My Four Furry Friends

Over the last 10 years I've managed to let four, four-legged, furry guys move into our home. I have two cats and two dogs. It can be a handful at times but I couldn't imagine it any other way. I love these little buggers and I wanted to share the story of how they became part of our family.

Back in 2002 when I first met my other half they stayed in a town-home subdivision. There was a tortoiseshell female cat that used to lurk around their house. This cat became so friendly over time and used to greet me in the parking lot and walk me to the door of my then friends' home. This cat was so sweet and tried anything to come inside but we never let her. In fact, she managed to sneak inside a few times when the door was left open. One day, I noticed that her stomach was looking a bit pudgy and I instantly knew she was pregnant. Not too long after that I noticed she wasn't coming out to greet us anymore and thought she might be hiding somewhere having her kittens. I was right! I kept calling her name. [We named her "Momma"] We saw her coming out of some bushes in front of a one of the town-homes. We walked over to where she came from and there they were three teeny kittens. All three could fit in one hand. All three were different colors. One, a boy, was your average orange tabby, one female who was a tortie just like the mom, and one, another boy, was a black and white kitty, your "tuxedo cat" with the white paws. I was glad we got to know the mother cat because we moved her and her babies to the shed on the back porch. We gave her a big box with high sides and a blanket and kept the shed door ajar so she could still roam and be free. The kids in that neighborhood were terrors and we didn't want anything to happen to the kitties before they could get bigger.

At the time neither of us owned a pet; the thought never even crossed our minds. But for one reason or another we started growing attached to the kittens and decided to keep one. We couldn't care for all of them it would've way too much for us with our busy schedules at the time. We chose to keep the black and white one and named him Gotti, after John Gotti. I had recently seen the movie and liked the name. I would say as their personalities started to show we definitely got the spunky one out of the bunch. This kitten was the goofiest thing! He had no fear at all. He used to ride with us in the car, I would tote him around in my bag, and he was always eager to meet new people.

To this day Gotti has remained quite the character. He loves to harass people that come to our house. By that I mean he follows repairmen and friends that come to the house. He will sit and stare at them too. I think it's funny because some of the repairmen and friends have actually been afraid of him. Hell, he scares me sometimes. Before we got him neutered he turned into a jerk. He was very territorial over the entire house; even with humans. One day he stalked me around the house and attacked my partner for no apparent reason. I still don't know what it was that day. Whatever it was it was fixed when he was fixed. ALWAYS SPAY AND NEUTER YOUR PETS! It affects their behavior too! You don't want an ugly situation like we had, trust me.

I love my Monsieur Boo-Boo's. He has turned into one of my greatest buddies. He is now nine years old and I plan for him to continue to grow with us and create a ton of crazy memories with his antics.

How we came about our next furry friend is beyond me. By this time my other half and I were living together in an apartment conveniently located right next door to the SPCA. Occasionally, we liked to go visit the animals. My other half and I were thinking about getting a small dog around this time and decided to go there one day to see who was there. We looked at all of the dogs and puppies and didn't see anything that we could agree on and decided to wait. Before we left we stuck our heads into the cat room. Here's the funny thing. I always had a "thing" for cats. My partner on the other hand, not such a big fan except for our Gotti.

We separated when we went inside the cat area and I start looking at all the teeny kittens . They always grab my attention. Maybe because they literally try to grab you through the cages as you walk by. I remember playing with the really, really small grey kitten. It was so cute and noisy. I was trying to get my other half's attention and I noticed she was playing with a cat a little too much. It was and orange and white kitten. I finally got them to come over to see the little kitten I was raving about and instead this female tortie kitten starts meowing SO LOUD! Instantly this kitten had my partner's attention and they had no interest in looking at the one I was trying to get them to look at. They stayed there playing with the tortie kitten and I moved on to look at the others. When I was finished looking around my partner began talking to me about the tortie kitty and how she was so cute. I jokingly said, "Do you want to get her?" To which they replied "yes." I was surprised. I just really didn't expect that answer. Before I knew it we were writing our name on her SPCA information card to be the first one in line for this kitten's adoption. I couldn't believe we were seriously adopting a kitten when we had no intentions of even getting another cat.

The next few days were stressful. We had to wait three days, I guess to see if any owners came forth. Each day since we lived right next door to the SPCA my partner went to see if anyone else was interested and that she was still there. Who knew that a pet adoption would be almost like adopting a child. So many hoops to jump through! For some reason or another my partner was unable to adopt the kitty on their own, I think it was due to an out of state driver's license. I was able to go without any issue and adopt the kitty. I remember my partner calling me upset because they couldn't get her so I had went on my lunch break and adopted her. I even brought the kitten to my job afterwards.

I don't remember exactly how her name came about. The only thing I can recall is that we were trying to stay with a "G" we wanted all of our animals to have names that began with "G." We decided to name the little kitten, Gia after the model Gia Carangi.

