by Shyann Cherokee

Created on: May 03, 2009   Last Updated: May 05, 2009

Many people think that pets do not enhance our lives, how wrong could these people be! Pets offer unconditional love and loyalty to us. How often have we as humans left our best friends alone for hours while at work or away visiting family or friends, only to return home to our loyal friend and find them anxiously awaiting our return with joyous licks and wags of tails? Our pets never criticize, recriminate or demand anything of us, yet they are always there to offer us comfort and lick away our pain and tears. No matter what manner of pet you have, they bring many happy memories and much love and laughter to our lives.

Once many years ago, I had 4 Nubian milk goats and they were just like pets to me. My daughter was young and would always tease the youngest female goat in the herd of 4. I would scold her for teasing this goat as I knew that soon she would grow to be larger than my daughter. Would my daughter listen? NO! Well, one day my daughter, my son and I were walking through the woods on our land and of course, the goats were with us. As we approached the barn close to the house, my daughter took off at a run towards the house and the youngest goat ran up behind her and butted my daughter square in the buttocks, knocking my daughter spread eagle down on the ground and into the mud. My daughter stood up, cried "WAH, she butted me!" and I doubled up with laughter. My daughter was covered from head to toe in mud and of course my laughter increased my daughter's anger as she had been humiliated rather than hurt and she ran away to the house. I was laughing so hard, I had to sit down on a stump until I could walk. That was a priceless moment and needless to say, one my daughter to this day does not like to be reminded of.

Another moment from memory with the Nubians was a time when my father was visiting. Now my father is 6'1 and very slim. He was telling me of the times when he was a boy growing up in NC and how they had a "Billie" goat and how he and his brothers would "play" with this goat. He started showing me how they would "play" with Billie by pushing on my goats head. Now, if you have ever been around any goats, you are aware that to push on their head is a sign of aggression and a sign of play. My goats decided he wanted to "play" with them and they (all 4) circled around him. I was aware of what they were doing but apparently my father had been "out of the country" to long and had not noticed what was happening. Suddenly, the 2 largest and oldest goats

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