Dogs Make Great Pets. The Adventures of Sassie The Superdog and The Story of How She Became Ours.

Animals are wonderful beings and my love for just about any animal (cuddly types) has meant I have owned a few in my time. Dogs, especially, make great pets and it is with thanks to Ethel Smith who asked me the question "Please write about Sassie and how you came to buy her?" that this part of Sassie's story is finally being written.

Ethel, who is one of Hubpages' most prolific writers, asked the question after I commented on her hub about their beloved pet dog 'Drupi'. Thank you Ethel for wanting to know about my Sassie and I hope my story warms your heart as much as Drupi's did mine.

My first home was a red brick 1940's house in a very migrant rich suburb on the New South Wales South Coast, Australia. The back yard was huge (well it looked that way to me as a child) and there were chickens running around in amongst the many fresh vegetables growing. I guess the chickens were my first pets along with a wild rabbit my Dad brought back from a hunting trip. Unfortunately the rabbit disappeared after a few weeks and to this day I still don't know what happened to it. The thought that we may have eaten it frightens me, I really don't like eating rabbit.

Our first real family pet was a German Shepherd named "Prince" who guarded the first shop my parents bought when I was 6 years old. We inherited him and he had been trained as a guard dog so he wasn't exactly child friendly. Although I loved dogs, Prince didn't become my best friend. He was a cranky dog who didn't allow my brother and I near him, although we later found out why. The poor dog had distemper so we only had him for two years.

Later, after selling the business and moving into a house, I started bringing stray cats home who proceeded to have kittens under our house, many kittens! For a few years I watched kittens being born and farmed them out to friends and family.

From watching the kittens grow I learned that pets will love you unconditionally, something I hadn't learned from having Prince. My love for animals really took hold during this time.

My last cat, a beautiful ginger named Frank, died after trying to cross the road. Unfortunately a car hit him in the head and he died instantly. I was 16 by then and was so devastated I didn't bring anymore cats home after that because Frank had only been 10 months old when he died. I was truly traumatised as I had watched him being born.

THEN I GREW UP

Years later and happily married I approached my husband about having pets, especially once kids came along. I found out then that my dearest wasn't as much of an animal lover as I was and they definitely belonged outside!

There ended our discussion about pets! Until ... our daughter's 3rd birthday when an aunt bought her 'Fred', a goldfish. Well, that opened up the discussion again, especially as Fred only lasted 6 months. "Mummy can we buy more fish", "Mummy can we have a cat", "Daddy can we buy a dog". The questions came thick and fast from both our kids as I watched my dear husband's face cringe each time.

A few years past before I broached the subject of buying a fish tank. This seemed to be a good idea with both kids quite excited and Dad not growling at me. So I investigated and settled on a marine tank. Trust me to start with the hardest fish to keep and look after!

Along with my daughter we went to the pet store where I had selected the tank to place a deposit and what did we see as we entered, two of the most gorgeous fluff balls we had ever seen. It was Sassie and her brother (Max who lives a couple of suburbs from us) playing together oblivious to us cooing at them.

"Mum we have to buy them!" Oh right, we came to buy a fish tank and now my daughter wanted 2 dogs as well. After more "please, please can we" than I really needed to hear I agreed we would go home and discuss with Dad about buying one of them only. "Oh but how can we choose?"

Well we did discuss with Dad and after some cajoling he agreed that one dog wouldn't be too much to handle, whilst he rolled his eyes. The whooping and shrills from our daughter were deafening. Our son seemed to be pleased as well although he wondered about the fish tank. "Oh we're buying both" I informed him as we were getting back in the car.

Back in the pet shop we informed them of our decision to buy a fish tank and Sassie. We had already named her by then and had decided on her because she came to me first when the attendant handed both dogs to us. We were so disappointed that we were not able to take her then and there but of course there were the shots to be given and papers prepared. "We have to wait a whole four days, oh no."

The excitement in our household the day we brought Sassie home was fever pitched. She, though, was very intimidated and cried quite a bit, which is natural for a puppy. She had just been taken away from her brother. It took Sassie five days to settle into our household and 4 months to be fully trained on where she was allowed to go and what she was allowed to do. One week of official puppy training school was sufficient for her to know what was expected of her and she learned quite a few tricks as well. Clever girl!

My dear husband had a smirk on his face which kind of said, "Oh she's real cute now". As a non-animal lover, he insisted she stay outside but he lost that battle as well. She was only just over 6 weeks old and way to small to be outside. These days she has a warm place to sleep in an outside toilet we have never completed (just off a balcony) and during the day she is in and out depending where we are.

Sassie has a beautiful temperament but does have a nervous disposition, she tends to nip if she becomes overwhelmed, especially when young children crowd her. Also, she gets car sick so unfortunately, apart from short trips, we cannot take her anywhere with us. This is disappointing for me as I love having her around no matter where we go.

She isn't a large dog as she is a cross Cocker Spaniel/King Charles Cavalier Spaniel so she is a perfect size for a family like ours. Although we do try to walk her regularly, it doesn't bother her if she doesn't have a walk every day. We are lucky enough to have a large back yard so we play soccer and other sports with her which keeps her healthy. Just don't try to steal the ball from her!

We really are a family that loves having a pet (yes even Dad eventually came around) and Sassie has had to put up with my daughter dressing her up and taking photos of her, putting her in a bag, at Christmas she becomes a reindeer and she even dances ... poor thing, she really does take it all in her stride.

The fish tank (I almost forgot), we had for about 2 years and although it was beautiful to look at and was very relaxing, it cost us a small fortune in marine fish, chemicals and salt. We lost so many fish and coral (which can be quite expensive), in the end we decided to sell the fish that did survive back to a pet store and I sold the tank to a young teenager who wanted a tank for his room.

The next time we want to buy a pet I will rescue a dog or cat from the pound. I'm hoping that won't be too far away as Sassie is now 4.  In fact, before we saw Sassie I had already picked out a 3 month old black Labrador but hadn't told the rest of the family. Sassie stole our hearts first. I don't think I'll bother with fish any more though, everyone lost interest in them within weeks but Sassie just keeps giving us so much joy and unconditional love.