Pet Reflection

Currently I have one cat and one dog, both a little on the eccentric side. And that got me thinking about all the animals I have owned over my lifetime and I realized that all my animals were a little strange, weird, crazy or psychotic.

For instance when I was in high school I had this orange and white tabby cat named TJ. Oh sure at first glance he seemed like a perfectly normal cat. But that seemingly normal cat changed into a deranged cat whenever the wind seemed to blow. And if you knew where I lived in high school you would understand that the wind always blew. So my cat was always deranged. He would run from one side of the house to the other, literally bouncing off walls, he would growl and hiss at guys (any guys) who entered his home, he would play tag with me through the house as well as play fetch. But the thing that marked him as deranged the most was the fact that he would attack my hand whenever I made my hand into a claw. All I would have to do is show him my claw like hand and he would transform from lovable tame cat to psychotic, deranged hunter in the blink of an eye. Instantly his ears would flatten against his skull, his tail swishing back and forth, a low growl escaping his mouth, he would hunker down on his haunches and spring up wrapping his paws around my wrist, grabbing a hold of that little space between my thumb and index finger with his mouth. Once his grasp was firm I could literally carry him around the house. And he would do this every. single. time.

The strangest dog I ever owned was this mutt named Padfoot. Now Padfoot was a beautiful dog, but not bright. Before I tell you about his crazy antics let me tell you a thing or two about his breeding. Now I know I said he was a mutt, but the only reason I call him that is because we don't know what breed of dog his father was. However, his mother was a pure bred miniature German Shepard. The original owners thought the father was a Pomeranian, but after owning the dog for three years I can safely say that there is no way he was part Pomeranian, Greyhound or Coyote maybe, but definitely not Pomeranian. Allow me to state my case......

Padfoot was built like a Greyhound and whenever you would let him outside he would proceed to run around the backyard in circles. Fast and over and over and over. Hence the reason we speculated whether or not he was related to a Greyhound. Now I know this doesn't seem all that strange, but please bear with me. It get's stranger. At the time we owned Padfoot my husband was an Electrician, working outside and inside non-air conditioned buildings, sweating his butt off. Whenever my husband came home my dog would wait for him by the door. And as soon as my husband entered the house Padfoot would proceed to jump all over him. The first thing my husband liked to do when he came home was shower. While my husband would be taking off his shoes Padfoot would proceed to climb on my husbands back and lick his balding head. Cleaning off all his sweat. And he wouldn't stop there. He would then lick my husbands neck and his arms. Never ceasing. My husband would literally have to push him off in order to get up to take a shower. With Padfoot fighting to get back at my husbands sweat covered head and arms. I know gross right?! But it doesn't end there.

Whenever anyone took a shower Padfoot would be mindfully sitting by the bathroom door, waiting and stalking. And as soon as the bathroom door would open he would fly into the room looking for a towel. If you happened to have a towel wrapped around your body he would prance around you like a dog waiting for a treat, following you to the bedroom. Now the minute you stopped moving he would get on his back legs and rub his head on your towel. Doing this over and over until you either moved or took the towel off. Once the towel was removed he would proceed to rub his head, neck and even his side and back all over the towel over and over again cleansing his fur. See, now you think he's strange. And I haven't even told you about how he would howl like a coyote.

Now I have owned many other strange animals, but those are stories for another time! For now I leave with a question to ponder.....are pets a reflection of their owners? Or are owners a reflection of their pets?

In my case I think it is obvious that I too might be a little on the weird side, considering the only thing all my animals had in common was me, their slightly off and totally weird, owner!!