From commentor Josie:
This is my gentle Akbash goat guarding dog Teddi and her cat Wiley. Teddi is not a rescue in the classic sense, but I did rescue her from her older half brothers who were picking on her. My son had bought three dogs to guard his goats and made the mistake of putting them in my dog run until he could take them to the ranch. I heard Teddi crying pitifully, and, well, you can guess the rest. When my son returned for the dogs, she was firmly ensconced in the house, and he had only two goat guarding dogs. She now guards me, two small dogs, two cats and several birds and is the best friend a person could have. The cat, Wiley, is the offspring of a feral cat that I fed along with several others. I caught him and his sister and neutered them and they are quite tame. Wiley lost his ear when a mean neighborhood cat beat him up, but we have since moved and have an eight foot fence which he is only too happy to stay behind. He loves Teddi, especially in the winter, when she is like having a big cuddly heater next to you.
paradox
Very nice, good image. All my pets are healthy and happy today, I’m grateful.
demkat620
Aw look at those eyes. What sweeties!
funluvn
Cats and dogs…living together….
Beautiful! Such a great picture of a couple of old friends.
something fabulous
I love that this is “her cat”! I got what turned out in the end to be a kitten for my cat, so I get it. (I’m getting to share her at the moment–she is on my lap as I’m typing– but she is totally Milo’s girl.) Great picture too. Very sweet! I don’t know about Akbashes, except from here on BJ. Looks like you did a fine “rescue”…
Elizabelle
Love it.
You know, now that teh internets are so full of butthurt and talk of primarying Obama, these pet threads are the place to be.
stuckinred
How much does he weigh? I had a gigantic rescue named Mr Big who looked very much like this sweetheart and went about 125. We thought he was a Maremma but it looks to me like they are very similar.
Jebediah
@Elizabelle:
Agreed – this is a lovely image and story to end my night of work before I lock up my cavicle and head home…
stuckinred
Mr Big
Jebediah
@stuckinred:
He looks simultaneously courtly and huggable.
stuckinred
@Jebediah: He was an amazing fella. People would literally line up to ask about him when I took him downtown. When I lived in the country I could hit a golf ball into the woods and he’d race around and backtrack until he found it, and he always did. He’s been gone over 10 years and we miss the big knuckle head.
stuckinred
I can see where Wiley could be a goat! :)
Jebediah
@stuckinred:
Ten years… I wonder if it would mean anything to our pets if they knew how long-remembered they are.
stuckinred
@Jebediah: I think they are free of that kind of stuff. From my 40+ years of doggie ownership I feel safe in saying they totally live in the moment. But, as L Cohen says, “I may be wrong”.
stuckinred
(CNN) — The Richard Nixon Presidential Library will open a trove of records at the facility and online Thursday, including 265 hours of White House tapes, officials said.
people can whine and bitch about the state of the state today but this motherfucker took the cake!
WereBear (itouch)
@stuckinred: Obviously an awesome dog!
I think it’s great Teddi has a cat. Though they are not amenable to being herded, they love being guarded.
JPL
@stuckinred: I don’t know that. After the Cheney/Bush tapes are released, I might agree with you. What a sweetie Mr. Big was.
Josie, I laughed at this line
Jane2
Lovely pets! Wiley looks very content to be guarded.
Tata
Caption: “The committee discussed the current predicament at length and though there is disagreement about a course of action the committee would be cheered by delicious treats.”
bkny
what a sweet photo; they just look like a great duo…
Maody
I so identify. Beautiful pets.
WereBear
One of my dream dogs is a Kuvasz. But I need a lot more room, and some actual land.
Josie
Thanks for the kind comments. Sorry I’m so late to the thread. I overslept this morning because we actually have cold weather, unheard of in South Texas. Teddi weighs 140 pounds and normally has longer hair, much like Mr. Big, but I keep her clipped due to our hot weather. Akbashes are similar to other white guard dogs throughout Europe and originate in Turkey. They are recognized in Great Britain but not here in the USA. Teddi is eleven years old and really crippled with arthritis, but she still takes her guarding duties very seriously.
Ash Can
Such a darling photo, and great story. Excellent way to start the morning! Thanks for sharing.
Tattoosydney
That photo makes me feel all warm inside.
