Dogs and cats are amazing! They teach us to be kind and compassionate while wiggling their way into our hearts, making us feel loved and make us laugh. We call them family, but for many they are our best friend.
Edith's Border Collie, Batman, flew in as a puppy on a rescue mission to help her young daughter, Kate, conquer her fear of dogs. His super hero powers worked so well that years later, Kate supplemented her college tuition with dog sitting.
"Batman was our son, Ain’s, only brother," laughs Edith. "When the kids and the dog were little, my husband played "football" with them. Their game consisted of a child kicking the ball to the other two at the other end of the yard. Dad would protect or dodge helping both sides in the mad dash to get a touchdown. Dad would ‘throw' the ball and Katie would kick the ball while Batman zipped around herding them.
The one exception was when Ain's turn came to kick! Batman jumped in and ‘blocked' each of Ain's kicks midair! He only blocked our son's kicks! Like in the dog movie, “Air Jordan” Batman then returned to ‘flying circles’ like Superman herding the other two when they were up again.
That beloved dog also helped my son learn soccer by trying to get the ball from him while Ain practiced. On another note, the dog walked into Ain's room to specifically ‘pick out' a toy BATMAN figurine - to munch on! After a few chewed action toys, we kept the bedroom door closed to stop anymore ‘shopping'.
Once we found Batman on the wrong side of our fence! When he heard us calling him, instead of crawling back home, he spidey-crawled like Spider-Man under the neighbor's side fence! Then he walked to their FRONT yard and happily bounded home like, ‘Oh! Here I am! Did you want me?' We were blessed with that spunky, fun-loving dog for 16 years!"
When Kate married, she adopted Denali, the cutest soft-as-a-bunny white and black fur ball kitten. For their "baby's" pleasure Kate's iPad has a swimming fish app that Denali plays with for hours. He then created the game "cat tag" by stalking his parents, hiding, and when he deems it the right time, he runs and pounces on his "prey", tagging them with light touches to an ankle. Then he zooms off for them to "get him". Kate's super hero nickname for their fun-loving cat is
"Catman".
TV talk show host Jimmy Fallon jokes about family pets, "I read that a company is working on technology that lets your pet video chat with you. It's fun to get a video chat from your dog but depressing to watch your cat decline your call."
