English Paper

Michael Murphy
Mrs. Dils
Writers Workshop
                                                     MEMORIES

         Everyone asks if having a pet is worth it, considering feelings you have when you have to say goodbye. I've always had a pet. I've had four dogs and one guinea pig. No matter what it's like in the end its the good times before, that I focus on. Our first dog Babi was a gorgeous yellow Labrador German Shepard mix. I was nine years old when Babi could no longer walk (July 21, 1999). Bob was my guinea pig, brown, white, and black. I was fifteen years old when Bob fell sick (April 22, 2006). I am seventeen years old and I have had to say goodbye once again. Cassie was my middle-aged dog. She was ten years old and the most loving dog I will ever have. She stopped eating and drinking. Her stomach began to bloat. My father took her to the veterinarian's office for the last time. Her stomach had turned over due to liver problems (September 28, 2007). It was tough at first but we had to think of all the good times we had. Although they may leave us physically they can never leave our memories.          
         I have countless memories of my pets especially of Cassie. Whenever my brother Matthew or I  would sit down on the ground Cassie would run right over and shove us over playfully wanting to be pet. One autumn I went to put hay in our dog houses and Cassie was asleep in one and I went to pet her head. The second my hand touched her head she woke up in a start (especially due to the fact that she was almost deaf) and not knowing who I was in that split second, reacted by instinct. She opened her mouth and the next thing I knew she had my wrist in her mouth. Then she slid her jaw all the way up my arm up to my elbow. I could feel her teeth sliding across my skin. Yet right before she was about to close her jaw she recognized me and pulled back. It was one of  the scariest moments in my life but it turned out to be a hilarious memory from then on, and I still smile when I think of it today. I can easily say that I never snuck up to her again although that didn't stop me from sneaking up on my other dogs.
         Cassie was always very territorial, especially toward my youngest dog. Whenever she saw any movement out in our front yard or in the street she would bark and bark and bark. Cassie would always howl louder then any dog I ever met no matter how small she was. Cassie was always small for a Labrador which made her that much more lovable. Before I got my youngest dog Lucy, Cassie was always the alpha female, although she had always been youngest. When we first let Lucy into our backyard the other dogs didn't take  too well to her young horseplay and fooling around. Cassie had the biggest problem especially because Lucy was a threat to her alpha female status. At first Cassie and Lucy would rarely get along. Whenever they got close, and especially when Lucy tried to play with Cassie, Cassie would curl her nose and try and scare Lucy off. Yet when Lucy got older she started curling her nose back. Within a few months Cassie relinquished her role as alpha female to Lucy. Even though she seemed to hate Lucy, she really did care for her and our whole family.
          If you got to know my dogs you could see how close they really were. Lucy and Cassie would always sleep with each other and sometimes even groomed each other. All my dogs have always been very close, especially Rosie and Cassie. They were best friends and sisters. Even when Cassie or Rosie went for a walk around our neighborhood, and one was left behind, she would sit at our gate and whine until the other came back and until they knew that the other was alright. We will always care about her no matter what happens and must focus on how great a part of our family she really was.
         My  guinea pig Bob was just as special, and died about a year and a half ago. All my pets will always be remembered by all who met them. He may have only lived to be five years old but he was an amazing animal and my personal pet. I was so sad when he fell sick and died. Yet even when he died I knew I had many memories, with my family, about him. Including how temperamental he was and how he loved to bite me. Yet even though he was an irratible animal, he still cared for me because I was the one who cared for him in every way. I remember how when I walked into my room after school, or if he even heard my voice somewhere else in my house, he would squeak for a treat. He never liked to be held, yet from time to time we would take him out to pet and to run around the floor. One memory, which still makes me laugh, was one day he was in his cage and my mom wanted to see what our oldest dog Rosie, who is a hunter/scavenger, would do when she saw Bob moving in his cage. She walked into my room, and at first didn't notice him, but then suddenly as my whole family watched her she stopped dead and stared him down. Then in the blink of an eye she lunged from about three feet away and rammed her head into the front of the cage and scared the $#@% out of my whole family, and Bob.
         After that, Bob spent most of his time under the protection of a second shelf his cage had and, although Bob would rarely jump up to it, he would always hide under the shelf when someone entered my room. Whenever we would want to take him out, none of my family would want to do it, including me because of the big risk of being bit. Then when the top hatch was lifted up to take him out, Bob would always start running around and around the perimeter of the cage to try and escape.
          It's all of these funny and loving memories that got me and my family through us having to say goodbye. My philosophy of having pets are that they are worth having no matter what. Also, even if you feel that they are gone they will never leave your memories as long as you continue to think of how wonderful they are.