Tell me about the best pet you ever had/have?

I was adopted by two golden retrievers. They’d been abused and abandoned. It took a few years to get them to trust me, but when they did it was total love that I hadn’t witnessed before. I never struck them, other than bopping the male on the head with an empty gallon plastic milk jug once. They wouldn’t sit next to me, they had to sit on me. It was great.

I raised two Golden Retrievers that were the best dogs a man could have as friends. B was amazing and could do just about anything. I had to put both of them down because they both got cancer. I had their prints put in some plaster and I keep them on my mantel.

@noelleptc

I used to take them everywhere with me. They liked to sit in the back seat and let the wind blow their lips and ears around. It was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do. I cried like a baby because they were like children to me.

LOL @noelleptc both mine wanted to shake your hand and the female would keep putting her paw on you until you gave her some attention. LOL Good memories of my best friends. Smile

My cat has gone boating.Yeah…dats right! ;)

@noelleptc That’s some nice wholesome entertainment.

@noelleptc My cat was too much of a pussy to sing that XD

When I was 14 I think (20 now) I was in Spain with my family and there were a lot of stray cats on the camping (is there another term for this in English?). So after the two weeks we spent there we’d grown to know a couple of them including a really sick kitten another family was looking after. The other family left and couldn’t take the kitten with them so me and my sister convinced our parents to take care of it for the three days we were going to be staying there. Three days was enough time to convince our parents to take it home with us.

His name is Gato en Botas (if I remember the Spanish correctly) and though he’s a little frail and turned out to have herpes, which he seems to have recovered from for the moment, I can’t imagine not having taken care of him and having him with me these years. I know the odds probably aren’t on his side and he only has four teeth left… like a snake… But I really hope he stays alive and healthy until he’s at least 20.

When I was growing up, we would put out milk for the cats that lived in the barn. The neighbors had a cat with a bell on its collar. He would come around to get the milk, but we had one cat that didn’t like him. He would get in his face and slap the bell with his paw until the neighbor cat got pissed enough to fight. Then our cat would beat the crap out of the other cat for awhile. When he gave up and quit fighting, our cat would go back to slapping the bell until he would fight again. They’d go alot of rounds. You’d listen and hear tinkle, tinkle, yowl and hiss, tinkle, tinkle, yowl and hiss over and over.

My goose Marwyn.

I have had him since he was a 2 week old gosling and he is extremely imprinted on me.

He will be 13 this July and is my all time fav. pet, along with my old kitty that passed away last May.

Marwyn is just like a dog, he knows about 20 words and phrases, responds to hand signals for ‘stay’ & ‘wait’, climbs the deck stairs to come in the house for hangouts and bread treats. lol

He likes me to play my djembe drum and sing to him and falls asleep upside down in my arms.

I have posted his holiday photos in a ’ Tis the season, care to share your cute holiday pet photoss?’ question from a few weeks ago.

If someone had told me 15 years ago that a goose would end up being my all time favorite pet I’d never have believed it! haha

Daffy the Duck was once my best pet.
Injured and lost, we rode to the vet.
Mending his wing to keep him alive.
Tossed in the air he learned to nose dive.

Alas he was doomed to live in my tub.
Paying no rent, I asked “What’s up Bub”?
“Christmas is near, and we’ll need a meal”..
That did the trick, and quack turned to squeal!

A chop to the neck and feathers will fly.
They flew to my oven instead of the sky.
A fork and some sauce, good wine in my mouth.
Best pets become dinner, when they should have flown south.

I have this great cat named Firefly. Ironically he was or most misbehaved cat when he was just a kitten. After many squirts of the water bottle, he has become the best cat ever! He’s very polite and doesn’t beg for food while we’re eating. He’s not annoying at all and loves to be petted.

All in all, he was won multiple awards for most behaved cat.

I only had one pet in my life—a bronze-colored mutt with white on her paws and the end of her tail. She was a little smaller than a medium-sized dog, and always seemed to be sporting a bemused, yet surprised expression on her muzzle.

She was great company for me, as a youth. In her younger days, she would run with us for miles on back country roads as we rode our bikes hither and yon. Amazing to me now, we never worried about her being hit by a car. She never was.

In the winter, she would accompany me as I skied through the woods. If the snow was fresh or I was breaking a trail, she would run in my track, which always annoyed me because it slowed down my ski home.

She couldn’t talk, of course, so her company was limited in terms of conversation, but in all other ways, you couldn’t have a better friend. She was as loyal to me as the Earth is loyal to the Sun.

I went off to college when she was probably seven or eight years old. One fall, my parents called to tell me she had died and they had buried her in one of the holes we had dug in the woods. I suppose her bones are still there, although the location of that grave is long forgotten, at least by me.

