Caught in mid-sentence

NICK BARNETT

Pets can make plenty of noise but they can't actually, you know, talk. I know this! Please don't feel the need to point this out as you scroll through these reader photos of pets that look as though they're getting verbal.

Verbal or non-verbal, actually - sometimes they seem to be having a good laugh. Like Silvie here, who looks as though she's having a loud guffaw at the TV. Must be something that fellow Sheldon said.

Maybe Leela here is having a laugh at TV's Leela from Futurama - the one-eyed cartoon character for whom the little tortie was named. Leela the cat suffered damage to an eye as a stray kitten, and had to have it removed. But she took it in her stride and is now mistress of the household nominally managed by Tamara and Steve.

Those 'why bother?' moments

SIMON GOODALL

Do you just get those days with your animals when you wonder why you bother? The other day I looked my dogs and figured it was time for a bath. So once I lured them into the bathroom I lifted them into the bath (yes lifted!). My dogs love water but the second you actually put them anywhere near a bath, that's a different story. The furlong face is so funny you can't help but smile!

Anyway I started to wash them with our nice oatmeal shampoo, and the dogs came out the other end relatively dry, just a few shakes for fun. Once out they were dried down, which they absolutely love, and, hey presto, I have two great-looking dogs.

In order to make sure they are nice and dry I thought I'd take them out for a walk down the road - a nice rural road in South Auckland. They love it here and down the end is an off-lead area so I let them loose and go for it. Unfortunately for me I didn't spot the gross cowpat on the ground, which they proceeded to roll around in. This was literally half an hour after washing them down and making them sparkly clean. I could have screamed - oh my goodness.

So back home it was, and guess what? Yes, they went back for a bath but this time they got a spray with the outdoor hose as I wasn't going to get the smell of cow poo in my house. Next time I'll have to keep a better eye out.

Is there something you've done with your animals only to have it turned upside down a few minutes later?

The difference a cat made

DONNA ACHMADI

Guest blog by Donna Achmadi: I am a complete dog person. We had dogs in our family since I was seven years old and only once did we have a cat. The cat belonged to my brother, so I didn't really pay much attention to him, or to be exact, to them.

Then I moved to New Zealand in 2007. I couldn't afford to adopt a dog, nor did I have enough time to look after one properly. Then my son was diagnosed with autism. Then the domestic violence happened. To make the ugly and long story short, now I'm a single mum raising my son on my own.

Donna's son Navajo with Copter.

People often come up to me and say how great animals are for kids with autism but I was hesitant to adopt any because studies, work and raising a son meant I already had too much on my plate. Also, I wasn't sure my son would be able to care for any sort of animal.

Then things got better. My son became more sociable and showed more compassion towards people, animals and plants. So I asked my landlord's consent and started to look for a suitable companion for us and my heart fell for greyhounds from Greyhounds as Pets. I rang them up and found out that their traits match perfectly with our family. Greyhounds are OK living in apartments, and I live in a unit; they are incredibly calm - hopefully that would make my incredibly bouncy son calm, too; they can run fast, which is great so I don't have to keep running out of breath to keep up with my son. Greyhounds ticked all the boxes!

Sadly, our landlord said no to medium-to-large-sized breeds. He only allowed a small dog or a cat. So I gave up on looking for a dog altogether.

Inseparable pairs

NICK BARNETT

Pets that live together often form an incredibly close bond. They want their own space, and their own food, but for much of the rest of the time they just want to be with their best mate. Here are some close pet pairings as caught by blog readers.

The cover-cuddlers are Dodge (left) and Sam, two young fellows who provide a lot of fun and comfort for each other.

It's hard to know where Fitz ends and Jetty starts.

My babies and my son

MEGAN ALLEN

Guest blog by Megan Allen: Just over two years ago we welcomed our son into our lives, a life-changing experience and an amazing one at that. Our babies before this were our dogs - Boxer dogs, two of them, and they ruled our world.

It was always the highlight of my day when I can home to find them bending in half, wiggling in excitement that we were home. I'll admit they sleep in our bedroom - they have their own beds - but are inside at night and outside by day except when it's raining - big sooks!

So when we announced to friends and family that we were pregnant and having a baby, apart from being overjoyed for us, the initial response was "Gee, things are going to have to change with the dogs..."; "You'd better get them used to sleeping outside", "Be careful of the dogs - they'll get jealous of the baby", "You won't be able to walk them as much, you won't have the time".

They couldn't have been more wrong.

We found the best way to introduce our family was to try to keep everything as "normal" as possible. It was going to be hard enough for us with the change of having a new baby, so why upset the dogs by changing everything they know? Sure, they were curious; they wanted a sniff and a lick. So in a calm way we slowly introduced our son from the day he was brought home, never telling the dogs off for giving him attention and letting them smell his blanket and clothes. I still remember the second day after arriving home from the hospital and my female dog standing over my baby in his carry cot when he cried - she was going to feed him for me. She's done this with orphan lambs in the past - too cute!