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 Let’s face it, pets can be costly and a lot of
work to take care of, but the value they bring to one’s family is
truly immeasurable. If you want unconditional love, there is no
greater love than that of a family pet.
“If you don’t have anybody in your house and you come home, the dogs
will always be happy to see you,” said Mary O’Hara of Lincoln, mom
of five adorable little Yorkshire Terriers - Yorkies for short. “I
can be gone five minutes and when I get back, they greet me like I
was gone forever. It’s unconditional love. They never get in a bad
mood. They are just so happy all the time.”
Bentley, Zeus,
Walter, Ella and Tiki The five happy
little Yorkies O’Hara is talking about are named Bentley, Tiki,
Ella, Walter and Zeus. And O’Hara will gladly tell you, “They are my
kids.”
“Here’s my reason why I love my dogs,” said O’Hara. “My two boys are
grown and live on the East Coast. That leaves an empty space in my
heart. You adjust, but these little darlings fill the void.” O’Hara
is retired and doesn’t deny these five are spoiled. “They are used
to me being their whole world.” O’Hara says her husband, Brian, is
just as bad about spoiling them. “He always tells me these dogs hit
the jackpot with me. But they are his kids, too.”
And as far as having five dogs goes, that’s no trouble at all, says
O’Hara. “Growing up in a family of nine kids, we just had one dog
and that dog was always kept outside.” So as an adult, O’Hara
thought it was best to always have two dogs, you know, to keep each
other entertained. At one time she had two Pomeranians, until they
passed. “Whenever I lost one pet, I always had to get another one.
When I got Bentley, who is now 10 years old, I wanted to get another
one because I had lost the two Pomeranians. Then when my dad died we
got my mom a Yorkie named Peanut. Peanut only had one ear flap and
she was just special, a real sweet baby. When my mom passed away, I
got Peanut.”
Peanut has since passed on and well, one thing led to another and
eventually Tiki entered the family. Then Ella. Then Walter. Then a
little guy named Zeus, who was the only one in the litter. Zeus
rounded out the family of five Yorkies for O’Hara and her husband.
Although she’s told her husband if she sees a dog abandoned by the
side of the road, she will bring that dog home. O’Hara noted that
the Yorkies “just lay around eighty-five percent of the time and
eat, sleep and chill.”
They know though with the rattle of keys, they are going out the
door for a ride. In nice weather, O’Hara loads them up in a pet
stroller and they go around the neighborhood. “They make me take
them out for walks,” said O’Hara. “They expect it. They love it. If
it’s too cold, I have to tell them, no.”
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Prissy, Izzy, Pipi,
Muffin and Opie O’Hara also has a twin
sister, Mona, who has five Yorkies of her own. As Mary explained,
“When I got Ella, Mona got Ella’s brother.”
Mona also had another Yorkie at the time and well, the two (not
related thankfully) mated and along comes three babies. “Mona just
couldn’t part with them,” said O’Hara of the three babies. So the
twins, Mary and Mona, who are close siblings, have ten Yorkies
between them. Mona’s kids are Prissy, Izzy, Pipi, Muffin and Opie.
Still O’Hara says, “Each dog has its own personality.” She likes to
dress them up in sweaters and bows, just like children. Some like
the bows, some do not. Walter is very protective, but is also known
to smother you with kisses, she says. While O’Hara talks to them
like they are children, she says “Everyone should have a pet so you
don’t get so lonely.”
As for O’Hara’s husband, Brian, he says of the five kids, “They
don’t just love you, Mary, they adore you.”
Speaking of adoration, Kelly Aylesworth of Mount Pulaski, has made a
career out of caring for and grooming animals because she simply
adores them. She has a mixture of creatures at her farm in the
country and she owns and operates her own grooming business, D-Tails
Dog Grooming, just off the square in Mount Pulaski. Her daily life
is consumed with her passion for animals.
“We have two dogs, a cat, a bunny, chickens, goats, horses and a
donkey,” said Aylesworth. And without a doubt, Aylesworth considers
them all part of the family.
