Where's Waldo? And Lucky wasn't so lucky after all...

A: Animals... do you have any pets?

When I was younger, I practically owned a zoo.  Fish, tadpoles, box turtles, red slider turtles, alligator snapping turtles, hermit crabs, salamanders, geckos, rabbits, mice, gerbils, hamsters, rats, and even a couple of birds.  I was obsessed with animals and even became a vegetarian for almost a year, which is a long time for a little kid.

When it comes to bigger pets, my family has had a long line of cats and a slightly shorter line of dogs.  I'll just share the names since I don't want to bore you with tons of pictures and descriptions.

Cats: Annie (deceased of old age), Figaro (deceased of old age), Waldo (disappeared, ironically), Lucky (deceased in a tragic accident, ironically), Max Ollie (deceased), Turtle (ran off, ironically), and Oreo.

Dogs: Norman (gave him away when we moved to a new city), Mollie (gave away to a teenage boy because she was too active), Buddy, Boo, Coco (gave away to a family with no other dogs), and Jack.

As I've grown older, I don't have that same passion for animals I once had.  I like them, sure, but I don't want to own very many.  I just don't have that same love for animals as I did when I was younger.  That love has transferred over to people as I've grown older.

I still have a few pets right now.  They love me and I love them... well, most of them.  Let me introduce you.

Oreo
Oreo would be the least favorite of all my pets.  We've had him since around May, 2006.  We rescued him from a kill shelter with his two brothers, Max Ollie and Turtle.  Oreo's favorite activity is rolling in the dirt.  His fur often becomes a dingy brown after a single afternoon.  You couldn't even recognize his individual colors at times.

Oreo doesn't have a mean bone in his body, which I like.  He lives outside and in our barn, but he thinks he's supposed to live in the house with the family.  He loves to try and sneak into our house without us noticing.  We've often found him curled up in one of our arm chairs, fast asleep.

Buddy
Buddy is our oldest dog at about ten and a half.  He's a Bichon Frise.  You'd never guess his age by the way he acts.  He enjoys sprinting in circles around the living room, doing what we call the "Bichon Buzz."  He is a bit dim-witted, so he doesn't know many tricks, but he can sit and lie down for about two seconds at a time.  That's pretty much the only things he can do.

Buddy isn't very loyal, probably because of his dumbness, but he loves everybody and has never snapped at anyone in his life.  I adore his sweet personality.

Boo
Boo is eight years old.  She's a Boston Terrier and very clever.  She's extremely loyal to both our family and our pets.  When Buddy finally dies from old age, Boo will probably pine for a long time.  She loves to cuddle.  When I'm watching TV, Boo will often jump on the couch and attempt to curl up on my chest, burying her face in my neck.

Boo has a hilarious personality.  She has many phobias, including but not limited to vacuum cleaners, water bottles, new things, big dogs, black toys... that's right.  Boo and Buddy both will not play with any toy that isn't white.  Racist, are they?  Very possibly.

I've been able to teach Boo a few tricks: sit, lay down, shake, beg, crawl, dance, and roll over.  She hasn't learned much more than that, but if we'd attempted to teach her more early on in her life, she probably would have gotten the hang of them quickly.  She's a bit slower now.  Boo is the alpha of our three dogs, but she still has an incredibly sweet personality.

Jack
Jack is the newest addition to our family.  He's a Miniature Yorkshire Terrier at about three and a half pounds now.  He was born on August 9, 2010, which makes him about a year old.  Jack probably has the biggest personality of any dog I've ever seen in my life.  He's curious and smart.

Jack is a problem solver.  He's too small to jump up on Mom and Dad's bed, so he's figured out another way.  He jumps from the treadmill to the nightstand to the bed.  In a few months, Jack has managed to learn many tricks, including: sit, lay down, stay, shake, crawl, dance, roll over, play dead, stick'em up, and circle.

I enjoy dressing Jack up in cute sweaters and playing fetch with him while I watch TV.  His favorite toys are these colorful squeaky balls we get from Petco.  He loves anything that squeaks.  Jack will play with just about anything, however.  I'll often find him with toilet paper rolls, sticks, and even silly things like sheets of paper.  He likes to sneak away my pencils and other belongings and hide them around the house.

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So those are my pets.  I've probably thoroughly bored you now, but I enjoy bragging about my darlings.  If you actually read through this entire entry, I'm impressed.

Here are today's questions.

1.) Do you have any pets?
2.) Are you an animal lover or do you prefer a select few, like me?