When I was a child I hardly had any friends with tails, but now that I'm a grandmother of four, I have many tales to tell about our family cats and dogs.
Our first puppy was Ginger.
This spicy colour was odd for a Dalmatian.
Even though she wasn't a purebred, she was very unique.
Her litter mates were all black and white.
But true to her breed she loved running.
In the winter snow, we enjoyed watching her hopping in the orchard behind our house.
You'd swear she was a deer, with her ginger coloured back, and white behind.
She was very protective too.
The strangest thing she ever did was to escort our two-year-old son a quarter of a mile down the road to my husband and me.
As an experienced mother, it must have seemed the logical thing to do.
Can you imagine our surprise though? We got a cat too, which became three, then four, and five.
Spooky also brought home live mice.
I often reminisce about her teaching her kittens how to catch them.
I would curl up in a chair in our living room to watch Spooky pounce onto the tail of a little mouse, let it go and nudge one of her kittens to give it a try.
Years later, pet-less once again, we found our "Pussy Willow".
She was so fuzzy and soft, beige with some brown in her face.
Willow seemed absolutely harmless.
The first time we left this Siamese kitten alone, she had millions of miles of toilet paper strewn down the stairs and all over the house.
Among her other talents was walking on the rooftop of our townhouse.
She had a Siamese boyfriend who taught her all the tricks of the trade.
Willow would come home and always tell us a story about her wonderful adventures.
Meow, meow, meow, meow! Shortly after we moved we thought that company would be good for her.
Baby Tyler was an only puppy from a long line of Boston terrier champions.
Willow did not approve our choice! He didn't even have a real tail.
What kind of beast was this? After hiding for about a week she let him know that she was top dog.
Tyler managed to worm his way into our beds and our hearts.
Looking very handsome in his tuxedo, he strutted around town gaining many admirers.
We proudly took him to his first dog show.
He came in fourth place, twice! There were four dogs in each show.
He failed dog obedience classes too.
Oh well.
We even put up with his loud snoring and the occasional noxious gas coming from his other end.
It was actually quite helpful.
The snoring would keep us awake us at night and the gas would instantly clear out our sinuses.
He had a digestive problem from chewing and swallowing everything in sight.
He liked to have his chew and everyone else's too.
While Stink-a-lot was alive and well, we rescued a black tomcat and named him Toby, to match Tyler.
You've probably heard of Toby Tyler, the little boy who ran away from home to join the circus? He's now nine years old and is doing fantastic! Although Toby mourned the loss of Tyler, I think he mainly missed all the mischievous things they did together.
We would often find a chewed up pen or an empty bag of treats on the floor.
Tyler always got the blame, until Toby finally confessed.
He said that he jumped up onto the table, and pushed things down to Tyler.
They were quite the team.
Strangely, the same thing started happening when we got our next dog.
Gypsy Rose Lee, a famous dancer, was rescued off the streets of Edmonton.
This yellow lab X picked out her own bed in our living room and hasn't moved since.
She told us she wanted a pedigree, like Tyler and Willow, who were of royal blood.
She goes to Canine College and should get her pet degree in due time.
She keeps in shape by tormenting Toby, and chasing dogs and squirrels.
Gypsy just has so much energy that she wants to share it with everyone! Just like the tales I still want to share with you.
Like our dog with ears so big that she could fly! Toby, almost losing his tail!! Well, that's a tale for another day.