Our Own Dr Dolittle

While Johnathan loves people he loves animals even more. Ever since he was little he has always loved to be around animals. Anyone that knows us knows it's not a problem to have animals on  hand to fill this need. Growing up we always had an endless supply of animals to keep us busy. From livestock, to wildlife, to family pets our home was never empty and I am determined to give my children the same experiences.

First and foremost on Johnathan's list of animals are dogs. Johnathan has always loved having a dog around to cuddle with, pet, or just to keep him company. From the time he was born he loved being with a dog no matter it's size. His dog pals have ranged from newborn puppies to full grown adults and from tiny little poodles all the way up to huge great danes. Johnathan loves spending hours at grandma's house out in her kennel helping socialize dogs. At home he had a boston terrier who was his best friend for 10 years. Now we have a golden retriever who has become a kind of a therapy dog for all of us. I have found that if she is laying by Johnathan he will constantly hug or pet her.

 

If I had to choose Johnathan's second favorite animal it would be a monkey. Every time we go to a zoo Johnathan insist on spending the most time at the monkey exhibits. He can sit for long stretches of time and just watch them play. One of his favorite experiences was at Niabi Zoo when he was little. We had been sitting watching the monkeys for about 20 minutes. All of sudden a monkey jumped off the branches and sat on the ledge by the window. Johnathan who was sitting right on the ground and reached over like he was petting the monkey. The monkey sat there for the longest time and when we left it followed us all the way to the end of it's enclosure. 

 

While Johnathan loves the dogs at grandmas he has a special spot in his heart for cats too. Luckily most the cats are very accepting of his love. I often him called him the cat whisper because he'd sit by the window at my grandma's house. It would seem every time I'd turn around there would be another cat at the window staring at him. At home our past cats loved cuddling with Johnathan and their happy purrs would be heard across the room. Even now with our cat that is not as nice Johnathan will sit on the floor by her pen to be near her.

                     

                     

I really think Johnathan is meant to be on farm. He loves farm animals. Be it goats, chickens, ducks or even llamas he has a bond with them and has since he was little. He loves talking to them  

 

As I've said before Johnathan loves water so it doesn't surprise me that he loves animals that enjoy water to. We spend a lot of time out at the lake in town watching the ducks and geese out on the water. When we go to the zoo or an aquarium Johnathan is sure to find the otters to watch. (I'll admit I enjoy finding and watching them too) Oh course one of Johnathan's favorite water animals is any kind of fish. You will often find Johnathan sitting by the tanks in Bass Pro Shop, talking to the blue fish at the aquarium, or trying to grab the Koi fish out of the ponds.   

Johnathan is intrigued by the reptiles and amphibians when we go to their buildings at the different zoos. I'm not quite sure he'd do well with them since he was trying to grab this lizards face. Luckily it was in an enclosure. I'm looking forward to taking Johnathan tadpole hunting this summer though. It was one of my favorite things when I was a kid and I think he'll love seeing the tadpoles in all their various stages.  

Oh birds and Johnathan have been an interesting experience. The first time we went into one of the bird enclosure and the birds flew by him he wasn't impressed. He's gotten a little more accepting of them and has even held the food sticks for them. As long as the birds stayed on their perch or the stick he was good. Now if they ventured onto his hand though he's was not as happy about the situation. His favorite bird is a parrot and he'll happily do his parrot imitation for you.

 

Johnathan's love of animals is one of my favorite things about him. Watching his face light up when he sees an animal. Trying to be as close as he can get to them and having no fear what kind of animal it is (expect for those birds that insist on walking on his arm). I will continue to make sure Johnathan gets to have new experiences with animals. While we can't have many animals in town we are blessed to have plenty of space out at mom's to accommodate various animals.