Well okay. I have a couple. His lordship has decided the best way to get me to play with him is to take his slobber soaked squeaky monster toy and shove it up against my head when I am laying on the couch until it squeaks loudly in my ear.

The other....well these are not my pets. They are a couple kittens that took up in my garage and decided they live here. I have been feeding them. ME. I give them water. ME. I give them special treats like tuna and salmon. ME. NO ONE ELSE, NOT MY SO. And yet, they will come out of hiding and play around HIM. If I show up...whoosh....like lightning they're gone. I go back inside, here they come again, completely at ease with HIM. The one who does NOTHING for them. Ungrateful little furbags.

Mine communicates by staring. It's a little unnerving at times. I can be on the computer or watching TV or just puttering around the house and I can feel these eyes on me. And I mean a deep, penetrating stare!! This is either a request to go outside or a demand for dinner. I can tell which by time of day :-)

btw, dinner time involves a 3 part outside phase. An 'ask' to go outside before dinner, the stare requesting dinner and another ask in the middle of dinner to go outside again (why??? you were just out there!). Back inside to finish dinner and then another outdoor ask. Without fail!

I really don't care about his weird or quirky habits. I indulge him shamelessly :-)

My husband’s cat comes into the bedroom in the middle of the night and sits down next to his side of the bed. And he just bores his eyes into DH until he wakes up. If he doesn’t wake up soon enough, the cat starts to purr. Loudly. Eventually of course, DH gets up and starts his day. When DH goes to bed, the cat jumps up and lays down beside him. When I come in later, the cat gives me the side-eye while I get ready for bed, and when I fold back the cover on my side, he really glares at me and jumps down and stalks out.

By the way, *I* am the reason the cat is in our household. Not DH. The cat doesn’t care, he just decided that he is DH’s dog.

Bud sleeps where the other pillow would be, I wake up and there he is.

I've considered getting a second, younger cat but I know he won't take to another animal invading his space. He loved Smudge and tolerated Roxie, but he prefers being an 'only child.'

Libby does a "perimeter" walk on my bed about2:00 in the morning. Then she likes to just take a tuft of my hair and jiggle it. Every other cat I have had has just been content to lie by my feet, but not Libby. She loves her daytime naps so she can bug me nightly

I am extremely allergic to cats but have had two (I'm also a softie when it comes to strays). The last cat would hop up on the sofa in the a.m. as soon as I sat down with my breakfast and laptop. When finished I'd place the plate on the coffee table at which point he'd scooch closer placing one paw on my arm. Though I knew exactly what he wanted, I'd sometimes ignore him just to see how far he'd go. He'd inch closer, the paw would climb higher until he was fully situated on my lap. The laptop would be set aside while we had our few minutes of cuddle time. He'd then announce he'd had enough and saunter off. Every. Single. Morning. ;)

So Debby, tell us how you really feel. Sorry, couldn't resist.

Don't even get me going on cats smelly bums on the pillow you put your head on. If their butt isn't clean........... OMG!

Emily scratching on my door early in the morning after I go to bed, even though I was awake and let them out a hundred times throughout the early morning hours. Did it this morning again even though I didn't go to bed till around 4 am. About 9:00, here Emily comes, so I let them out. Around 11:00 I hear Chewie crying because he wants to go harass birds, squirrels or chipmunks.

Apparently Emily ate an entire white bird on my porch a few days ago. I was at work and my exchange student told me. He was pretty horrified. I have no idea what white bird she could have gotten a hold of. I've never seen any in my yard. Luckily it didn't upset her stomach.

Bud caught a bird while he was on the balcony. I didn't give him heck, he wasn't roaming loose around the neighbourhood or getting birds at a feeder. He was doing what comes naturally.

He was pawing at the screen to come in. Hell no!! A while later, all that was left was a wing on the balcony. That's Roxie looking at him.

I think that's a harsh comment, I'm sure that cat is fine. It's rare in a multi-person household that everyone shares the same relationship with and/or feelings about each pet. If you live alone, you may not appreciate or understand that dynamic.

Edit to add - this is a response to a now-deleted comment from a person who tends to do that regularly, so this reply makes no sense.

In order to eat, our dog must first step outside and spend 10 seconds out side. Then she will come in and eat.

I have a cat named Sore Eyes...because when she was a kitten, she had infected eyes. When I am in bed, she will get on my chest, and tap me on the face with her paw. She wants me to pet her. As long as I keep petting, she is fine, but the moment I stop, she taps me again. So she has trained me to do that. Cats in the house, in my bed, or anywhere, doesn't bother me a bit.

