asked by mdarkdreamer... cats and dogs
Mar. 13th, 2008 06:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zhieWhat is it about cats that you love, and when you get your house, will you get more...and...would you get a dog? Yes or No and why....
People tend to think I'm a cat person because I have cats. While I do like the company of cats, I actually grew up as a dog person. All of the males in my family are allergic to cats, so growing up, we had dogs. The first we had that I can recall was Challenger, named after the ill-fated space shuttle. When I was six, we got Sammy, my black lab. I named him after Sammy Davis Jr. Sadly, he only lived for six weeks after we got him... the whole litter, it turned out, was sick. Then there was Howler, a bloodhound mix who lived up to his name to the point that the neighbors complained and he went back.
A jack russell hound named Bandit was the next one, and the first real permanent member of the family. He stayed with us for a number of years and moved with us when we went to the house my parents are currently living in. For a brief amount of time, we also watched a dog that belonged to a client of my dad's; she was a whippet, and was the most beautiful, finicky thing I ever met... pet dog, elf-style.
Next was a long string of adopted-from-strange-situation dogs. We had Roscoe, a 15-year old beagle who was blind and death and would have otherwise been put down if he hadnt have been adopted, but loyal for the two years we had him. Then, Bozley, my all-time favorite dog. So much so, had he made it another three months, he was supposed to be in my wedding. Boz was a mix of grey hound, golden retriever, and who knows what else. He was a runner, but so friendly. Totally my pal growing up, and he was a partial vegetarian doggie... loved carrots, potatos, apples, etc., no garden was safe. Fathered many litters of puppies, including one puppy AFTER he was fixed. He was around when we briefly had Snowball, a psycho-farm dog who was crazy and went back where he came (Boz, by the way, had lived in a third floor apartment in a really bad neighborhood.. he wasn't supposed to be there, no dogs rule, so they trained him to use the toilet, a trick he never forgot). Then we got Princess, a puppy at one of those puppy world places who was shoved into a cage too small for her. She was supposed to be german shepard/collie... she turned out to be german shepard/sheltie, so she stayed relatively small. Then we adopted Eli, a supposed purebred black lab. I kept telling everyone, his eyes look weird... that's not a dog.
He wasn't... he was part wolf. He ended up attacking my mom and Boz jumped in and protected her. Eli messed up Boz pretty bad, including breaking his leg with one bite. Eli ended up, after the standard holding period, being adopted by the airport and was trained to work there and guard at night. Eli had the rare talent of being able to jump clear over a six foot fence, something he passed on to his five children. Princess had a litter of puppies soon after... five black, one white. The vet determined that both Eli and Boz (after Boz was fixed) had a hand in that. Hence, it was the three of them that inspired the Haldir/Elodien/Legolas combination I'm so fond of.
We kept two of the puppies, Smudgie (the runt) and Slater (Boz's pup) (Bear, Sassafrass, Roulette, and Houdini all found other homes). Smudge had Bozley's personality, while Slater was very much like Eli, except the wrong color and without the jumping (Smudge used to jump and hit his head against the ceiling when he wanted to go out). Slater started to get a bit mean, and then... he got Princess pregnant again. My mother, no longer wanting to deal with those two, gave them both to some lady she knew, and we never saw them again... a very upsetting thing for me, and my other siblings I'm sure, since she did not inform us she was going to do this. I came home from school to find a note 'dinner in the fridge, dogs are in the hall'. Now, four dogs did not fit into the hall, so I knew something was up, so to find only half of them was a bit of a shock.
Boz developed cancer a year before my wedding, and six months later the decision was made to put him down at the end of summer. I spent those last few months sleeping on the floor of my bedroom with him. He had bulges on his neck and throat and was having a lot of trouble walking, and it was in August that we took him in.
It was another year before another dog came in to join Smudge. The next one was Tramp, a mix of daschund (sp) and who knows what else. He chewed EVERYTHING, and after a year of training and failing, my parents found a family who could keep him outside who had lots of little kids he could play with.
