I grew up with pets. We always had at least one dog and cat. At different times as a kid, I also had guinea pigs, gerbils, hamsters, fish, lizards, frogs, and even fiddler crabs. I honestly can’t imagine having a home without pets in it.
I don’t always include a furry character in my books, but I enjoy it when I do. And the pets are often written in memory of one of the beloved pets we’ve had in the past. I thought I’d introduce them to you.
Rogue the Border Collie from Finding Peace
In Finding Peace, Officer Tuck Chandler has a Border Collie named Rogue. I wrote Rogue to resemble a Border Collie we used to have before my husband and I had children. Kit was my dog and she went camping with us, slept by my side of the bed, and loved to play fetch endlessly. I took her through obedience classes, and we even got into agility for a while. She was notorious for getting a big drink of water and then walking over to give me a kiss. Of course, water would drip down my leg or off my hand. lol Tuck’s dog, Rogue, is much the same way and would play ball until he collapsed from exhaustion.
Khanrad the German Shepherd from Finding Courage
When Duke and Avalon McNeil are having trouble with someone trespassing on their property in Finding Courage, they decide to get a dog. More specifically, they adopt a little German Shepherd puppy that they name Khanrad. This puppy is full of mischief and is exactly like our own German Shepherd named Khanrad used to be. My husband and I adopted him shortly after we got married, and he was with us for twelve years. Khanrad was quite the trouble maker. I admit that I didn’t always get along with him, but he mellowed as he got older, and he’d do anything to protect his family. There were just a few things we had to keep in mind. For one, he didn’t like it when we left him in the house alone. We quickly learned he had to stay crated otherwise there were always consequences. Many times, he got up on the kitchen counter and ate all the bread products, leaving the packaging on the floor. Another day, we came home to find he’d torn up a pen, coasters, Tupperware containers in the sink, and even the remote control. He was quite the character. I always picture Khanrad in Finding Courage to be exactly like that as well. Hopefully living on a farm will help Avalon and Duke’s version stay out of trouble!
There are other pets that remind me of those we have had. For example, in Finding Faith, Serenity Chandler hears a kitten meowing from under her car. They finally rescued a little Siamese. Her son, Gideon, has autism and quickly becomes attached to the kitten. They name her Kia and take her home. While we’ve never had a Siamese, we did adopt a kitten that was found inside a vehicle. In this case, the vehicle was taken to a local mechanic where the black kitten was pulled pulled out safely. He was aptly named Yukon.
We have some friends who own a Great Pyrenees. From the moment I met her, I knew I had to write a Great Pyrenees into a story somehow. It was amazing to see just how graceful and peaceful such a large dog could be. In Safe In His Arms, Anna Henderson runs from her ex-boyfriend and hopes she can use the evidence she has to put him behind bars. While having to stay in her car for a time is scary, it helps that she has Epic, her Great Pyrenees, by her side. I have to admit, I’d love to have one of these amazing dogs myself one day.
Stormy, the black cat in my novella, Finding Forever in Romance, is very much like a black cat my family had when I was a kid. Lucky was fun, stubborn, and she loved to play on her terms. It wasn’t unusual for Lucky to go to the top of the cat post, wait for someone to walk by, and then whack them in the back of the head. lol She was also very temperamental. I remember having plants on the windowsill in my bedroom. Lucky would jump up there and sit on them to look outside. I’d shoo her off because I was afraid she’d squash and kill them. After making her get down a few times, I walked into my room to find her on the windowsill again. She looked at me, proceeded to knock both potted plants onto the floor in one bold move, then jumped down and ran off. That was Lucky: sweet, a troublemaker, and unforgettable.
Here are the two dogs we have now: Jasper and Jessie. We found Jasper on the side of the road as a puppy on Easter eight years ago, and he’s been with us ever since. Jessie was a rescue dog that had been bounced around three different homes by the time we got her at six-months-old. Both are such great dogs, and we can’t imagine our home without them!