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies

I too have composed a poem about Marwyn the goose.

The ‘other side’ of the gooses lament. ;-)

I don’t want to be a pillow
—————————————

I don’t want to be a pillow
or a jacket or a throw
My life was not created
to warm people in the snow

I do not want my body parts
mashed into a can
and spread upon a cracker
in culinary land

Do not bathe my sad remains
in a citrus glaze
My life was not created
to be roasted, baked or braised

Do not pluck my downey breast
as berries from a vine
My simple life belongs to me’and all of me is mine!

Snuffy. She was part Cocker…she had Cocker Spaniel eyes, but she looked like a small black lab. When I had the daycare, and would set kids in the hall, Snuffy would go sit with them, and they’d cry and cry into her fur, and hug her and stuff. Snuffy would sit there and give me the saddest, most accusing looks with her eyes, asking me “How can you do this??”

Too many stories to tell about that wonderful dog. I had to put her down when she was 15. One of the worst, most difficult days of my life.

@Coloma “citris glaze”? That sounds yummy!...... AH!! DUCK!!…oh no..groan….no pun intended. I meant, “duck”, as in you’re throwing something at me….

@Dutchess_III
Heh, I would not eat my Marywn if he was the last thing on earth. ;-)

ROFL!! I know, Colma! I wouldn’t eat him either! (But that citrus glaze…ummmm!)

@Dutchess_III
I prefer a citrus glaze on my pound cake! lol

That too!!! But…I have neither pound cake nor duck. Just brownies. With no citrus glaze.

@Dutchess_III

And no Duck Cake!—Ewwwww—-

@Coloma I think that was a very good poem !

Marywn’s can’t hear you, can he @Coloma???????
I thought it was a good poem too! :)

@Aster
@Dutchess_III

Thanks!, No, Marwyn is happily ‘fwimming’ right now, oblivious to the cruel fate of his comrades around the world. lol

@noelleptc

Yes, haha…but..it’s not nearly as bad as the real life pan of fried duck heads I came across in a night market in asia last spring. Horrible, horrible, fried duck heads on a stick…mmmm!

My kitty cats: Blizzard, who sleeps by me every single night and wakes me up by licking my cheek, Callie, my baby bunny (she’s really a cat, but I call her bunny because she hops instead of runs, and my baby bear, Hershey.

I love my kitty cats. =^.^=

@troubleinharlem

Awww… what a great little group!
I had a white hamster once named ‘Blizzard.’ lol

@Coloma : Haha, thanks. Blizzard says hello – she’s staring at my screen and it’s kind of creepy.
Yes, Blizzard, I’m talking to you. Yes, you.

Do you have a picture of your goose? o:

My current dog, Dakota, goes about rescuing lost little kids in the middle of the night…..

@Dutchess_III : Pictures? o:

@troubleinharlem

You can see Marwyns Xmas pics if you do a search for ” Tis the season, care to share your cute holiday pet photos.”

I don’t know how to link it up to this thread, but, it will show up 1st thing in a search.

I had 2 rabbits and they had a baby. Then sometime over the summer my family was going to Italy and no one offered to take care of my rabbits so they had to be put to sleep/killed :(
and since then I havent had any pet… am considering getting one when I go home but I dont know which one. I dont think I want a dog because they maybe poop in the house or something…what would you suggest?

@Coloma : ROFL. I can’t believe the goose let you put socks on him. xD That’s too cute

@Thesexier : A cat! Get a cat! Get a kitty cat!
You can even get a self-cleaning litterbox now! So there’s no excuse, really – in my opinion, they’re better pets. They lower blood pressure, too.

@troubleinharlem True story. We had just fortified our back yard fence so the dogs couldn’t get out any more. They weren’t insane about getting out (in fact, more than once I’ve run a quick errand, only to come back and realize I hadn’t put the dogs in the house, and there they were, still laying on the back deck, which is open to the world!,) but every so often something would trip their trigger and they’d find a way out, usually at the expense of one of the older pieces of privacy fence.

Gotta go, but remind me and I’ll post a pic of her…unless someone around here has one lurking about that they’ve saved.
Bye guys! Till next time!!! ((()))XXXXX!
@aster…ya wanna come for dinner sometime??!! :)
Well, we made that fence escape proof. One morning I got up and realized….the damn dogs were gone! I had to go to work so I woke my husband up and told him.
He found them in the custody the dog catcher, who just shook his head as he told my husband, “I just opened the back door of the truck and they just jumped right on in!” Anyway, he was back at the police station, hadn’t gotten as far as the pound yet, so we got the dogs back without too much headace.
Later that day my coworker was reading a local on-line news site (Newscow.com) and there was a blurb in it about a 6 year old boy who had taken off in the middle of the night due to a family argument. (Yeah…sad, huh.) The found him at about 8 a.m. in an alley ”....along with two stray dogs.”......Yeah. Our dogs. Turns out, said alley is directly across the street. Turns out they live exactly one block away, and the kid’s mom brought him over the next day to thank us. Apparently the dogs just showed up out of nowhere and stayed with him all night! He said he felt like they were protecting him. Now, Dutchess isn’t that kind of dog, but Dakota is…..I’ve tried to put the pieces of the story together and all I can figure is that the poor kid came wandering past the house, at 3 a.m., crying and scared…and Dakota flat went over the fence to help. —You’ve seen video of police dogs climbing walls and stuff, so….. Not sure how Dutchess got out except that if she went into a frenzy she can do just about anything herself!
They’ve never gotten out again…..

