Didn't have a chance to get in before the end of the promo, but that's okay because I really just wanted to share anyway lol. Just finished reading everyones' posts and it made me really happy to hear how many others have a heart for animals like I do.
I always grew up with a dog. I'm an only child and my parents only ever had one dog at a time. First was our doberman, Sheeba, who had to be put to sleep with health issues when I was about 3. So I really didn't get much of a chance to know her. After that, my parents decided on a mini schnauzer, Treasure. We had her from age 4-10 for me, until she went blind. It was such a degradation that her quality of life was just really poor. My parents tried to go for another one, and in hindsight, Treasure II was probably a poor name choice. She was from the same breeder and also went blind by age 6. My parents reported the breeder just to make sure there wasn't anything being done there that shouldn't be, but that was just really poor (excruciating, really) luck for us. I remember going to my friend's house the night we had to put her to sleep -- I held her paw during it even though all I wanted to do was run away; but I couldn't leave her side. I bawled my eyes out. It was awful.
When I was 17, that's when my parents stuck with a mini schnauzer, but went to a different breeder from a different part of the state. That's when they got Kirby. I absolutely adored that dog like she was my daughter. What an incredibly, loving, unique dog. She lived til I was 27 and then cancer took her from us. It was way too short, but still better than 6. One of my favorite things about her, and what made me realize the others probably had a degradation of eyesight from day one was that she would sit out on the back deck and stare up. We thought something was wrong with her lol -- until we noticed she was watching jets in the sky. Not low-flying bi-planes or anything like that; actual jets. It was incredible.
I moved out of state when I was 24 for my job, so the last few years I didn't have a pet of my own. After Kirby, my parents went to a different breeder for their 4th mini schnauzer -- her name is Chesney. Just when I thought a dog couldn't get more unique -- wow. Her and Kirby are totally different and both have wonderful qualities that make them each amazing dogs. But Chesney is a riot. She "talks" more than any other dog I've ever heard. She greets my dad at the steps with a loud "aroooooooo!" And if you encourage her, she'll keep on going. She also either hates or loves when you laugh at her -- she'll try to jump on your head whenever you laugh and then proceed to scratch at your hair and lick your face. It's ridiculous. I just got to spend 3 days back with her and she is honestly the hardest part of leaving. I can talk to my family on the phone; but with her, I don't have that luxury. So it always sucks leaving her behind.
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3 years ago, I inherited a cat. This was my main purpose for putting all of the previous stories up -- to illustrate that I've always been a dog person. Never hated cats (don't hate any animals), but never had any reason to love them. Well, my wife already had a cat, so he was kind of a package deal. I'll admit, I was not excited about him coming over (she lived with her grandma before we got married, so he stayed there for the first year of our marriage as I was still in an apartment and then she took a job out of state for the first 6 months after we got married).
His name is Tonka and he is a Maine Coon. He is the chillest bro of all. I absolutely love him. I was informed that he doesn't like very many males or many people in general for that matter. But he took a liking to me. I give him more attention than anyone else. He's not like a dog in that he doesn't just end up in your lap; sometimes you have to do things on his terms -- but that's okay. I have an album of him on my phone -- it currently has 1,860 photos/videos. I clearly have a problem, but I'm okay with that. He stayed alone for 3 days while we were gone, with the exception of the wife's grandma (who he used to live with) coming over to feed him, change his box, and hang a bit (we have an automatic feeder that is good for 2 days at a time; 4 different meals). That night, after my wife already went to bed, he came downstairs and got some head pats and belly rubs -- then he fell asleep with his head on my foot for about 2 hours before he got on the couch and we fell asleep next to each other watching tv lol. He purred for at least 5 hours (no exaggeration) straight once we got home.
I love him like a son.
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? Bomb. 
