Show and Tell: Pets!

[wineandwinter]

I know we have a lot of animal lovers around here. So... let's have a Pet Show! Post photos of your pets and if there are stories behind them (how you got them, funny things they do, what makes them unique), I want to hear them.

I currently have three dogs and six chickens. My three dogs are all adopted- two from the local shelter, and one from a rescue situation- and as such their lineage is mostly unknown.

First is Jack, the Wonder Dog:


(This was the day we brought him home.)

The local animal shelter had to empty it's kennels to do a deep clean/sanitize- they'd had chronic kennel cough running through for months and hadn't been able to contain it- so they sent out a plea to the community to come and adopt out all the animals. It was Wednesday by the time we were able to go and the kennels were mostly empty... but this one dog, who seemed a bit reserved, and looked lab- like, was still there. Turns out he'd been in his quarantine phase and had just gotten onto the floor that morning. He'd been found at large, no collar or tags, and hadn't even been named yet. So, despite my misgivings (we had a 15 yr old cat at home, I wasn't sure I was ready for a dog, and for crying out loud he was a LAB), we took him home to "foster" (yeah right).

We walked in the door with the dog. The cat hissed and puffed up. The dog looked at her and essentially shrugged and ignored her. I looked at my hubby. "I think he's a keeper." Later we found out he could fetch, and was impeccable about dropping the ball on the ground between your feet. And he LOVES leaping off the dock into the lake!



He's sweet and quiet, loves people and is reserved around other dogs but given time and space warms up. He was our gateway dog. We tend to call him "BDE": Best Dog Ever.

Next we have Baby:



We didn't name Baby, she came to us with that name. We were originally fostering her for a family that had lost their house and were trying to get back on their feet. It was a bit of a rough start- after a few days she stopped eating, and the only way she would eat anything over the next two weeks was if I drowned it in chicken broth, which earned her the nickname "Little Miss Princess Prissy Pants". She was with us for 2 years before her original family were settled enough to take her back. Then for another 2 years it was a constant back and forth: they were short on money, they had to leave town for a couple weeks, then there was a new baby and they couldn't care for her until things settled down... I didn't like it, I didn't think it was good for the dog, and the last straw was when I came home one day and she'd been dropped off once again- and was 15 pounds over weight. Poor thing was a sausage with no waist and skinny little legs. I looked at hubby and said, "They know they're not getting her back this time, right?" My sister in law- who LOVED that little dog- almost didn't recognize her, that's how bad it was.

Oh, there was drama. There was yelling and accusations and at one point, the police were called. (Thankfully, my hubby was acquaintances with the officer involved and the matter was quickly handled.) The dog was put on a regular diet and exercise and was back to her sleek little self in no time. She's athletic and happy, has a 6 foot vertical jump (!!!) and actually behaves more like a cat than a dog.

And then we have Katie, the black lab:


(This is her post-surgical getup after she had a small tumor removed from her armpit. But check out the puppy-dog eye look!)

She is my hubby's dog. We met Katie at the annual "Hoofin' It for HART" fundraiser for our local animal shelter; hubby was smitten. So much so that he continued to go back to the shelter, week after week, to check up on her and take her for walks and play time. After 6 months of being at the shelter, the shelter director called my husband and said, "She needs to get out of here, she's starting to get a little crazy from being here so long! I know you've been keeping an eye on her... PLEASE take the dog."

I got a text of a picture of the dog in our backyard. "Can we keep her?" At point, I figured I didn't have any choice, LOL! She's pretty much your typical, goofy lab. As I like to say, "There's a lot of derp in that dog." But she's a big sweetie- a big, gassy, groany (she kind of purrs) lab.

The three get along well. This was at our friend's house after a long day spent outside (please note Baby curled up in the cat bed!):

 
Tired dogs are happy dogs.
 
I also have six chickens, they're about a year old now. (There was an accidental rooster in the bunch, but he's since been... dealt with. And he was delicious.)
 

 
Here they are taking dust baths in the garden bed (obviously before anything was planted). Because they're laying chickens, and I'm a nerd, they've all been given BSG themed names. The bronze and blacks (Gold Laced Wyandottes) are Athena and Boomer, and yes- they are practically clones, very bossy and pushy girls. The two buffs (Buff Orpingtons) are Cally and Dualla. The black (Australorp) is Tory; the buff and black (Buff Brahma) is Starbuck-buck-buck. (She had a "sister" I named Six but there was an unfortunate dog incident in which Jack lost his "Best Dog Ever" status for about a week.)

I usually get about 4 to 5 eggs a day. Ever since the weather warmed up though they've been slacking, and it's been a month or so and not a SINGLE egg. (My bestie has 2 dozen and hers are doing the same thing.) But I still adore them. It's like the chicken version of a fish tank....