I have an American Dingo. I made a mistake of bottle feeding her at bedtime instead of an hour before and now sometimes she has to try and nurse on the bedspread or my fingers before she can settle down. She also has to chase a laser light and feels deprived if she does not get too. She will talk to us if she doesn’t get her way. Her talking is half sing, half howl. She is nearly 2 years old.

I have three cats and one dog. All were abandoned and adopted. Stanley, the dog, who looks like Benji from the movie, is the newest addition. Stanley has a bed on the floor next to my bed. One night I heard a little growl and didn’t think much of it. When I got up during the night I discovered that he had nudged his bed across the bedroom doorway and was keeping the cats out. I had to explain to him that we don’t do that while moving he and his bed back to their original position. He just looked up, dejected.
Jackson, the youngest cat and the alpha male, perhaps to get even with Stanley, later jumped on top of the six foot entertainment center, reached over and lifted a ceramic bear off the top shelf with his claw and dropped it right next to Stanley, who was sitting on the floor next to the entertainment center. Someone said to me, “Suppose he had hit him (Stanley).” I said, “No if he had meant to hit him he would have.” You could see, just from the way it was done that it was an “in your face” from the cat to the dog.

I once had a family cat, name of Stud (also nicknamed ‘Spud’, because of how he laid there among his brothers and sisters when we got him from my middle sister’s Friend’s cat). No particular breed that I knew of, black with part-white face, white underbelly, some white on his four paws.

Oh, where to begin?

- Likes to chase chipmunks. Learned early that killing an animal meant he can’t chase it anymore. From then on, he chased the chipmunks, caught them, then carried them around like kittens for a bit. Chipmunk broke away, and the fun began anew. Seems like the chipmunk enjoyed the run, too; once I “freed” a chipmunk from Stud, and I swore as the chipmunk was perched on a nearby rock that it was looking at me balefully.

- Knew who the soft-touches are. Likes to beg for “people food”. Didn’t matter what we were eating: chicken, ham, steak, cheese, salad, dessert. He wanted some of that. Only ate it if it was chicken or ham, otherwise he sniffed it a bit, then walked away.

- First cat to hit a car, rather tha the other way around. :) He was busy chasing a chipmunk in a hot summer day, when my brother had to get going in his car. Was settling in the vehicle, when he heard a thud. Seems that when Stud was chasing the chipmunk, the chipmunk went under the rear-back of the car. Stud followed…… almost. Went face-first into the car’s fender! Ran off, then came back a few hours later. He was taken to the vets, but ended up with a pushed-in nose; tends to brethe with a slight nose-wheeze, tongue slightly out.

I could add more, but I’m sure you get the general idea.

Paddy Boy was a Border Collie my husband and I had several years ago.Paddy was the best dog we ever had and I’m so glad he was a part of our life.
My husband traveled alot with his job so Paddy Boy was always there to protect me from harm.
He was there when I was trapped in our haybarn with a 5′ rattlesnake. Paddy stood between me and the snake and I was able to get away without any injury to me or the dog. The snake didn’t fare to well.
We had a cow with a new calf and she thought I was going to hurt her calf, but Paddy put himself between me and the cow and saved my life again.
He was so special and so giving and he will always be apart of my soul. I still love you and miss you Paddy Boy…Juanita

Not sure what sets my dog apart from any others, but it’s an EXTREMELY affectionate dog that is the very DEFINITION of “lap dog.” I’ve had it for just under 2 years, now, and our bond grows stronger day by day. By the way, it’s a pug (and one of the cutest pugs the world has ever seen, if I may say so myself).

I had one Norwegian Elkhound who discovered (all by himself, I assure you!) that if he wanted to go outside in the middle of the night, he got much better service if he came into my bedroom and gulped and gagged like he was going to regurgitate his dinner all over my bedroom rug! I’d wake up, jump out of bed in a screaming panic, and run barefoot to the back door, stubbing my toes on the furniture along the way, to let him outside. Whereupon he’d stop gulping and calmly walk outside and look around as if to say, ‘the stars are really pretty this time of night aren’t they.’ And the darn dog KNEW he had me dead to rights, too, because I could never risk that he was just faking for fear of having to clean up by bedroom rug at four o’clock in the morning!! In the daytime, he’d just go to the door and bark to get out like any normal dog! This is what I mean about being outsmarted by my dog in the post in the ‘Character Types’ section!

I adopted my Siamese, Rolly, from a local pet rescue charity. He was a foreclosure cat. I’d never had a Meezer before, and had no idea what to expect. He’s turned out to be an extraverted and outgoing cat who always has something to say, plays fetch (!), gets into the middle of everything, and loves a cuddle.

His most interesting quirk was learning how to knead my shoulders. He gets on the back of my computer chair, puts his forepaws on my shoulder and marches in place, and then works his way to my other shoulder. I give him a bite of cheese for his effort.

He watches TV, too- and was totally rapt watching this show last night. I should have taken a picture of it!

I totally relate to the gentleman in the show stating he “decompresses” when he comes home with his cat on his chest. I have a 12 yr old tabby and a new addition one yr old tabby-both females. After my kids are fed and doing homework I chng into sweats, grab a fleece blanket and these two buddies follow me to the couch. The older on my chest and the younger on my legs. Lots of purring, “sweet eyes”, and leg stretching later we are relaxed, calm and content. I never even miss not having a spouse around anymore…they are true friends-loving me whether I’m grumpy, put on a few pounds or PMSing!