I usually have 3 or 4 or more sleeping on top of me or on my feet. I have slept with a cat since I was a little kid. As far as cat hair or litter boxes, or their "dirty" feet....doesn't bother me a bit. I am probably healthier than most people I know. I haven't been sick in literally decades. I handle a lot of "dirty" animals and clean up after them. I find a lot of comfort with my animals.

The most annoying pet I have is Snoop, the 34 yr old, arthritic, ex barrel racing horse, that was given to me by animal control after he was abandoned at the auction, because he couldn't sell, due to not having a current coggins test, which all horses are required to have to prove they don't have equine infectious anemia. The moment I come into the barn in the mornings and evenings, he starts kicking the stall. He is always fed first, but still, no matter how much I hurry, it isn't fast enough for him. Now he has his companion, Emery, my other old abandoned horse, doing it.

Snoop is a crochety old guy. He will seldom tolerate a pat. He is all business. I don't think anyone ever made much of a fuss over him. Emery, on the other hand, was not treated well in his former home....almost starved to death before they moved off and left him with no food and water. But he does appreciate kind words and being handled gently. I was surprised the first time the farrier came to trim his hooves. I expected him to not stand for it at all, but evidently someone cared for him at one point in his life, because he stood perfectly still. He also knows what "get in your stall" means. If he is in the pasture or the paddock attached to the barn, and you tell him that, he will immediately go get in his stall.

I used to have a "pet" raccoon when I lived on the bayou. She wasn't really a pet, but I raised her and released her there. She spent her whole life (14 years) living near enough that I could go out and call her and she would come. She liked yogurt, which is a staple when raising baby possums, and all I had to do was call her, and say this, "Audrey!! La Crema! La Crema!" (That is what I called yogurt when I talked to her.) Several of the wild raccoons there, knew their names. One of them I called Upsy Daisy, because the first time I saw her, she stood up on her hind legs to get a better look, and when she learned her name, I could call her and if she could hear me, she would come....and immediately stand up. I would throw her a piece of honey bun and she would try to catch it with her front feet...and sometimes she could, even though her "arms" didn't rotate like ours do. I used to buy honey buns by the case because they were dense and you could break off a piece and throw it.

Long gone now but as my niece tells it the cat from H*** who did not like anyone. Came to us when she moved her mother out of state was my pillow cat. He slept next to my head for protection from any and every imaginary thing. When he was upset he would groom my hair during the night. He did it so gently that I seldom felt him but would wakeup with a wet head. He lived to be 23 but even in his last days he made certain that I had clean hair.

Until recently my oldest 20+ would come to bed. Start pawing my ear until he was where he wanted to be. Draped over the inside of my left arm and shoulder. He would then purr me to sleep. This past week he has only jumped up on the bed in the morning to stare at me until I got my lazy body upright. I will miss him when he is gone but my ear will not.

It always cracks me up when Misty is being "dainty" with her water...dips her paw into the water and the licks it off.

I've had a ton of cats over the years and four dogs and none were/are allowed in my bedroom and since none go upstairs, not a problem. We have six rooms plus a basement for them to roam downstairs. They all have their bad habits. Bernie, the 26 pound Maine Coon is sweet while he's being combed but then his eyes flash and he smacks. Piper, the only one with claws(and no, I didn't declaw the other two, they were found that way) has made my 1850 PA farm table legs her scratching posts even though she has plenty of posts around the house. Poppy, the marmalade, loves to be petted but in two minutes she bites but not hard.. Ziggy, the Boston terrier mix,is the biggest pain. When my husband goes to bed, the minute he hears the French doors close, he comes to my chair and stares at me unwaveringly. Then he tries to climb on my lap. So annoying.

Junior one of the furkids that wandered in also does the dip the paw into water to drink like Misty. He will occasionally lower his face to the bowl but very occasionally. I have thought it was because when he was dumped he was made ill drinking something and it is his way of checking to see if the water will make him sick.

The desire to groom my hair/eat my hair. All of my cats have done it to various degrees.

Sometimes my chihuahua will chase my kitty. They are both about the same size, and if Duchess actually catches up to the cat she will jump up on something but they both appear to enjoy the game. However, there is always a truce when I am in the recliner watching TV, they pick their respective arms of the chair and keep me company. I wonder what they think about their human who sits in front of a box with moving shapes on the screen?

