In these pages you will meet the dogs and cats who live with us. Some are champions, some are rescues. Some we bred ourselves, some we bought from other breeders, some came to us from shelters, from other homes, from the street. All of them are family.

It's easy to love our dogs, of course, as they have such interesting lives. If you consider yourself a sophisticated pet owner, or even a cynical one, it's probably best that you not read any further.

Because of course, truly urbane pet owners would never demean themselves by creating an email account for their cat. Nor would they construct an elaborate world in which one of their dogs is an attorney, and the dogs and cats of several friends and family members routinely leave phone messages for him.

It all began for me when I created an email account called BadLillie@aol.com to correspond with a sick friend back east. She was very fond of my dog Lillie, and stories of Lillie's more wicked exploits brightened her days in a hospice as she was dying. It only seemed natural for Lillie to start writing Vicki herself, explaining how she had been misunderstood and misrepresented. Vicki of course was completely sympathetic, and their correspondence continued until Vicki's death.

Then my mom's dog Skye turned into an attorney. I don't even really remember how that happened, but it involved many phone calls with my friend KT's ridgeback Sirene, the Geneva Convention, appearances in the world court at the Hague, and eventually of course, his own email address (SkyeEsq@aol.com). Although he had to discontinue that email address due to lack of time, he continues to practice, naturally limiting his cases to those involving animal neglect (such as dinner being two or three minutes late). He also spearheads an international relief effort called Starving Deerhounds of the World, Inc. Doughal used to have a business called "Doughal Delivers," which did very well until he took on a pizza delivery contract and there began to be problems with reliability. Seems no one was happy when they ordered a pizza and all they got was a soggy cardboard box!

We hope you enjoy reading our four-footed family members' stories as much as we enjoy sharing them with you!

Those Gone On
Please visit our memorial page to read about our dogs who have gone to the Bridge.