While #1 is away, with #2 they will play!!! DOGS JUST RUFF ME!!! (i like to call them, individuals with 4 legs)!!! Since I could remember, I have always had a BESTIE by my side. I feel as though my love for one of the greatest creations is genetic. My grandfather used to be a breeder and a trainer, my mom used to train (unprofessionally) as well. Growing up I volunteered at Dewey Animal Shelter from 4th grade until my schedule became too demanding my 9th-grade year. As a volunteer I did just about everything you can imagine to playing with the dogs, sitting in the cages and just loving on them, bath time, feeding, walking, and cleaning (I can assure you I did much more). I have had 5 families BFF's throughout my life growing up. When I lived in Cali I had a cocker spaniel named Tasha, unfortunately, a week before we moved to Las Vegas someone took her (we searched all over for her, even had reward signs). Then once moving to Las Vegas, NV about three months later we rescued my bestie, Sarah Adina. Sarah was a Chow mixed with Australian shepherd, and boy did she have a little personality on her. She was not a big fan of other dogs or people no matter how much we trained and tried to socialize her, she just wasn't having it. She did like our family members immediate and extended, but strangers not. There was only one other 4 legged friend she LOVED it was our next-door neighbor's dog King. He was a rottweiler, and every other day he would escape and be waiting for us at our front door, or playing with Sarah through the fence. Sarah was well-loved because she was the only until she was about 10 years old. A man was picking up his child at the school my mom taught at and he was holding a blue nose pit puppy. Being the lovers of (wo)man's best friend that we are, she stopped him to love on the baby, and he said that the puppy was the runt and if he couldn't get rid of it, he would use him as a bait dog. Me not understanding, I asked my mother what that meant, and as soon as she told me we made a U-turn to go get him. Upon arriving as my mother was speaking to the guy another cute little puppy comes and sits on my lap, he just loved on me and loved on me and loved on me some more until we had to leave. When I kissed him goodbye, he just started howling and whimpering for me. I started to cry and say I had to have him because he felt like a part of me. All I can remember upon asking my father if it was okay was him saying "We're gonna have 3 dogs, we're gonna have 3 dogs!" and I shouted with joy and that became the beginning of an unbreakable and unconditional friendship. I named my BESTIE Charlie Prince and my sister named Smokey Smooth. The greatest thing about this duo was that they were brothers from the same litter that was able to grow up together, and BOY was they inseparable. Smokey was too darling, his eyes were uneven and his ears stuck out, so I nicknamed him my little Yoda. Charlie's ears stuck up like he wore a crown, and he was so beautiful and just near perfect (he could've been a show dog, he had the personality for it), so his name fits him well. These boys loved each other, always had each other back, but their personalities were so different. Charlie loved to be in the house right under you getting loved on, while Smokey loved running around in the back yard, rolling around in the grass. Charlie LOVED to take baths and could stay in there forever, whereas Smokey you had to trick and treat him to get him to take a bath. Smokey loved soft squeaky toys and would keep them so nice and for a long time unless Charlie got a hold of it, and Charlie loved lacrosse balls, he would chew it up and chew right through it. There was never a toy Charlie could keep longer than a day, he had one mission, to destroy that toy in record time. The boys loved Sarah, and Sarah loved Charlie. We would have to get on Sarah because she showed favorites, but it was okay because I gave Smokey extra love and attention. One winter we noticed Smokey had a had time getting around, he had severe arthritis at such a young age, he was about 7 years old. Smokey also had a severe skin condition, so Smokey needed pain meds when needed and he needed daily skin medication. As I grew older and began getting into the holistic lifestyle, I use to make my skincare products. I had the greatest idea to make some for Smokey so he didn't have to have all the pharmaceuticals on him, and it worked wonderfully. It worked better than the prescribed medication, and also you didn't have to apply it as much. Even his Dr. (vet) said his skin was doing much better and asked for the recipe herself. A few years later, Sarah had passed, she lived a long and great life, and I feel as though the boys added a few more years to her life because she was 14 when she passed. Charlie and Smokey mourned her for two months but had each other to get them by. Smokey and Charlie loved each other, Smokey loved other dogs and Charlie was like Sarah. Smokey could talk and would say "Hello" every time we came home (like Mishka the Husky), and