Phil's Pets

When I was born my family had a Shetland Sheepdog named Princess.

She lived a long life but died when I was in second grade, that is my first memory of grief.

For my sixth birthday I got a Shetland Sheepdog I named Christy.

A boy and his dog.

Christy was a sweet and gentle soul

Not long after we got Christy my parents rescued another Sheltie who was not being cared for.Taffy was tiny but very assertive, she tried to dominate much larger Christy - which would work for limited periods.

Christy and Taffy were the pets I grew up with. Christy passed during my first year of college and Taffy a year later when I was in Basic Training

After losing their shelties my parents got Sadie. She was supposedly also a sheltie, but was so large and unusually marked I always believed she was largely collie. 

Sadie was a very shy and very gentle animal. Many family members remember Sadie as their favorite.

Jennifer was supposed to be my grandmothers dog but that did not work out and she ended up with my parents. 

Willie

And Preston

Debbie bought me Willie as a Christmas present when we were dating. He was an active, inquisitive, (almost) gentle pet. We got Preston a few months later - he was not any of those things. We had the ferrets for several years.

We got Rufus when we were first married. I had always wanted an Old English Sheepdog, and Debbie was a good sport.

He was loving, gentle giant we had for ten years; I sure hated losing him

Bonnie was a Scottie we got shortly after Rufus. Bonnie loved Rufus but did not seem to have much use for the rest of us. After he died she was a sad old lady.

When Sarah (our oldest daughter) turned six we told her she could get a pet. Very much to my chagrin she chose a cat.I tried to point out the error of her thinking, but as always Sarah knew her own mind.

Strangely over the years I have become fond this tiny cat. And for what ever reason the cat chose me as her person after Sarah went to college. Seems I now have a cat.

To insure we had no more cat incidents, I surprised Emily with a Jack Russell terrier for her sixth birthday (it is a family tradition).

She has been a sweet and loving pet for us.

For the most time the pets mutually ignore each other.

But periodically the dog feels a need to lick the cats ears, which strangely the cat does not appreciate.

I found myself without a good sized dog so on a whim I bought a Border Collie.

Cami likes people somewhat, but she LOVES to play. Here she has collected her balls on top of the table so they would be convient for playing.

She is the most graceful athlete I have ever seen