Meet the Pets

Animals are a big part of our family. We have more pets than children and some we have had longer than we have had our children. Growing up I was only able to have the odd hamster or rabbit and I always said that when I grew up I would have tons of real pets...you know, pets that aren't locked in little glass cages and try to bite you when you pick them up.

This giant is Dixie. She is part German Shepherd and part Saint Bernard. We've had her since she was just seven weeks old and here she is seven and a half years later. She is a big girl at 120 pounds but a real sweetheart. She is so patient with the children and puts up with anything, except the vacuum cleaner.

This little guy is Buddy, a purebred Pomeranian. We adopted him from the Humane Society this past spring. He is the typical little yippy dog but we put up with it due to his sweet personality. Becca especially loves him and drags him around everywhere. He chooses a different bed each night to sleep in. I highly recommend adopting a shelter pet and that will be the only place we ever go to again to get a pet.

This strange looking creature is Buttons. Okay, she is a beautiful cat (*cough*) but has been through the ringer. We have had her since she was a small kitten and now she is seven years old. She only has three legs as one of her legs was caught in a trap when we lived on the farm and it had to be amputated. He eye was injured in another incident so she only has partial eyesight in one eye. But she is just a grand cat when it comes to personality. Loves to cuddle and is a "mommy" to the children. Before getting fixed she had a couple litters of kittens but after getting fixed she fell in love with our kids. I noticed this especially last year when I brought Joe home from the hospital. She ran over to him and smelled him all over and then started licking his hair. When I would put him down on the ground for tummy time she would lay right next to him and occasionally groom him and meow. She did this everyday, every time he was on his tummy, until he got old enough to crawl away. She now steers clear of Joe because he is in the tail pulling stage but loves to cuddle with Becca and Jacob, especially in the morning when they just wake up and are zoning out on the couch.

And this scruffy looking guy (the cat, not the baby) is Bandit. Not a very good photo but the only one I could find of him. We have had him the longest, and he is the least personable of all the animals. Pretty much a loner and only affectionate when he chooses to be, which equals to about an hour a year. We got him after seeing a free kitten sign in someones yard and he was dug out of an old junked car in the backyard. Not exactly the perfect place to get a kitten but we have had him for eight years now and he is as healthy as can be.

Do you have any pets? If so, what are they like? If not, do you want one or dis-like animals to a degree? Please do tell!