Animal companions- share your pictures!

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ShiftKicker

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It's been a bit of a wet and messy winter here. The cold weather seems to be hanging on longer than ever and stopping my bulbs from coming up and I am so ready for some warmth and spring bulbs!

I was looking through my old albums for some pictures of flowers to console myself and came across what appears to have been a glamour photo session in the garden that my cat engineered last year.

My cat and dogs are a daily source of joy for me. My youngest dog has learned to walk carefully beside me and helps me balance and also provides stability going down stairs. He will also come and warn me before a bout of tachycardia. He's, uh...not very smart, but gentle and sensitive. I have no idea how he figured out the heart thing, but it's been useful.

I present to you Bowie (cat), Daisy and Theodore.

I'd love to see other people's companions. I know there are some animal lovers here.
 

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Oh what a wonderful idea, Fiona! These are the kinds of threads I love. I only have Ace now but I've always had dogs and cats in my life. I would love to have them all with me today but the memories are good ones.

This is Ace (my Toy Fox Terrier) and Cricket (my Italian Greyhound RIP) They were best buds.

Ace has never met a person he doesn't love. He is independent, yet affectionate. He loves to play but his favorite hobby is eating. Poor little guy only gets 1/2 cup of dry food a day to keep his weight correct.
 

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My new little girl is still with the breeder. I won't get to pick her up until the end of March. Here's an update I posted on my Facebook page about her...


I continue to be elated with my choice of breeder. Now that the puppies have their eyes and ears open, their world can continue to be expanded. Tomorrow, they'll be 4 weeks old. They are busy eating, pottying, growing and are just starting to play with each other. "Play" is little more that biting one another and the toy of the day. They are still learning to walk and are making great strides. They are taken out of the whelping pen a few times a day and they adventure over a bigger area where they find new toys and a brother or sister to play with.


This week and the next the puppies are going through "startle and recovery" exercises. The more times that puppies are startled and recover at this early age, the better they will be at recovering when startled as an adult. Now is when they will also be introduced to new sounds for "desensitizing or counter conditioning". There are 29 sounds that are used... softly at first and progressively louder as time goes on.... lawn mowers, cameras, sirens, babies crying, grooming sounds, etc. When they are nursing, they are introduced to the sounds most difficult for dogs - fireworks and thunderstorms. This allows the pups to associate the sounds with something warm and positive (hence why played while nursing).


To prevent separation anxiety, each puppy is taken away from the litter and time is spent cuddling with them, alone. They get attention, treats and teaches them that good things can happen to them when they are alone. They also continue to be picked up, their feet handled (dogs are naturally protective of their feet), tails lifted, ears lifted and examined and their mouths opened. This will make future nail clippings and trips to the vet more comfortable.


As you can see, there is much that can be done during these first weeks that will have a lifelong positive effect. And we have a breeder who takes advantage of every moment she has before giving them off to their forever families.


I've attached a picture of her with her Mommie and one with her waking from a nap...


My best...


Jim
 

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Here’s my Jaime girl. A charming mixture of Boxer, German Shepherd, and... wait for it.... Samoyed (per DNA test).
 

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Part 2:

The dog in my avatar picture is Milo, my late Irish Terrier.
I also had Sonnet, a mixture of mutts. Both have since passed on, but they left their paw prints on my heart.
 

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Thanks for the thread, Fiona. What a fun and uplifting idea. Can’t wait to see others.
 
Some of my pets from the past. I've always been a dog person but my ex-husband was a cat person. All three of my cats had personality.

The first picture is Compass Rose Georgia Peach (Georgia) and Mr. Bigglesworth (I never registered him.) The second picture is Elizabeth, a Cornish Rex.
 

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OK.....I do dress my dogs up on holidays. This is a picture of my two Italian Greyhounds, Bella and Cricket at Christmas, looking at the tree lights.

Second picture is me on my 50th birthday holding Monet, my toy poodle.
 

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Thanks, Fiona. What a great idea

Presenting Wilson, our poodle who is in charge of all of us and Jeffery, his loyal servant, a spitz of many moods. They are our constant companions.
 

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Sorry, it's kinda long but I needed to tell the whole story of "Lonesome."

One afternoon I walked out onto our back deck. I heard a noise that almost
sounded like a baby crying. I looked out to the edge of the lawn at the edge
of the woods and a small cat was laying on it’s side there. It was muddy
dirty and skinny.

I walked down to the cat and it looked up to me and meowed. I knelt down
next to it and it put it’s head back down. I petted it and noticed it’s left leg
looked out of place. As I petted it – it began to purr.

I knew something was wrong so I picked it with both hands under it and
carried it into the garage. Ann had come out about that time and said,
“Oh, it looks so lonesome…”. That’s how he got his name, “Lonesome”.

I sat in a chair with it on my lap. We didn’t have any pets at that time.
I could tell it hadn’t eaten so I told Ann to go up and open a can of tuna.
We made up a pad of old blankets and I set the cat there.

We put a small bowl of the tuna down and a small bowl of milk on the pad.
In a few minutes he struggled to get up and began to eat the tuna, then
some of the milk. After it laid back down and with a warm wet towel we
began to clean him up. He laid down and went to sleep as we were petting
him and he was purring.

Now what do I do? Went to Wal-Mart and bought some cat food and treats.
Again, we had no pets and really didn’t want one. But that was to change.
We decided on a name… what Ann said when she first saw him “Lonesome.”

After about a week he was doing 80% better but dragging his left leg. I felt
the leg and couldn't feel a broken bone but the hip was sensitive.

The third day I went to Wal-Mart, bought a cat bed, more cat food, treats
and toys… about $40 bucks.

During this week Lonesome worked his way into our hearts but there was
something wrong with that leg so we took him to the animal hospital.
They looked him over and said they’d have to do X Rays and check him out
and to come back the next afternoon.

The next afternoon they told us that the ball of the top of his leg had
broken off and was in the socket. It had to come out or it would infect.
They said the operation would be rather expensive and we could consider
euthanizing the cat. That word didn’t hit me at first then I blurted out…
“You gotta be kidding… we’ll do the surgery.”

$1100 hundred dollars later we have a cat. He move upstairs with us and
slept on the bed with us at night.

We had “Lonesome” for about 10 years before he passed away. We both
cried. I have his ashes in an oak box on top of my roll top desk.

To this day I miss him laying across the back of my high back office chair
with his paw on my shoulder and occasionally having to move his tail off
my face as I was typing. We’re back to no pets but we have funny, fun,
and loving memories of someone who stopped by our lives for a while.
 
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Great stories, Al and all!

Here is Peacy. Her name is at the intersection of Peace and Reese's Pieces, to which her coloring bears a resemblance.

Peacy was trucked to a Seattle shelter from a Texas shelter when only a kitten, as the Texas shelter was overcrowded and no adoption interest had been seen.

On arrival, she immediately attacked the other cats and was put into isolation. The next day, having seen her new listing on line, I found her nearly invisible in a large exam room, eating spilled food off the floor.

You can guess what happened next:)
 

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I love all of the stories and the pics. I am waiting for my daughter so she can show me how to add my pups pic. Hopefully soon!
 
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