Why Pets Rule

I just had to share Tyson, the skateboarding bulldog with you, in case you haven't been totally amazed lately.

I never had a dog that could shred like this, but my labrador Rosie had a special talent for apple consumption.

Before her, my lab/blue heeler Daisy was an expert scavenger and was constantly bringing home things like pots and knives. We could never figure out where she was stealing them from- but she never got caught, and we made out with some great utensils.

But my most amazing pet story comes from Jack, who also happened to be one of world's most amazing cats. In the summer of 1993, my family moved houses in Sebastopol. Our new house was about 4 miles and many orchards away from the house we'd been in for years. The first day in the new neighborhood, Jack got out and went missing. Although this is typical behavior of uprooted cats, Jack was elderly and we worried. He didn't come back for dinner.. or breakfast.... or at all. After accepting many different homes throughout the years, Jack had drawn the line. It was one of the saddest losses we'd ever had. This was a very, very special cat.

Maybe a week or so after we moved, my dad swung by the old house for one reason or another. Guess who was there? Yep. Jack had walked the entire distance back to the old house- through orchards, streams, along roads and across intersections- all in typical feline protest. He was pretty sick and weary, but at least he had made his point. Dad brought him to his new home for the second time, and he never left us again. A true rathead at heart, that Jack.

Give your pet a hug today!