My cats like....and watch...the show Pooch Perfect. Also there was a cheezy cat show we streamed the other night they both watched. The TV is at the foot of the bed, which makes it pretty close...part of their personnel space. ♥ When not in use, the TV has to be covered or Aspen tries to scratch/claw her way into it.

I recently saw this mentioned by a youtuber. Apparently after watching for a few minutes the dog then falls sound asleep, lol. https://www.youtube.com/c/relaxmydog/videos

whatsayyou....yes! Then they fall asleep!

I love to sit and lounge with my dog except when I'm trying to get things done...I feel so guilty sitting down for a minute knowing I'm going to need to get back up...she gets all comfortable on me and I have to burst her little bubble.

Marabelle my cockapoo will intently watch us from the kitchen door while we are preparing meals. She just hopes we will drop something so that when we aren't looking she can sneak in and get it. We have to tell her to go make her place in order to get any peace or we have to close the doors on her.

Nougat my white and orange short hair cat has a weird habit of standing on his hindquarters and stretching up as high as he can go and scratching at the wall. He loves to do this on the mirror as well but I try to stop him just in case. He purrs and coos while he's doing it.

I have two cats and a lab, but to be honest the cats are more like dogs, so the three of them follow me from morning till night. I can't even shower without an audience. I constantly beg them to please take a nap lol.

My female cat, Captain Sassy is quite an accomplished pianist. Her favorite time to "walk the keys" is between 3am-4am. My piano does not have a cover for the keys :(

We are crazy cat people. We feed the ferals in our neighborhood and bring in as many as we can make friends with. We have had as many as six at a time, but currently have just five. I believe five should be the limit, but it's a struggle to refrain from bringing more in.

We found Mouse in our large geranium bush five years ago. We bottle/dropper fed him. He has never outgrown his desire to nurse. I used to be jealous, because he exclusively "nursed" when my husband was wearing a cotton shirt. Only in the last year has he abandoned nursing with DH and switched to nursing with me when I am sitting in my recliner. My tops get wet. I am honored.

Three years ago, Bruno just walked into the house one day when we opened the door. Very friendly. We petted him a while then put him out. After several nights of his visits, we decided he must want to live here, so we stopped putting him out. I have taught him to jump through a hoop at different heights. He can tell time. I get up at 4:30 on weekdays and most days he jumps onto my nightstand and taps me on the face a minute or two before my alarm goes off.

About three months after Bruno became one of us, Buster joined us using the same technique as Bruno did. The vet estimated that Bruno and Buster were each about three months old when they chose us.

Three years ago, someone heard about the cat people and told us they had found a tiny calico. They were allergic to cats and needed to find a home for her. That's when Rina joined the family. We didn't need to bottle feed her, but the vet said she was only about 12 weeks old, so we did give her a cat milk formula in a little bowl several times a day. Boy, she sure loved it. I was a bit sad when she weaned herself. She's the one who LOVES the laser pointer. DH keeps it in a pocket of his recliner. When Rina wants to play, she will stand in front of his chair and STARE at the spot where sho knows the pointer is until he gets it out and plays.

We found Alfie in a wood pile with two siblings 18 years ago. We never saw their mother, but we thought we'd wait and see if she came back. The next day one of the kittens was gone, but still no mother. And the two remaining kittens were crying pitifully. We took them in. George and Alfie. We bottle fed them. George was beautiful, looked a bit like a Maine Coon. Alfie is the graceful one, but George could be a bit clumsy. George passed away about a year and a half ago.

Buster is the only one that has a behavior that I find annoying and painful! When I'm handing out treats, each receives them in a different way. Bruno prefers that I hold the treat at eye level, just above his mouth for him to take. Mouse prefers I put a pinch of them on the windowsill. Rina sweetly and slowly takes them from muy fingers, almost giving me a little kiss when she takes it. Buster will take the first treat very nicely from my fingers, but the following treat he takes as if he's hunting prey! If I forget, and I sometimes do, I often end up with a puncture wound. He doesn't mean to hurt me, it's just his way. We're working on it. After the first treat, if I slowly say, "Gentle", it usually works. If it doesn't work, he gets the rest of his treats on the floor.

We have never followed the recommendations about how to introduce a new cat to the crowd and so far we've been very lucky that they all pretty much get along.

I forgot about Chewie sitting outside starring at me and the door when I try to let him back in. He won't move to come inside, just stares. Usually happens when it's freezing cold outside. He likes to just sit in the snow too, staring. He waits until I close the door and walk away then he runs and jumps on the door to be let inside.

