BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Exotic Pets How old were you when you got your first pet?

How old were you when you got your very first pet animal as a child (or if your first pet was as an adult just say adult) and what kind of animal was it?

It would have to be my dog, Bobo. Cute story here. Bobo just showed up one winter day and my mother found him asleep on our front porch. Being a rather large dog (he weighed 130 lbs.) he almost scared my mom to death when she went outside to get the paper. Bobo was huge on his own, but he also had this thick, black curly fur that was long and bushy. My dad said a mammoth had nested on our porch.

I was seven at the time and after my parents posted notices around the neighborhood, at the vets office and in the local paper that no one answered, I got my wish and we kept this big "baby" of a dog.

Being a somewhat skinny kid at 65lbs. our vet told me to make sure that I was careful not let myself get under Bobo when were playing as I might get hurt. But there was no worry there as this dog was just so protective and sweet.
With the exception of the mailman (it was the only time I ever heard Bobo growl) this dog loved everyone.

One time I thought I'd try to find out exactly what this dog was and got a book on dogs from the school library. I went to to the vet's office and told them I thought he was a mix of St. Bernard and Standard Poodle. The nurse there said that would about as close as anyone would ever come!

My mom also loved this dog and she had coffee with him every morning. Literally. Bobo loved to eat and my mom gave him a large bowl of coffee, with cream no sugar, every morning. She'd float toast in it or sometimes as a treat a plain donut or two. He emptied this bowl in about 10 seconds flat.

The inevitable day came when we lost Bobo, and even though it was many years later I was just so sick over it. He was the best friend a kid could ever have!

Stay healthy,

Nancy Welker
BellaOnline Yoga Editor

The impact that our pets have had on our lives changes the course of our lives forever. The story of Bobo brought tears to my eyes. After 54 years of having pets and so many have passed. I have faith that I will see them all again one day.

How many times Nancy, I have heard that their pet was the best friend they ever had. That is one of the reasons I have started Children�s Pet House. Because their pet may be the only friend they truly have to talk to; someone that listens without interruption and never passes judgment or criticizes. They just love you with their whole hearts.
Children�s Pet House

How did your pet that you loved so much impact your adult life?

Mostly, by telling this story. So many people I've talked to about Bobo just sat down with me and starting talking about their cat or bird that they loved so much.

I think Bobo made me have a special place in my heart for lost or abandoned pets. I took in a stray cat once who was a sweety!

Glad to share this story. I haven't told it in a while!

Nancy

I had a pet when I was born - I just didn't know it at the time!

My father was a policeman with the dog squad. He was shot and retired out of the force, and the puppy came with him (this was in the mid 1960's).

Before I was born, mum and dad were worried that Satchie (the dog - full name was Satchmo after the jazz singer - the dog was all black!) would be jealous of me.

Ha! Baby comes home, puppy decides that this is HIS baby and suddenly I am owned by a pet.

Until I was 8 years old, Satchie guarded me day and night (he even walked me to school) and I remember being heartbroken when he died of a heart attack.

Since then, our family has had other pets but the only other one that was "mine" was my cat, Cleo who lived 18 years before we had to put her down with a brain tumour.

My pets have enriched my life and taught me what unconditional love is - and I realise now that you not only get unconditional love from your pet, but you give it too.

My goodness Megan what a beautiful heartfelt story; you hit the nail on the head when you said unconditional love. The loving trusting nature of animals and they keep trusting us no matter what we do. I have been pondering humankind�s relationship with animals through the millennia. In fact the word processor is still sitting on four words humankind�s relationship with animals� something was stirring but I couldn�t focus the feeling. I kept looking in my cat�s eyes, which happened to be handy, sitting in front of the monitor and all. There was a word�and you come up with what I was trying to communicate, unconditional love.

I had an Australian Shepherd who was probably about three when my son was born. I was so worried something would happen, jealousy... she like your dog was so protective of my son. The whole situation didn�t quite make sense at the time, but after my son passed away when he was fifteen it does make sense now. Everything my son did was done very early, walking sitting as if he lived on fast forward. When he was just a couple months, and I am not exaggerating in the least, (the dog was always right next to him on the floor,) I was always on the floor with the animals and kids, but anyway, my son reached out and held my dog�s leg. The dog slowly started moving. Here this VERY young baby was able to hold onto the dog, this became his transportation. When my son wanted to go somewhere there was some communication between them, the dog would go to him, and off they would go. I swear if child services had ever seen such a sight. The unconditional love between the two was amazing. They were inseparable. My son walked just short of his eighth month. He never crawled, he dogged lol. Those two devised all kinds of interesting transportation.

Satchie and you were fortunate to have had each other what a special relationship. Wouldn�t it make the world an incredible place if everyone had the good fortune to have felt this special love, even just once in their life? Thank you so much for sharing.

My first pet was a salamander it did pretty well, but I was pretty young and returned it back to where I found it.