Love Your Pet day ! Pad Patter 21/Feb

We had two main pets in my growing up years - a fox terrier named Nippy and a cat named Tiger.
I still remember the night my brother and I went looking for Nippy because he had not come home from his run around the neighborhood as he would jump the fence and go for a run some days. That night we found him dead in a street gutter. He was getting old so we think he possibly may not have necessarily been hit by a car - he possibly just dropped dead as my brother felt him all over and could not find any wounds or broken bones. My brother carried him while I cried my eyes out all the way back home.
Here are two recent pages featuring both of these pets.

 

I grew up with a slew of animals. Dogs, cats, birds, hamsters and fish. My favorite was one of our dobermans. Her name was Sheena. We saved her from a really shitty divorce situation. She was so malnourished. You could count all of her ribs. She was afraid to eat when we brought her home. Once she got comfortable and trusted us, she was a really, really great dog. After we had her a few years she was diagnosed with cancer. We did what we could to give her the best life possible in those last few months. We did eventually make the choice to let her go humanely. We were all heartbroken.

 

My father didn't/doesn't like pets, so no dogs or cats growing up. Instead I had goldfish from the five and dime, or little green turtles from the hardware store ... no clue why they were sold at the hardware store, but they were. None of them lived very long.

My XDH and I had a cat for a few months when we lived in Germany (army), but she followed him out the door one day and disappeared. My DD had a number of hamsters growing up. The live-in GK had hermit crabs, hamsters and two of the sweetest guinea pigs (Shannon and Ginger). In June of 2010 I bought my granddaughter a Bichon puppy, Zoey. Love the pup, but she's my first and last dog as I don't want the responsibility/cost of another dog. My granddaughter moved out two years ago and instead of taking Zo, she bought another puppy, then got a cat ...

Here's Zo:

 

I wanted a dog as a child but we lived in a rental and my parents said no way until they built their own home. We moved in in August and in November we brought a mutt home. We got her from a teacher Mom taught with. She lived in the country and they were right next to the "gavel pit". They had a female dog that ended up having puppies. We got the runt of the litter. They had no idea who the father was until they found a male dog drowned in the gravel pit the next spring. One of the puppies looked exactly like the male so they figured it was a stray dog in their area. She was with us for almost 14 years, I was 24 when she died.

I always wanted another dog but living in apartments in Toledo, it wasn't possible. When I moved back to my hometown and eventually back in with my parents, my mother had allergies to dog dander so no dogs. I also found I had some issues with some breeds of dogs as well. In 2000 after Mom was gone and Dad had moved to NC, I got Pepper, a Havanese that I had no problems with. In 2002 I got Paige, Pepper's half-sister. I had both of them until December 2015. In July of 2017, I got Peyton, another Havanese... who is in the same line as Paige. Paige's dad is Peyton's 2nd great-grandpa so Paige would be Peyton's great-grand aunt And, in another twist, Pepper's grandpa is Peyton's 3rd great-grandpa. The breeder didn't even realize that until I told her!

Peyton will be my last dog only because of how long the Havanese breed can live. If she would live as long as Pepper (almost 16), I would be in my late 70's. Some Havanese have lived 18 to 20 years!

Pepper and Paige towards the end of their lives:



Peyton at age 2:

 

I have allergy issues with dogs too, which is why we got a Bichon ... hair instead of fur and she doesn't shed. Of course hair = grooming costs.

 

Well, Taz didn't get any special treat yesterday for his special day, so I guess I'm a bad doggie mom He won't know so I'll get him a treat today when we go out (who am I kidding....he gets treats everyday and was planning on going to his store later so he was going to get an extra big treat anyway lol).

Our first family dog (that I remember as a kid) was Bandit. She was a mix so we don't know what she was (she was found at the side of the road, there was a newborn litter of abandoned pups). She grew up to be the sweetest little 20 lb fur ball you ever saw. She loved camping with us and a few yrs later when she was prego she had a litter of pups while we were camping (she gave birth in the warm ash of the firepit). My parents scooped up the pups, into a bin with towels and we went home right away. It was the most amazing experience to see the newborns just minutes after birth and then take care of them until ready to adopt out. I don't have any photos of her but sure wish I did.

 

I don't remember a time in my life that we didn't have pets, except for when we lived in an apartment in Atlanta when I was little. My first pets were two poodles - Taffy and Susie. I would love to find some photos of them. One was grey and one was black. We had a few more dogs growing up and several cats. In my adult life I've had 4 dogs, many cats, and a slew of various small things - frogs, lizards, turtles, fish, hamsters, etc. Right now, my house is ruled by Jeffrey, my stoic 8 year old black cat; Sinatra, my "always has to be touching me" 6 year old dog; and Blizzard, my wild child 2 year old cat. These are my current babies:

 

Same family of dogs. I delved into the history of the Havanese and they are related to the Bichons. Maltese is another one. They are all dogs that have hair more like a human so have very little of the dander that other breeds have. My mutt had a lot of dander but I was much younger then and had no issues with her. Mom found out in her 40's that she was allergic to dog dander. I didn't know about these other breeds when she was still alive or I might have gotten another dog even when she was around

 

I had a little Jack Russel for nearly 17 years I can't have anymore pets due to Asthma and other problems he was walked 3 times a day in all kinds of weather and was a great friend I still miss him. This is a member of my Daughters family Hamish.

 

I grew up with a couple of acres of our own surrounded by farms with LOTS of land. We had a barn for our horses, and also had one zillion barn cats! We'd open the back door and a bunch of them would come running for attention. I loved that! They were so much nicer than any of the other indoor cats I've had in my life. Indoor cats are so snooty and will only allow you to pet them when they feel like it. Our outdoor cats couldn't get enough attention. Lol. I used to sleep in the hayloft in the summers and I'd have 2 or 3 cats all snuggled up to me all night long. We also and a stray dog that showed up and never left for several years, but we had to get rid of him because he got way too protective of my sister and I and would try to eat people who'd walk/run by our house on the road.

So I had a lot of pets/animals growing up. Then after college I've had cats a couple of times too. My last kitty had a pulmonary embolism and had to be put down and we just didn't get another cat after that. It would be nice to have another pet to greet us when we get home, but I also really don't miss the hair and the litter box... so... We will probably remain pet free now.

ETA: I remembered I had scrapped about my first pony. I loved him!

 

This is my Chrissy -- named after my favorite babysitter at the time (who I hope took it for the compliment it was from a 5-year-old). We adopted her from the pound right after my (step)dad married my mom but they wouldn't let me keep her inside so she kept running away during storms (and rightfully so!). After the third or fourth time, they made me give her back. I'm not sure how long we had her but it couldn't have been more than a few months.



That was it. Even though my parents grew up with pets, they didn't want any. I "inherited" a couple of stepdogs when I was with my exes but since we've lived in rentals the last few years, having a pet has been against our lease.

We will be moving this summer, and I'm really hoping we can find a willing rental or a house of our own so I can finally have a dog of my own -- an English bulldog I will name Otis. The kids are desperate to have a dog, too.