Okay we had a post about houses before and I'm tired of always coming in here and whining so I want to do a post about what pets everyone has.

We have 4 pets.

Reddie, Drupy's redbone, is very old. Around 17 or 18 years, but acts like a puppy when Drupy's around.

Woo-woo, Goose's little mutt (Goose named her), is about 2 years old. We inherited Woo-woo from MIL because she said the dog was crazy. She's not crazy, just a little high strung so she lives outside with Reddie.

Turtle Turtle, both boys pond slider turtle, is new to the house. He/She (?) has been there for about a month. Drupy named it after some commercial where the guy shrugs his shoulder and says Turtle turtle??? It basically lives in it's 20 gallon aquarium, swims and eats.

Oscar, a mini long-haired "weinie" dog, is the newest addition. He's 5 weeks old and simply adorable. It's hard to say who Oscar belongs to. Before he came home, H and I would playfully argue that it was "mine, no it's mine" (even though it was originally promised to me for babysitting the mother for a co-worker). Now that Oscar's home though, he seems to have adopted Goose as his. Oh well, he pretty much belongs to everyone--that is until he messes in the floor, then he's mine. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Roll Eyes]" src="images/icons/rolleyes.gif" />

That's all for our house-----NEXT.....

I have had several cats. (Imagine that)

My favorite was Soots who was the most intelligent animal I had ever known. He loved catnip and mice & birds and baby rabbits, tuna fresh out of the can, ice cream and humping my sofa pillow.

He was just an old tom cat, a mutt, no specific breed, meaner than a junk yard dog with other male cats in the neighborhood, but sweet and gentle and loving to babies, children and girl cats. He loved me most of all and would meet me at the door every night when I got home from work. He would weave himself between my legs in a figure eight as I struggled to get to the kitchen from the front door, meowing and talking to me the entire time...telling me about his day and perhaps complining that I was late. I became very good at "weave walking" as this was our MO for 13 years.

He was an orange tabby that weighed in excess of 13 pounds and he had a gorgeous ringed tail, a piece of his ear was missing as was one of his front fangs. He had a scar across his nose and God! he was an ugly cat. But, to me, he was so beautiful and so sweet and loving. Every night we sat together and I would talk to him and he would watch me for hours, looking me in the eyes and making his little cats noises as if answering me in conversation. He was smarter than any dog I ever had.

Everyone love Soots (stupid name for an orange cat but he had a penchant for sleeping in the fireplaceas a kitten) and in spite of his ugly scars and pieces missing, his dignified pride and intelligence drew everyone to him. People thought he was beautiful and smart and friendly.

We all still reminisce and talk about him today and he's been gone for nearly 15 years. I keep hoping that God allows cats, dogs and pets into heaven and that we would be reunited someday. Sheesh...I hope He allows ME into heaven!

Catnip =^^=

Oh, good - my favorite subject! My animals!!

We have 10 acres in OK (tho now we/I live overseas and have a caretaker tenant who cares for the place & animals). But I think about and miss my pets all the time. I think that's the only reason I kept our home in OK - just so I wouldn't have to give them up!

Anyway, have 3 dogs, 4 house cats, 5 ducks (as of this writing - high mortality rate! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="images/icons/smile.gif" /> ), and tons of barn cats.

Stubby is my half-Lab, half-pitbull - huge, black, flat eyes, scary looking. Acts so mean & fierce, everyone's terrified of him, but he's a big baby. Once you get past the fierce front (it's from fear, not anger - a lesson to learn?) he is the biggest cuddler.

Digger is my Dalmatian. An even bigger baby. Always wanting to sit on my lap (all 80 lbs!) and watch movies with me and eat popcorn.

And Smokey is the mixed mutt Lab/Chow/whatever else. Found him wandering & took him home. Sweetest dog - everyone loves him, he's the favorite of our valley. He wanders all over & ingratiates himself with the neighbors. He's taken over as watchdog for the ducks - and takes it very seriously!

