Ok, I will firstly admit that I am not a dog lover, not one bit.
I was brought up with dogs, well one dog at a time and I never liked them much. My mother seemed to have more patience with and affection towards them then she ever did towards me. It was funny when the sheepdog stole my easter egg ( bloody hilarious) and she even kept a dog that when I was 6 months old "took you into the garden and (in her words) shook you like a rag doll bashing you head against a stone, that is why you have a scar on your face"
When I had a few kids of my own she and her partner actually went to a professional photographer to have studio photos taken of them and the dogs. I was given one as a present and it made me want to vomit tbh.
So she went from one dog to two and then a couple of years back to three, but ( according to her) just because she couldn't bare to leave the poor dog and had to give it a home you understand.
Normally she would not have three dogs the house is too small blah, blah,blah.
2 of these dogs were rescue dogs and very unpredictably behaved . They would bark and snarl and sometimes 'bite'
I always felt very nervous when the younger children were around the dogs.
Why she got bloody rescue dogs when she had small grandchildren is beyond me.
One of these snarly dogs died recently and I had to listen to her lamenting, but was relieved that at least there would only be 2 dogs in her small house and one of these is at least a pedigree deerhound and very nice tempered, I quite like him actually.
Last week though I found out that she is going to get another rescue dog. When I said" oh I thought that a third dog was a one off" she said " oh no I love dogs, they are my life, my world etc etc. I want as many as possible". When I questioned the sense of this she said " well you have six children"
I told I had the room in my house she did not. She said they took up no room. Yeah right a frigging deerhound the size of a bloody pony takes up no room whatsoever.
Then when we finished talking I thought "hang on she is comparing having dogs with having kids. She is justifying her dogs because I, grown up woman has chosen to have 6 children. How on earth can she compare human beings, her own grandchildren with some bloody muts?.
Yes she has the right to have what she wants in her house, I know, but it's her attitude that gets me, plus the dog shit, her house stinks and the rescue dogs steal food and snarl at the little kids.
If she phones home from here she will ask to 'talk' to the dogs and her partner gives her a rundown of what the dogs 'did' that day I hear her saying things like:"ah how's my B, oh really, so sweet, bless her that's lovely. Did she really? Is that B I can hear, give her a hug from me.
Tell them I miss them etc etc etc.
Thanks for reading this. I needed to get it off my chest.
Honestly, tell me am I wrong to be feeling sad?