Meet Barclay, the Golden Retriever and his best friend, a four-year-old Pekin duck Rudy, who both have a thing or two to teach you about friendship.
As great animal friendships go, this one had a rather bumpy start, when Barclay discovered just how tasty the stolen duck chow is. Rudy, being the alpha duck of his group, would chase Barclay away from it. But soon, the Retriever became such a frequent visitor in the coop that it was just a matter of time before these adorable animals clicked. As the owner, Pam Ishiguro explained to Daily Mail: “When they are together, somebody is always chasing or jumping on someone else, but when they are apart, they’re always calling for each other.”
By now, these unlikely friends have developed a healthy relationship, where everybody is getting something out of it. For example: “[Barclay] likes to drink their bath water and, if he happens to be stealthy enough, he loves to sniff a little duck butt.” And as for Rudy, he’s become a fan of dog climbing: “Now Rudy has to ‘claim’ Barclay every once in a while by climbing on top of him. Barclay doesn’t seem to mind terribly because that gives him the opportunity to sniff Rudy’s butt – win-win!”
Although not even a cute animal family is without its quirks, this one seems to solve their disputes with cuddling and to play together: “Rudy and Barclay need each other – I think that’s why they have such a strong bond, they’re like brothers from another mother. No one else will play with them, so lucky for them, they found each other and formed this unusual friendship.”
Today, pets offer companionship, emotional support, reduced feelings of loneliness, and reduced stress levels. It also contributes to high self-esteem and positive emotions, especially for children. And although many people enjoy the company of their dog or cat and would never think of getting rid of their pet, consider it a family member.
However, in many cases coexistence between humans and animals is not always successful and in some cases the relationship does not work out, when the family is committed, adoption is their last resort. There are various reasons why animals are abandoned on the street, some of these reasons are lack of time to give them adequate attention, economic hardship, unwanted litters, parenting issues. children, new family members or they lose their home. But what animals going through these situations really experience is that some are lucky and others aren’t.