Bear came next (yeah, Bear 2, I suppose). He's my parent's fifth child, really, the 'everyone's grown up, let's adopt another or get a puppy' so they got a puppy. I call him 'lil brother'. He's half st. bernard and half newfie... HUGE puppy. About a year after that, my youngest brother adopted a pure black lab (truly a pure lab this time) named Coal. So, right now, they have Smudgie, Bear, and Coal.
So... back to cats. When I moved out, the apartment was a no-dog one. So, after two years, we started to adopt rats. Pet rats, not like they were around or anything, lol. Those were fun, but they don't live very long. In 2004, we met Harley and Oreo, whose owners were going to dump them on the street when they moved. We just couldn't let someone do that, and the last of our rats had passed away the month before, so we 'upgraded' in the pet world. I was very hesitant. The only cats I knew hissed and hid under beds, so when those two came home and turned out to be very social, I was really happy. I like my cats to act like dogs, and these two do, even to running to the door when I get home and coming when you call them.
When we move out, we definitely need some dogs!
Mark wants a german shepard. I very much would like a pug, though I like that poodles don't shed, and I like the historical value of the neopolitan mastiff. What will likely happen? I'll either go to the pug rescue (there's one nearby) or to the humane society and rescue one. Mark will likely find a purebred shepard.
I think two cats is ideal. When you have one, they have no one of their own kind to play with. It's like shoving a human in a cage with elephants and not letting them have a cell phone or something. If you have three or more, there's more fighting and pack stuff and issues... so, two is good. Noah had that one right. That would also be the reason for having two dogs. It's just nice to have someone of your own kind to talk to.
The shepard, btw, will be female, and the pug male, and they will totally be fixed... at least, that pug will definitely be! no need finding out what a shepard/pug mix looks like....
So, what do I like about cats...? Hmm.. they're sneaky and mostly quiet... and as a librarian, that might be why I like those particular traits!
People tend to think I'm a cat person because I have cats. While I do like the company of cats, I actually grew up as a dog person. All of the males in my family are allergic to cats, so growing up, we had dogs. The first we had that I can recall was Challenger, named after the ill-fated space shuttle. When I was six, we got Sammy, my black lab. I named him after Sammy Davis Jr. Sadly, he only lived for six weeks after we got him... the whole litter, it turned out, was sick. Then there was Howler, a bloodhound mix who lived up to his name to the point that the neighbors complained and he went back.
A jack russell hound named Bandit was the next one, and the first real permanent member of the family. He stayed with us for a number of years and moved with us when we went to the house my parents are currently living in. For a brief amount of time, we also watched a dog that belonged to a client of my dad's; she was a whippet, and was the most beautiful, finicky thing I ever met... pet dog, elf-style.
Next was a long string of adopted-from-strange-situation dogs. We had Roscoe, a 15-year old beagle who was blind and death and would have otherwise been put down if he hadnt have been adopted, but loyal for the two years we had him. Then, Bozley, my all-time favorite dog. So much so, had he made it another three months, he was supposed to be in my wedding. Boz was a mix of grey hound, golden retriever, and who knows what else. He was a runner, but so friendly. Totally my pal growing up, and he was a partial vegetarian doggie... loved carrots, potatos, apples, etc., no garden was safe. Fathered many litters of puppies, including one puppy AFTER he was fixed. He was around when we briefly had Snowball, a psycho-farm dog who was crazy and went back where he came (Boz, by the way, had lived in a third floor apartment in a really bad neighborhood.. he wasn't supposed to be there, no dogs rule, so they trained him to use the toilet, a trick he never forgot). Then we got Princess, a puppy at one of those puppy world places who was shoved into a cage too small for her. She was supposed to be german shepard/collie... she turned out to be german shepard/sheltie, so she stayed relatively small. Then we adopted Eli, a supposed purebred black lab. I kept telling everyone, his eyes look weird... that's not a dog.
