Conner
Conner is a real renaissance dog. I debated sending a photo of him hiking, hanging out a brewery with his friends, resting his eyes while reading the Wall Street Journal, or a snap from his thirteenth birthday just a few weeks ago. Instead, I opted for a photo from one of his favorite activities: walking on the beach. This photo was taken last February, and he's continued to drink from the dog bowl of youth. He still likes to go for sprints on the sand, and age hasn't dulled his desire to sniff seaweed and explore logs that have been brought in by the surf.
Side note, immediately after taking this photo, we saw a monk and a county sheriff walking on the beach together. It sounds like the start of a bad joke or cozy mystery, but nothing funny or tragic happened, so that must just be life on the Oregon coast.
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| Conner |
Arabella
Arabella is more of a homebody. Her interests include books, dryer sheets, and sunbeams. She loves Conner and occasionally knocks "treats" off of the kitchen counter for him (baguettes, turkey cutlets, etc). Sometimes, when Conner is feeling generous, he gives her baths. Specifically, tongue baths. She seems to love it. Here, she's enjoying a good book
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| Arabella |
25 comments:
I love your pair! I hope Conner continues to drink from the dog bowl of youth, I never ever would've guessed he was in double digits! He's lucky to have such a great partner in crime as Arabella. One of my coworkers has a dog and cat pair that pull the ol' "cat knocks stuff off the counter, dog eats" trick as well.
I love this. Dog and cat living in harmony. Beautiful animals both.
Both of them are adorable. Great shot of Conner and Arabella seems very well read.
Our cat, Tigger wanted a midnight snack the other night. He opened the kitchen cabinet and dragged out the dry cat food. He no doubt tried to entice Gizmo (our pomeranian) to open it for him (this has worked in the past) but Gizmo doesn't have a taste for cat food so he declined. The girls refuse to work for their food (pampered lap dogs that they are) so he got no help there either.
So cute!
Such beautiful pets! And I love your beach story. "A monk and a sheriff walk into a bar..."
What's not to love about a cat with her nose in a book? And Connor looks gorgeous along that beach. Thank you for sharing. Is it nightsmusic's pets?
Arabella is perusing The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 7 - "Hmmm, now where did I see the one for eternal youth? I'd like to try it out on Conner..."
What a beautiful pair! The composition of the images and the backgrounds make the photos look like illustrations.
I'm enjoying the mental picture of the baguette and turkey cutlet flying off the counter. Sandwich fixings?
Connor seems to be enjoying the ocean breeze. He doesn't look like a teenager. May he continue to look and act like a puppy for a long time.
Arabella is the perfect literary cat. Does she critique your manuscripts? An artist/writer friend's cat used to decorate pages of which she disapproved with purple-painted paw prints.
Thanks for sharing these best friends with us. And I think you should write about the monk and sheriff.
I love the story of the cat knocking treats off the counter for the dog - It sounds like the start of something.
Thanks for sharing!
Happy belated 13th birthday, Conner! What a beautiful boy, and so happy!
Arabella is obviously very intelligent as well as being gorgeous.
Wonderful critters!
What a lovely pair!
Conner and Arabella are both gorgeous. You can see the happiness in Conner's eyes and the curiosity in Arabella's.
I can feel how much Conner loves the beach.
I'm not so fond of the Arabella picture. When my cat Brigada opens a book like that, her sole purpose is to shred the pages with her claws. It's led to some heart to heart talks between us. I hate those. It hurts me more than it hurts her. That's mainly because it's my blood that inevitably gets shed.
What a beautiful pair, and how clever of you to color coordinate so that you only have black and white hair on your clothes.
I love the idea of Arabella stealing snacks for Conner. And here, I thought cats were supremely self-centered. That's what I get for profiling.
Wishing many more years of beaches and sunbeams for them both.
I'm a sucker for inter-species friends :) Conner seems to know his picture's being taken. And Arabella appears to be a very advanced reader!
