Today is Thursday and my good friend Daisy and April from the Teacher's Pet are hosting the Thankful for Thursday Blog Hop. Here is they have to say about the Blog Hop:
Welcome to Thankful FUR 3 Thursday Blog Hop! Why did I create this Thursday blog hop, you ask? Simply put, my three kiddos (Henry, Buster, and Daisy) want to meet three or more friends on their favorite day of the week and I thought their idea was pawsome!
This pet friendly blog hop is for every two-legged and four-legged blogger who wants to meet new and old friends alike. If you are not a fan of blog hops and do not wish to add your link below, we invite you to simply have fun, leave a comment (or not), and meet new bloggers who might strike your fancy.
Here are the guidelines of the Thankful Fur 3 Thursday Blog Hop:
1. We love your pawticipation and want to show it! In addition to gaining followers, each week we are giving today's Google Friend Connect followers, RSS reader subscribers, and e-mail subscribers a chance to be featured in next Thursday's blog post by doing the following:
a) Become a Google Friend Connect follower or an e-mail subscriber or subscribe in a RSS reader.
b) Leave a comment letting me know that you want to me to post a write-up (along with a profile picture and link back to your blog) for next Thursday's Blog Hop. When you comment please let me know what type of follower you are along with your blog address.
2. To join in the Thankful Fur 3 Thursday, include your link in our list and follow me and my co-hosts (me and Brian the tabby cat) Visit other blogs on the list and comment to give them some blog love.
3. When people comment on your blog and let you know they’re a part of Thankful FUR 3 Thursday, return the favor and follow them back. This way everyone gets traffic and followers for pawticipating, and it’s a win-win situation.
4. Remember, YOU can host the link list on your blog too! Just click “GET THE CODE HERE…” at the bottom of the list.
Sincerely,
Daisy, Buster, and Henry
6 comments:
Love your background Chewy!!! Lots of love, Holly and mom
Can't wait to see Halloween Costumes!!! What a cute site. Sent to you by thankful fur 3 thursday.
A Continuing Close Relationship
When people exercise proper dominion over animals, the result can be heartwarming. A beloved animal may be viewed as a treasured companion, even as part of the family. That this was true thousands of years ago is seen in the account in the Bible about a poor man’s “one female lamb, a small one.” The prophet Nathan told King David about the lamb, saying regarding the poor man: “From his morsel [the lamb] would eat, and from his cup it would drink, and in his bosom it would lie, and it came to be as a daughter to him.”—2 Samuel 12:1-3.
Many today can understand how an animal can become a beloved companion, like a family member. Consider a family living near Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe. The parents bought each of their children a dog to serve as a companion. When one of the boys, about eight at the time, was walking with his dog, suddenly a large poisonous snake called a mamba dropped from a tree in front of him. The mamba attacked, but with lightning speed the dog intervened, saving the child’s life. Can you imagine how precious that dog was to the family?
Particularly treasured by the deaf are dogs that have been trained to assist them. One woman relates: “Twinkie hears the bell, and she comes and taps on my leg and leads me to the front door. Similarly, when Twinkie hears the buzzer on my oven timer, she runs up to me, and I follow her. In the event of a smoke or fire alarm, Twinkie is trained to attract my attention and then lie down to indicate potential danger.”
Especially noteworthy is the useful relationship between the blind and their guide dogs. Guide-dog trainer Michael Tucker, author of The Eyes That Lead, believes that a guide dog can open up a whole new world for the blind, giving “freedom, independence, mobility and companionship.” Truly, the rapport between such dogs and their masters is often a pleasure to behold!
The situation is similar with those who are disabled in other ways and who have a companion dog. A dog owned by a woman confined to a wheelchair has been taught to pick up her telephone and to lick stamps for the mail! Another dog responds to 120 commands, even gathering cans and packets from supermarket shelves. The disabled owner uses a laser dot to identify items that he has chosen, and his dog then takes them to him.
Pets benefit the elderly as well. A doctor of veterinary medicine said that animal pets, including dogs, “give purpose and meaning at a time when the elderly often are alienated from society.” The Toronto Star reported: “Companion animals are associated with lower stress, fewer doctors’ visits and even better survival rates after heart attacks.”
The New Encyclopædia Britannica makes this interesting observation: “Keeping pets offers the opportunity to teach children the close dependence of privilege on responsibility and also something about sex. The process of mating is soon noticed, followed by such matters as gestation periods and the varied problems involved in the birth and care of young.”
Devotion to Pets
The remarkable loyalty of animals actually causes some people to have stronger love for their pets than for family members. In divorce cases, custody of a pet is at times awarded as part of the settlement in property disputes. And people have named pets in their last will and testament as beneficiaries of fabulous wealth.
No wonder pets are big business today! There are books and magazines that provide advice on every matter relating to pets. Realizing that some pet owners are willing to provide extravagant luxuries for their pets, businesses offer whatever pet owners want.
For example, one may consult highly specialized doctors who treat all manner of ailments affecting pets. There are pet psychiatrists who will prescribe an antidepressant for a pet. In addition, there are pet lawyers and insurance agents as well as pet grooming services and training institutions. Funerals are held for pets. And offers are made to clone pets—all at a price, of course!
Clearly, love of pets is widespread. In her book The Animal Attraction, Dr. Jonica Newby concludes: “When a dog comes running up to us, wagging its tail and licking us as though our coming home was the best thing that had happened to it all day, it seems fair to call it ‘love.’” Surely it is understandable why many pet owners are moved to reciprocate that “love.”
Yet, efforts to humanize a pet can have a detrimental side. After all, a pet cannot fulfill one’s needs the way fellow humans can. Moreover, the urbanization of pets—that is, their adapting to city environments—poses problems for some pets and their owners
Chewy,
Tank youz fur helping Daisy out today! Mom and me LUVS da new background!
Woofs and Licks,
Maggie Mae
We love the new background!!! And we love blog hops! Thanks for letting us play!
*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the Hippobottomus
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