All My Children Have 4 Legs

By Lynda Hoyt

Have you ever tried to get a cat out of a parka hood? Did you know that bloodhounds are afraid of water.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jun 5, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477211397

Lynda Hoyt

She obviously loves animals, especially dogs and cats. There are forty years of stories about her pets and she has a unique ability to show the funny side of all of them. Whether its the klutzy Mycroft or the noble but beer guzzling Sherman each of her tales show a fondness for their individual personalities.

Book preview

ALL MY

CHILDREN HAVE

4 LEGS

Lynda Hoyt

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AuthorHouse™

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

Phone: [phone]

© 2012 by Lynda Hoyt. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any

means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 07/16/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4772-1135-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-1139-7 (ebk)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012909087

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images

are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this

book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed

in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the

publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

Early Days

Melanie Hoyt Rathbone the First

Duchess

Mycroft

Sherman

Friday, Burgess, Ankh and Kato

Maggie

Group Activities

Memphis Belle

Baby Sitting

Asta and Sadie

Disco

Pippin and Murphy

The Girls

Sophie

Lucifer

Nikita

Current Events

Frodo

Final Thoughts

Dedicated to all canine and feline children, to Asta and Sadie and Disco, and to my extended 4 legged family past and present; but most especially to my beautiful Sophie.

Long May Your Happy Tails Wag!!

Do you like dogs? Do you enjoy watching them chase balls or marvel at their herding abilities? Are they your hiking buddies? How about cats? Do you think there’s nothing better than a purring lap warmer on a cold winter evening? Have you ever been brainwashed into an extra meal or two by a mini panther?

I especially like big dogs. I like big dogs so much I once had a 160 pound Saint Bernard, an 85 pound Bloodhound, a 60 pound white German Shepherd and four cats, all at the same time. Altogether the dogs and cats weighed close to 300 pounds. I bought dog food at the feed store in sixty pound bags. It was cheaper!

It sounds completely mad, unless you are as crazy about animals as I am. I do have a couple of advantages to offset my craziness however. We live in a rural area, originally on two fenced acres; so the canines have lots of room to run. They can also chase people on bicycles, horses, cars and other dogs going down the road. There is a path worn by doggie feet along the fence line where no grass has ever been able to grow. The area has built up considerably over the years and we did sell off one acre, but the path by the fence is still there, even after forty years.

The biggest advantage we had then was that no one in their right mind would have tried to break in to our place. First he would probably have fallen over the Saint Bernard sleeping in the doorway. Next he would have discovered a cousin of the Hound of the Baskervilles trying to chew his leg off and a white puppy growling and barking; doing her best to keep up the image of her wolfish ancestors. My husband Phil worked nights, so that gave me a great feeling of security.

Early Days

Melanie Hoyt Rathbone the First

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They tell me that you are either a dog person or a cat person. Cats are a bit easier to care for, no late night walks in snowy weather, no potty training; but they do have some drawbacks. Scratched furniture,