Picking My Dog

Since I was a little girl I had always wanted a dog. For over fifteen years the only thing I wanted for Christmas and my birthday was a puppy. For my 21^st birthday, I decided that it was time for me to get one.  I started looking online and at local shelters. I didn't have a specific type of dog that I wanted, because I tend to like all of them and I am bad at decisions. There were many cute puppies, but none of them felt like MY puppy.

Then we went to the house of a lady who was sheltering 20-30 puppies for a local shelter. She had two pure bred miniature pinchers that my boyfriend and I went to see. When we walked into her garage the first thing I saw was a big baby gate in the middle with two litters of puppies in it. Of course I couldn't help but go over and pet those puppies while she was getting the miniature pinchers from the other room.

The puppies inside the baby gate were all playing and wrestling with each other. The lady housing them gave them some food and they were all fighting each other to get to it, acting like I wasn’t even there. Except for one. There was one puppy that had a white strip down his nose that ignored the rest of the puppies and the food and ran to me. He was climbing on the gate trying to get to me. I picked him up out of the gate and he instantly calmed down and cuddled into my arm. That was the dog that I brought home that day.

He was a six week old shelter pup and they had guessed he was a Shepherd mix. I did not care what kind of dog he was, the second that I saw him I knew he was the dog for me. As cheesy as this story is, I wouldn’t pick out a dog any other way. I think the most important thing is to go with the dog you have a connection with, not the dog that may be the cutest or the breed you want.

Here are a couple of pictures from the week we got him, and then a couple recent ones. He looks much different than how I expected him to grow. It was fun watching him grow, especially his awkward phase where his ears couldn’t hold themselves up and we didn’t know if they would ever stand.

Cat Personalities

Cats can have all types of personalities, but it seems no matter what the personality, it is always strong. My older cat, Cleo, wants to do nothing but cuddle and sit on everyone’s lap. She wants attention 100% of the time. The younger cat, Gracie, plays hard to get. She will come up to you and act like she wants a pet, but as soon as you go to pet her she runs away. She also gets into everything in the house and is amazed with the other animals. She will sit on top of my turtle tank and reach her paw in all the way to her shoulder trying to bop him. Eventually she will give up and lay on top of his tank. Then whenever he moves even the tiniest bit she gets scared, jumps about two feet into the air, and takes off running to another room. She will also spend countless hours watching the guinea pigs and trying to reach into their cage. 

Here are a couple pictures of Gracie. One is of her laying on the turtle tank and the other her poking in at the guinea pigs.

Every time I think of cat personalities I end up on Youtube watching videos of cats doing silly things. Here are two of my favorite cat compilation videos that always give me a good laugh. I did not make these videos, I just enjoy them.

Begging and Jealousy

Most of the time, I get nothing but joy out of my pets. However, there are two things that I cannot stand and cannot seem to break. My dog is jealous. My cat begs.

I know exactly why my cat begs. When our past cat became very sick the vet told us to feed her anything she will eat including human food. Of course, you can’t feed one cat and not the other. At the time I did not care that Cleo was begging because I was just happy that the sick cat, Tinsel, was eating. Tinsel was 18 years old when we lost her so she had a nice long life, but we lost her over two years ago. Cleo now begs for not only food, but also pets. In fact, she is insisting she is going to sit on my laptop right now to prevent me from writing this. When I eat, she climbs on me over and over and has the guts to try and steal anything she can get to off of my plate. I have tried everything I can think of to break this down to spraying her with a spray bottle. No luck.

My dog is jealous of anyone or anything but him getting attention. People cannot even hug in my house without him whining and trying to squeeze between. His jealousy is the most extreme when someone wants to pet one of the cats. If you pet a cat, he will chase the cat away and stand in her spot. If there is a cat closer to you than he is, he squeezes himself into any space available. Anyone sitting in the recliner instantly becomes smothered by the cat and dog, who of course fight over who gets to stay. And trust me, a 48 pound dog is NOT a lap dog. I just need to convince him of that. Unlike my cat begging, I do not understand his jealousy. We got him from a shelter when he was only six weeks old. Although one of the cats is only two months older than him, they were both here before him. It is not like he was here and comfortable and then we brought the cats in.

If I could fix these two habits, my house would be much more relaxing. I could eat and recline in peace. I only have one picture of Dameous and Cleo sharing the recliner, so I will share that with you. Maybe there is some hope…

WKC Dog Show

The 2013 Westminster Dog Show started last night, 2/11/13. This dog show is the America’s most well-known dog sow. Although I have never had a show dog and my dog is not a pure bred, this dog show never seizes to amaze me.

The dogs in the Westminster dog show are the best in their breed. The way the dog show works is a chunk of dogs from each breed compete until one is picked best in breed. That dog is the one we see on television as it competes for its breed to win its category and then best in show.

The show always starts with the hounds, which is by far my favorite category. I was never a fan of toy dogs, however, I must admit these ones are gorgeous as well. I always think that my dog is well trained and obedient until I see these dogs. I know the time it took to train my dog and cannot imagine how much time, love, and effort the owners and trainers put into these dogs.

The second night of the show airs tonight on the USA channel at 8 eastern on USA. One feature that is really neat is the use of Twitter during the show. WestimsterDogShow was tweeting in real time the entire show. There were also many people using the hash-tag #WKCdogs tweeting about what dogs they liked and wanted to see win. This made the dog show a very interactive event.

Here is a clip from last year’s Westminster Dog Show best in show for anyone who has not seen a part of the show or would just like to see it again.

Clothes on Animals

When it comes to pets, it seems one thing most people seem to have a strong opinion on is pets wearing clothes. I always said I would never be a person to put clothes on my animals, then I discovered how much it helped my dog.

