Dear Bubble readers,
Tell me about your pets! Do you have any? Do you want any? Names? Funny stories?
The Miller house is currently pet-free and is likely to stay that way. I grew up with tons of pets, from dogs and cats and birds, to rabbits and ducks and gerbils, to sheep and horses (we had baby sheep and horses born at our place -- so cool!). I was a 4-H girl, showing rabbits (French Lops) and sheep at the county fair.
That said, I am not an animal lover. (Oh, gosh… maybe this will get controversial? I am sorry! Don't hate me!)
We have had three beloved cats here in the Miller home at various points, and even a very long-lived fish (among other fish with lesser lifespans), but that was awhile ago now. We have enough kids that I cannot do animals at this time. My husband is happily in agreement there.
Nevertheless, I know that pets are an important part of many families, and I am interested to hear about yours!
Go!
Funny topic. ;)
ReplyDeleteTwo dogs - an Old English Sheepdog (Penny) and a puggle (Brady). The puggle was an unintended adoption - a friend had adopted him and he did NOT get along with her older dog, so we took him in instead. I'm not a huge fan of the puggle (he's stubborn and stinky), but he's a part of the family now, so I just think of him as my own little personal mortification.
A hamster named Harry. The boys got him for Christmas a year ago now and adore him.
6 chickens who were supposed to work for their keep by laying eggs and eating ticks, and while they do earn their room and board with those tasks, they've become total pets in the process. The boys will actually carry them around the yard (they free range, so they can eat the ticks!), and will sit with them in their laps while swinging on the swingset. They're the funniest pets we've ever had - constantly cracking me up.
No pets here. I'm terrified of animals, though my husband is trying to convince me to let him get a dog. Never.gonna.happen.
ReplyDeleteToday... two cats, Mr. Smee and Spencer, a bearded dragon named Hershel Walker, and a puppy named Beck. He is a service dog in training for an organization called CCI. Our second one. (cci.org) We did not get to name him. So I affectionately call him Sir Thomas Beckett.
ReplyDeleteHad to give away several pets this year for my move but I still have Jack - my rescue dog - he's half Australian cattle dog/Australian shepherd and my youngest daughter's 12 year old bearded dragon lizard (she wasn't allowed to take it to campus). Anyway, over the years, we've had quite the menagerie of guinea pigs, bunnies, snakes, frogs, fish, and whatever little critters have fascinated the girls (or Mom & Dad). I didn't think I was going to have another dog after I grieved so long after our Corgi's death from cancer several years ago - but after my husband walked out, I couldn't sleep in the house alone - so, Jack and I were perfect for one another (two throwaways).
ReplyDeleteAussie shepherds are so smart, it's seems like they are about to just talk at any minute. In a Aussie accent of course. Jack sounds like a gentleman.
DeleteWe had a gold fish until a couple of months ago when a certain three year old bypassed to baby gates and spent a little quality time with it... and now the gold fish is no more.
ReplyDeleteWhich probably means we aren't quite ready for pets yet. Although our five year old suggested we get a pet whale because her sister "probably wouldn't be able to hurt it."
No pets, but I grew up with dogs. :-) I love them, they always become a part of the family. I would like my kids to have a dog at some point, but I'm waiting for them to become older so they can take care of them. (In other words, so I'm not the only one walking them.)
ReplyDeleteMy family and extended family loves animals, with a huge dose of animal rescue thrown in. It's in my blood.
ReplyDeleteCurrently I have four cats, plus my dog. I live in the country, so there's plenty of room for the cats to roam. Though my sweet dog, my faithful companion of almost 13 years, is ill, and it is likely I will have to euthanize her very shortly. :-(
As much as I love my pets, I'm at the point of welcoming downsizing, so I likely won't get another dog (I prefer the ease of cats), nor will I replace the two cats who pass next.
Can't you just throw a rope around one of those Gila Monsters out there?
DeleteWorking on it. As soon as I catch one, it's yours.
DeleteJust a rabbit. A mean biting rabbit that has her life threatened every time I walk by. I've been unsuccessful in convincing the kids to let "Biting Bella" spend the night on the open deck (knowing full well the neighborhood owls would serve justice to Cujo the rabbit. ) could be our own version of Mutual of Omahas Wild Kingdom. We're all about education.
