Our beautiful little dog Harry came to live with us 12 years ago. We found him in the pound. It was one of those serendipity moments. It was the last Friday of a two week holiday and my car broke down right out the front. The breakdown service took over an hour so we had a look at the little animals needing rescuing. There he was and it was love at first sight obviously. Poor little thing had suffered chemical burns to his feet so couldn't walk properly for a while.
He conned us at the shelter though or might not have come home with us. We were concerned about whether he would get on ok with cats so the attendant put him a room with a Queen and her brood. All was well so we took him home. But no, he did not get on well with cats - he relentlessly chased our Albert until Albert retreated into our bedroom and didn't come out for 6 months. Suddenly one day Albert had obviously had enough, appeared, beat up the dog and that was it - Harry has adored cats ever since.
Harry is very affectionate - he literally wraps himself around your next and licks up all your tears if you are upset which is the reason I don't watch ET much anymore. Its not fair to concern Harry when its a self-inflicted upset. He has a phenomenal memory too, remembering places, people and other animals in ways that constantly astonish us. That blurry bit on the photo behind him is his tail wagging at a thousand miles an hour.
And he's the best hot water bottle substitute on cold nights!
The kitties
Lily and Riley are recent additions to the household although I've always had cats. We found these two tiny 4 month olds all cuddled up in a sheepskin lined basket at the pound a few weeks ago. I've never had two cats at once before but decided I needed two as heart break insurance. They love each other and we are delighted we didn't separate them by only adopting one. They play, they cuddle, they eat out of the same bowl.
Lily is tiny - the little grey and white tabby. Tiny but bold and curious. And has absolutely no manners - when she is hungry everybody has to hear about it.
Riley seems to have doubled his weight in the past month. We are wondering just how big he's going to end up. He has the most gorgeous black feet! He hated being picked up at first. Now he just puts his head on my shoulder and I could carry him around for forever.
January 2011 update
Riley is huge! But the biggest, sookiest, sweetest cat I've ever known.
Lily is gorgeous but cheeky, loves to climb and break things. We call her trouble!
Benny came to live with us at the end of November 2010. He was a stray that we adopted from the Sydney Lost Dogs and Cats Home. When we first heard about him he needed an urgent heart operation. After donations from generous members of the community Benny came through his operation with flying colours and came to live with us. He is very affectionate and sweet.
He is settling in to life in the Highlands although it took him a little while to get used to walks in the great outdoors with so many birds, butterflies, and smells from exciting big animals such as cows and alpacas.
We've recently decided that Benny is most likely a Lhasa Apso, which makes him a Tibetan dog. We remind him of this when he chases the cats and plays too rough with Harry. He's a Buddhist and should act like it.
He is a darling.