I used to think I had the dumbest cat on earth. Lady Jane, an orange tabby, once sniffed a lit candle, got her ‘eye brows’ and whiskers singed off and then went back not an hour later and sniffed the same candle! But she’s gotten wise in her years. We have a dog, Cody, and when we ask if he needs to go potty, Jane is right at the back door waiting to go out, too! She also flirts with him. If she wants to go out, but Cody’s just laying around, she’ll throw herself on the floor in front of him and start purring and fussing with him. It’s so cute!

Our 3 legged dog Bert has a weird habit of watching TV. He is constantly scanning the screen for ANYTHING that resembles another animal – fish, birds, even that little insurance selling gecko. The moment he sees something he BARKS and BARKS. I absolutly love watching nature shows on PBS, however this is very difficult to do when Bert is in the room. I dearly love this dog, but his TV watching is making me crazy!!!

My rescued canaan/border collie mix Ellie absolutely loves to play “crazy dog” when I get home from work. When I come in from the garage and take off my shoes, she runs to get one of her toys (usually in the living room). I’ll go into the family room and she’ll race in after me. I clap my hands together and say: “Go! Go!” and she’s off like a shot with her toy dangling out of her mouth, through the kitchen and into the living room where she stops. Then I holler: “Crazy dog!” and she races back into the family room at breakneck speed, toy still in tow. She will ONLY return to the family room if I yell “crazy dog!”. We repeat the “go! go!” “crazy dog” cycle until she starts to slow down. Even after all that, she still wants me to chase her around the coffee table.

I waited for 12 years to get a animal friend. I was in college and then 5 years in the military. So when i got out in 2005 it took another year for me to get the emotional help (PTSD-military sexual trama in all honesty) working thru this I wanted a boon companion. I thought that I had one (a cute male kitty) but about 6 hours later the owner wanted him back! Talk about being heartbroken. Well I went and gave him back. And was on my way back to my apartment when i got a call from my wonderful sister who had just told her co-workers about what had happened to me. Just as she was finishing up a nurse walked in and said “Do you know anyone who wants a cat?” Divine intervention, I got my best pal Nikki! She black – Tux cat and has a great liking for me. I love her! If i have a panic attack or am having a rough patch she sits on me and bats at my hands in order for me to scratch her. Nix’s hears my car and waits for me at the door! I call for her and she answers “What!” or “Ma”. My mom has heard her cry that outloud! I thank god that he brought her into my life!

marilyn….I understand completely…..and I’ve been married 35 years…..?

My dog Moki(a papillon) likes to steal things and then trade them for a treat. Our other dog, Bailey (sheltie) likes to tattle on Moki. She will run to us barking to let us know that Moki has something that he’s not suppose to have. What is really amusing is she knows the difference.

My 18-yr old cat, Scooter, has picked up some skills over the years, he has a set schedule and it starts at 4 a.m. however the rest of the house does not neccesarily follow hiw schedule. So to get the ball rolling he has devised various means to get people up, he learned a long time ago that a simple meow does not work, so he deploys the paw in the mouth tactic, there’s nothing like a litter sented paw in the mouth the wake a person up, if that doesn’t work he moves into the sneeze, he has training himself to sneeze on command right in your face, and if that still doesn’t work he resorts to knocking over a 6ft tall faux tree onto you while you slumber, he knocks it over with his paw, and then sits back and enjoys the jolt of waking you up to start his schedule, right on time.

My boxer Riley was the darling of my neighborhood. He was so smart and full or personality- where to begin?
He would steal socks and show them to me so that I would chase him. Once when I chased him into the kitchen I found the socks lying in the middle of the floor and he was hiding under the table waiting for me to try to pick them up. He’d set a “trap” for me!
He loved my next door neighbor. He would play catch with her grandchildren, taking the ball first to one then the other then the other, always in the same order, like he was taking turns with them.
He loved to mess up my bed and redo it for himself. If I caught him lying there on a mountain of pillows and bedding and yelledat him, he’d immediately put his head down and start to snore- he didn’t think I’d bother him if he was sleeping!
I just lost him this winter and boy do I miss him. There will never be another Riley.

My family took care of a beagle mix called Sammy. His owners had told us not to feed him table scraps, but he still moped around the kitchen with these huge brown eyes and wrinkled face,in case we changed our mind. One day the scent of food on the kitchen table was too much, and he jumped up onto a chair, and from the chair to the table. Sammy was eating our tofu dish
when my mom caught him. He was put outside for the night as time-out, but the way he barked. It was like “If you don’t feed me enough I’m going to feed myself!”

Ozzy is my 3-legged cat. He is very quirky – although totally insecure and fearful of everyone – except me. It makes me sad, because no one gets to witness how adorable and funny he is when it’s just the two of us. Among his many quirks – he loves fruit – strawberries, to be specific. If he sees me eating them from across the room, he runs over (3-legged run which looks like he’s hopping) and will not leave me alone until I let him have a couple.

I have a black kitten that we call traveler, because we bring her every where we go around the house. The cool thing about her is that she has a way of telling you that she wants mommy. She was siting next to me while i watched T.V. and she looked at me and started mewing. So I asked her what was wrong.(Yes i talk to my animals.)She then climbed up my shirt still mewing and sat on my shoulder, mewing in my ear. So I toke her off and brought her to her bed, and went and found her mother and brought Graybeard(Traveler’s mother.) to Traveler and left the room. Another cool thing is that her brother died(He was a beutiful white)and I’ve been akting like her sister,I’t also helps that my auntys cat hade kittens so Traveler plays with them too.Thats it really. Hope you liked that story. :)