ReplyDeleteI see dogs soon though. New house has huge yard and full fencing. And kids with scoopers. Speaking of which, the wife got the Bay Ruth in the tub tonight with the 2 year old. ( I know, I'm really sorry) just about had seizure hearing the play by play. Who needs pets?
Yes that's Baby Ruth. ( sorry again, dang)
DeleteHad a beloved cat who would leave a fuchsia on my pillow for me every morning before I woke up (from the neighbor's bush)---true story! :-)
ReplyDeleteWe have one cocker spaniel who is a rescue dog and has lots of "issues." We also have one female cat and one male cat. I go through periods where I'm totally annoyed at taking care of the animals and then I'm so grateful for them. My dog is so high maintenance (ear infections, need for grooming, etc) but he is so sweet with my small kids. He also keeps me safe. We don't live in the safest neighborhood, so I'm grateful for his protection when my husband leaves for work at 5 AM. My cats are hilarious. I'd keep them just to watch my one year old giggle over their antics. We have 4 daughters and live in the country, so actually we're thinking about getting a horse soon. All my kids love to ride. I find taking care of a horse pretty intimidating. I'm all about boarding the animal at another farm. My husband and my kids dream about owning chicken, goats, and beef cattle. So I'm mentally preparing myself to get into some serious animal care in the future.
ReplyDeleteWe gave our German shepherd back to our trainer the night before we moved into our house. We don't have a fence and are negative 7.5 acres! lol
ReplyDeleteHis hair was enough to make me want to die! I couldn't handle the thought of taking him out on a leash and keeping him locked up after he had 8 acres to roam.
Now we just have waffle our maltipoo and it's so much easier.
I'm with you-I'm not a pet person. But waffle is so easy compared to our German shepherd!
He was a beautiful and loving dog. Kept us safe when we weren't in the greatest neighborhood and loved my kids. But he started marking in my house and I couldn't handle it!!!
So I'm glad and relieved to be one dog down!!!
Animals are gorgeous creatures. Had all kinds.
ReplyDeleteI think it's awesome that there are horses in heaven ;) And I love the description here of Jesus as "Faithful and True".
Rev 19:11-14
11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.
We had a cat, B'Elanna, years ago when we first moved down here (my husband and I had had her since our first wedding anniversary), but sadly she ran away several years ago when I accidentally left the door open one day. :(
ReplyDeleteSo we were pet-less (except for a brief stint of fish ownership, which did not end well) for several years. My older two kids have been begging for a new pet for a while, so we finally agreed on the condition that they do the bulk of the pet care (specifically, the litterbox duties).
For my kids' Christmas gift this year, we adopted a cat from a local pet rescue. Her name is Katniss. (You can see a picture here.) She's such an affectionate, playful cat and I'm so glad we found her!
This is so interesting! And I am loving the names and varieties!!
ReplyDeleteWe got a beagle puppy at the beginning of November. We polled the girls what she would be named and got two of them to agree on Rosie and one who refused to surrender Sprinkle, so her name became Rosie Sprinkle. She is sweet and adorable but also seems to be a bit dense. She will bark when she wants attention or sees a stranger outside, but need to pee? Quiet as a mouse. It is starting to drive me a little batty but I’m hoping once it is nicer outside and she is big enough not to fit through the fence bars, I can get her outside more and unleashed. She is almost 6 months old and became an involuntary eschatological sign 3 weeks ago. :)
ReplyDeleteAw my grandpa used to breed beagles! They are such sweet, sweet dogs, but yes, they don't tend to be too smart. ;)
DeleteWe have two Betta fish named Castle and Beckett...that's about all we'll probably ever have, which is FINE with me. ;-) Not much of an animal person, myself. :-)
ReplyDeleteNo pets right now. I would love a few kitties (I see evidence of mice outside every now and then) but my husband says no - I think he's scared I will get pregnant and then he will have to do all of the litter box cleaning! ;)
ReplyDeleteWe had a few cats growing up and one dog - a Jack Russell terrier named Candy Sue (after a character in a bad romance novel, ha!). I loved that dog like crazy. She was wicked smart, but had a few issues. She was from a puppy mill, which we didn't discover until later, and she did have some temperament problems. I didn't mind at the time because she loved me, and only disliked my sister (who I didn't much care for at the time, either!) She knew how to climb baby gates and could run so fast she actually caught squirrels. In her old age she mellowed out quite a bit and there is photo evidence of her cuddling with the cat my family got after I had moved out. She ended up developing a seizure disorder and was put down a few years ago.
