Writing companions

So I know some of the writers here have dogs and was wondering if there is a pattern here. I have two dogs myself. One is my working dog, that stays with me while I work and the other one that just runs around the house. It's somehow reassuring since this is a lonely job and I can spend entire days without saying a single word to the missus or the kid. Having a furry friend by my side makes it easier to write and focus.

My dogs (guess which one is the writing dog :)):

Minpin is life ;)

@Major
True that :))))

I've always been a dog person, but my building doesn't allow dogs, unfortunately.

• 
  ZippyInBag.jpg
  
• 
  ZippySink.jpg
  

@FreelanceWriter
What kind of a monster doesn't allow fluffy companions :)
We have a cat but he's a grumpy old bugger - doesn't really like anybody except his food bowl and his bed

I raised a black lab for 11 years from the day she was born, after finding homes for her mother and all 7 of her littermates in college. I've had a lot of interaction with other dogs both before and since, but I can't own another one without giving up my apartment where I've lived for almost 20 years; it's the apartment where I was raised and I kept it after my dad died a few years after I gave up my previous apartment in Riverdale to help take care of him in his final years. This building allows cats and caged animals but has never allowed dogs and I don't think I'd get one in another apartment again, anyway, because it's just not the same as having a house and fenced-in property for the dog to run around and be a dog all day. As someone who never had the slightest interest in having kids, my only real regret in life is that I'll probably never have another dog of my own. One of the things I don't miss about having a dog is (unavoidably) running into all the other people with dogs regularly; the other thing is that for almost 11 years, I was never away from my apartment for more than 8 or 10 hours at a time except for the few times that I had neighbors take care of her for a day or two.

She was just awesome: her name was "Layla" (Eric Clapton) and in my old building, everybody loved her, even the stray cat that hung around for years. Layla was friends with every other living creature she ever met and she was so well-trained that the littlest kids in the building thought she could actually understand their complete English sentences because of how well she understood all the phrases that I used as commands and because I always said "please" and "thank you" to her. I had to teach them to say them with the same inflection that I used so she'd listen to them, too. She loved Frisbees more than anything and learned that the black one was hers and the white one was mine; so we could have two tosses going on simultaneously with my friends and without her ever chasing (and chewing up) the wrong one. Putting her down was the single hardest thing I ever had to do and I did it myself at home with her in my lap because she was terrified of the vet table and I didn't want her shivering on that cold table to be her last experience. I sat on the floor in our apartment with her cradled in my arms as I felt her breathing slow and then her heart beat until it beat one last time. I just wish my wife and I had met 5 years earlier so they could have known each other because they'd have adored each other, just like every girl I ever dated for that 11 years.

We had two Miniature Pins until recently. The older one got sick and had to be put down. My wife broke down and couldn't do it, so I had to. It was one of the worst moments of my life, so I understand the feeling completely. We got Illyria after that, and she's pretty much the sweetest dog I've ever seen. Just a tad stubborn but that's normal for every Irish Wolfhound, at least from what I know. She adores kids, but her tail can be a dead trap if she gets overly excited. Still, the sweetest creature, and now I can't imagine how we lived without a giant dog before.

Woow, this is so cute! I like animals, especially cats. I have a cat, but he always behaves like he's the owner of my house.

He crawled into anything resembling a bag or a box and anytime he discovered a new one, that would become his spot for weeks. If a large package came that we didn't open right away or my hockey bag was packed for a game and zipped up, he'd stand in front of it with his front paws on it, look back at me and give an annoyed meow that probably meant "Hey, would you mind getting your crap outta my bag?" We had to put him down 2 years ago at age 15. I'm open to getting another one whenever my wife is ready for that. I like cats, but I don't get as bonded or attached to them as to dogs, because most of them are more independent and seemingly less appreciative than dogs. I know there are some that are much more like dogs and I hope our next cat is one of them.

