We have a dog and 2 cats (and a guinea pig too).
Our dog is Max. I got him before I met Stu, while I was living in another city. The guy I was dating at the time (who is a really good friend now) and I decided we wanted a dog. We started looking for labs on kijiji and I emailed a few people. I didn't want a puppy, I figured that would be too much work. I came across an ad for a "Lab X" and the picture on the ad captured my heart. It was a black dog, laying down with his head on muddy paws, looking away from the camera. Something about it stuck. I emailed the lady, who told me that he was a rescue and she was his foster mom. She lived in a small town with a small animal shelter that only had room for 3 dogs at a time. If another dog came in, they either refused it or euthanized the dog that had been there longest. Max had been a farm dog for a family that lived down the street from his foster mom. He was known as a "runaway" and she'd seen him a few times before and always took him home. She found out that he lived outside in a dog house and instead of getting food, he had to catch his own food. He'd never been inside before and he had obviously been abused at some point because he was super nervous and hated loud voices. He loves kids (which I didn't know until I had my own, he'd never been around them before!) and we've had people pull over to the side of the road while we are walking and ask us where we got such a handsome dog. Everyone likes to guess what breed combo he is, because he is so unique looking. Shepard/Lab was what we were told, but he looks like black shepard without the hip slant? Some people have guessed pitbull cross, Husky cross, Chow cross (the weirdest guess so far!) and Australian Kelpie. We have no idea!
I had grown up with a lab, which we bought from a breeder as a puppy. She was a typical lab that when she did something bad (like get into the garbage and rip everything to shreds) she would just wiggle around. Never once did she show remorse. Max was and is completely different from the moment he was mine. I asked to meet Max, and his foster mom drove him to me. He jumped out of the car and it was love at first site. I paid $60 and he came with a horrible case of worms and had just been treated for ticks. I would take him to the park near my house and he would always stay close to me when off leash. He caught a squirrel once, I literally blinked and it was in his mouth. I just said "MAX!" and he dropped it and came back to me. He's such a sensitive guy! He shakes like a leaf when you are getting ready to leave the house, his teeth even chatter. He's terrified of thunderstorms and snow plows. Our cats beat him up and steal his dog bed on a regular basis too. He has an incredible sense when it comes to people, and he seems to know when someone is good and when someone isn't. If I answer the door and his hair raises up and he growls, I know instantly that he doesn't like the person and it's for good reason. When I was a few months prego with Gage, I took him to go pee out back of the apartment building we lived in at the time while Stu went to the plaza next door to get cat food. I sat on a curb text messaging and waited for Max to come back to me. He did, but he kept crying and running a few steps away. I finally looked up and saw an old man had fallen a few feet away. I got up and went to him, saw Stu coming back and motioned for his help and we helped the man up. We would have seen him at some point, but Max alerted us that much sooner!
Max is typically terrified of getting his picture taken, so we usually have to catch him by surprise. He is not a normal dog. We say all the time he's part human. He comes to the barn with me all the time and is the perfect barn dog. He knows to stay out of the paddocks and waits at the gate while I bring Dusty in. He and Dusty are "brothers" and know each other by sight (Dusty nuzzles him when he sees him, and Max sits at Dusty's feet). He follows me around the arena when I ride and if there are other's riding, I make him sit in the corner. He listens so well, and once given a command (like "stay") he won't move... even if a horse is coming right at him! We don't know for sure how old he is, we think he's about 9 years old now. We had to put down out lab a few years ago that I grew up with and it was heartbreaking. I am dreading having to do the same someday with my Max. He's such a special dog!
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Our cats are ninja's. That's what we call them. We originally adopted Louie from the SPCA when he was a baby. He was the runt, almost sickly looking, and black. We found out that black cats are the hardest to find homes for, because people are afraid of the "black cat superstition". I find this so ridiculous! While we adopted Louie, we saw so many adult cats that were waiting for homes and it was so sad. We had another cat at the time, Penelope, so we knew we could only get Louie. He was such a goofy kitten that loved sleeping on pillows. The summer after we adopted him, we had to put Penelope down. I'd had her for so long and was really sad. I decided a few months after her death that we would honor our "Penu" by adopting an adult cat from the SPCA. We walked in, with Gage in tow, and asked "which adult cat has been here the longest?" and they pointed to "Batman". We've renamed him Henry, but he definitely suited Batman too. He was a stray, and when we saw him he'd just been neutered (but they had to open his belly up to find the "goods") and he'd just had a cone taken off so he had a bald spot around his neck and he also happens to be missing a tail. Stu held him and after petting him for a few minutes we got a tiny little purr from him. We brought him home and introduced him to Louie. They loved each other from that first moment.
We don't know Henry's past, or how he lost his tail, but he's decided he is an indoor kitty now and LOVES attention. He and Louie play nonstop (even at 2am, ugh!) and Henry has become Stu's cat. Wherever Stu is, you will find Henry too. Louie has grown to be a HUGE cat, with the biggest paws I've ever seen. Far cry from when he was a tiny little thing! Henry is known for stealing food from cupboards (still in packaging) and eating bricks of butter WHOLE. He's so silly and entertains us to no end. Louie is super clumsy and is known for falling off the couch when he's asleep. He's just a big goofy guy.
After ending up with 3 awesome animals, I can't imagine not rescuing again. They all have such personality and seem so grateful for ending up with us.
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