My Dogs & I This Past Summer

[Inkfreak]

I just figured out how to share photos, so I thought I'd share my pups with this group. The big guy on my right is Cash. Full German Shepard coming in at about 110lbs and 8yrs old. The one on my right is Tre (or TreDawg as we are apt to call him) sitting at about 75lbs and 5yrs old. They bring a special joy to our lives.

Oh, and the cat..he's Butters (Mr. Butters) to strangers, lol. Wife and I found him as we were leaving a bar one night. He hopped right in our car. We took him home and the next day asked around the neighborhood about him. He was a stray. A lil beat up but otherwise in good health. He won't let anyone touch him unless the wife & I are around. Strange guy. But he's wonderful.

Thanks for reading this, folks. I enjoy reading this forum.

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[CherokeeDem]

1. Gorgeous animals!

I love Shepherds, never had one but would love to have one. Right now... I only have room for two kitties.

Mr. Butters is a handsome boy and apparently has discerning taste! Glad he adopted you!

Share more pics when you can!

[Inkfreak]

2. Thanks! I do have one more cat

This is Annie. As in Orphan Annie



She was found under our porch one cold 19 degree January night. She looked like this

She was spayed & declawed. She had frostbite on all her paws & nothing but skin on her bones. It was heartbreaking. My wife had just bought me a new toolbox (the big ones) for my birthday. I made her return it so we could pay the vet to fix her up. Not one regret. She was my B-day present. We live in a rural area and have no idea where she came from. The vet said she looks like she'd been out on her own for some time. Now she spends her days finding the warmest spots in our house. Which means our bed or my wife's lap. She's precious.

[fizzgig]

4. what a beautiful girl!

Thank you for saving her

[Curmudgeoness]

5. You are a special kind of human being!

Having your birthday present returned so you could care for Annie! That is special. Poor thing! But she has definitely hit the jackpot now. A declawed cat outside on her own is a sin. I just hope it wasn't an intentional dump or the owners should rot in hell.

You have a lovely "family". Thanks for the photos and the stories.

[Inkfreak]

10. Modesty prevents me from fully agreeing with you..

Seriously, thank you for the kind words. I am a real softy when it comes to a pets. And especially hard luck cases. If I were a rich man, I would give till it hurts at the local shelter.

I know it sounds a lil silly. But I often look at how people treat their pets and it goes to what I think of them. Happy pets = cool people.

[Curmudgeoness]

11. Of course you can't agree with me.

But I am right.

I also melt over the hard luck cases. It just seems that since they have had such a hard time, they deserve to have a good life.

And it is not silly at all to judge people on how they treat their pets....and their parents. That has always been my measure of how good a person is. I have found some wonderful people who I might not have expected to like simply because they showed themselves to have a good heart.

[roody]

3. What a great family.

I have a foster, half shepherd and half rottie, 1.5 hr old. He is wonderful, so obedient, sleeps indoors loose and touches nothing, never peed or pooed inside. He has been here a month and is going to make his adopter an excellent companion.

[passiveporcupine]

6. Beautiful family

I love the name Mr. Butters! And your little tortie/calico girl is beautiful too. I love tortites. My oldest cat is a tortie and she is still the most playful of all my cats. She's just kinda crazy. I think the gene that jumbles up the coat color also jumbles up the brain a bit.

[TorchTheWitch]

7. Now there's some smiling faces

Except for Stealth Kitty with a bead on you backside. LOL! Well, she looks like she's stalking your tush and is about to pounce.


Nothing like big hairy beasties for big furry hugs and slurpy wet poochie smoochies.

Did they just have baths? They both look so clean and fluffy.

[Inkfreak]

9. Mr. Butters is a verrry sneaky cat, lol

I might have just washed em. Or may need a combing. I tell ya, German shepards are terrible with the hair. Constant shedding. We vacuum the house a whole lot. And the other is half Shepard and half Newfoundland. So it's double trouble.

All worth it of course

[TorchTheWitch]

12. Don't German Shepards also have the double coat?

That sheds out in great handfuls in the spring? My Akitas have the thick undercoat like that but they don't shed all year - just once in the spring all over and usually once again around Christmas time or sometimes earlier if it's going to be a cold winter when they shed out the undercoat just in certain parts like the bum, belly, neck, chest, etc. then immediately grow in thicker undercoat for the winter. Other than their one or two times a year that they blow their coats they don't really shed at all the rest of the year. When they do shed out the undercoat it's a nightmare of hair through. Great clumps of it all over the place. But it only takes about two weeks as long as you brush, brush, brush every day to get it all out faster. After a few years you can pretty accurately judge what the upcoming winter will be like depending on when, how much, and how heavy the new growth comes in if they do that extra shed in the fall or early winter.

With my current dog I'm saving his brushed out undercoat to have made into yarn and then have my sister knit me a sweater with it. I wish I had thought to do this with my previous two, but I didn't know about people that make yarn out of dog or cat hair then. I will so love to have something made out of his fur to wear after he leaves me and goes to heaven once he gets old. With my other two I did save baby teeth that fell out or tufts of fur, and with Boo I asked the vet to clip off a couple of toenails after he was put to sleep to have as a remembrance. It's very comforting after they pass to have even a tiny little physical part of them that you can see and touch. But I just love the idea of yarn made out of their lovely soft and warm undercoat to be knitted into something. I don't know how much is needed, so I'm going to be saving it up every year just to make sure there's enough.

Mr. Butters really makes that photo priceless sneaking up in the background unnoticed like that. Stealth Kitty. LOL!