The unconditional love of a pet

Do you have a pet that tries your patience, but pulls at your heart strings at the same time? If you have read any of my other pet stories, you know I have a crazy border collie named Bandit who has stolen my heart completely, but who also keeps me on my toes. What is it about certain pets that no matter what havoc they cause we still wouldn’t trade them for anything?

Several weeks ago, I was in our backyard with him playing frisbee when my daughter called on the phone. As I was speaking to her, I started to walk toward Bandit’s favorite frisbee, but I wasn’t watching where Bandit was until he was hitting my leg full force after running at top speed. (Border Collies are fast) I very seldom swear, but I swore so loud that I was sure I needed to apologize to the new dog sitter next door, and the neighbors who live behind us. My shin swelled and was very ugly, but I was not that concerned until after my next race when my knee was sore. It deteriorated into me not being able to run at all, but I still didn’t connect it with the incident with Bandit because I thought maybe it was overuse or age. I went to my chiropractor who said, “Jen, it looks like something slammed into your knee!” Imagine that moment of realization when it all suddenly makes sense and you can’t believe you didn’t figure it out.