i very much agree, both of my current dogs are shelter dogs. A Lab-border collie cross i adopted had been in the shelter for almost 3 weeks. Our shelter has a small outdoor run, maybe 50 feet long, for dogs to exercise in. After bringing her home and introducing her to the house we went outside, where i have 7 acres that is next to several hundred more acres that i have access to. Once outside, she would start to run, but then immediately stop, like she was expecting to hit the fence at the end of the run she was used to at the shelter. Iāll never forget the joy she expressed when she realized there was no fence, and she could run at will
4 Likes
My family has two rough collies neither of them are shelter dogs. Both of them are however cute, huge, and shed tons of heir every day.
Rats are pretty good at being pets, living about three years. Sometimes getting into rodenty things like chewing on the furnishings. But a lot of fun. My son made a rat-run all along the walls of his bedroom.
2 Likes
Being a New Zealander, @hedgehog111 you might recall Calf Club. Kids used to come to school on Calf Club day leading large calves, or lambs. I had a Tukidale lamb at one stage to raise along with my three year old son.
1 Like
Rough collies are beautiful dogs. I do like large dogs, my previous was a Bernese mountain dog cross. But having to lift an aged but still active 90-lb dog onto and off of my tailgate, as i did with him, was not something i wanted to do when i am aged but still active, so i now have two 45-50 lb dogs.
2 Likes
No sorry, I have never heard of calf club.
Chickens for sure! I counted those as birds. Besides that, I love my cats and my puppy is sweet (though still a lot of work). But cats take next to no work and have unique personalities. But my favorite now and forever will always be chickens!
3 Likes
Weāve got 13 chickens/rosters and yes I must agree chickens are great.
1 Like
The only pets I have experience with are dogs (three of them, at separate times, Iāve never had more than one at a time), cats (only one), fish, and some species of aquatic frog. And up until now Iāve still been living with my parents so Iāve never really been the one primarily taking care of any of these animals, itās mostly them who do it. So I feel like I donāt really have enough experience with actually being the one taking care of the pet to vote in the poll.
I do think we need some reptiles and inverts included in the poll though, even if I have no experience with them (Iād love to someday though).
1 Like
Here I was just thinking, itās a good thing the OP said best pets, not most unusual ones. Because a thread on most unusual ones would start to include wildlife that we really oughtnāt to be keeping as pets. I had a pet black widow for a while when I was a grad student, but I wouldnāt call her one of my best. I canāt really think how any herps or inverts could be among the best pets, seeing as they lack a cerebral cortex and hence cannot bond with their humans.
2 Likes
I think ābestā would definitely depend on who is keeping the pet. Like you canāt bond as much with an invert, but as far as I know they tend to be lower maintenance pets than mammals and such, so if somebody isnāt able to handle taking care of a pet that needs to eat every single day, then an invert that needs to eat a lot less frequently could very well be the best pet for that person. It depends on the pet owner and what theyāre capable of doing, not just the animals themselves. The best pet for one person wonāt be the best pet for everybody, and thatās okay.
5 Likes
I forgot bees
Any one got a stick insect
We had a tank of stick insects when I worked at the nature center. They were gentle, yet had some fun behaviors.
She wasnāt captive, but I enjoyed daily visits with Gilda, the preying mantid who lived in my patio. She was a great beauty (I named her after Gilda Radner). Gilda was quite accepting of daily visits and seemed to enjoy displaying herself on my hand.Gilda with her beautiful eyes
2 Likes
By curious coincidence, today I found a pair of walking sticks in a live oak tree. They looked so sweet; and they seem to have a romantic backstory. The smaller male lives out most of his life clinging to the femaleās back. She drops her eggs as they walk along. This pair seem like a contented couple.
https://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.php?identification=California-Timema
I would actually argue that they are better (mostly). Sure, in poorer countries underfed dogs are forced to prey on native species, but most dogs nowadays are either kept in a yard or are not hunters. Our current dog for example is a maremma, a massive white fluffball that was actually used to protect penguins and bandicoots here in Australia.
Cats are ok in their own way, but are much more liable to roaming and preying on birds, small mammals and herps. This is just my take on it. If Iām wrong, tell meš
1 Like
I talked more about stray dogs which are very common.
They still will kill if are able to, but surely pet dogs are less likely to do that than cats that live by kill and will only catch things on land and also less likely to roam away from ownerās territory.
Or arthropods, amphibians, lizards, wait, do plants and fungi count?
2 Likes
Dogs can go rogue anywhere, not just poor countries, Iām afraid. I am still sad about the dog pack that killed some very special animals (donkey, mini horses) at the local childrenās zoo:
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/happy-hollow-san-jose-horses-donkey-dog-maul-dead-12537735.php
BTW, I like dogs very much! Itās just that thereās an unpredictable element. My mom had the sweetest dog, a German shepard/hound mix. The dog never wanted to leave the back yard for a walk she was so shy; though, she loved to play and go for car rides. One day, she jumped a 6-ft gate and ran down a boy on his bike pulling him to the pavement and biting him pretty badly. He was a pretty nice kid, too (not one to tease or bother animals). It was so Utterly unforeseen - this was probably the last dog Iād have suspected of doing something like that.
1 Like
This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.