Tag Archives: personal pet stories

My Life With Dogs, Part Two: Tiger Through Murphy

As I discussed in Part One, I was born into a family of dog lovers. This is the continuation of my tribute to the dogs who have shaped and influenced me. [h]Tiger[/h] After Mackie passed, I expected we’d be a dog-free household. But my mom had a surprise waiting for me the weekend I returned from taking my boyfriend at the time, Wayne, (who has since become my husband) back to college. At first I thought she had somehow resurrected Mackie when I saw the sheltie peering in through the sliding glass doors from the backyard. But a double take … Continue reading →

My Life With Dogs, Part One: Mike and Mackie

I was born into a family of dog lovers. We rarely had more than one at a time, but we always had at least one. It surprised none of them that Families.com hired me on to be one of the Pets Bloggers. So I decided my inaugural entry would honor and remember the pets that made me who I am today. [h]Mike[/h] When I was born my family had Mike. He was a mean old dog who didn’t like anyone except my dad. I have vague memories of him. He was predominately black with a white chest, and I want … Continue reading →

Traveling With Your Most Precious Cargo

As far as airplane travel is concerned, many people have experienced problems with transporting their animals from one part of the world to the other. Barring quarantine laws and such, the animal is lucky to make it unscathed and unharmed and still able to bark or meow. There must be a millions success stories and I do want to be fair, but I have heard of two or three horror tales, and unfortunately they reign supreme in my mind, which I misplaced a while back. One of the worst stories I heard is about a woman whose cat was dead … Continue reading →

The Nose Whistler

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I have strange ways of communicating with my dogs. And they have strange ways of communicating with me! For example, I know that Moose wants my attention if he whistles at me. He doesn’t whistle like humans do — no lips are involved. It’s hard to describe, but he has a certain way of blowing air out through his nose that makes a whistling sound. Here’s how it usually works: I’ll be sitting upstairs in the office. Moose will sit at the bottom of the stairs and nose whistle at me. The sound carries quite well up the stairs and … Continue reading →

That Rascally Rascal!

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From time to time, I cat-sit for our neighbors. I don’t mind doing it — it’s not like it’s too much work to put out some food and treats, change the water, and give out some loving. They used to have two cats: fluffy grey Murray and orange striped Rascal. One day while the neighbors were away, I discovered Rascal prowling through the front yard. Both cats were indoor cats, and I had no clue how Rascal had escaped. My grandmother went for the neighbors’ house key, and came to help me chase him down. I managed to grab Rascal … Continue reading →

Life With a Working Dog

You may have heard (or read) that working breeds like having something to do. This is true! They are intelligent, active dogs that can get bored (and destructive) easily. My Lally Beeber is a very hardworking dog. She slaves over a hot squeaky ball all day, and yet finds the time to help me with my chores. For example, Lally helped me make my bed this morning: Note the suspicious green ball in the upper right hand corner of the picture. Evidence at the scene of the “chores”. Note also the suspicious tan butt in the lower left hand corner … Continue reading →