well uh Cathy do you have any pets in your home
we do actually we have a a Golden Retriever a dog and we have a cat and we have we just got two um
how nice um-hum
Russian Dwarf hamsters which dwarf hamsters lucky us huh
dwarf hamsters
how big is a dwarf hamster
real small they're maybe about oh two inches long they're real small they're real tiny they're cute they really are cute
yeah
my goodness where did you get those
uh my son's baseball coach uh had two and then had multiple hamsters that he was trying to get rid of
uh-huh
and so that's that's where we got them from now we've been assured they're both males and they're in two separate cages so we don't want any
well
okay
i was going to say that
we don't want to go into the dwarf hamster business
oh
how about you
well right now we don't have any pets we've uh we've tried various things we you know obviously do have children
uh-huh
uh-huh
and uh we tried a dog first and we had a a puppy a uh
a what did they call him a Westie
uh-huh is uh is are they very small uh-huh
they're small uh-huh it's a terrier and uh that didn't work out very well
oh uh-huh
and uh for a variety of reasons but the
the dog was just all mouth and teeth it seemed like the only way it could of show affection was by nibbling you on things
oh really yeah
oh no kidding uh-huh
yeah so it it never worked out and uh
so we we have we gave up on that and then we tried cats
uh-huh
and we ended up with a
a bad set of cats if that's possible but i'm a i'm a big fan of cats i always had cats growing up
oh
um-hum
are you yeah
and uh my wife on the other hand was not a fan of cats at all but we had these two that they we knew someone that uh uh you know wanted to get rid of these kittens and
uh-huh
uh so we gave it a try
and uh they were impossible to house train
really boy that's real unusual for cats usually you just put down a litter box and that's the end of that yeah
that's the end of that and these it was real strange and uh they were both solid white cats
um-hum
and uh one had blue eyes and the other had white regular you know yellow eyed cats
um-hum um-hum
brothers and sisters and we had them declawed and we had them neutered and uh invested all all that money in it into it but uh we simply one of them in particular we just could not uh
train to use we tried different types of litter changed it frequently and it was just unbelievable
really really huh huh
oh
and so we finally found someone else that was willing to to to give it a try with them
uh-huh
and sure enough it it worked worked worked for a little while and then they too couldn't seem to get them to use the litter box
really really hum
uh so they ended up finding someone else that was willing to give it a try and that's when i lost track of these two cats
yeah
really yeah yeah oh that's too bad
yeah that was that was pretty sad because uh it took a lot of lobbying just to get the cats in the house to begin with so we sure couldn't make another try at it
sure sure sure
yeah yeah well we were real fortunate with our pets um when my husband and i were getting married we we had both been married before and so we were blending families and we had taken this blended families course through uh
P I S T you know they how they have the effective parent parent training effectiveness effectiveness training
hum
right
right
and uh so we took a blended families course and Linda Hitt the person who was teaching the course said sometimes when you have children on this side and children on this side
you have a you know a mutual child that brings the family together and we looked at each other and laughed and said we'll get a dog and uh
yeah i bet that's funny
and uh so we i had always wanted a Golden Retriever i just think they're real neat dogs that that's a nice breed you know they're real calm and gentle and
and whatnot so my husband thought well for Christmas he was going to surprise me with a puppy and he was looking around for a puppy and
then um he saw he decided just on a whim i think i'll call the SPCA
um-hum
and he called the Dallas SPCA and he said you wouldn't happen to have a Golden Retriever would you and they said you won't believe it but we had one dropped off last night
good grief
and he'd they said he's AKC registered he's two years old and he's going to go fast
i'll bet yeah
so we thought okay what's wrong with this dog who would give up a two year old Golden Retriever you know that's a nice dog something's got to be wrong with this dog
right
nothing is wrong with it we have had him now for three years and just love him to death he is wonderful yeah he is he's a great dog he's he's
well that's great
he makes a real lousy uh watchdog though because he he just loves everybody and he wags his tail and you know
he's he's great he's great we just we think he's wonderful
and our cat just kind of you know pays us the time of day when he's in the mood and otherwise
we don't see him
yeah
is it primarily outdoor cat then or just
yeah he is he comes in and he goes out he's he kind of
yeah
you know is just around we we don't really don't see him except for feeding time you know or when he wants when he's in the mood for a little affection
that's interesting
he'll show up huh
he'll show up yeah yeah
but so that's our family and we just you know uh everybody seems to get along real well the kids the dog and the cat so we're okay
um-hum
great
yeah
well has the cat discovered the uh the hamsters yet
the hamsters actually it's the dog that is enthralled with the hamsters because the hamsters are recent you know they were just last week
oh
and
the first night we had them
somebody knocked over the cage and we thought it was the cat we really did we blamed the cat and we thought the hamster had disappeared and had been eaten but we found him he he just he narrowly escaped with his life but he was found
um-hum
but since then we have discovered the dog sits and watches them for hours on end
oh my goodness
you know they'll get going in the little wheel and he'll sit there and just stare at them so i'm wondering now if it really was the cat who knocked them off the shelf it might have been it might have been the dog
yeah
but the cat doesn't seem to be too bothered with them it's it's the dog that just sits there for hour after hour and watches these hamsters it's it's funny
i'll be and my sister has tried that with both hamsters gerbils and small birds
yeah yeah
uh-huh
and it's amazing what their cat has been able to do
really
i think that pretty much over time has figured out a way to get those small creatures
out really
eventually to get them out to get the cage down from wherever it is even if it's the top of the refrigerator
yeah
uh-huh uh-huh
to get that cage down and into it somehow
yeah yeah well we warned them you the kids you know we said you know with the cat in the house you know these may not last too long
um-hum
is that right
but he doesn't seem to be bothered with them you know he's real content you know chasing flies and birds outside so you know he's he's not too bad
um-hum
yeah
but so are you going to try again with another cat sometime
well i would like to we shall see i want it to be a you know indoor outdoor animal next time
yeah
yeah
and uh