I know people call terriers ankle-biters but I'm pretty fond of them. Give em room to run and train them well and they are great dogs.
Oh, and another weird story about a pet we had growing up: a guinea pig who shared a name with one of my boyfriends. The guinea pig died the same week the boyfriend and I broke up. That has always felt a little bit eerie.
Currently we have a 13 yr old cat named Cinderella aka Rella, she is such a sweet loving girl. The kids are rough with her, but she never bites, never claws, she takes it all calmly and when she has had enough she yowls and leaves. But normally she is yowling outside our 3 yr olds room every morning ready for him to get up and play :D
ReplyDeleteWe also have 2 Betta fish (in two separate tanks) named Fasty and Cutie. The kids love watching them and feeding them.
My wife and I had a strict no pets policy until I fell in love with a cat at Petco. Now we have Kasey.
ReplyDeleteI took a picture of our dog to share with you all. Her name is Babe, and we adopted her from the shelter a few years ago. She'd been abandoned by her last owners, but she's shown nothing but trust to us. Very friendly, loving, and energetic. Her only issue is that she hates other dogs.
ReplyDeletehttp://i.imgur.com/Q6iaZGn.jpg
No pets. I'm the mother of seven sons. That's quite enough animals for me. LOL
ReplyDeleteJust a black cat, Enzo, who thinks he's a lap dog.. I grew up with a bunch of dogs, I really want another...
ReplyDeleteI have 3 cats, 1 dog, 1 parakeet and 5 chickens. Spent 80 dollars on one vet visit today...so..yah...think twice about getting pets.
ReplyDeleteMy elderly, arthritic, fat cat lives with my parents because my husband is deathly allergic. If he wasn't I would be a multiple cat mama. I've been lobbying for a dog, but my dh thinks our townhouse is too small for a dog.
ReplyDeleteI thought the reason I never really cared to have pets is because I grew up without them, but I can see from your childhood, Leila, that I might not have been eager to have them now anyhow. As another mother of 8, I also think the kids keep me busy enough that I don't need the added work from animals, not to mention the added expense. I was also afraid of dogs growing up (still am, a little) to the extent that when people asked whether dogs would be in heaven I would think, "I certainly hope not!" I do see my lack of love for animals as a shortcoming... but I still don't want one!
ReplyDeleteWell, my husband "has" a dog (rescue poodle/schnauzer mix) , older daughter has a rescued, mean cat, and the younger daughter a feisty long haired chihuahua. The animals all really belong to me. I feed, walk ,and take care of them. I love them, they love me, I just never asked for any of them. Our daughters are in college, so I don't know when their pets will ever leave, or IF they'll ever move out. *sigh* on the other hand we have adventures together. Growing up in the country we always had cats and dogs. We had chickens (not pets...eggs and meat), various fish, hamsters, and several birds. My sisters have "farms" with horses, cows, goats, geese, ducks, chickens, dogs, and cats. Always a fun time,while visiting. I do not do reptiles, amphibians or rodents.
ReplyDeleteMy cat, Annie and my Golden Retriever, Jane (my google ID namesake), both died in 2012. Annie was born a month before my 16 yr old daughter, and was always by her side. They took naps stretched out together as babies, and later she slept on her bed with her. Jane was a rescue dog with separation anxiety and a remarkable talent for unlocking and opening doors, and unlatching her steel crate, folding it inward and escaping from it. So she spent most of her time by my side wherever I went. If the gates of heaven weren't previously open to our beloved animal friends, I'd bet Jane took care of that when she got there. ;)
ReplyDeleteI miss them both a lot, but there are perks to be found in the freedoms and cleanliness of a pet-free home. Besides, I don't just want *a* dog or cat. I'd just want Jane and Annie back.
one Pekenese/shitzu 14 year old boy. Everyone thinks he's a puppy. He rescued us 9 years ago with his sister a beagle hound mix (sorry folks if you got a dumb beagle, this one was one of the smartest animals I have ever been around) who unfortunately we had to "let go" 4 years ago and we still miss her.
