Are you a dog person, or a general pet person? What was your first pet and what’s your most fond memory of them?

i generally love all animals, but dogs in particular. i feel like i have a special connection with dogs - i just seem to get them. while i like cats, i definitely don’t get them and don’t feel like i can trust them. it all stems from one time when my grandmother’s cat scratched my face out of the blue.

my first pet was a black lab mix named Heidi. i honestly don’t remember much about her, as i was pretty young.  i do remember the night she died. it was the 4th of July and she was terrified of fireworks.  we locked her in the garage, turned up the radio really loud, and went to watch the fireworks.  when we came home, she wasn’t there - she had chewed and clawed her way out of the garage, over or under the fence, and ran off. a few hours later we got a call that she had been hit by a car and had died :( i distinctly remember briefly hating my father for making us to to see fireworks while poor Heidi was so terrified.

my second dog was a black lab & pit bull mix, who i named Licorice. i gave her the middle name Oreo because she had white on her paws.  she was the best dog you could ask for. she was always there for me growing up. leaving home for college was one of the most difficult things i had to do - not because i missed my family, but because i missed Licorice. i don’t think that she understood why i was gone, but i always looked forward to seeing her more than anything.  she lived a long and happy life, and died in her sleep while my father was laying with her and petting her at age 17.  my father loves dogs, but losing her was too much for him, and he refuses to get another one because of it :(

my current dog is a yellow lab named Topanga.  she was NOT named after the girl in Boy Meets World, but rather Topanga Canyon in Los Angeles (my hometown).  i love her to death and i treat her like my child, since she’s the closest thing i’ll have to a kid. She turns 7 on Jan 10! She’s been quite a handful because she acted like a puppy until she was about 5. any time i feel down, i just go lay down next to her and she makes me feel better.

more questions?