Our 4 housecats - Spike & Dink (brother & sister) and Bernard & Cindy Lou (brother & sister). Spike is a buddy, acts tough but is really very needy. Dink is spooky - likes to hide & be by herself, though she comes out & lets you pet her on HER terms. Bernardo & cindy Lou were abandoned at 5 weeks and we hand-raised them. They think we're their mothers. Cindy Lou loves to chase & retrieve balls. I always think she's the reincarnation of my favorite dog, who died a year before we found Cindy.

The ducks are funny & goofy & sometimes so calming to the soul watching them paddling on our pond. Chuck & Duckie are one couple whom I especially enjoy watching. She (Duckie) was born with a hip defect & can't walk too well. Chuck, a drake, took over as her protector. He follows her everywhere, chases off the other drakes, watches over her when she's nesting. The other ducks travel as a group. But Chuck & Duckie can always be found a little apart, happy to be by themselves and with only each other for company. (An inspiration for commitment!) I never realized how much I would enjoy them. Now I can't imagine not. We name them all and can't imagine killing them for food - they're our pets!

And then the barn cats, who have grown co-dependent on us. A few old stand-bys who remain year after year, and then others who come & go, kittens that are born & die or grow up to become part of the herd. Smokey keeps the population down - otherwise we'd be overrun!

What wonderful memories you just stirred up, Dumplin! Thanks for starting this. You've lifted my spirits after having had a particularly hard time emotionally lately. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="images/icons/smile.gif" />

<small>[ September 26, 2002, 06:30 AM: Message edited by: SH94 ]</small>

We have one pet. A big, fat, black and white guinea pig. He was only a handful when my oldest brought him home in a box with no food nor supplies. Now, he's about 9 inches long and about the size of a grapefruit when he balls up. On hot days, I put a frozen plastic water bottle in his aquarium and he leans up against it to cool off. :-D

LOL, I loved reading these. Lifts my spirits.

I used to have cats when I was younger - Smokey was my baby. I'm allergic to them now so I can't stand to have them around me.

We also had two guinea pigs at one time - two sisters that were pure black. Turns out H and Goose were both allergic to them so we had to give them away. I thought they were adorable, but I didn't enjoy having to clean their cages all the time. I had them set up in my own invention of a guinea pig condo so it wasn't an easy task to clean the cage.

I've never had any ducks, lol, but I have a "Goose". <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" />

Ahhh, pets....I used to have a houseful of them but we narrowed it down now to three....

We have a fawn pug named "Kuggy"...he will be one year old on 12/14....He's my buddy...always following me everywhere and trying to trip me and has this wonderful penchant for wanting to escape our yard and I have to chase his little heiny all over town...now I tell him he's on his own...no food and water and leave the gate cracked open a bit and he comes home...his tail looks like a giant delicious cinnamon bun...but of course it stinks...not at all delicious!!!!

Then our newest addition is "Oreo"...he's half full blooded lepard catahoula and half black lab...he's a neat looking dog and has paws the size of a tuna can!!! He's only two months old and is already bigger than Kuggy and knocks down the babies with his tail when he wags them....he's cute, intelligent and Dinobon already is fixing to train him real good, she already mastered "sit" "stay" and "shake" with him...she took it upon herself to be the official dog trainer....I"m forever running out of dog treats between dinobon and Mini-me who favors them as her snacks....

Last and not least is "Oliver"...our totally black cat...he's almost three years old and the best cat anyone could ever have...he has lots of friends in the neighborhood and lives in our carport...he likes to come inside to tease the dogs or break one of my breakables, but other than that...he prefers the "great outdoors"...he especially loves baby blue jays which prompted me to put a collar with a bell on it for him...since then his daily offerings to me are crawfish and squirrels at times....

Well...soon my house will be Noah's Ark for sure...we will have two dogs and Oliver in the house for this lovely storm that is headed our way...I'm off to finish drying the rest of our clothes in the carport before the wind picks up.
Hugs,
Twiisty

You asked for it now! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Razz]" src="images/icons/tongue.gif" /> My animals are my children and boy don't they know it.

I have a 8 mo old chocolate lab named Rolo. He was a cute *little* puppy when we got him and now he's a gorgeous *huge* dog. He's really smart but seems to forget all his commands when anyone's around. He's highly excitable. But he's a 8 mo old pup in a full grown dogs body. So you have to expect that.

