ooh ooh I have my dogs and cats!!! BTW keana beautiful retriever!

Shorty and Baguira

Fiddler

Wow alycia...6 cats and two dogs plus two? small children. You've got your hands full. I used to have a cat that looked very similar to Fiddler. Nice pics. What's an Anatolian? Never heard of that. Gonna go look it up. Thanks for posting your beautiful pets.

Anatolian Shepherds they are usually used for animal livestock guard dogs. I have three girls. Yeah I do have my work cut out for me!

Here's our Ragdoll kitty, Buddy, when we first got him at 16 wks.:

In 2006:

And, a year or so ago:

And, Molly, our Lab--sitting on our SIL:

And, just posing:

And, Beau, the other kitty:

And, last but certainly not least--Barney, our Papillon Mix little boy, right after we got him at 4 months:

A little later:

and more recently:

He looks crazed, but, it's so difficult to get a pic. with him being still!!! He's very pretty when first
bathed and his ears and tail combed out and he has long, very silky and wavy hair across his back!

And, here's the two doggies together, last winter:

And, this is 'Precious' before she passed away:

BTW--she was a 'gift' already named when we got her! :o)

Ooops! I meant to also say, I love all the pix and pets you all have posted! Aren't pets grand!!!

Wow you have some very beautiful animals too so pretty what breed is Barney?

Beautiful pets heyj. Buddy is especially gorgeous. Barney looks like quite the character. I've always wanted a Papillion. Maybe someday, three dogs is enough for now.

Thank you alycia and keana! Barney IS quite the character, and I've determined that he is MOSTLY Papillion and was sold to be mixed Pap
with Chinese Crested, which he most certainly IS NOT! His personality is very much consistent with the breed of Paps, and having him, I would
not hesitate to get a Pap in the future. A little stubborn to housebreak but it finally took when he got the idea if he rang the bell at
the door (hanging from the door-nob) I'd give him a treat and usher him out to do his business. I'd say it took about 2 days of consistency
and he was 'there'!

Buddy is personality PLUS which is also consistent with his breed. They describe them as 'dogs in cat bodies' and that is SO TRUE! He has a routine
of putting us to bed and waking us up. Every night, only after the lights are out for about 5 mins., he comes howling down the hallway, jumps up
on our bed and marches up on and over us both to be petted for about 10 mins. and then he's gone until about 6:00 a.m. when the ritual begins again.

He loves to play 'fetch' and will retrieve and return things over and over till we finally tire of throwing 'whatever'!

He's the first one to greet anyone at the door, and runs to jump up on the half-wall we have at our entry, being sure to be at anyones' level when they enter.
He's marching back and forth over my keyboard as I am typing this, demanding to be noticed. He use to get into my lap and wrap his arms around mine,
as I was typing and pull me off the keyboard to snuzzle his head into my arms. He's really quite entertaining and is like having another 'person' around! LOL

Here's a sampling of his 'taking over' tendency of several years ago:

And, he's the over-seer of any remodeling project we've done, including the acquisition of our new frontloader:

And guess what was being done in this kodak-moment?

Hmmmm--you think I love my pets--or what!! LOL

Alycia--going back through and enjoying your pix and keanna's again, I keep staring at the
darling one, I'm calling 'Dog Kisses' and I can't help noticing that there appears to be
an open wound on your doggie's belly?? I'm SO visual, I'm sorry--I just can't seem to miss a thing
that should be missed!! LOL Was that from a spaying surgery or something--or is it just not
what I am perceiving it to be?

Keanna--I love your 'Doggie tower'!!! LOL How adorable!! BTW--did you have any house-training problems
with your Chihauhaus? Our daughter paid BIG BUCKS for the really adorable one they had but could NEVER
get it completely trustworthy even on a leash in the house and definitely in it's cage. She'd do 'whatever'
every night and day and be perfectly content to lay in it! Ugh! She finally let someone else 'adopt' her because
with homeschooling two young boys, it was just too much for her to deal with everyday!!!!

Oh, and especially loved the look of 'Penny' and 'Monty', ya'll!! :o)

No, the purebred chihuahua was the easiest dog I've ever housebroken. He's five years old now and hasn't gone in the house since he was months old. All three of mine are in the house alone from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm every weekday while we're at work and I don't have any problems. Now Penny the Italian Greyhound mix (who was a rescue we got when she was maybe around 6 years old, will pee on rugs but not on hard floors for some reason. Lucky thing I have all hardwood and tile floors. I just make sure and put up a gate going to the finished basement with indoor/outdoor carpet before I leave. She's the strangest dog, she acts like a cat.....lol

I love all your pet pictures,i have two cats,Cocoa and Sammy
Cocoa is so pretty,but she does not like any one!period!
I rescued Sammy from animal prison,hoping he would help Cocoa become nicer,did not work, i would love to see the two sleeping together, but that will never happen i'm affraid.