We adopted a 5 year old cat who had been in a shelter his whole life a few years ago. He was scared of everything and everyone and just hid all the time. It took almost a year to come out of his shell and be around people. Fast forward to now and he is a giant love bug. I cannot sit on the couch or go to bed without him jumping on me and purring while staring at me. His only issue is that while he pees in the litter box he prefers to poop on a puppy pad. I consider that a very small pet peeve for such a loving animal that I feel is grateful that he finally has a home.

at almost 8 years old, eden is my stately senior girl who is happy to veg on the couch for hours at a time but still gets beyond excited when she knows we're going for a car ride or a romp in the fields.

and then there's pippin, just shy of 15 months old and has been here for just 10 days and has made herself right at home. pip has brought life back into this house and is such a joy! she is exceptionally well-behaved for a puppy but still very, VERY playful! i've had to put my OCD on hold because i no sooner pick up toys and she's emptying the toy box again. lol

What an interesting post and such great tales. We've had 2 cats and 7 dogs in our married life and they each had a quirk or ten. We adopted an 8 month old black lab from an older couple who couldn't care for her. I have no idea what her life had been like but she was the only dog I knew who would not walk across a room, instead she hugged the wall or furniture. She knew her name and came when called but even when I was the only person in the room she wouldn't walk in a direct line toward me.

Our current lab has DH trained and he obeys most of her demands and then comments to me about how smart she is. It's funny to watch. She lets him know when she wants to eat, go out, get petted, go upstairs etc. - all perfectly normal for a pet. But for some reason he thinks she is the smartest dog we've ever had and it's only because this is the first dog we've had since he retired. I don't think he ever noticed that our other dogs were equally intelligent since he was at work most of the day.

We had an intact male cat show up a few months back. He's been roaming the neighborhood for a while. I don't think anyone took him in because he sprayed. I got him neutered. He is sweet, but a character. Friendly and follows us around like a dog. He has an infatuation with water. He is very interested in the toilet. He will climb on the toilet when someone is using it. He grabs pawfuls of litter and throws it in. He's very athletic and we're finding there are not a lot of things he can't climb. That has made for some interesting situations.

Our last dog was a rescue, so we don't know what her life was. But apparently she wasn't permitted in the kitchen, because she would come right to the edge of a door and peek around. Once she got a little comfortable she would come in, but she would turn tail and run if she encountered an open dishwasher. Eventually she got over it

Our chocolate lab is the most vocal dog we've had. Arrr-rrarr-roww-rrooo. DH said she's getting more vocal all the time. Maybe because I talk to her so much.

I've had dogs all my life and I am 69. I have never had a dog that did not bark until the current one. I have only heard her bark out loud twice. Once when I had the bread machine going and the second time when the neighbor's big black lab came rushing up to the fence out of nowhere. I think it scared her. Each time it was one bark, not many.

Now when she is asleep, it is another matter. She barks a lot in her sleep. I counted over 2 dozen barks one time and she didn't wake up. Almost everyday she barks in her sleep, both night and day. We have had her for 14 months and still no awake barks even when people drive up and ring the doorbell. It makes me wonder what the previous owner did to her, she was a shelter rescue and 8 YO when we got her. Was she punished or a shock collar used to stop her barking? She does not act like a traumatize dog, but is friendly, affectionate and sweet. I guess we will never know why she doesn't bark.

Caflower, our last dog rarely barked. Only if it was really urgent, maybe a couple of times a year. I think it was just her nature, she was very chill.

Once when she did bark, I noticed that her voice sounded like a squeaky hinge. She was having some other medical issues, so maybe it fixed itself, but I never heard her bark again to find out!

Apparently some dogs don't feel the need to bark much. This was a favorite book of DD's:

Slinky likes to sleep with the Ben… Ben, being a Mastiff is too gentlemanly to put his head down or shift his leg and dislodge Slinky. Ben will start talking to implore the people to DO SOMETHING. This is the beseeching eye look at DH just before the talking starts.

OMG highdesert!!!! I LOVE YOUR DOG. I bet he gives big slobbering kisses. Hug him for me please

My cat HATES when I'm talking on the phone. She will deliberately keep walking in front of me until I hang up. But I love her to death

We give our dogs scraps sometimes. I have one who does not like ketchup. If you give him a fry with ketchup on it, he spits it out and looks at you as if your tried to poison him. Then he will turn around and kick dirt on it. I suppose he is a fry purist.....

