[speaker001:] okay do you have any pets
[speaker002:] yeah I have three cats and a dog
[speaker001:] oh boy sounds like us yeah go ahead
[speaker002:] um uh we just got the the dog less than a year ago so he's still a puppy
[speaker001:] oh what kind is it
[speaker002:] he's a mixed breed he's part Collie part Shepherd and part Chow
[speaker001:] oh so he's got
[speaker002:] more Collie and Shepherd than Chow the only Chow he's got is is his tongue
[speaker001:] oh he's got a blue tongue oh
[speaker002:] yeah he's got little spots on them
[speaker001:] we have two Chows and a miniature Schnauzer and recently added a guinea pig which wasn't by my choice but I was out ruled so but the dogs are mine mainly mine and my husband but I just love them to death
[speaker002:] was the guinea pig for your for your child
[speaker001:] daughter yes yes as if the dogs weren't enough had to have a guinea pig so anyway she's she enjoys her though so that's that's what matters but um our Chows we've had them I'd say right around six maybe seven years and they're um
[speaker002:] really
[speaker001:] registered and we've been breeding them she's had about four or five litters
[speaker002:] oh my my husband's always wanted a Chow but I'm kind of concerned about um with having cats
[speaker001:] oh uh-huh
[speaker002:] and how how they socialize with cats um which is one of the reasons why we got a mixed breed um because we we thought they would socialize easier
[speaker001:] right um-hum
[speaker002:] um my husband had originally wanted an Akita and his brother has an Akita and he so far he's bitten ten people
[speaker001:] um-hum um oh man
[speaker002:] so
[speaker001:] goodness
[speaker002:] and the people that he got the Akita from used to have cats and they no longer have any other cats
[speaker001:] so
[speaker002:] uh
[speaker001:] it's telling them yeah when we had um we had a cat when we first married no yeah we had the cat first and then we got um the Chows and bring them bringing them in as puppies they got along just fabulous with her and uh you would think you know that they were all dogs the way she would prance around them and and paw at their face and they'd just play and they were never they never harmed her
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] so uh they got along great now I don't know how how it would be bringing in uh cat to a full full grown dog
[speaker002:] yeah I I wouldn't want to bring a cat into a full grown dog but I I wouldn't feel
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] um hesitant about bringing a puppy in to adult cats I think they would socialize easier
[speaker001:] right I think so too
[speaker002:] um how how old is your child
[speaker001:] five she
[speaker002:] five so you had the dogs before you had the baby
[speaker001:] right and I was not really concerned about um them harming her uh I think I think a lot of that that that we hear all the time is how you bring them up
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] and ours are real friendly they're protective but they're very friendly and lovable I mean you think they're lapdogs
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] you know they'll just come jump on your lap and want to be have their bellies rubbed and everything and
[speaker002:] what color are they
[speaker001:] uh the female's red and the male is black
[speaker002:] oh I bet the black one's pretty
[speaker001:] yeah he is he's a big old thing and um I was concerned about the female mainly and as luck had it uh she had puppies the same week my daughter was born so it was kind of like she had her babies and understood about
[speaker002:] about your baby
[speaker001:] you know yeah and and I think that really helped and um my daughter you know since since she's little has been playing with them and they let her tug their hair and and get on their back or whatever and she's she's grown up with them and loves them to death and they love her so
[speaker002:] yeah I think it's good for kids to grow up around pets as as long as they don't have any allergies to them or anything but I think it really helps them to
[speaker001:] so I do too yeah
[speaker002:] understand when when uh they go to other people's houses and they have pets I see so many times kids just you know being mean to animals not really understanding that the animals have feelings
[speaker001:] yeah exactly that or or uh the other extreme they're they're terrified of them and I hate that and they shouldn't be I mean some maybe but but um
[speaker002:] yeah yeah
[speaker001:] like our miniature Schnauzer she's just she's just like um a little hyper thing and just prances around and jumps all over everybody acting silly and a lot of kids are scared of that and which I understand because she is you know a lot of movement and everything but when she calms down they're so scared of her it's it that bothers me because she's the friendliest thing she wouldn't hit you know harm them at all
[speaker002:] um
[speaker001:] and and and that's mainly people that have never had pets around their children so I think I think it's a good idea to have them we've had a um in the past we've had birds too uh like cockatoos
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] and parrots and uh
[speaker002:] now are the are the cockatoos are those the big ones
[speaker001:] the big white
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] birds with the the orange crest on top
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] we've had those and those are neat they're messy very messy yeah and loud oh a lot louder than a dog you know a dog you can stop barking you know or whatever but the birds you it's hard to keep them from squawking or whatever but
[speaker002:] are they yeah
