[speaker001:] do you have any pets
[speaker002:] yeah I have five cats two dogs a snake and a bunny
[speaker001:] holy Nellie
[speaker002:] that's enough to keep anybody busy with pets how about you
[speaker001:] I oh I guess we have one miniature Dachshund
[speaker002:] um I think I'm envious
[speaker001:] oh I don't think I could cope with that many how do how do you uh avoid having your house smell
[speaker002:] well my cats are indoor outdoor cats and I don't know I hadn't really thought about it one thing is to keep everything clean I mean you have to keep cages like for the rabbit you have to keep it cleaned and you have to keep litter boxes scooped
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] but most of my cats go outside so there's not that much there I only have one who stays inside
[speaker001:] um do you let your rabbit run around loose
[speaker002:] oh no it's in a cage lot of people do but I've never been able to quite handle that with a rabbit
[speaker001:] okay I I knew somebody who said they were easy to uh litter box train but she had trouble with it chewing on wood
[speaker002:] no I've never I've never even tried it to be honest with you it's really my daughter's rabbit
[speaker001:] oh how what kind of a dog do you have
[speaker002:] um I have I have one that's kind of a Golden Retriever mutt that means a mix and then my daughter just got an American Eskimo
[speaker001:] um-hum uh do they get along
[speaker002:] and oh yeah oh yeah all my cats and my dogs and even the rabbit and the dogs and the cats everybody in my house gets along except the snake he kind of keeps to himself
[speaker001:] see we our dog hates every other animal and our we have a couple children that are are grown and on their own and every once in a while they will come home for a visit with an animal
[speaker002:] right
[speaker001:] and our our dog just about has a stroke
[speaker002:] well he's probably older and he's used to being the only dog and it's hard for him just like people it's hard for them to give up their
[speaker001:] well
[speaker002:] their place as the only one and kind of share the attention but almost all of my animals are used to not being the only one in the house and so they're kind of used to being part of a group
[speaker001:] um-hum well we we kind of joke that that our our dog's about eight years old and but one son was between jobs for a couple of weeks and was here with a Golden Retriever
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] and uh when he left you know we swear the our dog's muzzle turned white and then uh our our other son is in the Navy and was being relocated to go to school down at College Station so he was here for a couple days in between waiting for his household goods and stuff and with a beagle puppy and we swear after she left the dog got gray on the front two feet you know
[speaker002:] maybe he's just getting old
[speaker001:] I don't know but it seems a a a visit from uh one of his cousins uh tends to uh really really affect how he is
[speaker002:] turns him gray one of the things they mentioned was why do you think people have pets
[speaker001:] well I think they're I think they're good company I have been trying for years to convince my mother who lives alone that she would like a a dog she loves it when she comes here and our dog sits on her lap you know and she'll just sit there and pet him and pet him and I'll say you need an animal he would
[speaker002:] I think so too I really think that they are wonderful therapy they're they're just companionship I'm
[speaker001:] and yes um-hum
[speaker002:] obviously I'm a I'm a real believer in them
[speaker001:] well and I I think they're good for kids in that they can teach the kids responsibility you know if if you if you have a a kid who wants an animal badly enough and agrees to take care of it I mean it's a responsibility cleaning up after it and
[speaker002:] yes I think so too
[speaker001:] um you feeding it making sure it has water and uh you know just just all that kind of stuff that's that's good also uh
[speaker002:] feeding it that's right
[speaker001:] but we just have a we we in the past we've had Great Danes
[speaker002:] ooh that's a big dog
[speaker001:] which were probably the best pets we've ever had
[speaker002:] really
[speaker001:] yeah oh they were well the first one we had was wonderful she just finally died of old age but she was just so the the greatest house pet and uh we were asked when she was probably about ten years old when our our youngest one was born and she would totally ignore this baby I mean the dog could be laying there sleeping and somebody could carry this child into the room and the dog would just kind of sniff and walk walk out of the room and would have absolutely nothing to do with the baby until uh she got old enough to sit in the high chair and throw food over
[speaker002:] oh yeah
[speaker001:] yet and then all of a sudden the dog decided she was okay but yeah but then my husband decided it would might be nice to have a lap dog for a change
[speaker002:] um here's a source yeah
[speaker001:] now he just really likes having a dog that curls up in his lap when he watches TV and sits in his recliner and falls asleep
[speaker002:] sure that's neat that's neat
[speaker001:] uh what what