@FreelanceWriter
Yeah, cats are the equivalent of teenagers at the height of their hormonal imbalance - feed me, clothe me, and f*uck off

Mine was actually very nice and I've only met a few that were nicer. We could pick him up anytime, hold him upside down, stretch him out upside down so he looked like Superman flying upside down, throw him over our shoulders and walk around with him draped over us, clip his nails with him purring, stick medication down his throat, etc. He greeted people at the door much like a dog, and also learned what surfaces (and sinks) he wasn't allowed on, what he wasn't allowed to scratch, and that he was allowed on the terrace (16th Floor) but not to jump up on the rail or go after birds. Still, you know the old joke:

Q: What's better than the nicest, sweetest, most appreciative, smartest, and most affectionate cat in the whole world?
A: Any dog.

If you try to pet my cat anywhere other than his head, you're going to get stitches. Not a nice dude, in the slightest :D

F that. I love animals and I'll help out even a temperamental one in need, but I'm never giving a permanent home to one that's mean or that lashes out at me in anger. Someone else can give those cats homes. I picked up a juvenile Russian Blue off the street about 20 years ago who was clearly ill. He purred when I picked him up and crawled into my lap in the car on the way to the vet. He was pretty nice after I got him home, but when I gently moved him out of my way on the couch or stopped him from doing anything he wasn't allowed to do, he'd bite. Found him another home immediately with someone else who didn't mind dealing with that. My house = my rules; and no aggressiveness from pets allowed, because I'm too nice to my pets to put up with anything different from them. There are way too many nicer cats who need homes for me to deal with that.

Well, we saved our cat from the dumpster - so there's that. Someone put him in a bag, closed it with duct tape and threw him in. He was there for at least two days (thrash is collected every three days), completely frozen, hungry, and deprived of oxygen.

He comes to chill out on his own and then you can do whatever you want, but if you try to pet him while he's not "in the mood", he gets defensive. Also likes to run around the block with other cats, very rarely at home. Still love him though, just not as much as my dogs.

Love, love the pics!! I have 2 dogs (Yorkie and long-hair Chihuahua) and a cat (fat and lazy). They are my constant companions whether working or chilling. I do have to be careful with the cat. She loves my work chair and literally eyes it, waiting on me to get up. Every time I get up, my chair is occupied when I return. Every. Time!

Ours got up to 18 pounds until we switched to senior/indoor cat food and I got him a cat wheel. He never really did it spontaneously except as a way of asking for food. I'd trained him to associate food rewards with a few spins on the wheel. If he heard me tapping on it, he' come into the gym from any other room in the house and start walking the wheel...until the last treat was gone. After that, he'd just lie down on it and it magnified the sound of his purring like a speaker. For some reason, my wife had put a rain deer hat on him this time...don't remember what that was about...as I said, he was a pretty tolerant good-natured little dude.

dropbox.com/s/un3s5kfl7mjzolc/video-2014-09-10-10-40-12.mp4?dl=0

I have a liverline Shi Tzu that I call my personal work timer. She sits beside me while I work and, when she feels that I have been working too long, she interrupts my work. She does this on a regular basis, about every 15 minutes. I cannot continue working unless I cuddle her on my lap while I work, or stand-up to play with her, feed her, or do something with her that requires me to get away from the computer. If I have some work that needs to go uninterrupted, I put on some YouTube dog videos for her to watch while I work nearby.

That usually works for about 4 hours or until she decides the cat videos have interrupted her viewing pleasure. In which case, I have to get up and find her another lengthy series of dog videos to watch. Being a workaholic, she really forces me to take time to relax and maybe binge watch a Netflix show or go on a YT cruise with her for a bit. My WFH experience is all so much better because of her presence in my workspace.

I've been living alone since my mother died 2 years ago. I share my living and work space with her Golden Retriever who is the sweetest creature on the planet. He is also the laziest GR to have ever come into being. He can spend his whole day just lying on his bed and sleeping his life away. He is not keen on taking walks, nor does he seem to like me so much, except when it is feeding time. He pretty much leaves me alone to get my work done. He was always my mother's dog anyway so I guess he is still missing her 2 years down the line and this is how he shows it to me.