Monday, January 7, 2008

Fun Monday - Pet Project


Chaotic Lisa of Lisa's Chaos is asking us to tell her about our pets. Since we currently are not fortunate enough to have a household pet, I would like to tell you about the family dog of my childhood.

Before the age of five, I was afraid of dogs. I am not sure if my parents got this dog to help me overcome my fear or if they were helping out some friends by taking this dog of their hands. Our dog was about five when she moved into our home. Her name was Kenstay Black Princess. She was a pedigree Shetland sheep dog. Princess as she was called had been a show dog; however, when she came to live with us, her show dog days were over. Apparently, former owners had used gum to make her ears stand up straight. Another dog bit her ear ending the show days of the lovely Kenstay Black Princess.



Princess was the perfect dog for our family including a timid girl of five. Like me, Princess was easily frightened. She did not bark at visitors but preferred to hide under the bed when we had guests. Although Princess was mild-mannered, she did have several delights. She was spoiled and would beg food from the table. Our family of five was happy to oblige this sweet dog by giving her bits and pieces of our supper. She also enjoyed licking the last remnants of ice cream from an emptied container. Furthermore, Princess loved the snow; I can see her now bounding through snow almost as high as the little dog. Although Princess is long gone, she did live twenty years.

To learn about other pets, visit Lisa for the list of the first Fun Monday participants of 2008,

40 comments:

ChrisB said...

She sounds such a sweet little dog and she lived to such a great age!

Anonymous said...

It sounds as though Princess was a perfect match for you family.

Nancy said...

Such a sweet looking Princess. Loved by a family of 5 ... it's no wonder she lived so long.

Nessa said...

She's very pretty and she lived so long.

daddy d said...

As kids we had a dog that looked like yours, sort of. Her name was Lady Bug. Our oldest was afaid of dogs. I paid him $5.00 to pet the nice dog next door. He did and was better for it, at least $5.00 worth.

laurie said...

i love herding dogs. princess was beautiful. and i like that you shared personality traits.

and twenty years! holy moly! what did you feed her?

Anonymous said...

Good Golly Miss Molly, Since you are not fortunate to own a pet at this time I will come to your rescue and furnish you ...free of charge two cute brother kittens....so much alike that we call them the twins.......FREE!!
REM

Unknown said...

20 years is a long time although it never seems long enough. I'm glad you got over your fear, souns like she was a perfect first pet.

Alison said...

She is beautiful!! What a wonderful childhood pet you had...you were very lucky!!

Anonymous said...

It's great that you had twenty years with her. I pretty much had one dog growing up and she died when I was in college. I still miss her. Mitsy was terrified of thunder and hated the UPS guy. Other than that she was perfect!

karisma said...

What a beautiful princess she was too. She looks just like my mums dog Jack. I am amazed that she lived for twenty years, thats a long time for this type of dog.

Unknown said...

I love that you still remember the details. My favorite is also long gone but not forgotten!

the rotten correspondent said...

Twenty years...that is amazing. What a sweet faced dog. And she seems like a perfect match for your family.

SwampAngel65 said...

Princess left you with some good memories, and I'm sure she took plenty of you with her up to heaven. I bet she was a sweetie and I'm sure very happy that your family took her in!

Anonymous said...

Wow, she lived a long time. She seems like my mom's dog Reba, a border collie who is very timid and hides. She is the little old (11) one, that our dog chewed up before coming back to us. Poor thing. Your Princess is very sweet looking and was a great cure for a timid girl.

Margaret said...

20 years is old in dog years, and they sound like they were very happy ones!

Anonymous said...

What a gorgeous doggie!!!

Pamela said...

one of the oldest dogs I've heard about.

At the time she died, she'd been with you about your entire life time, too.

Must have really shaken you.

Faye said...

True dog lovers always say regretfully that our four-legged best friends don't live long enough. You were so lucky to have Princess during those young years when we really need a friend.

bichonpawz said...

Wow! She was a beautiful dog! And she lived a very long life for such a large dog. Beautiful memories!

Smalltown RN said...

What a lovely dog....I had many dogs and cats whilst growing up...our cat Boots was around the longest...the there was Tora a white Samoid/shepard cross ....lots of hamsters...oh yes there were pets....when my girls were little the only pets we had were hamsters...I know have my dog Bert which i love....we got him from the SPCA....

Aoj and The Lurchers said...

Princess is beautiful....and what an age she lived to!

Beccy said...

Twenty dog years is 140 human years so what a grand age Princess lived to. She looks adorable and sounds like she was a well loved family member.

Junebug said...

Great story. When I was five we had a collie named Hercules. He followed us everywhere when we went out into the pasture.

Peter said...

Princess was well named judging by the photo, she looks very regal.

Anonymous said...

OH, I love reading about the pets of earlier years. Brings back memories of my dogs when I was young.
So good that you have a photo. I don't have any of mine that I know of.

Anonymous said...

Princes sounds like she was a real treat to have around. She lived a good life by the sounds of it.

Kaytabug said...

Holy crap! 20 years! That's amazing! Neko begs from the table and loves the snow! What a great story,Princess was beautiful.

Jo Beaufoix said...

What a beautiful dog, and how lovely that you had her for twenty years.

-Ann said...

Such a sweet dog - I can't believe you were lucky enough to have her for so long.

The new Fun Monday topic is now available. :)

nannykim said...

looks like a real sweetie

Anonymous said...

Oh I love the fact that you have a photo of Princess. I don't think I have any photos of my childhood dogs. I have a few when I was older, taking the photos myself, but the early ones were not captured on film.

She was a beautiful dog. I honestly don't think I have ever heard of a pet living that long. It is nice that you had her for so many years.

Karina said...

Just getting around to visiting some Fun Mondayers today. Princess sounds like she was a wonderful pet/friend. She was beautiful too!

Tink said...

Aw, so sweet. I'm not sure I could deal with not having a pet in the house. Since I was little we've always had SOMETHING: mice, turtles, birds, cats, dogs, hermit crabs. :)

Tiggerlane said...

Twenty years of dog-life means she was very well cared for and very well loved! And glad I'm not the only pet owner who lets the dog lick the last of the ice cream carton!

riseoutofme said...

Nice memories! Sounds a lot like the fearsome hound I have at the moment! She loves nothing better than licking empty ice-cream containers ... she doesn't get them half often enough for her liking though!

Jen said...

Ooooh, what a neat dog!

(I accidentally typed in god and had to delete and type in dog - glad I caught that)

Anonymous said...

Such a cute doggy

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a wonderful family dog. We had a sheepdog/retriever mix when my kids were little named Puppy. She would eat the ice cream out of the cone first, saving the cone for last. At that time you could get a mini-cone for $.25. Just right for a trip to Dairy Queen and Puppy.

Anonymous said...

OOooo, Molly, I missed this lovely tribute before. In a very real sense, Princess has lived well beyond her 20 years, in memories she's immortal :).

I've never heard of that particular breed, but she's gorgeous...just look at that tail. To have made such a strong impression, clearly she was a beloved pet.