We love our pets with their indomitable personalities and their smiles! Oh, some may say that we anthropomorphize our furry friends, but we know the truth. They smile. We googled “smiling cats and dogs” and got About 15,700,000 Results. Just for fun, here’s a video of some of the images that popped up.
Q & A Thursday – Pets
Hanging out near the mailboxes offered a perfect opportunity to ask some of our residents and staff, “Do you have any special pet stories?” We got lots of great responses. We’ll start with Fifi.
Fifi is a Rhodesian Ridgeback who lives at Ardenwoods with her owners Anne and Bob Louttit. Anne describes her as “shy and peaceful” and says “she loves everybody.” It’s clear that she loves Anne and Bob. On the day they moved in, they left Fifi in the apartment for awhile. The mischievous pooch let herself out of the apartment and somehow made her way through 2 sets of doors into the main lobby in search of her owners. They put her back in the apartment and tried going out again. Fifi pulled another Houdini. The Louttit’s had their lock changed. They came home to find FiFi waiting outside for them.
Finally they came up with a brilliant solution. They took the inside door knob off the second bedroom. When they have to leave Fifi at home, they know she’ll be safe in there. Recently, their niece visited and stayed in the guest room. Late in the night Anne heard quiet a voice calling, “Anne? Anne? I can’t get out.” Now Bob and Anne remember to put the door knob back on when they have overnight guests.
Fifi is great on a leash but really loves to run. The Louttit’s take her to Candler for unfettered runs as often as they can.
Talking about pets? Perfect Timing!
We stood around talking about pets for awhile and suddenly one came through the door. Millie Schwartz introduced us to her pup Tuffy as they got ready for a walk. Charlene Stern told us about a dog she once had who could spell. She could say to someone else that she was thinking of taking the Scottish Deerhound “o-u-t” and the dog was ready to go!
It’s not just about dogs. We have cats too.
Mrs. Peck loves cats. Her favorite cat Betsy loved to hang out with her in the kitchen, especially when she had a knitting project underway. Another quality Mrs. Peck likes in cats? “You don’t have to take them out and walk them.” Staffer Jamie Ragan takes that great idea one step farther. Her cat Ms. Doodle uses the toilet!
Mrs. Peck recently moved to Ardenwoods from Maryland. Not long after settling in, the Zimmerman’s invited her over and their cat got comfortable in Mrs. Peck’s lap. “Animals know who will be their friend,” Mrs. Peck says of the social kitty.
Miss Kitty is one accomplished feline. In fact, she’s written an Ardenwoods primer for pets:
Click here to download Miss Kitty’s letter.
Pet Wall of Fame
We have to mention a couple of dogs who are in our extended Ardenwoods family. Juneau is a 10 year-old American Eskimo Spitz and the child of Lindsay Carpenter and her husband. Carol Boyd’s great-niece is Lola. We think these two could be models.