@Aster Ya wanna come for dinner some time?!! :)

@troubleinharlem Yes but but but…. I have a friend who owns COUPLE of cats and her room stinks!
I don’t want that to happen to my room… and also am scared of them bitting and getting hair all over my clothes… eeek

I have two cats that I rescued. One was about 1 week old and crawled out from under a fence in my back yard. Her leg was almost torn off. I took her to the Vet where she was operated on. She had a little cast on and I had to feed her a bottle. I would have to go home for lunch everyday and feed her. If you know about kittens you have to help them go to the bathroom too. Anyway she had one more surgery and it saved her leg. Her brother was older and got his head caught in my engine block. He was in a spot where he didn’t burn and was safe but he was in there for at least 4 days before he made some sounds and I found him. When I took him out he was light as a feather and scared. I took him in my bedroom and he hid under the bed for almost 6 months. I’m the only one he comes too now. I got them both fixed and got them shots and now they are very healthy.

@Thesexier : Because she probably didn’t train them properly. Besides, she has a couple, not just one. And generally, cats don’t bite or scratch unless you do something to upset them (pick them up when they don’t want to be picked up, etc). They give warning signs, like cowering, flattening their ears, so it’s easy to see.
With shedding, just get a shorthair cat. They don’t shed nearly as much. There’s the Burmese, the Siamese, the American Shorthair, or any kind of mixed shorthair cat! My bunny Callie is a shorthair calico.

@Summum : Pictures, please!

This is the picture of my female and in the back is the male kitties. You have to go to my home page to see it better.

@Summum : D’awwww.

Isn’t she a cutie. Smile Her eyes were refecting the light though.

I’ve had so many wondeful dogs, but Spunky was by far the best. She is my avatar now. She died on August 22, 2009 at 2:58am in my arms. She is buried in my backyard. Still miss her so much. She was a stray that brought joy to everyone she met. Very bright… always did the right thing. She was once on the front page of our local paper. She lead the Fourth of July parade. The front page read, “It Is A Spunky Fourth!” I’ve have the paper framed. Could talk about her for days. One in a million.

She is the best thing in the world. She is a total mutt. We got her in 2000 from the pound so she’s about 10 now. She is just hilarious. She loves everyone so much….but at the same time she gets very protective of my mom, especially from our other dog, Grizzy Bear, a German Shepherd 3x her size lololol. Anyhow I could rave about her literally all day long….I have seen her once in the past year and I get to see her when I fly back to PA on Wednesday and I will seriously probably poop my pants.

@troubleinharlem tjaaah I don’t know…

Milo here: If the criteria are docility, obedience, desire to please, altruism, and subservience, I’d have to pick Gail.

my dog Helkie, yes thats were my username comes from.

Hi Milo!!! Long time no see!

My favorite pet is which ever one I currently have. Over my life time, I’ve seen so many pets come and go, I have learned to just enjoy them while I can, and try not to wait too long before getting another one.

@YARNLADY

My philosophy exactly!

My boy cat Mushroom has got to be the best and worst cat I have ever. He is my baby boy. He comes when I call him, greets me at the door, plays fetch, walks on a leash, follows me like a puppy and argues with me like a child. He is so talkative. If I tell him not to do something and he is not happy about it he complains at me. We also have cuddle sessions where he will coo at me and I tell him I love him, and we go back and forth. He also loves to come under the covers and sleep with me. I can put my arm around him and he will stay there for hours.

He is really only like this with me. When people come and over and see how we are together they are always impressed. I have had so many people say they have never known a cat like him.

However, he is also a giant brat. He gets jealous of the other cats and tries to bully them, and he gets into so much of my stuff. Unlike my girl cats, he seems like he is not growing up. I don’t think I’ll ever get another boy cat.

@psychocandy

Haha..I know what you mean.

After years of older cats I am starting over with the kittens again this year.
My female is now 18 months and while still very playful she is mellow.

