I must be an animal. Or at least an animal person. I don’t think that means I am animalistic. But I do wag my tail now and then.
My neighbor is amazed at how I seem to get along with most animals, including all of hers, well all except the birds. All her dogs love me. If they are out and see me, they heard across the street to say hello. The same is true of her cat. The funny thing is the cat will let a lot of people pet her, and then turn around and claw them. She doesn’t claw me.
I guess part of it is that I understand dogs and cats. The other part is that I like them. When we first moved to Florida and were in need of a sitter for out two dogs, we went to a lady outside of St. Augustine who boarded dogs and does animal rescue. While looking over the place we could see dogs playing in the yard. We just wanted to go out and play with them, and we did. She was surprised as most people only like their own dogs. We like all dogs. And I figure that dogs and cats are empathic enough to know how I feel and if I am a good, caring person or not.
My friend Bev has this dog named Joey. Joey is scared of people. She is very skittish meeting people. Bev asked if we could watch her while she went to visit her mother for a week, and we had agreed.
When she brought Joey over, the dog would not come near me. I sat down in the front yard, and then laid down. Joey finally came over and sniffed me over. She let me pet her. After that she wasn’t afraid or skittish at all. Now whenever she sees me, she jumps all over me.
The same was true with this little dog we took in. He immediately decided that I was an ok person.
My landlord got a new dog not too long ago, a rescue dog. The first time I went into her office, the dog growled at me. I sat down, and just talked to her and waited. She came over to me and decided I was ok. Now she is in my lap as soon as I sit down there.
Now, I’m not saying that every dog and cat likes me. A couple here and there don’t. But for the most part, most do.
I guess animals are very perceptive. They know who likes them and cares about them, and who doesn’t. Cool. Well, I’m off to play with my puppies.