MySpace-June 12, 2010-Our Pets

I think I talk a lot about our pets and the cute little things they do. I’m not really sure if I have gone into intricate detail about them and their personalities but now I think I’ll do that.

The oldest of our pets is a little male Netherland Dwarf rabbit named Teddy. Teddy’s full name is Lil’ Teddy Kellerman though I’m not sure that’s his name on his pedigree. I’ve had him since July of 2005 making him about five years old this year. He’s a black otter which means that he’s black with a sliver belly, paws and around his eyes in addition to a tan triangle behind his neck. Teddy doesn’t do much. I call him four pounds of fury because he’s not super  fond of being held or petted. Teddy isn’t afraid of anything and routinely has been chased by the dogs or chases the cats. Teddy just sort of exists in our household. I hope with a substantial yard that I will be able to put him outside in Mary’s crate or something.

Then there’s Riley. Riley is a four year old spayed female Pembroke Welsh Corgi that I’ve had since she was a puppy. She’s AKC registered as Blue Ribbon Riley. Riley is a tri colored corgi meaning that she has white, black and red coat colors. Her head is mostly red with a white blaze. Her belly is white as is all of her feet and around her neck. Her back is black with red down the sides before changing to white at her belly. Riley is a very pretty corgi with sharp foxy like features. Unfortunately, Riley is overweight mostly because I haven’t trained her to have any manners making her begging for people food super adorable. Even if she wasn’t overweight she would be a larger corgi anyway. Her faults mostly include her lack of manners, inability to do tricks and being overweight. Then are her assets. Riley is super obedient-she responds very quickly to being called and instantly to being told to go to her house which is code for crate. Riley also plays fetch and likes to sleep on your lap or next to you. She does have a genetic disease called degenerative myelopathy. Its similar to Lou Gehrig’s disease, an ascending paralysis leading to respiratory compromise. Riley was tested and came back affected/at risk meaning that while she may not every develop the disease which happens later in life, she does carry the gene for it. Until then, Riley does what she wants which is mainly be cute.

Mary is our next pet in terms of length of ownership. Mary is a two and half year old spayed female Briard mix. She has like one beagle five generations back or so. Mary hardly looks like a Briard at all. She has floppy ears (whereas most Briards have them cropped), she’s about 20-30 pounds smaller and her hair is short and wirey. Mary is black and tan with adorable eyebrows and whiskers. Like a Briard though, Mary has double dewclaws on her hide feet. Mary was most importantly adopted from a research lab at MU at 9 months old. Mary has a genetic disease called retinal atrophy which was being worked on in the lab she was from. Her ancestors were imported from Sweden and used to find a gene therapy for this disease for which there is a human equivalent in infants. This disease makes it difficult for Mary to see at night so she does this goosestepping walk at night in the dark. Mary had a rough go when she started with us in that she was difficult to housebreak and for her to catch on to our walking routine. Now Mary is a very good dog. Mary loves to go on walks and even more loves going to the dog park. Last spring, Mary learned to swim and even though she does it very slowly and carefully, she will go out after a ball. Mary loves to wrestle and play. She tends to bark some though most often its to tell a very important dog story. I’m never sure what its about but she loves to tell it. Mary’s favorite toy is a 18” light purple dog that we call ‘Baby’. Mary loves her baby and will carry it around faithfully. The other dogs know that baby is off limits to them. Baby has had several surgeries during which Mary paces around crying until Baby is released. Overall, Mary is super cute.

Bess Truman was adopted from the humane society in Columbia in October. She’s a three or so year old spayed female domestic long or medium hair cat. She’s a brown tabby but only really her head is striped. Bess replaced Roosevelt and had a hard task ahead. When we went to the shelter, I wasn’t planning on getting a female cat but after taking Bess into the little room, I couldn’t leave her. She had been surrendered in the spring and when we had her in the little room all she did was purr and make biscuits while sitting on my lap. Bess has always been friendly-wanting to sit on your lap, sleep in your bed. Recently though, Bess had become even more friendly. She now wants to go into the bathroom with you while before it was a system of trickery to get her in the shower with you. Bess wants to hang out in the living room even if she has to hide from the dogs.  When not asleep, Bess follows you around and overall tries to be super cute.

Finally, there’s Sadie. We call her Biscuit or Little Bit. Sadie is a two year old spayed female Pembroke Welsh Corgi. We adopted her in May from a rescue in Missouri. Sadie is sable so she’s mostly red-brown with a black cast to her coat. She has white on her nose, neck and four  legs. Unlike Riley, Sadie isn’t AKC registered (that we know of) and she’s super little-under 20 pounds. Sadie has a very cute face but its more angular with very large ears. Sometimes one ear flops over. Sadie loves to be cuddled and is really good on a leash. However, she isn’t the greatest about going to her crate or being loose outside. Sadie tends to run off. She’s a naughty but cute dog. She is afraid of storms. At the dog park, Sadie will swim. She’s not very good at it but its good for a laugh.

[EDIT-Originally published to Blogger on June 14, 2011]