DOGS OR CATS? FRIEND OR FOE? ANGEL OR DEMON?

I don't mind cats. just don't like them enough to make the commitment of caring for one. I do however have three large dogs. 14 year old Shepherd/Husky cross,

4 year old Husky/Retriever cross,

and an 8 month old Pyrenees/Shepherd Cross.

All of them fine fine bitches.


and a 2 year old MBK, but he's a snake and this is him as a baby.

Hey Mark, hope you're having an awesome weekend!

I have a lab-cross (we think she is crossed with a collie). We got her about five years ago, and her age was undetermined. We reckon she was about one though. We think she was neglected by her previous owner as she was very skittish. She can be affectionate now, but not always. She's very intelligent. She enacts 'pshycological warfare', as my dad calls it, when she wants to go for a walk, or, more commonly, food!

I have a cat allergy, so I can't be around my mum's cat for too long. She's a lovely cat though, despite my natural aversion to cats.

Also, the spider in our bathroom, which I've written about before, now seems to be part of the family.

I know...I'm mad.

What about you, Mark?

I love both cats and dogs, but am badly allergic to most cats. I did have allergy shots years ago, but they weren't much help. I'm allergic to some dogs, but never as badly as to a cat. We didn't have pets when I was a child. As an adult I've treasured my pets, including the cats. (My ex husband arrived with two cats..).

My avatar is from a photo of my late and beloved corgi, Pacco.
I don't have pets now, so I resort to my old behavior of getting special joy from greeting other people's pets.

Hi Mike,
I've had a very productive weekend thank you. Nice to see you too, my friend.
I live with a seriously intelligent 12-year old cross lab/Jack russel (don't ask), he's more like a three-quarter sized patchy lab - And a 3 and a half-year-old boxer/staff runt, who is the most playful, loving, curious creature I have ever met. My eldest is called "Spot" and the mad-one is called "Brown Thing". I don't get along with domestic cats (For noise-nuisance and garden-destruction reasons mainly).
Thank you Mike, and you have a great day, my friend.
Mark...

Hi R.
Great looking dogs, my friend - Snakes? I don't have an opinion on them. The likelyhood of ever seeing one is rare where I live, and I'm a wilderness trekker too. Only ever seen one in the wild (adder) and it swam accross a river (big stream to you) to avoid me.
Thank you for sharing, R. I'll do so too, once I figure this flicker thing out.
Have a brilliant day, sir.
Mark...

I adore cats, but I'm violently allergic to them so can't live with them. I've rescued a few cats and tried to keep them, but have had to find homes for them in fairly short order.

I live with 2 errrrr mature dogs. Both are rescues so their ages are approximations.

Bailey, the male dog most often referred to as Mr. B these days, is likely a pom/american eskie cross. He's about 14 years old. He was rescued from a situation where he was being kicked and beaten as a puppy.

Miss Cleopatra is the girldog in this house. She is the ginger dog in Setanta's avatar. She's about 12 or 13 years old. She's a pom cross as well. We suspect some kind of smallish retriever breed as she loves the water - and her coat sheds it much as a retriever's coat does. She was rescued from a home in which she'd been living alone in a basement for several years.

I have no problems with cat or dog owners - unless they are not responsible for their animals - their care and their training.

My wife and I have two cats... they're nice, quiet and independent.

One thing I've been thinking on as of late, regarding pets, is this: What does it say when we have millions of homes with their doors shut, their owners fat and angry while they swoon over the "loyalty" of their many pets? Don't get me wrong - being a pet owner myself I think they're fine, but I can't help but wonder to what extent our disenfranchisement from each other has been compensated (or enabled) by having pets and the illusion of companionship?

I expect this question won't hit many well - but know that I don't believe all pet owners are guilty. And even if some are and what I'm suggesting has some truth to it, there wouldn't be any direct fault or impingement to someone's motives. I can't help but see a potential connection.

Thanks

My dog is lab/pit bull mix. She makes a great companion, when no one else is here.

I love both dogs and cats. I was largely a cat person, but after my cat that I've had since a young child, died.. I really can't bear to get another or love another cat. I'm stuck as a dog person, now. I don't have any problems accepting dogs/cats or the owners. I think if a person doesn't have allergies, they really shouldn't have a problem.

I currently have an eight year-old, pure bred Labrador. We've only ever had labs, but compared to other dogs I'm aware of, Labradors are very smart. My dog impresses me all the time with things she knows that I wasn't aware she did. I think border collies, shepards, and game dogs are probably the smartest. Boxers for playful. Chows and chihuahuas are most aggressive IMO. Every breed has it's loving and non-loving characters. They are all completely up for speculation. Stereotypically breeds can be judged, but every breed does have members that defy the normal temperament.

she's a doll

My avatar shows my Border Collie-mix, Brady, at age 3. He's 5 yrs old now and is the love of my life.

I had 2 cats who lived to the ripe-old-age of 19.5 and 17.5 yrs. however, it is so different. Brady, being an active 'working' dog, requires interaction and physical exercise. The cats only 'asked' to be let outside and were happy sitting on the porch and keeping an eye on things.

I'm much more of a dog person. We don't have any right now, but we had a Mastiff-Rottweiler-Shepherd mix, a Doberman mix, a Staffie and a rescued Greyhound racer. As a kid, I had a beagle mix.

I'm allergic to cats but don't mind them (when they're not making my eyes water) or their owners. I think my fave cats were RP's parents' cat, Kiki, and littlek's cat, Screech.

A perhaps wise female colleague used to say, apropo of your comment, "Never get a pet". In other words, get out there and find a good man.

Ok, here she goes with the photos -

the full Pacco avatar photo:


Pacco and his friend Derby at my last studio -


Pacco with the Flower Hat - with osso, probably seven years ago -


One of these days I have to figure out how to upload my series of slides on our irish setter, Kelly. I'm a slow learner, tech wise.

Nice pictures.

I hate having pets.
When my daughter was going through her teenage crisis, she moved in with a boy for 2 months, then came back home having bought herself a cat. She's now in uni up in Sheffield and the moggy is with me in Cardiff.
Anyone want a black cat.?

That's very cool. I also wrote up a spider in the bathroom. Sadly, she has departed. There are others, of course, but lacking in personality, if you know what I mean.

I was fine with daddy long legs in the bathroom. Black widows, no.

Even here, being a black widow is a capital offense.