He wasn't... he was part wolf. He ended up attacking my mom and Boz jumped in and protected her. Eli messed up Boz pretty bad, including breaking his leg with one bite. Eli ended up, after the standard holding period, being adopted by the airport and was trained to work there and guard at night. Eli had the rare talent of being able to jump clear over a six foot fence, something he passed on to his five children. Princess had a litter of puppies soon after... five black, one white. The vet determined that both Eli and Boz (after Boz was fixed) had a hand in that. Hence, it was the three of them that inspired the Haldir/Elodien/Legolas combination I'm so fond of.
We kept two of the puppies, Smudgie (the runt) and Slater (Boz's pup) (Bear, Sassafrass, Roulette, and Houdini all found other homes). Smudge had Bozley's personality, while Slater was very much like Eli, except the wrong color and without the jumping (Smudge used to jump and hit his head against the ceiling when he wanted to go out). Slater started to get a bit mean, and then... he got Princess pregnant again. My mother, no longer wanting to deal with those two, gave them both to some lady she knew, and we never saw them again... a very upsetting thing for me, and my other siblings I'm sure, since she did not inform us she was going to do this. I came home from school to find a note 'dinner in the fridge, dogs are in the hall'. Now, four dogs did not fit into the hall, so I knew something was up, so to find only half of them was a bit of a shock.
Boz developed cancer a year before my wedding, and six months later the decision was made to put him down at the end of summer. I spent those last few months sleeping on the floor of my bedroom with him. He had bulges on his neck and throat and was having a lot of trouble walking, and it was in August that we took him in.
It was another year before another dog came in to join Smudge. The next one was Tramp, a mix of daschund (sp) and who knows what else. He chewed EVERYTHING, and after a year of training and failing, my parents found a family who could keep him outside who had lots of little kids he could play with.
Bear came next (yeah, Bear 2, I suppose). He's my parent's fifth child, really, the 'everyone's grown up, let's adopt another or get a puppy' so they got a puppy. I call him 'lil brother'. He's half st. bernard and half newfie... HUGE puppy. About a year after that, my youngest brother adopted a pure black lab (truly a pure lab this time) named Coal. So, right now, they have Smudgie, Bear, and Coal.
So... back to cats. When I moved out, the apartment was a no-dog one. So, after two years, we started to adopt rats. Pet rats, not like they were around or anything, lol. Those were fun, but they don't live very long. In 2004, we met Harley and Oreo, whose owners were going to dump them on the street when they moved. We just couldn't let someone do that, and the last of our rats had passed away the month before, so we 'upgraded' in the pet world. I was very hesitant. The only cats I knew hissed and hid under beds, so when those two came home and turned out to be very social, I was really happy. I like my cats to act like dogs, and these two do, even to running to the door when I get home and coming when you call them.
When we move out, we definitely need some dogs!
Mark wants a german shepard. I very much would like a pug, though I like that poodles don't shed, and I like the historical value of the neopolitan mastiff. What will likely happen? I'll either go to the pug rescue (there's one nearby) or to the humane society and rescue one. Mark will likely find a purebred shepard.
I think two cats is ideal. When you have one, they have no one of their own kind to play with. It's like shoving a human in a cage with elephants and not letting them have a cell phone or something. If you have three or more, there's more fighting and pack stuff and issues... so, two is good. Noah had that one right. That would also be the reason for having two dogs. It's just nice to have someone of your own kind to talk to.
The shepard, btw, will be female, and the pug male, and they will totally be fixed... at least, that pug will definitely be! no need finding out what a shepard/pug mix looks like....
So, what do I like about cats...? Hmm.. they're sneaky and mostly quiet... and as a librarian, that might be why I like those particular traits!
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Date: 2008-03-14 10:39 pm (UTC)Very cool information and I love how the post is all Dog then down at the botom is a widdle thing on cats! HA!
*Hugs you*
~Dark