What pets do you have? I’d love to hear about them! Or share about your most memorable or most unusual pet. :-)
Melanie D. Snitker is a USA Today Bestselling Author who writes inspirational and sweet romance novels. She and her husband live in the beautiful Texas Hill Country with their two children who keep their lives full of adventure. They share their home with two dogs, a guinea pig, two lizards, and four frogs. In her spare time, Melanie enjoys photography, reading, baking, computer games, and hanging out with family and friends.
Hi Melanie, love the photos of your dogs- great names:) Most unusual pet- when I was a kid, we found an injured joey (baby kangaroo) near the road in front of our house. Its mum had been hit by a car and the joey was in her pouch. I remember mum and dad making a bag for it to hang in off a door handle, feeding it and looking after it until it was big enough, then one day it hopped off to make its own home. My dad always had birds- peacocks, budgies, a couple magpies and so on, so no cats!!
Blessings:)
Hi Melanie and thanks for sharing the stories about your pets. Presently we have a 15 year old deaf Sheltie named Penny. Penny has always been my dog and is never far from my side. As a child, I had a cat and several parakeets. Since being married, we have had three cats (Mimi, Smokey, and Abbey the crabby Tabby), a Sheltie named Lord McBeth, a canary winged bee bee parrot named Laura, and a hermit crab named Herbie. Best wishes. Enjoy reading stories with animals. Best wishes.
My thoughts and prayers are with the people in Houston, Rockport and Corpus Christi area. Hoping that all Texan Inspy Romance authors and their Texan readers are safe or finding shelter during this devastating time. May God grant strength and shelter.
No pets. The children did have a few hermit crabs, a millipede, and a couple of frogs for a short time but we’re without any pets at this point.
I finally grave in and we adopted a dog. His name is Milo and he’s absolutely adorable. He’s very protective, yet friendly. I would say he’s my husband and son’s best friend. I am glad we waited to choose a pup and the wait ended up being the best thing.
Thank you! Wow on the injured joey. That’s wonderful your family took care of it like that. Definitely a pet to remember! That makes sense you never had cats with all the birds your dad had. Fun!
Penny seems like a real sweetheart! I enjoyed hearing about all of your pets. Thank you for your thoughts for those affected but Harvey. My family and I are fine where we are and haven’t even received as much rain as we’d anticipated. I do have family and friends in the Houston area who are all safe. My husband’s family in Corpus Christi are as well. But I know that there are many people who are not, and my thoughts and prayers are with them!
I always thought it would be neat to have a hermit crab!
Milo – what a great name! I’m so glad you adopted him and that you’re happy to have him in your family!
I’m a big dog lover. We have a yellow lab. She’s ten years old and a great companion. As I was walking her the other day we came across two Doberman Pinchers off leach. They were with their person on the other side of a four foot fence that surrounds an elementary school property. My dog walked a little ways further with me but then all of a sudden she refused to walk and sat facing the other dogs. She has NEVER done this before. No amount of encouragement would get her to move. I finally decided to cross the street. She cooperated and we went on our way without further incident. I am still baffled by her behavior.
When we were first married, my husband and I adopted a Siamese from the pound. She would greet us at the door each evening and give us a long (very long!) recitation of her day. If I ignored her, Tiffany would just meow louder and louder as she’d follow me around. She was with us for 18 years.
I’ve always had pets and can’t imagine life without them.
My dad rescued a baby flying squirrel from a dog attack. His mom and siblings were killed. He built a large cage and we raised him using a doll bottle until he could eat on his own. We named him McKeever.
Since I’m allergic to cats and dogs, we’ve had large assortment of other pets over the years as we raised our kids. Currently kids are all grown and gone, but we have a lion head rabbit and a hermit crab.
Yellow labs are so pretty! Interesting about what your dog did. I’m sure there was something she knew (whether she could hear or smell it) and she was probably protecting you from it! Maybe she didn’t trust the dogs? Or there was something between you guys and them? You’ll never know, but dogs are so smart!