Gia is the most interesting cat I have ever met and so smart! Over the years I have taught this cat to shake hands, give kisses, high five, and to stand. She always comes when she is called and she knows how to tell you when she needs something. Whether she's hungry, needs fresh water, or attention she vocalizes her needs to us. She can be completely annoying at times with the amount of 'talking' she does. She is mostly my partner's cat. Gia goes bonkers over them! From the time my partner wakes up and she's on their heels like a dog. And heaven forbid they should shut the cat outside the bathroom. She will scream over and over and scratch the door until they open it. A nutty and hilarious personality is what this cat has and we all adore her!

I really couldn't imagine life without this cat. She makes her presence known to all daily, several times a day at that! I would be lost if that little booger wasn't yelling at me about something or climbing in my face for attention. I love our Gia!

So a couple of years ago we finally moved into a house. I was so happy because I knew we could get a dog because we had a yard and it was completely fenced. I was training dogs at the time and was excited that my long awaited pooch would be soon in my future. I talked about it with my partner to make sure that it would be okay and they agreed. In working with dogs I was able to see a lot of different breeds and their characteristics. After all my research I decided I wanted a Australian Shepherd.

One day in October of 2009 I was putting up Halloween decorations outside with my youngest son.[My other half had broken their leg and was watching from the window] I was putting some cobwebs on bushes in our yard near the street and here comes this beige fluff ball strolling down the middle of the street. He see's me and I see him, we make eye contact, and of course he comes over. It was a flat faced, long haired mess. He was friendly, appeared fed, looked about 3-5 years old, and no collar. His hair was just horribly matted and dingy. I started smiling and petting him, he was just so sweet! I started walking back to my house to get my other half and I could see them shaking their head in a "No" motion. I just giggled and kept on smiling. As I walked towards the house my son saw him and immediately they locked eyes and just had to meet. My youngest son took to him right away and liked him. What kid wouldn't? Especially one who never owned a dog but always wanted one. I went into the house and made my other half meet him. He put a smile on their face. We talked about the dog and agreed because it appeared to be a Lhasa Apso or Shihtzu purebred it MUST belong to somebody.

We began to run ads online and post signs in the neighborhood to see if we could find the owners. We also took him to a vet and had him scanned for a chip but there wasn't one. They took a look over him and estimated his age to be 7-8 years old based on teeth and eyes. I looked at tons of missing dog ads with no luck. The few calls we received were incorrect descriptions of the dog and the others were people that wanted him in the even we couldn't find owners. We made a list of people interested and let them know if in a few weeks we didn't find the owner we could see if they were still interested. After about two weeks we still had no luck in our search. I couldn't believe no one owned this dog.

Over the few weeks he was with us both of my sons started taking to him. They spent so much time with him and as I said earlier they always wanted a dog. So one night we decided to have a family meeting we had no one come forth for the dog and had to make a decision. We all sat in the living room and as soon as I mentioned what they thought about the dog everyone said, "We want to keep him." And that pretty much was it. We kept the dog. Why not, he was already adapting to our surroundings and he was so laid back it was almost like he wasn't there half of the time.

It's funny how we came about his name. We had been calling him the random names that were given to us by the people who called claiming to be his owner. We noticed he only responded to names with an "ie" or "ey" at the name anything sounding like "eeee" My other half called him Mookie and he responded by turning around looking at her. So they name stuck. It was one of the only names he responded to an everyone agreed upon it.

Mr. Mookie has been happily residing with us for two years now. With a bath, hair cut, and some love he has turned into a wonderful sweet dog. We all love him so much.

Just a few months after we got Mookie I got GoGo Yubari for Christmas. I had been wanting an Australian Shepherd for some time now. [As you already read in Mookie's story] My other half agreed to get me my dream dog as a Christmas gift. I had been researching aussie's for almost a year now and found a breeder that was right for us. They only bred once a year and I could trace all of the parents' bloodlines online. They weren't over priced, they were all docked, vetted, and had registration papers. I got in contact with them and after many emails decided to set a date to see the pups, there were four altogether. I had my heart set on a female blue merle. I didn't care about the color of the eyes that was just a plus. I started to get excited that I was finally going to get to meet and pick out my baby after all this time.