As far as the benefits of having pets in the family, Aylesworth
explains, “You have to be an animal lover to begin with, but I mean
it’s been scientifically proven that pets are good for your brain
and depression and even anxiety. That stands on its own. But, I
think having pets teaches little kids responsibility. I think it’s
good for the pets. It’s good for the people. Depending on what kind
of job you have, you can unwind with your pet when you come home.
It’s hard for a person who already loves animals to tell you what
the benefits of having a pet in the family are because it’s almost
ridiculous because it’s a given. They just make your life that much
better.”
And Aylesworth agrees that dogs are always in a good mood.
“It doesn’t matter if a dog gets in trouble they still just come
back and they just want love. They just want us to feed them, love
them and take them out to play. Rinse, lather, repeat,” laughs
Aylesworth. “They don’t talk back to you like your kids do. My
family jokingly knows their rank, dogs come first and then the
family.”
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 As far as the pet bunny in the family, Aylesworth
says, “He knows his name and he’s litter box trained. And my
daughter, Kameron, showed animals in 4-H and FFA. In fact,
everything we’ve had, she’s shown. If she could have figured out how
to show her two salamanders she would have done that too.”
Back on the topic of horses, anyone who has known Aylesworth knows
she’s been a horse lover her entire life and she passed that love
down to Kameron, who has traveled the country showing her horse.
“For a lot of people in the horse world, it’s more of a business to
them and it’s like trading in a car,” said Aylesworth. “They have a
horse, use it for what they want and gain whatever they need out of
it and trade up. But with Kameron, and this is just her personality,
this is her forever horse. She may not show him forever, but he’s
going nowhere. And that’s the same way with the pony.” Joe is the
horse and Bob is the pony and they are lifelong friends who are
definitely around for the long haul.
“Same thing with the goats,” says Aylesworth. “They are by breed a
meat goat, where they could be sold for their meat, but not these
two. Kameron got one when she started 4-H and she got the other one
as a companion. They are here to stay.”
These days Aylesworth’s two kids are away at college so the
day-to-day responsibilities fall on Aylesworth and her husband,
Bear. “Bear goes morning and night and feeds and cleans the outside
animals and I usually take care of the inside animals. We just split
duties when it comes to buying feed and vet care.” All of this can
be costly, but again with pet lovers, you don’t hear any complaints.
Taking care of pets just comes naturally.
Jennie Brosman in the driver's seat and Sandy Wilham
in the passenger seat with Brandy on her lap pillow.
So what if you don’t have a pet anymore? You just
borrow the neighbor’s pet and that solves everything. For Sharon
McCain of Lincoln, the owner of a now 15-year-old deaf Yorkie named
Brandy, she got the best of both worlds when she moved next to Sandy
Wilham and Jennie Brosman, two retirees who no longer have pets.
McCain was initially a little concerned when she got a six-week-old
Brandy. “I thought these women next door keep their yard so nice so
I am going to have to keep a leash on my little dog, and they ended
up being the grandparents to my little dog,” McCain said with a
smile. “Sandy walked over one day and she just melted when she seen
my dog and then she held my little dog. After that we ended up like
family. That little dog brought us together.”
Wilham, an animal lover her whole life, said pets are the ones that
help their owners become more social. “Pets get you out and about so
you come in contact with people and become friendly,” said Wilham.
And on the subject of out and about, it is the neighbors, Wilham and
Brosman, who spoil Brandy every day with a ride around town in a
little pickup truck. On warm days, Brandy sticks her nose out the
window and into the wind, loving every minute of it. Brandy knows as
soon as she gets in the truck, Brosman will pass out treats, while
Wilham gets the pillow situated for comfort. Talk about riding in
style. Literally Brandy fell into the lap of luxury with these
neighbors.
And these ladies already have their eyes on a new dog in the
neighborhood. He’s a Parti Yorkie weighing in at about a
pound-and-a-half so far and goes by the name of Moose. If Moose
plays his cards right, he just might get the opportunity to call
“shotgun” in that little pickup once in a while.
Animals certainly bring people together among other things.
“They keep people company in their house too,” said Wilham. “You
never need to be lonely.”
“Dogs just wait for you to get home,” added McCain. “They are a big
part of your family.”
Family. That seems to be the common theme here with pets at the
center of it all - right where they deserve to be.
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