Here's the story of my fur kids, two Chihuahuas and three cats. They're my furry companions. Your pets are not your whole life, but they make your life whole.

Visit the Pets Album in the Photo Albums section of this site for up-to-date photos of the gang.

First Came Jack: Jack was born on June 7, 1998. Son of champion Chihuahuas Honeybun and Cheyenne, he is a pure breed long-coat Chihuahua. The chief pilot at a flight school where I worked in 1998 was raising Chihuahuas and invited me to come see his new litter. I went over to his place and he put Jack in my lap. Jack looked at me with those big brown eyes and gave me some puppy kisses and that was it for me. He gets his name from the breeder’s last name, which was Jackley. Jack is a well-traveled pooch. He has been all over the west with me, from Seattle to Phoenix and from LA to Yellowstone. He’s camped with me in thunderstorms, sat on the rim of the Grand Canyon, climbed to Delicate Arch in Utah and sailed to Catalina. He prefers to sit on my lap when I drive, but he is forced to sit in his dog carrier in the backseat, strapped in. He's gone on bike rides with me sitting in the basket on the front of my bike and he's flown under the seat in front of me on Alaska Airlines. He loves his dinosaur squeaky toy, Greenies, laying in the sun, anything described as a "Dog Treat" and his brother, Daggett. Nicknames: Jack Attack, Poochie-loves, Loverboy and Loverdog.

Then Came Cleo: In an innocent visit to the SPCA in October 2002 to look at dog breeds, I noticed this beautiful white Calico in the cattery. She was long, sleek and had a very beautiful face. I had recently bought my first house and for the first time did not have roommates. While I loved this, Jack didn’t. He was lonely. I went into the cattery and met Cleo. She walked up to me and even gave me a lick. I bought her 10 minutes later. After her spay surgery, she came home two days later. Jack no longer cried when I went to work, and I’ve been cleaning up excessive cat hair, toilet paper taken from the roll, and other miscellaneous things she’s chosen as toys that day ever since. She loves her younger brother Daggett, harassing Ken's cats, emptying a full roll of toilet paper, sitting in the window, and playing with anything that has feathers. Nicknames: Fleas, Puss, Evil Kitty, and Putty Tat.

And Then There Was Daggett: My precious little Daggett was born on October 21, 2003. He is distantly related to Jack. If I remember correctly, Jack’s great-grandmother on his mother’s side is Daggett’s grandmother. Dag was born in Merced, Calif., a four-hour drive from me at the time. I talked with his breeder and saw pictures before taking Jack up to meet the little 8-week old Daggett to decide if we liked him. I fell in love immediately when the little guy started giving me little puppy kisses and snuggled with me (do you detect a pattern?). Jack played with him a bit and we decided he was our new addition. Jack and I returned four weeks later when Daggett was old enough to come home with me. My brother helped me name him. On the drive home from visiting Dag the first time I described him on the phone to my borther. Jeremy said he reminded him of that dog on Battlestar Galactica. I wasn’t about to name the dog Muffit, but Muffit was a Daggett, so there you have it. Daggett loves his neck rubbed, being held on dog mom’s right shoulder, his goldfish squeeky toy, playing with Cleo, and following his brother Jack. Nicknames: Dagger, Wiggles, Wiggly-woo, Dagger-wags, Woozer and the Dagulator (dad calls him that, not me).

Then Came Ping and Georgia: When I married Ken in August 2006, he came with a full house of furniture and two cats, Georgia, a Maine Coon, and Ping, a grey tiger cat. Georgia is scared of everything, including her own shadow, and Ping is on permanent PMS. Though they mellowed quite a bit in the first year and have accepted thier new family. It's all good.