See Honey, I told you we didn't need a dog!

I used to be a huge animal lover. And not just of the typical dogs and cats.

Every Easter, my mom would either surprise us with a bunny, a duck, or a chick. The funny colored ones from the feed store. They were great. The ducks ended up at the local pond, we would keep the bunnies, and we even tried to keep the chicks. The problem was that they all turned into roosters. We lived in a normal neighborhood development, and eventually got a "rooster at large" ticket from animal control. Guess the neighbors didn't like the crowing.

Of course we had more normal pets like fish, hamsters, and cats. I treated my cats well. Dressed them in doll clothes, bathed them regularly, and even put ice in their water bowl during the hot Texas summers.

We never had a dog though. And I have never been a dog person.

Meet hubby. Serious dog lover. So, a few months before we got married I bought him a puppy for his birthday. Seeing that I haven't ever owned a dog, I didn't exactly know how to go about picking one out. I thought the SPCA gave them away for free. I went there and picked out a "lab mix"...later learning that this is pretty much the title they give to any poor dog that doesn't have an identifiable breed. My first clue should have been how scared he was. Wouldn't even come to the edge of the cage to greet me. SOLD to the idiot for nearly $300...and my dog journey began.

And the journey of awful animal experiences. During our near 9 years of marriage, many an animal has come through these doors and then exited in some way or another. Some alive and some, well, NOT. Dallas, the "lab mix", didn't turn out so bad, but when he was joined, by "Bleu", a blue heeler that we later bought, things went crazy. They ended up getting out, Bleu never to be found again (since she was actually a desirable breed), and Dallas ended up hit on a busy road. He survived, but freaked out without Bleu around and I just couldn't handle his nervousness and shedding. So Dallas ended up in East Texas with Jerry's parents, where he still happily lives today.

We've had many other great pets along the way.

We had a fun cat that urinated all over my car...practically ruining it with the most awful stench that no gimmick I've tried has EVER been able to remove. Fat Albert was his name. And when we put our house up for sale, we just couldn't chance our oh so precious kitty getting out. Bye-bye Fat Albert.

We were also the lucky owners of a diabetic cat. We adopted her with no clue of her illness. After drinking multiple bowls of water daily and soaking the litter box to the point of overflow, we learned of her diagnosis. Our budget didn't allow for insulin shots for our cat, so bye-bye Madame.

We most recently got a Beta fish. Jerry and Lily went for an outing and came back with this great surprise. Within hours Lily could of cared less about it. I cleaned its bowl the first 3 and only times. Jerry was able to ignore the stench and look of the nasty bowl. I could not. So, bye-bye nameless Beta fish. I hope your fate turned out as well as Nemo's.

I just don't ever want an animal to take away from the attention, money, and energy I feel like my kids deserve. I am really irritated by people who treat their animals like humans. I nearly puked when seeing a recent episode of Oprah when they did like a 15 minute tribute to her dog that had passed away. Please.

I'm sure we will eventually get a dog. After all, my hubby does love them, and I love my hubby. It will have to be when the girls are at an age that they can really appreciate having an animal though.

Until then, we have a substitute.

JADE.

She recently started crawling. It was awesome. She does this funny military type crawl. How is this like a dog? Well, the first night she did it she had a Thomas the train in one hand, and a Little People figurine in the other. She would throw them ahead of herself and then go retrieve them. Throw them again and go get them.

I commented then to Jerry, "See honey, I told you we didn't need a dog! Jade is playing fetch with herself".

He mutters something about how I totally don't get it, that you play fetch with the dog, they don't play by themselves, yada yada yada.

So you can imagine my surprise when he calls me in yesterday all excited about something new Jade was doing.

J-Kerry, come watch this, you'll never believe what Jade is doing!

K-What! What?

J-Jade, get up on your knees. Get up on your knees, Jade. (And Jade immediately obeyed his command)

K-Wow Jerry, looks like you are training our little pup well. She comes when you say "come", fetches her own toys, and even gets up on her knees. Well done, honey!

Video to follow.