When Dameous was a puppy he was never left alone. Schedules changed when he got a bit older and he spent some time home alone. When he would see us about to leave, he would start panicking, whining, and become very anxious. That is when a family friend suggested getting him a Thundershirt to help with his anxiety. A Thundershirt is a shirt fit for dogs that wraps tightly around them and is meant to help with dog anxiety.

Since I thought this would never work, I decided to buy him a normal dog sweater before dropping the $40 on a Thundershirt. I figured I should spend much less on a normal sweater first to see if he would even let me put it on him. He loved it. Surprisingly, it helped calm him down so I figured it was worth my money to see how much a Thundershirt helped. Amazingly, it calms him down even in stressful situations for him such as Christmas when there are lots of people coming in and out of the house. Now if he is home alone or gets anxiety we know how to easily calm him down.

Dameous got to the point that he will bring you his sweater if he is "naked" and wants to have something on him at all times. This also started a bit of a trend and he now is almost always wearing a bandanna and has a coat for when we go outside since his hair is so short.

Here is a picture of Dameous relaxed with his sweater while we are home. My Great Grandma is sitting in the chair so he is lying on the arm of it.

As far as other animals go, I have found no benefit in putting clothing on them. My cats will not even wear bows when they come back from the groomer. We also got collars with little bells on them for when the ferrets run around the house, but to no surprise they have the collars off in less than twenty seconds.

If you have a dog that gets anxiety or gets worked up easily, I suggest trying a dog sweater or even a Thundershirt on them. For any other animal, I would not suggest it.

What pets are good for children?

The other day at the pet store I ran into someone who was looking for a pet for her young child. I know there are many different opinions on this, but I am going to share mine.

Dogs: Dogs can be great companions to children. They are faithful, loyal, and sometimes protective. They take a lot of work in their younger years to build the patience and attributes they will need to interact with children. A dog that is not trained or cared for properly can be deadly to children.

Cats: Some cats are amazing with kids and have all the patience in the world. Others want nothing to do with kids and will hide from them and bite or scratch when approached. In my opinion, if you are going to get a cat and have a child make sure it is just a kitten and can grow up with your child’s behaviors.

Ferrets: These can be wonderful pets for children. Although sometimes mean, if raised with children they are generally friendly and loving animals. They will cuddle, play, and not mind being carried everywhere. They are also less fragile than some other pets. They do have a stronger odor than other pets and you will more than likely want their scent glands removed.

Rats: I would recommend rats over mice, because mice will escape and be near impossible to find. Rats are another animal you want to purchase young. They will cuddle, interact  and be carried everywhere. However, some rats just want to escape and may bite.

Hamsters: These seem like the classic child pet. Although they are nice and it is fun to watch them in the hamster ball, they are for a very careful and cautious child (rare, I know). Hamsters may squirm, escape, and have fragile bones. They can easily be squashed and killed. The perfect example of this is a clip from My Wife and Kids where Katie is playing with her pet hamster that she is unaware is already dead.

Guinea Pigs: These are good pets for kids. I have not met a guinea pig with a mean bone in its body. They will let you hold them and will eat out of your hand. You cannot put them in balls like you can hamsters because it can cause them serious back problems.

Rabbits: These are fun for children to interact with. They are generally friendly and kids like to see them hop around the yard. However, they often scratch when picked up and may bite.

I would be likely to eliminate the entire reptile category and birds.

Snakes: Some children are afraid of snakes, and some snakes are afraid of children. Large snakes can bite or constrict children, easily killing them. Small snakes such as corn snakes are often friendly, but will easily escape their cage or a child’s hand.

Turtles and tortoises: They are high maintenance, hard for children to interact with, and may carry salmonella.

Lizards: Lizards are high maintenance. Often they will require live food and to be misted with water multiple times a day. They can grow large, be vicious, and are also escape artists.

Birds: Without their wings clipped, birds will escape when a child tries to hold them. They will fly around your entire house and be nearly impossible to catch. They are messy, generally do not like to be held, have fragile bones, and have sharp beaks. The bird species that can talk will be introduced to bad words your children learn and will repeat them as they please.

Meet My Critters!

Since this blog is going to be focused on pets, I decided to start it by introducing mine.
I will start with my most spoiled of them all, my dog, Dameous. My boyfriend and I picked him out a year and a half ago at a shelter when he was six weeks old. We aren't positive what type of dog he is although my guess would be a Basenji mix and most people suggest Shepherd. Whatever he is, he is a very smart dog and has an amazingly calm temper. Here's a picture of him so you can take your own guess at what kind of dog he is.

I also have a twelve year old cat that we call Cleo. Her name is actually Cleocatra and I was ten I thought it was extremely clever; now it is just odd.
I live at home still, so I will include my Mom's cat which is a tortie point Himalayan. Or in other words, a walking fuzz ball. We call her Gracie; her full name is Amazing Grace.
I have two guinea pigs. One guinea pig has long hair with a cowlick on top of her head which is the reason I named her Divet. Her sister, a biter, is named Nippy.
Along with them I have a fat, grey, teddy bear hamster named Hammy.
I also have a three year old turtle, a red-eared slider, named Franklin. When I bought him he was the size of a quarter. I had no idea that within a couple years his shell would be closer to a foot in length.
My boyfriend and I have two ferrets, Bandit and Outlaw, that stay at his house. They have two sides, they either want to cuddle up with you, each other, or the dog, or they want to steal everything in sight from your keys to your shoelaces. I have included a picture of them as well.

My black and white rat, Luna, stays there as well due to my Mom's fear of mice and rats. She is very calm and would happily sit in your lap all day, but something about the tail just freaks people out.
My boyfriend also takes care of the calico cat, Lucy, that I got my Great Grandma years ago. We definitely have our hands full, but the joy from the animals is more than worth it.