ReplyDeleteWe love our little boy, evidenced by the three beds he has (not including the king size one he shares when he is not soaking wet due to snow) in our one bedroom apartment.
Of course the kids wanted a dog, but we compromised on adopting a bunny, a jet-black bunny named Onyx. Believe it or not he is litter box trained so he can frolic freely around family room and hang out with us. It’s rather amusing actually.
ReplyDeleteTwo orange tabby brother kitties keep watch in our house along with a rescued juvenile turtle who dominates the backyard and has brought much joy.
ReplyDeletea rescue black cat named Ozzy and a rescue DORKIE named Emma....
ReplyDeletethe dog is smaller than the cat, and has fleas and needs to be brushed and no one takes care of her but me even though they all begged for the dog and promised to care for it...she only walks if I walk her and only follows me...she drives me nuts...
and i kind of really love her.
pets are good for a family.
but not good for a white couch.
I just watched my 15 year old dog die last night. Not a dog that many would love..but I did..And now, my younger dog is sitting and waiting for Lizzie to come back. Meh..the old one got to the point she could not make it out to pee..so, she lost it in my kitchen. I would totally give up a couch to have my 7 pound terrier who thought she was a doberman...I miss the little shit.
ReplyDeleteMaryMargaret I am very sorry to hear about that. :(
ReplyDeleteI have a beautiful brown and white tabby kitten named Violet. She is 10 months old, the cutest kitten, and sometimes I think she thinks I'm her Mom.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Leila. It has been tough. I lost a 20-yr old cat last summer (Persia) and I have another cat still, who is 18! (Sabrina) I have been running a home for geriatric pets for awhile now. Only young animal is Tala, the younger dog. She is a six-year old Keeshond. Sweetest dog in the world, although not the smartest.
ReplyDeleteI would get a kitten, but Sabrina is terrified of all other cats, although she gets along fine with dogs. Strange cat, lol.
Dog lovers might appreciate this. While browsing wall art this week, I came across this framed worded print, and snickered:
ReplyDelete"Dogs are God's way of apologizing for your relatives"
I want that! I call my cats Maiden Name-Repellent because my whole family hates cats. No one wants to spend the night at our house......it is glorious!
DeleteThat so reminds me of my late uncle. I used the have a Tibeten Mastiff before marriage and he would pet sit for me during the day. He fell in love with that dog and eventually adopted him permanently. My bachelor uncle fed him pork chops and ice cream and would swear that the dog was the most upstanding member in the family. He'd say " look at him, honest, loyal, doesn't give me any crap!" . That dog lived to be 14 years old which is rare for a 150 lb potato chip eating large breed. Must have been the rosaries.
DeleteEither of you want a sweet friendly rabbit?
I've always loved dogs. I've had 3 and each was a stray that suddenly showed up in my life at times when I needed a friend most. The first was a terrier mix that showed up on my 10th birthday when I was getting off the school bus. The 2nd was a cocker mix that was brought to me by a hunter who found her starving in the woods. She appeared right before I lost my beloved grandfather and kept me company while I was single and living alone. Three weeks after meeting my husband, she suddenly died. Our current pet is a lab mix and my husband and I found her on a roadside, abandoned, a few months after we were married. She became our surrogate "child" and helped us cope thru many years of infertility. Best dog we will ever have. Now we have two small boys and I'm waiting for a dog with "herding instincts" to come help me out. :o)
ReplyDeleteI grew up in a house with no pets. Everyone in the family insisted they were allergic to fur.
ReplyDeleteWe now have three dogs, a cat and two turtles. We have a 11 year old dachshund named Wally, a chocolate lab named Kenzie and a basset hound name Nelly. They are some of the most loving creatures I've ever met and they are FUNNY!
The lab is such a sweetie she won't stand up to the other two dogs despite the fact that all she has to do is sit on them. The dachshund is the old-timer that rules the roost and Nelle the basset hound is the loud mouth girl who gets into all the trouble in the world and then turns on the charm when someone is upset with her. The cat chases the dogs, tries to eat the turtles and gets scared when a loud car drives by.
My husbands favorite story about the dogs was in a 4 month period every one of them ran up to me and without warning got sick on me and ran off. His theory was I was "mom" and they came to me because they didn't feel good, got sick, felt better and ran off. Clearly, I am a cure for tummy aches.