And as this is an open thread, I’ll just drop in a link to the new song by Adele – Rolling in the Deep. A cracker of a song from one of my favourite voices.
dmsilev
When I was growing up, we had a dog and two cats, but it was more accurate to say that we had a cat and the dog had a cat. One of the cats was definitely fonder of the dog than she was of us. It was decidedly odd to see this fairly large dog giving a diminutive cat a bath, but she never seemed to mind.
It happens.
dms
gobears2000
I’m a chronic lurker, refugee of the GOS but I had to emerge from my underground bunker to say how lovely that picture is of your Teddy and Wiley. Thank you for bringing me out of my cave with such sweetness.
Kristine
Pet posts.
::happy::
Svensker
Sweetest picture ever.
Paul in KY
Great picture & story. Thanks for posting it.
Jman
@Josie: Thanks for the great story!
comrade scott's agenda of rage
I love these threads!
Looks like you could hitch the dog to a plow.
Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther
I can’t tell you how much I love the idea of Wiley being Teddi’s cat. Sometimes, that’s just the way it is. And I’m sure that Teddi sees Josie as her pet-helper on some level: “Wag, wag, thanks for feeding Wiley, Josie! Wag, slobber, wag!”
Tim
Teddi has the most soulful eyes. I am in love with her.
Josie
@Tim: You can’t see them in the picture, but she has long white eyelashes which make her eyes even prettier in person (or dogson). She is not above using them to get a treat or a pet.
trollhattan
Gosh, Teddi looks like One Big Dog, but look at the dainty ladypaws on her. Love the perpetual who-do-I-need-to-save-next? forehead worry wrinkles. Kitteh does look right at home, missing ear and all.
Much happiness to you and your many critters.
John
Hi Josie,
Cold weather, har-har, in the 70’s and 40’s. Here in Bellingham it’s 50’s and 30’s and that’s a warm spell!
I remember going for a walk with this dog when we were all younger, and quickly learned to hope she didn’t see another animal she didn’t like when I had the leash. As usual, magical thinking didn’t work and I got a physics lesson on the advantages of being low to the ground with 4 legs and originating from Turkey.
Josie’s brother
ET
That is an adorable picture, something so sweet. And they were both in the spot long enough to both look at the camera.
Amanda
::swoon:: an absolutely adorable pair, this made me smile — which i think we all need today, yes? thank you!
catpal
great picture. I also love that you wrote “her cat” – love it when the cats and dogs are best buddies.
These pet stories really make me smile.
JR in WV
It was 4 here tis morning, and i don’t mean 4 am, I mean 4 degrees at dawn! We built a fire last night, and had 4 out of 5 cats and 2 out of 3 dogs between us and the wood stove. We have a couple of cords of hickory, oak and ash hardwood, in case the power or gas goes out.
Also a Honda generator and 15 gallons of fuel, a propane stove, etc. Aladin oil lamp and a couple of hurricane lamps, too. LED lights, crank am/fm/NOAA radio. We’ve lived in the country for 30 years, and you accumulate emergency supplies gradually. 20 gallons of water, and a hand dug well for more if we need it.
The critter blog posts are way better than the politics are, fer sure. The dogs, one is a 4 y o yellow lab rescue, stolen off a chain late on night because she was by turns abused and ignored, spent 9 months at the Vets rehabbing, and now she gets of run in circles here with the older/slower dogs, older/slower people, and much quicker cats.
The cats range from 3 about the same age, young, post-kittens to 2 elderly, mean-to-kittens cats, 19 and who knows? years old. Seriously drugged because neither of them has a functional thymus. But they lie on us and purr late at night.
We’re retired now, and when the weather sucks we can just stay home, and be with the cats and dogs.
Say. Go Bears2000, “refugee of the GOS”, what does that mean?
Just curious, not nosy, I thought I knew most of the WWW locutions, but I draw a blank here.
JR, with happy a-political dogs and cats
asiangrrlMN
@Josie: Awwwwwww! That’s the sweetest pic and story ever. Teddi and her Wiley are adorable together.
@stuckinred: Mr. Big is so handsome and sweet-looking!
Jebediah
@JR in WV:
“The GOS” is The Great Orange Satan, a nickname for the Daily Kos blog.