Nancy,show us your dogie,and your other new additions.Come on!

Janice,
I have a Miele vacume cleaner,love it.
cAROL

Really--a Meile vacuum cleaner? I'm very impressed with the washer!! If my Dysson gives up, I'll definitely look into the vacuum by them!!!

On second thought--when you say 'vacuum' cleaner, you aren't meaning 'sweeper'? We now have mostly porcelain tile and laminate flooring
(dogs make it impossible for real hardwood) and so I'm thinking a 'vacuum' type cleaner could be very useful!!

I've got one of those Swiffer Sweep and Vacs and I swear by it. We've got hardwood and laminate and it is absolutely the best thing I've found so far for getting up pet hair. And it's SO easy. The only bad thing about it is that the battery doesn't last very long before needing recharging. I wonder if they have anything similar that's electric or that has better battery life?

It's a vacuum.
They even make a nice one just for hard wood(surfaces),if you do not have carpet any where,if you do have carpet,they have a great attachment for just tile or hard surfaces.
Which i have miss placed,and in need of very badly today.
miss placed,because there is Stuff,laying all over this house.
We are having a garage sale,up at my daughters the 5th and 6th,a fund raise for her,as she will be going to Hawaii in April, with her band class,so i am bring lots of collectibles,and vintage cast iron toys,barbies,MIB,and other such goodies.I hope we do well for her.
It is amazing the things a person has laying around the house you just never use.**Gone**
cAROL

oops,
the sale is for my grandaughter,not my daughter, (found my attatchment)
cAROL

What beautiful pets. Here are mine.

I ALWAYS love looking at your cats, and Brody, Myrle! :o)
Hmmm--Mountain Lion looks cute, too!
Best kept in your *dreams*, though I'd imagine! :o))

Janice yes my shepherd Sasha decided that she like chasing cars as a puppy and one night ran into the side of a passing car(at the time we lived in the sticks and there wasn't usually too many cars on our road at that time of night). She was only 6 months old in that pic I think. I thought she was going to die the entire way to the emergency vet but $1400 later she was just as dumb as ever(I say that with a snicker because she is now 3! I would probably be crying if she weren't asleep next to me) She came out of it with just a split shoulder tendon. I blame the car accident for her lack of "breed characteristics" like a brain. She doesn't chase cars so much anymore which is good because now we live in town.

I know I sound mean but I really do love her it just is a running joke that we own the worlds only dumb Shepherd, it's actually hard to believe but it's true. She is certainly getting better but still a long way to go.

I understand, alycia--we have a Lab, as you saw! Need I say more? LOL
They take forever to really 'grow up' and act like they have a lick of sense,
but when they finally do, they are more than wonderful companions and just
the kindest and smartest kind of dogs!

I'm so glad Sasha came out okay and hopefully, permanently, less inclined to
chase down cars, now!!

I just loved looking at all you beloved pets,i am a Cat ,person,so i really enjoy seeing all your cats,Myrle and Janice,wow!And Brody,what a sweet looking dog.Aren't we all lucky,that we were given animals to love,and admire.
Hope there are more posts.
cAROL

Oh my gosh... what WONDERFUL pet photos! You all are really such super photographers.

Mctavish, the colors and lighting in your fall 2008 photo of Brody make that photo really pop of the screen in an otherworldy kind of way!

Hey_j, I have two ragdoll girls too! Buddy sure is a handsome fellow. I recognize the placid calm but happy look on his face as one I see on my girls too. Here is Emmy wearing her UNC cheerleader outfit lol.

and here is Lily enjoying the wonder of Christmas.

Aw Lily, where's the follow-up to the wonders of Christmas? I can just imagine what happens next! lol. Also, love the UNC outfit-even though I went to Wake Forest!

All these pics are wonderful.

Ohhh--I'm in LOVE!!! Ragdolls are a wonderful breed!!!

