Misty was a German Shnauzer that I bought for my parents when she was a puppy of 8 weeks. I remember that first night when I kept her in my town house in a box with a clock in it. She cried the first couple of hours and I finally gave in and brought into bed with me and she slept in my arm pit the rest of the night and never made another sound. The next day I placed her in my vehicle and took her back to my parent’s home. That first day at my parents the dog made friends with both my parents and spent a lot of time with both of them. That first night at my parents house, I went to bed and the dog followed me into the bedroom and sat there and looked at me like she wanted to sleep with me again. I finally gave in and she crawled into bed with me. What I did not realize at the time was that the dog bonded to me from that first night! Well I left and went back to my home about 50 miles away and I felt the dog would bond to my parents the longer that I stayed away.

This was not the case about a month later I pulled up in the driveway and there was Misty waiting for me and the entire weekend I was home she totally ignored my parents and spent the entire weekend with me. I set up a bad precedence but from that day on Misty and I were inseparable every time I came home. A year later I was transferred to a job near my parents home and I was told I could stay at there house as long as I worked in the area. So the adventure began, that Christmas my brother brought home a mangy cat (Hybrid Himalayan) and soon Misty had a playmate and both became inseparable. This cat and dog played together and slept together every day until I got home from work. They both new what time I got home from work and would wait at the door for me and I would get my lick from Misty and of course I would have to pet the mangy cat. Both would race to my bedroom to see who could get there first and jump up on the bed. They both waited for me to change and the dog would always go outside with me and the cat would cry as I went out of the house with the dog that I would play with everyday. It got to the point after a while were I had to share my bed with a cat who slept at my feet and a dog who would crawl under the covers every night and sleep with me. I began to wonder if my bed was still mine.

About 5 years later, Misty started to piddle around the house and I noticed she started walking into walls. I took her to a local vet who told me that Misty had cataracts in her eyes and had diabetes. I asked what I could do and he prescribed the medication for her diabetes that I would have to give her twice a day. He could not do anything about my dog’s eyes and recommended that I put her down. He told me at the time that the Schnauzer was a breed that everyone wanted and the puppy mills around the country destroyed the breed and he kept seeing the same thing with other dogs of this breed and there was nothing anyone could do about it until these puppy mills and breeders were regulated. I was stubborn and refused to accept defeat. I talked to a friend that was a Veterinarian and she recommended a Doctor in Philadelphia who would remove the cataracts. I took Misty down and he removed the cataract from one eye and placed an implant on her eye it cost me $1,200 but money meant nothing to me as long as I could save my dog. He told me to wait about 8 weeks to see how the surgery went and then he would operate on the other eye. I set up the appointment for the final procedure and went home.

Misty still had her little accidents every once in a while and my elderly parents decided enough was enough and did not tell me there plan’s. I remember that last night with Misty, she slept very close to me all night and never left my side. I went to work after giving her, her medication. That evening when I came home the dog was not there to greet me and the cat was under the dining room table not making a move. I called out for Misty and she did not appear. Then my mother approached me and told me that my father had her put down without even talking to me. She told me she was tired of the dog piddling on the carpet and ordered that something be done with the dog. My father was in the basement and said nothing to me. The cat followed me to the bedroom and just lay at the foot of the bed and did not move. Thus began 3 months were I did not talk to my parents or even stay in the same room with them. The only thing my father told me was that there would never be another dog in the house as long as he lived. Holly the cat did not eat anything for almost two weeks and my parents began to worry about her.

My father finally came to me 3 months later and told me he had made a mistake and should have talked to me about his plans. Mom kept harping on him about the money I was spending on the dog and wanted to put a stop to it. He told me he was sorry and he also told me it was the hardest thing he had ever done in his life putting a dog to sleep and many times before the humane society was going to do it. He stopped them and spent time with the dog several times in the car before my mother finally yelled at him enough to get rid of the dog. He was hurting just as much as I was and told me he would never do it again and thus he made the decision that he would never let another dog in the house as long as he lived there.

The years past and I bought the house from my parents and they moved south to my brothers home. My wife and my daughter were eager to get a dog and I finally agreed and I told them the type of dog I wanted to get but know the Schnauzer was way out of my price range and there seemed to no longer be private breeders in Harrisburg. So I started researching different breeds of dogs and settled for a Golden Retriever that seemed to meet what we all wanted. Now we have a very loving dog that is as smart as a whip and loves children and people alike. She gets along with everyone, but as family goes all animals hang with me. Holly the cat is now 15 years old and still sleeps with me, but Mia my Golden sleeps in her kennel and comes out to meet me every night when I come home. The cat waits in the bedroom for me to change. Life is finally back to normal.

Bruce from PA