Ten years ago when I lived with my sister, my cat and her pup were young, and they'd tag-team the destruction of pens. We wondered how the heck the 45-lb pup was getting up on the counters/ desks to get the pens. Then we saw it happen. Cats get such a fascinated look when they know they're triggering something really bad!
Arabella's clearly a lit agent, underwhelmed or baffled by her client's plot twist and therefore looking at it from a different angle.
Conner's the oblivious, happy client.
(PS: They are adorable. I'm smiling stupidly at my phone.)
This made me laugh. I love how it's written like a dating profile, although these two already seem to have found their best friend in each other. Great pics.
Who do we know on the Oregon coast? I have a good friend, also a writer, who lives there but these are not her pets.
I love stories where pets are besties. Biggles and our dear-departed-cat Ducati used to love playing hide and seek. They'd tear through the house and one would hide and the other would hunt for them. The idea being when they were found they'd whack the findee on the nose who then had to hide.
I'm rather glad Ducati didn't associate with any cats like Arabella, because for sure and for certain she would have happily helped steal food for Biggles if someone had shared the idea.
I can claim to be staff to these furballs. I took both of them to the vet yesterday. Conner loved it, as he sees the vet as a place where lots of women give him treats. Arabella tried to hide, but didn't complain when the vet techs and/or vet picked her up, told her she was soft, and gave her cuddles (plus an exam and rabies vaccine).
Joseph Snoe, you don't have to worry about Arabella destroying books. She's incredibly gentle cat, and is just looking. I think she was eager to see how Rae Carson had resolved The Bitter Kingdom (which is the book she's reading).
KdJames, I went to high school on the Oregon Coast, but moved to Portland for college and the better job market. But we visit often, although I rarely go to my hometown. We usually rent a house for the week of Thanksgiving, and even take Arabella, who seems to enjoy the ocean view and the chance to cuddle with Conner in a new place.
Beautiful pets The Sleepy One...! Arabella reminds me of my Jax from long ago...and the pic of Connor is so visually arresting! That big smile of happiness, it's clear he loves the beach!
Thanks for clearing that up, Sleepy One! I am SO bad at remembering names and apparently that extends to names of places as well as people. I really thought you lived in Washington state. Maybe I should start taking notes...
I'm so ashamed that I didn't recognize Connor from your IG, Sleepy One! He's a beautiful dog, and this is a beautiful picture--he looks so happy! Love that we got to learn more about him. Arabella's gorgeous and clearly knows what's up. So cool that they're best buds. You have to tell me how you did it! ;)
Susan, we brought Arabella home as a two pound kitten who had been around dogs. She was a rescue--her mother had been feral--and the woman in charge of fostering her had two dogs.
We introduced Arabella and Conner a short while after coming home, and they sniffed noses. A few hours later they were curled up side-by-side, taking a nap.
We had another cat then who has since passed away and it took her slightly longer (about a month) to accept Arabella as her new friend and wrestling companion. So for a few years, Conner had two cats bossing him around, stealing his crate and bed, and giving him headbutts and other signs of kitty love. Oh, and Conner used see himself as a kitty-wrestling referee.
So basically, I did it by finding a nice dog at the humane society who adores small dogs and extends that love to cats, and then adopted cats (one bossy adult, one kitten) wifh experience around dogs.
I love that these two immediately became friends, like they knew they were meant to be best buds and partners-in-crime. I had my cat first and although he was tolerant of Riley, they slept on opposite ends of the couch--close, but not too close. I'm pretty sure that was their motto.
Riley loves Moxie. There's an eight-year age difference and I think that makes a difference. They play together but more often than not, Riley likes to be left alone. Moxie is a snuggler, but Riley's only a snuggler with me. I think Moxie will be really great with another dog or cat when the time comes--I think sometimes it just depends on their personalities.
Love that Arabella and Connor are snuggly, though! They certainly can teach us humans a thing or two ;)
Sweet. :)
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