[speaker001:] but they were neat enjoyable animals to have
[speaker002:] well we've thought about getting an aquarium partly because partly for the cats I think the cats would really enjoy it um
[speaker001:] um-hum yeah with a lid
[speaker002:] yeah yeah of course um but so far we just uh and and starting up an aquarium an aquarium we we're thinking about getting a saltwater and they're so expensive to start up
[speaker001:] oh yeah they yes yes they are and in your the luck of keeping them alive through those first you know few days
[speaker002:] yeah yeah but the the saltwater fish have so much more color and they're so much more beautiful
[speaker001:] I know they are
[speaker002:] um the freshwater tank's just really to me they don't there's most of them really aren't that pretty
[speaker001:] no
[speaker002:] I really don't I really don't care much for them
[speaker001:] right I don't blame you there I think the saltwater are a lot more attractive than I don't know those fish fish are just beautiful just it's like you have a little bit of ocean with you or something something rather than just little fish
[speaker002:] yeah yeah
[speaker001:] but I don't mind having my daughter had a like a little goldfish
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] about a year or two ago and it finally died and that was neat but it and they're you know she can't play with it you can just look at it and
[speaker002:] yeah yeah
[speaker001:] you know you can't roll around and tussle around with it like you can a dog or a cat and
[speaker002:] yeah I wouldn't I wouldn't dare have a a goldfish here because uh it it it would probably be in a small bowl and then my cats would knock it over I have to be real careful about
[speaker001:] yeah um-hum
[speaker002:] where I put things if the cats will will jump up on things and knock things over all the time
[speaker001:] oh no oh no
[speaker002:] they're always up where they don't where they're not supposed to be
[speaker001:] yes yeah and that's hard
[speaker002:] I know that's that's just like kids you know you you they know that they're not supposed to do it but they're going to do it anyway because they know they're not supposed to
[speaker001:] that's right and they're so independent I love having them for that reason
[speaker002:] yeah yeah and until we got the dog um it was real easy to to go to town for three day three day weekend or whatever and now
[speaker001:] sure
[speaker002:] it's like a major production trying to find somebody to take care of the dog while you're gone
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum  that's right that is hard
[speaker002:] and I we knew it but we never even thought that about when we got the dog we just saw him oh he's so cute let's take him home you know and then the first weekend we had him we had we were in a apartment in a two bedroom apartment
[speaker001:] oh yes um-hum
[speaker002:] and my husband went out of town and left me with with the brand new puppy and I had to work twelve hours that day
[speaker001:] oh fun oh no
[speaker002:] and so I left the dog locked in the bedroom and I put paper all over the floor well when I came home I opened the door and there were chunks of carpet padding
[speaker001:] oh oh oh no
[speaker002:] everything all over the place and he had tried to dig his way out from underneath the door
[speaker001:] oh no I guess you didn't get your deposit back did you
[speaker002:] well I had the carpet fixed um I yeah I didn't even tell the apartment managers about it
[speaker001:] oh good oh okay oh no bless your heart
[speaker002:] but that that was my first real experience with with with a puppy when when we had our family dog growing up I was eleven or twelve I think when we first got him and I wasn't really involved in the the the
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] paper training and you know teaching him commands and stuff so this was and to me a whole new experience only it wasn't like cats at all
[speaker001:] sure yeah yes it is no no I wish it was I wish they were in that instinct but they don't our only problem with our Schnauzer she's an indoor dog most of the time and
[speaker002:] so um-hum
[speaker001:] uh we finally she's right at a year and we finally got her you know house trained and everything uh her only problem is trash if you do not pick the trash up you know the container and put it on a table or chair or something she'll knock it over I don't care how full full she is so it's not like she's hungry it's just she wants to get into trouble
[speaker002:] um-hum my cats do that it if I throw anything away that's any kind of meat or anything like that anything that
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] that they think is good they'll get into the trash and then it doesn't matter where you put it and where you hide it and how how tight you have the lid down on it they'll get into it
[speaker001:] yeah yeah
[speaker002:] I've come home many a days from work to find trash all over the kitchen floor
[speaker001:] oh I hate that
[speaker002:] and the cat's just looking at me like sorry
[speaker001:] uh yeah you shouldn't have left it there I just hate that when she does that I just oh and she knows it's wrong you'll walk in the door and she'll cower and go hide under the table
[speaker002:] I couldn't help myself um-hum
[speaker001:] so you she knows she does wrong but she uh she continues continues to do it so
[speaker002:] yeah and the problem that we're having with our puppy right now he's not really he's actually not really a puppy anymore he's like sixteen months old
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] um but he's still chewing
[speaker001:] oh is he
[speaker002:] um the last thing he chewed up was uh when we