Wednesday, April 15, 2009

I LOVE My Dogs!


Dogs are amazing. Our dogs Bentley and Myla have completely changed our lives.

Bentley Dog Shelton
Born December 3, 2002
Black Lab/Black and Tan Coonhound Half breed

Bentley came to us on a sporadic whim on my part. I was working at a nursing home and one of the nurses that I worked with, her sister had two labs. By pure irresponsibility on her part, her two labs got pregnant at the same time by one frisky black and tan coonhound (spay/neuter your pets people!). Needless to say she ended up with like 14-16 puppies. So her sister (the nurse I worked with) came to work and asked if any of us wanted a puppy. My friend and I said that we would go and look at them...we both ended up taking one home. Unfortunately we couldn't have pets in the apartment we were living in, so we had to sneak Bentley into our apartment in a duffle bag. That only lasted so long, so Bentley spent a large majority of his first 6 months at my parent's house. I picked Bentley because he was the quiet one, he was alone in a corner. Little did I know he would grow up to be loud and bossy! He is such a good old hound dog and we love him so much.


Myla Girl Shelton
Born August 23, 2004
Pure breed Weimaraner

Myla on the other hand was a little more planned. I regretfully say that we got her from a pet store, which in reality means she came from a puppy mill. She was supposed to be a Christmas puppy, but December came and went and she kept getting bigger and older. We had seen her at the pet store a few times, and we were surprised that no one had bought her yet. Finally in January, she was about 5 months old, we felt so bad for her that we just had to get her. She was getting much to large for the crate that they had her in, and we think that this may have been the reason for her stunted growth. Myla was named after my grandmothers. We took the "M-y" from my grandma Myrna and the "l-a" from my grandma Marla. Myla is our little sweetheart. She is so sensitive. She doesn't want to ever hurt your feelings, and she often thinks that she is in trouble for things that Bentley does. She never wants to disappoint us.

If humans could have the love and compassion that dogs have, just for one day think of how different the world would be. Dogs never judge but give unconditional love and devotion all the time. They don't pick and choose who they love, they love everyone. And best of all dogs are so excited to see you every time you come home, no matter how long you've been gone.

Myla came at just the right time. We got her not more than three weeks before I was diagnosed with cancer. Myla was my little cuddle buddy when I was sick. I would just lay on the couch and she would lay at my feet-a little companion, so I wouldn't be alone when Dan was working. Bentley isn't like that, and it is rare that he wants to cuddle up with you. Heavenly Father knew I needed Myla. During one of my 7-day chemo treatments at the hospital, I guess I became a little reflective and I wrote this little poem about my dogs:


PUPS

There are two little creatures, which were sent from heaven just for me.
They don't understand much about what's going on, but they know they don't like what they see.

They come and lick my hand and tell me it will be all right,
My cuddle buddy curls up to me, so I can sleep all through the night.

I wrap my arms around them, and cry them all my fears,
They patiently wait 'till I am done, then lick up all the tears.

Who could ask for anything more than a kind and loyal friend?
I knw that they will stick with me until this journey ends.
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.
.
.
.
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And yes, we love you too June!
(June Bug Shelton- Born June 30, 2007 -Mixed fuzzy grey cat)
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That is funny that you posted about dogs today. At school they are having an animal week and at the end they are going to have a much smaller version of pet-a-palooza. Every day they have a dog that hangs out at the bookstore that needs a home or it will be killed. I want to get one, but we both know we can't have anymore dogs, not as long as we are living in apartments.
Pups are cute!
~Nicole

April 15, 2009 at 6:35 PM

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