It sounds like Tiffany had such a great personality. Siamese are beautiful! I’ve never had one, but I’ve always admired them. I agree, can’t imagine life without pets!
My husband said the same thing.
I’m glad your dad rescued the poor little thing! Love the name!
How fun! The lion head rabbits are beautiful!
We have some family members that are allergic to cats and dogs, so we don’t have any. My son used to have 3 white mice, which he trained to run a maze for a science fair project. It was very interesting. He also had a hermit crab and some fish. My grandson has a hedgehog.
After 12 yrs. of no pets, hub and I have a G.Shep and border collie mix…about a year old. I LOL at your comment about drinking water…..Ours does same thing! He is very intelligent, lots of fun, but too hyper for me to handle as I have back issues. I do, however, enjoy him on our screened porch! Hoping he calms down when he gets older! I have GOT to read your book about the bc.
We live in GA…..praying for those in TX.
Oh my goodness, what a fun post! I have so many pets it’s ridiculous. My sister is the same. I have 2 horses, 5 sheep, over a dozen goats and about the same number of chickens, a goose, lots and lots of barn cats, 2 tiny dogs, 2 Maremma and one Great Pyreness/Akbash guardian livestocks dogs, two sugar gliders, a hamster, and a fish. whew.
I was born a cat lover. I kept begging for a cat, so when I was 2, my folks gave me a stuffed kitten. I told them that would not do, I wanted a live cat! They finally got me my first live cat when I was 3 :-) Now my husband and I have 2 Russian Blue cats that are 12 and 15 years old.
I always thought a hedgehog would make an interesting pet. They are adorable!
German shepherd and border collie – perfect combination. And yes, VERY hyper!! He should calm down at about 18 months or so. He’ll also calm down some if you have him neutered. They are sweet dogs!! I appreciate the prayers. Many here in Texas need them desperately!
Wow, you do have a lot of pets. How fun!! We just have the two, but we are renting and allowed only two. Once we have our own house again, I want to get a terrarium for frogs and anoles. Sugar gliders always looked like fun!
Russian Blues are gorgeous!!! I hear you – I’m definitely a cat lover. But we have a family member who is allergic so we only have dogs. I miss the cats sometimes!
Right now I have a shelter cat named Dickens but I used to have a dog and gerbils. I always thought of myself as a dog person but Dickens has tried his hardest turn me in to a cat person and it has worked. He makes me laugh almost every day.
Dickens sounds like an awesome cat! :-D
Dogs are smart!!
cute pics; no pets
Melanie, thanks for sharing your pets with us. Right now we are without pets. We are true empty-nesters. We travel a lot and having a pet poses a problem when we go away. Over the years we’ve had numerous cats, dogs, hamsters, and fish. Now I just enjoy someone else’s pet.
I have a tuxedo cat. He’s quite handsome and super friendly. Growing up, I had a cat with a “personality” to say the least – my friends were afraid of her and she attacked a plumber!
Until recently, we’ve always had a dog and a cat. Sadly, the last of our pets we had to put down in April. She was a Chihuahua/ terrier who we adopted from an animal shelter when she was about two. She lived to the ripe old age of 18 when we knew it was time. Her cat buddy was only about 6yrs old when we found out she had cancer and had no choice but to also put her to sleep. Two pets in the span of a year was too much heartache for us. I think for now we’ll be content without furbabies. It’s much too hard to say goodbye to the best pals in the world, besides our human ones that is!
Loved your pics of your dogs. I’m sure they are a blessing to your family :-)
I grew up on a farm & always had dogs & horses. :)
I have a sweet but very spoiled dachshund named Jazzi Jingles.
We always had cats , rabbits , birds , around our farm !
HI Melanie, no pets to speak of. We had an indoor cat that was a stray. We gathered she had been abused becuase of her temperment. She turned on everyone except me and i tend to think that is because her first night in pur house I slept with her and stayed so she wasn’t alone. My mom took care of her the most and my little brother claimed her as his cat but she turned on both of them. She was strange but maybe she remembered I never left her. idk her name was Calico