We took a two hour drive north of our home to what look like a farm town. Australian Shepherd's are herding dogs so it didn't surprise me. As we neared the breeder's home I started feeling like a little kid inside. I was ecstatic I was so close to my dream dog. I remember having the grin that stretched from ear to ear! We pulled in the drive way and the breeder and the father of the puppies was outside. The father is a black-tri with brown eyes. He seemed really excited [In a good way] when he saw us and they had to put him up. As they were getting the puppies I saw mom in the yard behind the fence with her puppies, she was a blue merle, brown eyes, with a big black spot on her back. She was sitting so still, so intense looking, she was staring at us very hard. I can't forget the eye contact I made with the momma dog. They said the mother was a little overprotective with her puppies so we couldn't meet her. The owners brought the puppies out to us and we got a chance to play with all of them. There was only one male, he was a blue merle. The rest were girls, one red merle, one blue merle, and a red-tri. The let us know right away that the male and red merle girl were sold so there was only two left to chose from. There was no question in my head I wanted the blue merle girl. She came up to me quickly, I remember her being between my feet she was so small and only four weeks old. She was so cute and looked like a little bear cub. I picked her up and she started nuzzling me on my neck. I remember being so happy that day. I couldn't stop smiling. So my baby was picked out and we placed the deposit and we were to pick her up in a few weeks when she was old enough and weened off of mom's milk.

GoGo was named long before I actually got her. I named her after a character in "Kill Bill" a movie by Quentin Tarantino. GoGo Yubari was one of the villain's body guards.

A few weeks later just after Christmas passed it was time to get my GoGo. We took the long drive up north again and this time we would be coming back with my very first puppy. We got to the breeder's home and there she was just romping around the yard with one of the other puppies. We did our paperwork and we were on our merry way, GoGo in hand. I was so happy. The entire ride home GoGo wanted to ride in one of two places on your shoulder and on the blanket I folded up for her on the back seat. As much as I wanted to hold and cuddle her on the way home it was just not pleasant have a little puppy with nails like a cat scratching your neck for two hours. She was quiet but content on the backseat. She was looking around at everything trying to take it all in. Occasionally she would doze off. I would have to say for a first car ride and being away from mom she did very well.

Finally, we arrived at home. Everyone was excited to meet her except the cats. They quickly taught her not to mess with them and not to chase them within the first five minutes she was home with a paw swat to the forehead. [The cats were much bigger than her in the beginning.] Mookie and my boys took to GoGo immediately this was their first puppy too. I couldn't believe I actually had my dream dog and she was at home getting to know everyone.

The next few weeks and months were tiring. It was like having a newborn. We were having to wake up in the middle of the night from puppy cries, potty breaks, and the I just want to sleep with you guys whine. I thought about all the articles I read and was thinking to myself, "They were not lying about a puppy being just like a new baby!" My youngest son and I took turns with her in the middle of the night. [FYI, excellent method of birth control for teens, after taking care of a puppy, I don't think either of my sons plan to have a child in their teen years! Haha!] Just like a baby we finally got to a point where she would make it through the night! Yay! Slowly she began learning the routine of the house and before we new she was adjusted all the way into her new pack.

Aussie's are super smart dogs and GoGo has proved that. As I mentioned I've had her for almost two years now. She has learned her name, nicknames, sit, stay, down, off, shake, roll over, turn around, catch[balls, a frisbee, treats, anything you can throw], bring it[whatever "it" is], high-five, gives kisses to whomever you tell her to, walk [she can actually stand on her hind legs and walk about 10-15 feet], wave hi, and watch me[where she has to have eye contact with you]. She also does what I call the "Bang! Bang!" trick. Where you act like you are shooting her with your hands and she will fall to the floor like she's dead. That one is hilarious. When, I ask her who's pretty she stands in a begging position and raises one hand! She knows everyone by their name in the house, including all the other animals. She even gives hugs but standing and putting her paws around your waist. GoGo is the sweetest and best dog ever!

I really couldn't imagine life without this dog. Here we are almost two years later, GoGo is my best friend, right-hand woman, and like my daughter I never had. Everyday we wake up she peers over the side of the bed and when we make eye contact she will jump in beside me and cuddle with me for a few minutes before we get up. Dogs are super sweet in the morning! We then will go downstairs, I'll get my coffee ready to brew while she watches, and then we both go outside for a while. When she's ready to eat she comes to me and looks at me then waits at the door. I'll feed her and have my coffee while watching the news. It sometimes reminds me of that movie "Ground Hog Day" with Bill Murray, were he would keep waking up to the exact same day everyday. It's like that here with GoGo except it is a different day, just the same routine. When I get home from work each evening she puts the smile back on my face when I've had a rough day. All she wants from me is love. It's a great feeling to walk in the house everyday and see a smiling face that's just happy to see you, just because.

GoGo is my heart and soul, I would be lost without her. I love my best friend and happy that I found her!

If it wasn't for the two legged ones in this house I would not be able to keep up with all of the furry guys. I appreciate the help they give so we can have our little critters. Over the years we have been consistent and patient with all the animals. I believe this was our success.

I'd like thank everyone for reading my hub today! Hope you enjoyed my story of my pets. I have dedicated one to my GoGo, so if you would like to read a little more on her or see additional pictures just click her name in this paragraph and it will take you to her hub. Thanks again!