Then there's Stinky, my 2 year old ferret. She loves getting into everything, harassing the dog and stealing his food. She's my cuddle bear (but only when she's sleepy). She makes me laugh out loud when she plays and just the way she runs brings a smile to my face.

Then my bf has 2 snakes, a red tail boa constrictor named Nicademous and a ball python named Rufus. They are boring but are fun to bring out when there is company. And my nephews really like them.

And last but not least is Bud the veiled chameleon. He's the newest member to our personal zoo. He is rather cool to watch since he changes color with his mood. And let me tell you, does he ever have mood swings. He will crawl up your arm to the highest point he can manage but don't you dare try to grab him. You are nothing more than a human tree to him. But he's another pet that company will ooh and ahh over. And we now have crickets living in our house b/c you have to keep the crickets alive to feed the lizard. So you feed and water the crickets to feed the lizard. Crazy, but true.

Hey Sis,

You forgot about the worms living in your fridge, lol. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" />

Oh yea, mealworms have to be refrigerated. Bud loves the mealworms. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Razz]" src="images/icons/tongue.gif" /> lol

We are a dog family. I have dwindled down from five to only two now.
I have Scooby who is now 14. A mixed breed lovable mut. I saw an article in the paper 14 years ago about needing a home for 4 puppies, the city had been trying for some time to capture the mother who was called the "phantom". My vet was the holding place for them, so of course I went and brought home the only boy in the group.

My other baby is Louie, a 5 year old naughty yorkie. I have had yorkies for about 15 years now, I love them. Louie has been my sounding board for the past three weeks, he always knows instinctivly when I need a cuddle.

Then I have two aquatic grow a pet frogs. I never thought when I bought the kit when my 20 year old was in kindergarten I would still have them 15 years later. Fred and Ed. They each have their little tanks in the bathroom next to the stool. Makes for quite a few interesting comments from unsuspecting visitors.

Tina

Tina,

LOL on the frogs in the bathroom! I bet that does get some comments.

I didn't know it when we got the turtle but they can live up to 40 years. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="images/icons/shocked.gif" /> I guess Drupy or Goose will have to take it when they go off to college. It's only 4 years old now so we have plenty more years to grow with it.

Grayson (my gray son) is a year old Weimaraner. For anyone who doesn't know this awesome breed, it's the dog that is on Elmo's world (and they dress him up like a human) and they use the same breed on the Honda comericals.

There's an artist ... can't think of his name ... who has books using this breed in photographs.

Very upbeat, smart and curious breed. And Grayson lives up to his bloodline. But many Weim lovers have commented on his "unique" ability to clam down when play time is over. He can become a lap dog at a moments notice. Very odd for a Weim indeed.

Grayson is soooooo smart. Hubby hates the dog on the bed. When H leaves in the morning for work Grayson pops up at the foot of the bed. If H happens to come back inside, Grayson hears the door, gets down and fakes sleep on the floor!

I adore my Grayson and have loved the opportunity to brag about him.

Z.

Naz is my big giant Mastiff baby! He's 1yr old & thinks he's a lap dog. My BIL breeds dogs & we got him from the last litter he had before Naz's mom died <img border="0" title="" alt="[Frown]" src="images/icons/frown.gif" /> He's such a sweetie. He LOVES to play.

Skittles is the crazy cat. She's 2yrs old & basically doesn't like people. Hours go by before she decides to grace us with her presence.

I'm caring for my friend's 2 cats Latte & Tucker since she went away for law school. They are really sweet, but boy are they a handful. Unfortunately, I've got to find a home for them really, really soon with the baby on the way. Naz is pretty attention needy & so are Latte & Tucker. So - I don't think I'll be able to handle 4 babies vying for my attention! ROTFL

Golden is my Paint Horse. She stays in the country with my aunt & boy do I miss not being able to ride! She's got a bit of an attitude, bt my aunt has been working with her some. I get to see her Saturday & I can't wait! I've had so much going on in my life I haven't seen her in ages!

