Hotel for Dogs

I am trying to figure out when I became an 'animal lover'. This is not something that I was raised to be. I was taught by my dad to respect animals and coexist with them, I was taught by my many cousins and friends to be terrified of them, but there was never the heart melting and wanting to hold them in my childhood, youth, or young adult life.
We have seen 2 movies this winter that have really got me thinking. And when people ask me if it they were good movies, I think about whether these people like dogs or not in order to answer them.

First was 'Marley and Me' Of course, Marley reminded us of Shrute our yellow lab (who lives with Kimmy now) and we cried because we miss him so much (I know...why would we miss the destructive, depressed, ADHD dog?) And when he dies in the end...well it was a blubbering mess of tears for our family! (I previously posted about a book I read that also messed with my dog Psyche) Then this past weekend we went to see "Hotels for Dogs".

One of the lead actors was a Boston Terrier and we all OHHHHHed and AHHHHHed that it looked just like Charlie our little Boston. There were many homeless, ugly, dirty dogs in this movie and we laughed at some of them. But for the most part as each new dog was introduced there was a collective "OHHHHH he is so cute" from my kids. And in the credits there were pictures of the crew with their animals, we could not pull our kids away until it was done. And I will admit I was also glued to the screen! Again, when did this happen?? I love Charlie and would be devastated if we lost him or he died. My mother-in-law even said, "I have grown quite fond of Charlie."

And it is not just my dogs, but it runs into Hunter's hamster, Squirmy, that I love and take care of, the other 3 hamsters we had over the summer (Phillip Johnny Bob, Optimus Prime, and Pigeon Larry), my friends' agoraphobic dog Chloe, racist dog Reeda, and the rare kangaroo Marley. This concept is baffling to me, I am an animal lover...wow I didn't see this coming! (This does not mean Hayden is getting a King Cobra-don't worry!)