Pets and owners... Who really owns whom?

Tonight as I was giving my dog his bath I was reminded of this article found on Yahoo the other day: Cats Do Control Humans, Study Finds
When I read the article I scoffed at the shear absurdity of it. Anyone who has ever brought a cat or dog into their family already knew, without a study, that the pets were the ones in control. lol True pet lovers treat their pets like 2 year old children and as such we indulge their little idiosyncrasies which allows them the power to rule our lives... and I have both a cat and dog trying to see which one of them can make me do their bidding the fastest.

My dog yips at me... I stop what I'm doing and get up to let him out. My dog "talks" to me (He sounds like Gizmo from 1984 Gremlin movie. hehe)... I stop what I'm doing and scratch his back. My dog lays his paw on top of my foot... I stop what I'm doing and bend down and pick him up for a cuddle. He makes this whimper/gurgling sound... I stop eating and give him a bit of whatever it is I have. He loves apples and carrots the most but will gladly eat anything but lettuce. He has trained me well. :)

My dog: He is an eight year old, pure bred Pekingese by the name of ET. I have him because he was the cull of a litter that was slated to be put down. He was born with a hare lip and a front leg that sets at an odd angle. My sister found him and rescued him but couldn't keep him. Despite my protests that I didn't want a dog, he came to live with me. When I first saw him I thought he was the ugliest little dog I had ever seen. It didn't take long for me to change my mind. Soon his own sweet, slightly odd personality had me thinking he was beyond adorable.

Now eight years later I can't imagine my life without him. He is now nearly blind, has a bad back that causes him to walk funny plus from time to time it goes out on him and I have to carry him around because he just can't walk on his own, a heart condition, and twice now he has had surgery to put his eye back into it's socket (sounds much yuckier than it really was).

Crybaby, my cat, is just as important to me but her personality is far more needy. It's not like she is jealous of anything or anyone that takes my attention away from her. It's more like: If I have attention to give, she needs it too.

She has been this way since the first day she showed up on my doorstep as a stray three Christmases ago. I named her Crybaby because she is a very vocal cat and does her best to "talk". She crys to get my attention. She crys when she wants a treat. She cries when I come home from work. She cries... alot. lol

She has a very gentle nature and way about her even as she is insisting that I pay her attention. Her favorite places to sleep are on my shoulder and the back of whichever chair I am sitting in. When she reaches out her paw and caresses my face, my heart just melts.

Now do you want to know what the funniest part of me owning both a cat and dog is? I'm allergic to them both! lol Year round I live with scratchy eyes and sinuses that work overtime. I have yet to find an allergy med that works without making me too sleepy to function.

P.S. ET actually liked wearing that silly costume. He pranced and preened while he had it on, then pouted when I took it off him after only 30 minutes. :)