We had Rags, a terrier mix for 18 years and we swore we would never get a singleton again. Rags was great but cost us a fortune in Prozac--yup she went mental on us. The vet thinks it was too many hours alone without having her conversational EN met by me and MR. J.

Now we have---ta da! Manny and Pedro. Two 8-week old puppies, litter mates. I never saw the mother dog but the owner swears that both parents are lab/shepard mixes that weigh 35 lbs. Never seen a lab mixed with anything that weighs 35 lbs. Our vet thinks that they look like Rottweiller pups--uh oh! I didn't want dogs that big.

The boys don't like having dogs. They complain bitterly about having to take them outside 3x a day and cleaning up doggie poop and throwing it into the woods behind our house. They keep asking us to get rid of them as it cuts down on computer time--no kidding. Ok, well, only our older boy is that computer crazy. Our younger son seems to love them. I am very disappointed with their lack of interest, especially since they had begged for months for a dog. Older kid got a pretty negative remark thrown (kinda goes "tough dog poop") at him yesterday when he said "get rid of the dogs. I no want them." Then I calmed down and did my empathy bit "I know that puppies are a lot of work and we all get discouraged sometimes. However, they are living beings that we made a committment to and we have to honor that. They are ours and we are going to keep them and take good care of them. They will be less work and more fun when they get older." He thinks that they are disposable, an attitude that infuriates me. I need to make sure that I am not just teaching anger and nasty comments but compassion, empathy, responsibility, follow-through and committment. To be honest, I care so little for the dogs that I wouldn't mind getting rid of them. They were a mistake at this time, but I can't do that, can't abdicate my responsibility, can't take them to the pound. I wouldn't be happy with myself. It doesn't help that they are 10x dopier than our smart little terrier was.

We also have a terrium that contains various quantities of frogs and chameleons depending on who just went to the pet store and which less evolved creature just croaked and got flushed. Can you tell I am not very bonded to the aquarium dwellers? All my bonding energy is going in different directions.

We broke one of the non-Harley rules: Don't ever both have a weak moment at the same time. We POJA'd our butts off. It's just that the puppies were going quickly and we made a rash decision--together. but hey! at least we can't blame the other one for making an unilateral decision.

MJ

I love these threads ...the fun ones where we're just friends chatting about the good things in our lives <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="images/icons/smile.gif" />

Our home houses a varied assortment of critters..
We have three kittens Pumpkin, Sour Kitty ( I refered to her as our kitty and Doc thought I called her sour kitty...it stuck) and Grasshopper, named for her love of crunching on the pesky things.

There is the western painted turtle named Hoppy, that we are releasing back into the wild this weekend...so he can survive winter. He's beautiful, his underside is a brilliant coral red design.

Next we have the fish bowl of frogs, which my 8 yo can seem to keep the lid on...so we now have a few frogs living in the houses ductwork, I fibbed and said they'd be able to find there way outside.

Last there's Jumper, a Chilean Rose tarantula, he's fascinating, he just went thru a molt and Doc and I stayed up most of the night watching him crawl out of his old skin. He's my favorite pet...no noise and no mess to clean up <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="images/icons/smile.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="images/icons/smile.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="images/icons/smile.gif" />

EEEWWWW, Sorry Docsgirl, we don't do spiders around here. Believe it or not, H is more scared of spiders than I am, lol.

Tomorrow is Oscar's first visit to the vet; his 6 week shots. Wish me luck! H is working tonight and MIL is going to be busy tomorrow so it looks like I'll be taking a 10 year old boy, a 4 year old boy, AND a 6 week old puppy to the vet's office tomorrow. Joy, ROFL!!! Maybe I can figure out how to split into three different people by then!

We're still having problems with Oscar chewing on everyone. We've bought him every type of toy I can think of for him to chew on and he still prefers people as chew toys. Any suggestions on how to get him to stop? I've been told to tell him "No" and give him a toy, but the little cutie pie turns his head to bite the hand that is giving him the toy.

Gotta go for now -- we finally found a copy of Monsters Inc to rent and if I don't watch it too the kids get mad at me.....Talk to ya'll later! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Razz]" src="images/icons/tongue.gif" />