I see lots of avatars with animals ... and I have three ... so let's start a thread with show me your zoo ... with a bit of info!
Echo - My African Grey is 13 years old. I got her when she was 4.5 months old from a breeder. She's a nut, but I love her and her quirks. She has about 50 words in her vocabulary, sings a couple of songs, and helps me cheer on my hockey team. I have taught her to scream out GO SENS GO whenever the sens score a goal (I of course have to cue her - which is usually by me jumping out of my chair screaming YES, YES, YES!) I have also taught her to say HABS SUCK (for all those Montreal fans LOL) whenever ANY team scores a goal (her cue is when I say BOO BOO BOO).
Raylan - my Siamese / Himalyan mix that I adopted about 2 months ago. He's special ... an absolute cuddle bum of a cat, not demanding or obnoxious with people at all ... loves EVERYONE ... except the dog! Poor Kyleigh! He's afraid of my grey (with good reason LOL ... as Echo has full flight and is NOT afraid of cat or dog!) We are making huge strides in getting him to accept Kyleigh - he used to look at her and hiss and then try and swat her ... The first time he did that Ky barked and lunged at him (can't say I blame her LOL) ... thankfully, my dog is trained and listens. The second time I caught him sneaking up on Kyleigh while she was sleeping ... a couple of squirts with the water bottle cured him of that idea! Now they can walk side by side and Raylan doesn't hiss at her anymore ... so progress is slow, but being made!
Kyleigh - my long-haired German Shepherd Dog. Kyleigh is the dog I have dreamed of having since I was 16 years old (I'm now 43). I did huge amounts of research on the breed, even became a certified dog trainer, and trained for about 5 years before I got Kyleigh. I wanted to make sure I understood dogs, dog behaviour, etc. before I brought a working line, high drive, high focus dog into my life.
I had her brought over from Germany when she was 9 weeks. I did MAJOR research on breeders, and what type of working line dog I wanted, and I got it!!!! There were definitely times I was in over my head! Oh My what a lot of dog!!!! But she's now 3.5 years old and an absolutely wonderful dog to have in my life - her enthusiasm for life keeps me young, active and in shape! There's no saying no to Kyleigh when it's time to go out and play and have long walks in the woods, and working on all of her commands!!!!
The ONLY issue with Kyleigh is she sees Echo as lunch in a box ... so, no close interactions with the bird and the dog ... which upsets Echo, because she adored my last dog, Abby, and they had such a fabulous relationship! Because of Echo's lack of fear, I can never let her that close to Kyleigh because he'd be food!
Here's some pics of my zoo