You gotta love dogs!

I have had dogs all my life (except while I was living in Baton Rouge at law school). I don't understand people who are cat lovers and I don't understand how people cannot be dog lovers.

My first dog was Pierre. It was actually Mom's dog, but I considered all of our dogs MINE. Pierre was a poodle mixed with something else. I was probably too young to really appreciate Pierre, but one thing I remember about Pierre was that he was almost killed by a German Shepherd.

At first, my sister and I tried to beat the bad dog off Pierre, but as soon as our maid, Alice Taylor, saw what was going on, she ran outside and started to beat the German Shepherd with a broom even though she was deathly afraid of dogs. No doubt, Ms. Taylor was more concerned about the safety of my sister and me than she was Pierre!

Pierre had a punctured lung, but he was operated on and lived for several more years.  As I write this blog I recall Pierre lying in the ditch with blood all over his torso and it makes me recall a time when I was twelve and saw a boy get killed only a few feet from me. That's another story for another time.

My next dog was Beaux, who I adopted from the Humane Shelter, where I worked on the weekends when I was in junior high. I probably earned less than $40.00 per day, but I got a great deal with Beaux. He was part miniature Collie and part something else. I taught him to sit and shake, but his best quality was that he knew when you were blue and always had the ability to cheer me up. He would push my bedroom door open and lay his head on my hand until I would acknowledge him. Beaux died while I was in law school.

Growing up, I also had hamsters, birds (Dickie and Icarus), and ducks (Chauncy and Cornelius). My sister had a fat cat named Sir Walter Raleigh. One time, I came home and Dickie's bird cage was knocked over and I was sure the Sir Walter Raleigh had eaten him, but fortunately Dickie outmaneuvered Raleigh by jumping for chair to chair -- he couldn't fly! Not too many months later, Dickie died.

In recent years, my family has had NO CATS because we are terribly allergic, but we have had three dogs in the last 18 years. First, we had Lizzy, a miniature something -- I can't recall. She was very territorial of me and Joan and had a tendency to be mean to every kid, even our own. Yet in her later years, she went blind and was really dependent on us. We would clap and she would follow our voices.

When she died, my wife grieved for several months and told me she would never get another dog. Until one of my associates, Tyler Long (now a priest in Monroe), needed to adopt his toy schnauzer.



I wanted to have another dog, but my wife was not sure...until she learned her name: Gracie. We decided to let Gracie stay overnight to see if she would like us. Tyler delivered her and the little sweetie was shivering when she first came to our house, but she had her red tennis shoe with her to make her comfortable.

Immediately, Gracie became a member of the family. She is now about eight years old, partially toothless and is so much a part of the family that she has her own chair AND is prominently featured in one of high school senior portraits with our twin daughters.

In the Winter of 2009, we decided that Gracie needed to have a "friend" so we bought  another toy schnauzer puppy  about three months old. At first, we thought he would be toy, but his nose and paws seemed too big. Sure enough, a few months later the dog we thought was a toy is actually just a miniature, but still twice the size of Gracie. We named our new pet, Petey.

Gracie barely tolerates him, but Petey keeps trying. He's such a "galloot" as I say. I don't know if that is a real world, but it seems to fit Petey because he is so "gallooty."

I bet many of my friends and clients have pets, but do you consider what to do with them if the die? I know, it's not like planning for the guardianship of your children, but if you are a pet-lover you probably should make a plan on what you want done with your beloved pet.  It's easy enough to bequest your pet in your will. Think about it.

Also, have you considered the applicable laws in Louisiana if your pet is hurt? There really are means for compensation.

Also, what about the occasions when you hear about animals being mistreated? Do you know the applicable laws?

If you want to know more about the specific statutes dealing with animal cruelty or want to know what do with your pet when you die, give us a call.

Take care.