Charlie would climb on top of you, put his paws around your neck and squeeze them together, giving THE BEST HUGS EVER!!!! They always made me smile, cheered me up, kept me active, and always made me feel loved. I just couldn't come home smelling like another 4 legged friends or they would be mad at me for at least an hour, and they made sure I knew they were upset, but after they would love on me. With these boys, I had learned so much because I was older when we had gotten them. Two years ago on my 30th birthday, Charlie had gotten sick and wasn't eating, we took him to his Dr. and she said he had a cancerous tumor, and there was no blood circulating through his body, and it was best that he didn't suffer anymore. Man, that was the saddest day EVER, my whole world felt like it just dropped and shattered. I held his paw until they took his body to the back, I just remember screaming and crying, and all the little children waiting to see the vet with there furry friends looking at me in horror, like where is her dog, why is she screaming like that, is that going to happen to us??? I tried to pull it together, but it was so hard for me, I lost my best friend, my baby, he was like my son. All I remember was having the worst headache ever, from crying all day. I probably cried for two weeks, and I know I didn't get out of bed for two days. I just broke my heart coming home that day, and Smokey looking for his brother and having to tell him that he became an angel. Thank God we still had Smokey, and I finally got it together so I could be strong for him because I could only imagine what he was going through. Smokey finally got out of the funk, but you could tell that things just really weren't the same. I took him with me more often, and sometimes we would just ride around town. Smokey lasted a year and 3 months after his brother passed. Smokey was hanging on, and I was hanging on to him. I was his caretaker because his arthritis had gotten so bad he couldn't get up by himself, I would pick him up to help him stand, or flip him over so he wasn't laying on the same side all day. Even when it came to his incontinence I was there to clean it up. I remembered Smokey's last night with us, he knew it was his time but he didn't want to leave me behind because over the oast year we have grown tighter than ever. I made him a feast, chicken breast, chicken nuggets, chicken alfredo with spinach (he tore that up), and I bought him a HUGE peanut butter cookie. I remember him howling, saying goodbye to all his friends, and how sad they sounded saying there goodbyes. I remember crying but feeling assured that it was time and he was ready. Just writing all this brought a smile to my face and it brought tears to my eyes. I swear I feel like I could never truly love, like I loved Sarah, Charlie, and Smokey. In between time, I had a few furry friends that I fostered/nursed until they were able to go back out in the wild or able to go to a no-kill animal shelter. I have nursed plenty of birds back to health, from baby birds that fell out of nests to pigeons with broken wings, 3 stray dogs in which 2 of them you could tell were abused and one I was able to return to his owner (and luckily, he needed his medicine), a jack bunny (baby jackrabbit), and 3 cats and 2 kittens. The cats were a challenge to keep because my parents kept making a big deal on how I was allergic to them. I am glad I fought them on that because I realized that I wasn't allergic to all cats, just dirty cats. Once I gave them a bath, all of my allergy symptoms had ceased. So now I can enjoy cats, as long as they are clean. I have also throughout my life babysat a turtle, snake, fish, 4 legged friends, and we also had a hamster named Juliette. I have also rescued a pregnant furry friend that I named Lulu, I delivered all 9 of her babies, all of them survived. I found all of them a great home by advertising as I was selling for them for $400, but I gave them to the families I felt were a good match and told them to use the money to buy everything they needed to make sure they were well taken care of. I even called to check on all of them for the first year, a few families I took the mother to go visit, and even past the first year I still kept in touch with one of them until they moved out of state. Lulu and I were the BEST of friends, but I knew at that time I didn't have the time nor space to truly give her what she needed. My good friend of mine who lives in Albuquerque and had 2 acres of land that Lulu enjoyed oh so much when we would visit. She loved Lulu and spoiled her when we were out there, and I was explaining to her about how I didn't have the time nor space, and I was being selfish by keeping her, but I want her to have a joy-filled life because we both went through much together. My friend offered to keep her, so now Lulu lives on a farm, getting spoiled and having the time of her life! Through thick and thin, I have always had a best friend. I love all animals, I rescue any animal I come across, and I treat all animals