may have called a “barn cat” I suppose. He would greet me at the door, follow me around, come hop up on my lap at the end of the day and sit next to my chair when I would be working at the computer. He will always be “my cat.”

Now a DOG. Just a mutt. But a dog that I will call mine. It’s part Border Collie/part Australian Shepard, part goofy. I am told that a mutt owner needs to know the suspected “parts”. I know I am not prepared for the higher maintenance of a dog but everyone says you get used to it. The walking, the cleaning up afterward. He was adopted from a dog pound. Saved one from the possible sad early ending of so many dogs that get neglected or rejected in their lives and end up there.

I know… I know…. There are “cat people” and there are “dog people”. I am trying to convert. Hoping he can teach me ( the old dog) some new tricks. A dog person. Yup. Working on it. Likely a life changer right?