The boy is only 10 months and he is a wild child, always into something, very strong willed, sweet, but will get very pissy if his desires are thwarted. He’s the problem child. lol

I can’t pick a best pet, I’ve gown up with so many; however, I can tell you something about one of my current pets. She’s a border collie mix and just a handful of fluff. Usually, she doesn’t err on the bright side of intelligence, which is part of her charm. Lately though, we’ve noticed something new, she’s helping our older dog that has lost her hearing and sight. At night, when I let them out for the last run in the yard she barks to help the other dog and leads her inside. I think that’s pretty cool.

I had a Border Collie and Bernese Mountain Dog dog mix, he was quiet, obedient, and I have to admit sometimes very very stupid (all the more lovable though). Never barked once in all the time I had him which everyone thought was peculiar. Sadly, he died at about 3–4 years of age when he died from either accidentally consuming slug killer that our houses previous owner and left laying around or a genetic disease he may have acquired from his parents.

@Winters interesting mix! I’m sorry she passed so young. Mine is going on 4 yrs old now. She’s a barker, but a silly girl.

@cak thanks. (it was a he not a she, but I forgive you)

CATS! Clean and quiet. My neighbors never complain about them. But my parents did! (From the fear of toxoplasmosis).

@Coloma What’s up with males?

@noelleptc He was such a little guy when I got him (8 weeks). Now he is a 15 pound monster.

@winters: oops! My apologies!

@Thesexier You said, “I had 2 rabbits and they had a baby. Then sometime over the summer my family was going to Italy and no one offered to take care of my rabbits so they had to be put to sleep/killed :(.”

You shouldn’t get any pets, ever.

@psychocandy Oh! :O

@Dutchess_III sure! I’d love to come over for dinner! What can I bring?

@Aster

No pate, roast goose or down comfortors! lol ;-)

@Coloma : Ooh, I want to see the kitties!

@Aster Cherry Beatles…

I had a calico cat who was so sweet – I got permission to take her with me to college. She was so lovely and loving and soft. We had each other for 18 years – and the last few of them, she would sleep on my pillow and curl herself around my head. She massaged my scalp with her claws, very gently.

Another cat I had, a Siamese/Red Tabby, used to walk me to school when I was in High School. At the end of the day, he would be waiting in the bushes, and walk me home again!!

The third cat acted more like a dog. He would go on walks to the store, climb vertical walls, eat marshmallows and green grapes, and hug you when you picked him up.

I was very lucky to have shared my life with such amazing creatures.

My ferrets. I’ve had three ferrets in my lifetime since I was 8 years old. My first ferret’s name was Hollie. She was so nice and calm; but loved to steal candy from me. My bed was filled with candy underneath it. Hollie loved lollipops. She would go on walks with me to the field behind my house and hike at Calidonia. (I carried her most of the time with the hiking) I loved my Hollie. She was a Chocolate Sable. She was the best thing in the world. I loved her so much. But one day when I was 10 my mom asked me if I played with Hollie today. I told her I was so busy today with school and dance I didn’t. (I always give my ferrets A LOT of playtime. They’re running around my room right now. And YES I’m watching them and YES it’s ferret proofed) My mom told me she was dead. I ran over and saw her lying on a blanket on the bottom of her cage. She wasn’t breathing and she felt very cold. We buried her under the Holly Bush the following day.I’m guessing she died of old age.
After thinking a long time, I decided to give another ferret a wonderful life, and bought Rowzi. (Rosie. I spell it Rowzi) Her name was Squirt, then Angelina, then Rowzi lol. She was a baby and sooooo Hyper! She was extremely different from Hollie.
On one of my birthdays I went to the pet store to buy ferret things for my ferret, and fell in love with a tinsy little ferret. He was 2 mos and the youngest and smallest there. He was nice and Rowzi loved him. I bought him. The woman said he was born November 1st, but his birth certificate said October 30th. I believe the birth certificate.
I wanted to name the ferret Hank, then my mom suggested Marshall, since he was a Marshall ferret. (All my ferrets are/were Marshalls Ferrets.) I named him that for like an hour and a half then decided Moe was a perfect name. It’s been his name ever since.
Now Moe is a fat ferret (He has a healthy weight though, He’s not overweight) He’s finally outgrown his baby fur and loves to play with Rowzi. Just a minute ago he was trying to wake her up by licking her. Then I scolded him and he fell asleep right beside her.
My ferrets are my life. I woudn’t give them up for all the money in the world. They’re both still living and will be in a Halloween contest at our campsite this Halloween. Rowzi was in it last year as a parrot. Moe wasn’t even alive then.
My ferrets are better than the pig. Not to mention smarter too!

Sorry, I know pigs have the brin of a two year old human being, but seriously, my ferrets act and show that they are smarter than our pig.

I miss my baby boy.

my golden retriever Alex, a rescue.