http://www.ComputerBob.com/personal/pets.php .
.
.
You think dogs will not be in heaven? I tell you, they will be there long before any of us.
-- Robert Louis Stevenson
Mini (Mini Pupperoni Minestrone, AKA Minidog, Minibear, Baby Bear, Rat Terrorist) is a very smart, fiercely loyal, very loving, high-strung little Rat Terrier. She knows exactly what's supposed to happen every day, and tells us when "it's time" to eat, go out, go for a walk, get a crunchy boney bone, and even go to bed. She loves to lay in the sun and bark at strangers, and she sleeps curled up behind my knees, on top of the covers, in bed.
Pookie (Pookie Purrbox Pookenstein, AKA Pookie Pooh Bear, Pookie Purrboxy) is an extremely sweet, extremely gentle, extremely fluffy calico cat. She is exactly the kitty that my wife always wanted, and the first kitty that I ever loved. She loves to run around the house doing kitty business, tell us long stories about about her catnip mouse whenever she carries it into a room where we are. Pookie sleeps curled up on my side in bed.
Petey (Petey Sweetie Sugarboots, AKA Petey Pete, Mr. Boots, Smudgy Boy, Woodpile Boy, Mr. Handsome) is the constantly purring kitty that I found crying in our woodpile when his mother abandoned him only 5 days after he was born. I made him a warm, dark "incubator" to sleep in and took several days off of work so that I could stay home and bottle-feed him every few hours. A few days after I found him, Pookie adopted him as her son and has loved him ever since. He follows me around the house like a little dog and sleeps near my head, facing the alarm clock, in bed.
Max (Maximilian Dollars, AKA Maxie, Dr. Poopenheimer, Mr. Longfellow, Stretchy Boy) is a miniature dachshund that we adopted from a local shelter, where he had been taken with a broken back leg. A woman who worked with my wife foster-parented Max for the shelter while his leg healed, and then asked us if we would adopt him, because she couldn't keep him but wanted him to have a good home. He's got a sleek, shiny black coat with tan eyebrows, mouth area, and feet. He loves to run and run as fast as he can, and he sleeps under the covers, up against my stomach in bed. And when he's really happy, he does what we call "Commando of Love" — he lays on his belly with his tiny little back legs stretched out behind him, and uses his front paws to pull himself up to 6 feet across the carpet.
All four pets get along great with each other. They also all know what T-R-E-A-T and B-O-N-E-Y spell, and get all excited whenever they hear either the words themselves or their spelling. In fact, one day, I was telling my wife about a good travel Web site. As I spelled out "AirTrek" for her, the pets got all excited as soon as they heard "...T-R-E..." Another time, we were watching a TV show, and, referring to someone in the show, I said, "That woman's a phony baloney." Immediately, Mini and Max, who were asleep on our laps, both woke up and got all excited. It took us a few seconds to figure out that they had both been listening to me, even in their sleep, and had thought that I had said, "That woman's a boney bone."
Update, February 28, 2006: See Max's Lighthouse.
Update, August 7, 2008: Mini’s sweet, loyal, happy, loving spirit remains with us — no longer burdened by her 15-year-old body.
She became a beloved member of our family when she was only 5 weeks old. She was our very first pet, and being our beautiful, precious little sweetheart was the only life she ever knew.
We always gave her the best of everything.
In return, she changed us so profoundly that we can barely even remember our life before her.
As always, we thank God for blessing us with Mini, and we look forward to The Dream.
Update, August 9, 2008: God has allowed Mini to bless us again! Please read Mini - Thank You!
