What is it about pets…?
Adding a puppy to the family dynamic, 15 years after our last foray into puppydom and 18 years after our last human baby entered the world, has blown any thoughts of normal routine and a good night’s sleep out the window. What a shock to an old system!
What our mini sheepadoodle has also done is remind me of the dreadfully behaved corgi my family had when I was in my teens. Aptly named ‘Bossy’, because my brother and I thought it a fitting description for the confident puppy who pushed his litter brothers and sisters aside to say ‘pick me please’, he lived up to his name by taking commands from no one but himself. Bossy would fight other dogs twice his size, regularly escape and roam our country town neighbourhood, pull my arm out of its socket when I took him for a walk (or he took me) and would never dream of coming when he was called.
In high school, my embarrassment about my dog knew no bounds. He had a reputation around town, and it wasn’t a good one. One particular memory is of noticing him wandering aimlessly around the clock tower in the middle of the main street while I was with my friends after school. He was about a block away and, as I knew he had an uncanny knack for spotting me from great distances, I tried very hard to avoid eye contact and hide behind my friends. No luck. He saw me and came charging towards me, dodging cars and people, to arrive enthusiastically at my side, covered in the stinky cow manure he’d found to roll in on the way downtown. I had no option but to take him on the long walk home, holding his collar the whole way so he didn’t shoot off again.
But of course the memories of teenage mortification mix around with the pure joy of pet ownership. The way Bossy could hear, from the end of the back garden, a lolly being unwrapped or the car keys being picked up, or the ‘zoomies’ he’d have, where he’d fly around the house like he was possessed by demons.
Pets are something of a common theme in the personal life stories I capture. The majority of people I interview have had a pet at some point in their lives and many still have them as companions. And the memories associated with them are strong. If pets are a part of your family’s story, Record My Past can help you immortalise them for future generations.