Dogs

We have two dogs.

We also have two children. And two cats.

And they each need, and deserve, lots of time and attention.

Our first pet, Neci, came to us the week before we got married. My soon-to-be-husband and out were visiting my Aunt the week before our wedding, when as we were leaving we heard kittens crying. It was really quite pitiful and off went my soon-to-be-husband to rescue the kittens, which had been abandoned. There were four kittens and as I had just read Rebecca Wells' The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, we named the four girl kittens after the four main female characters - Neci, Caro, Vinnie and Teensy. The next week we returned to our new home where "our girls" were already living with my Husband after our wedding and reception to find our Teensy kitten very ill. I spent the night holding her, trying to get her to drink from a dropper, keeping her warm. The next day, we spent the morning at the Emergency Vet, where we ended up having her euthanized due to her sever illness. Several weeks later, after placing ads in our local paper and at veterinary offices, we gave one of the calico kittens - Vivvi - to a new home. We kept Caro and Neci. When the kitties were two years old, Caro was hit by a car, leaving us with one car - a calico, our Neci. 


When our older child was almost two years older, we decided our family was ready for a dog. So we looked around and found a breeder in Tacoa, Ga. and we got our Sully, a golden-doodle male (his dad is a Standard Poodle and his mom is a Golden Retriever).  We chose a golden-doodle because they don't shed (their hair grows like ours - and it needs constant attention!) and also because they are such an easy dog to train - with consistency, that is! They are (generally) very intelligent dogs and very loving. We have definitely found this to be true with our Sully. He is a very happy dog who, even at close to 70 pounds, thinks he's a lap dog and loves to flop on our feet. He also is still very high energy and needs to be walked a lot  ... 

Our second dog (Lux) and second cat (Jedi) came to us as strays. Our cats live outside and our dogs are inside-outside. We have a (fairly) large fenced back yard, so they have lots of room to run, but we have to make sure that they get exercise. Lately that means lots of walking - 2-3 miles each day! But over the last few weeks, as they days have gotten cooler and daylight hours seem to grow shorter, the walks have been great. I tend to do the walking, which is hard for me as I'm soooo out of shape, but I also enjoy it. We walk in neighborhoods near our home and sometimes go to a nearby park to walk. And if we're lucky, we have a friend to join us. 


What do you do to keep your pets healthy, socialized and tired out enough to sleep?