I had one dog that didn't bark. She did growl from time to time, usually at the postman. Sheba, a Golden Retriever. I've recently found that my old 20ish year old dog, Emily, loves watermelon, cantaloupe, raw carrots, etc...I only found out last Summer. For some reason I never gave her food like that before.

So many great stories. My dog, Weasley, is a wheaten terrier mix rescued when he was two. He also very rarely barks which has been a huge bonus. He has always been a bit aloof, and stubborn. Wants attention on his terms. He is now 14, and very deaf. I suspect there is some senility as well. Last fall he had an episode of ‘old dog vestibular disease’. I had never heard of it, and it was very stressful. He took longer to recover than is typical and was left with a head tilt, and generally lost some mobility....has to be carefully guarded and assisted on the stairs, and now is wearing diapers for occasional accidents. He remains sweet, but has become even more quirky and picky about food. When he wants a treat he engages in repeated head shaking and sneezing type behavior to communicate that...and if ignored he has started to bark in the past year as though to say “I will not be ignored!” If I’m in the tub, I’ll feel his eyes staring at me from the doorway...he’s peeking around the door with the head tilted in a goofy way. He used to come in and lay next to the tub...but now he stares, leaves and returns again to stare.

Our dog was mainly a non barker until dh trained him to bark. I have to give the little guy credit. You know why he is barking when he barks. He doesn't just bark randomly, there is a purpose such as a rabbit, bird or squirrel or someone is within sight. He knows specific sounds and will react based on which one he hears. He knows that specif ring tones on the phone mean certain things. He knows the Ring doorbell means someone is at the door. The only problem with the Ring doorbell is he also reacts to the sound coming through videos or the tv.

Here is a picture of Audrey, who used to come by every night for yogurt...or, La Crema, as I called it. She was 8 yrs old in this picture.

The pic didn't post and I had to sign in again. Trying again.

I can't have animals with fur, too allergic! But one of my sons had a Flat coat retriever/lab, black, named Abby. I loved her so much, but could not touch her. When the kids would come up to the lake the dogs were not allowed out of the kitchen and knew it, We had a baby gate just leaning up against the doorway into the living room. Abby would sneak thru the opening, crawl, yes crawl behind the couch and come out next to my chair and sit in front of me. I would then get out the back scratcher and scratch her back! When I was done I would tell her to go back to the kitchen and she would. None of the other dogs the kids had would let me use the back scratcher, they would try to bite it. I sure miss Abby! Maybe in heaven I can have a dog. (If I make it there!)

My dog has always been very vocal, not in an annoying way, more in a communicative way. He’ll automatically bark at the doorbell or once when he wants to be let in, but aside from that really only when we intentionally egg him on. But he’s also got various howls, growls, yelps and cries which he uses in play or to remind us it’s dinner time or time for a walk, or to inform us his water bowl is empty, etc., all very appropriate and often amusing. At ten years old he’s started a new one: purring. Like many dogs he always had a happy groan when we scratched his ear just right, but now any gentle petting of his head or belly, or even just a hug, can result in long, content purring. Another sound we enjoy!

foodonastump....only you would have a dog that purrs! smile ♥ How cute!

My guy also almost never barks. He only does so if highly stressed......when his tie-out gets tangled up and he can't get back to the door to be let in, when the coyotes attacked his best cat friend (thankfully - he saved the cat's life by alerting me!). Otherwise, he only just whines a bit when excited.....visitors, deer in the yard, when I am fixing his dinner.

But he snores like a trooper!!

It has been 26 years since we lost our Snuffy, a Poodle Schnauzer mix. She was a terror in the garden. Cucumbers were her favorite. She would go through the vines till she found just the right one and grab hold and pull till she got it loose. She would then carry off her prize and eat it in the shade of a nearby tree. Of course that meant broken vines etc. She also picked her own green peppers to eat in that shady spot.

Snuffy also loved ice cream and knew the location of the 4 places we often indulged in that treat. She knew long before we were in sight of those places and would start whimpering . If we drove on by she would complain bitterly with barks and yelps. 5 years after we moved from Ohio to Michigan, she remembered those places on a visit back to Ohio.

Snuff was 7 years old when she was diagnosed with diabetes. We still allowed her to have ice cream now and then. When we could, we avoided driving past the ice cream places she knew.

At home in the evening while we were watching tv or reading, we would often hear her soft whimpers as she sat in the kitchen in front of the freezer desperate for her ice cream. Snuffy died at 13 years. Her ashes we still have, stored in an Edys ice cream carton