I do not have a four legged friend in my house (or yard) any longer. I decided they tied me down too much when I did have them. I actually never had a house friend only outside ones. The last one I had was stolen from the back yard. However my brother and his wife have a miniature schnauzer who rules the house. For some reason she thinks I am part of the family when I go see them and my lap is a good place to curl up and sleep (and yes I usually let her as long as she doesn't disturb my reading). She follows right under your feet if you even begin to head in the direction of the door and she hates the cats that cluster in the back yard. If she sees one she demands you let her out to chase it (not that she stands a chance of catching one). She also had a ball she loves to chase and she'll find it and continually drop it in your lap for you to throw (even in the house). And if you don't throw it she'll stare at you until you do.

does that count as a pet? Okay, he is in his late 20s now and we haven't lived in the same house for over 15 years but, that still counts, right? When my parents told me they were having a boy instead of a much wanted sister for me, I announced that I would rather have a dog. I still think that on occasion.

Ah...I understand completely, Shirley! We have an 90-lb black lab mix who pretty much rules the roost (at least when DH isn't around, LOL). The other morning he went out the back door like a bullet, smokin' through the yard after a squirrel. When he didn't catch it, he pretended like he was sniffing through the leaves for it, all the while edging closer and closer to the open gate that leads down to the shoreline. I was standing inside, watching him, and when he oh-so-casually slipped through the gate, I opened the door and told him to come back, but he pretended not to hear. The tide was out, which means there was lots of waterfront to run along. We try to discourage this, since he can sometimes be gone for hours, and I'm afraid that if he gets bored with the riverbank, or if the tide comes in, then he'll climb the embankment to the road and get into trouble. So I began calling for him to come, and he refused to acknowledge me. Soon I was standing on the frost-covered deck, in my bare feet and bathrobe, feeling foolish as I yelled to him. That dog absolutely ignored me, until I was forced to get DH involved. How frustrating that all DH has to do is let out a quick whistle and that dog falls over himself to get back inside the house! That dog (okay, he has a name -- Brodie) has no respect for me, but when he does manage to disappear along the river, I seem to be the only one who worries about him!

P.S. -- Your little Sophie is adorable!! I've already decided that if we ever get another dog, it's going to be a little one.

Hi, Shirley,

No bosses of the furred variety for us--yours are adorable! But I have my hands full with the kids, and they definitely aren't old enough to help a whole lot with any care giving, so for now I enjoy reading about them :)

We have a beagle, a basset hound, and a border collier. My family has a weakness for the Humane Society; which resulted in us acquiring two rescued animals within the span of 12 months. Since my boys are still pretty young, four and six, they mainly provide entertainment not actual care and maintenance for the dogs :-)

On the major plus side - we have a large fenced in backyard which allows a good deal of running room, especially when the weather is less than desirable for long walks. My challenge is convincing my dh and our boys that we have reached our limit on four legged friends!

I have five cats----enough said!

We have no dogs here. My hubby and son want one but I know I would be the one taking care of it. I have enough to do already. Only pets we have are fish. We have a fish tank in living room and a pond in the back yard. They belong to hubby but I have to take care of them most of the time. So I really don't want a dog.

I would like to think I am but in reality, I think it is a 50-50 proposition between me and hubby. No pets or young children here, but a new grandbaby on the way soon, so I guess maybe she will be the boss soon. LOL.

Loved the blog, Shirley. You described my life so well. :) I have a 12 year old chocolate lab and a 2 year old black lab/german shepherd mix. There's no question who the bosses are around here and, believe me it's not the one walking around on two legs! I love them to pieces though and can't imagine life without a dog by my side. Btw, they are both sound asleep at my feet (with one snoring and the other hugging her tennis ball) as I type this.

~PJ

LOL on who's the boss.

We went through a lot of training with our dogs, and they are well trained, because, as our trainer brought to out attention, dogs don't do things because they want to please us, they do things because they want what they want. So training is really just getting them to agree that they will do what you want. Luckily, ours mostly agree with us, but they are obviously still in the power position, as I am reminded every time I have to hold back 180lbs of dog on their leashes -- if they really don't want to stay with me, all I can do is let go. ;) There's something philosophical in there somewhere. ;)

But Mike is definitely Alpha in the house (with the dogs, heh) -- they do pay more attention with him. I'm Beta if he's around, but Alpha when he's not. It's interesting, though. My MIL has a dog who was really out of hand, and was overly-protective of her (to the point of being aggressive when she shouldn't be) and our trainer said it was because the dog felt responsible FOR her, not TO her. I think this whole dog mind thing is fascinating.

However, for all of that, we have one cat who rules the place. It always seems to be the way. My older cat who died 5 years ago (at age 20) was the previous boss. There was no doubt about this. Now, Buffy is definitely the boss. She likes to drink at the dog bowl, and the other day I found the dog sitting there watching, waiting for her to finish instead of moving her out of the way. She slept on the dog bed, and our lab had to come get me to move her. LOL When she sleeps on OUR bed, she tries to take over the thing, so Mike puts her down on the floor, and she's very miffed (I like it, because she's so big and won't move, so I can shove my feet under her and get warm -- she won't move even when I do that). It's in her posture and how she'll walk up to the dog beds, even when my other little (the 80lb one, LOL) dog bares her teeth, the cat just offers her tail and then goes and plops on the other bed with the more agreeable dog.

Love your pic of the driver doggie, and her outfit *G*

Sam