I am heartsick that we had to return Buddy's brother, Midas, to the breeder 2 wks ago. He belonged
to our daughter and had an eyelid problem called entropian (sp) where the bottom lids roll inward. The
surgery around here would have been $190 and eye and they just could not afford that and with a total of 3
cats and two babies, it was more like having 5 babies! So, she and her hubby decided to contact the breeder who is also
a vet in Indiana, and see if she'd be willing to take him back and do the surgery he needed.
She agreed IMMEDIATELY so we carted him up and headed out for a 3 1/2 hour drive to return him (
Steve and I)! I was so upset about it! But, we have two cats, as you saw,
and in my opinion, having three indoor cats is just 'over the top' in terms of upkeep with litter pans and cat fur.

He was such a wonderful kitty, too--very affectionate, and just HUGE!! He looks like their dad and Buddy looks like
their mother. He's a 'seal lynx point'!

Here they are shortly after we got them:

And here's 'Midas' all grown up:

The vet/breeder plans on keeping him with others that she's retired from her breeder program.
I actually got to meet Midas and Buddy's grandmother the day I returned him.

Hi Cyn! Wake Forest is a great school - the daughter of our friends went there and absolutely loved it. Our son went to Chapel Hill and really loved that place too. I will miss our trips to visit him there. What a great place that area would be to live in. Now he is going to grad school in NYC. Since we are so far away we won't be seeing him as often - Wah.

Wow look at the difference in color in Midas from youth to adult! That is amazing. What a gorgeous coat he has. I'm sorry you had to return him but very glad to hear he has such a responsible breeder to look out for his needs. Our girls went from almost all white to having darker fur as they aged too. Emmie and Lily sound just like Buddy in so many ways! Except neither of them like to fetch. Even though they are so similar in looks they have totally different catsonalities. Lily is very vocal and talks to us all the time (very unusual for a ragdoll). Emmie is more of the quiet philosopher, lets Lily get all the attention first, but still is the alpha cat in the house as far as their pecking order. They both love to perform a trick for a treat for my husband when he gets home from work. Here is Lily begging for her treat... (please pay no attention to the awful mess in the background lol)

And here is Emmie begging too - which she does without all the paw waving.

lily--your girls are GORGEOUS!!! 'Buddy' and 'Midas' BOTH are extremely vocal! Buddy will answer you if you
say something to him and Midas sounds like a grump all the time. He yowls if another cat looks at him and if you
nudge him he sounds so grumpy back--but he's really so affectionate and lovable!! They should have named
him 'Eeyore', in hindsite!!!

So, did you get your 'Raggies' at the same cattery? They are 'Blue Bi-colors' right? That look (bi-color) is the look
people go for in showing their 'Raggies', most, as I remember. Do you show your 'girls'?

Oh, and don't worry about your mess--I've seen worse--in my own 'space'! Seems the 'Kodak moments' always occur
when everything else around isn't 'Kodak ready', here! LOL

Thanks again Judy! Midas is GORGEOUS! (they both are) And its amazing to see how much he changed from kittenhood to adulthood.

Yes, both Lily and Emmie are blue bi-colors. Emmie is a year older than Lily. We loved her so much we went back the next year and got another one lol. They are just pets. In fact they have faults that would disqualify them from the show ring. We kind of stumbled upon the breeder's place by accident as it is just one town over. We have always had rescues as pets before and this was a first for us. My husband was not very enthusiastic about buying a pet when so many pets need good homes. He came along with me to the cattery quite grudgingly. Once there he totally fell in love with the breed and was all in favor of snapping up the last kitten (Emmie) that was left in the litter. What a softie!

Here is one last picture of Lily watching tv. We moved our old tv into the living room while the bedroom was being remodled. The cats started getting interested in tv since the set was so much more accessable to them. Here is Lily watching one of their favorites, Meercat Manor.

Here are some pics of my dogs, Talia and Tucker. Talia is the dark one and Tucker is the light one.

Awww, what little sweethearts your Talia and Tucker are! And your garden looks amazing. I just love your pond and all your rock work!

That is my parents backyard in those two pics. I just bought my first house last November so this summer I started my gardens. I inherited the gardening addiction from my parents but my dad inherited his new hosta addiction from me! lol! I hope to post pics next year of how everything is progressing.

I will forward your comments to them! Thanks!

Love those pups and your parents' yard. Can't wait to see your pics come spring. Maybe by then this old hippie will have mastered the art of digital photography and I can share mine. Have more to plant today and should have already been out there, but decided on a third cup of tea and had to walk (note the verb, Jim-they have, however, been warned) the pups first. Trying to wear them out so they have a little less energy for trampling!