Clyde brings joy to owner

Clyde came into my life at a time when I really needed him. My grandson was deploying to Iraq with the Army and I was very anxious and upset about it.

Out of the blue, my daughter called from Virginia and asked if I would like to adopt a miniature Dachshund. We had lost our Basset hound a few years ago. She was 14 and the delight of our lives.

My daughter brought Clyde down and the rest is history. He barely weighed 5 pounds because he had been abandoned and was a bit malnourished. My daughter would have kept him but she already had two Dachshunds and she knew how much I loved hers.

Clyde makes me laugh every single day. He thinks he is a hunting dog and keeps watch in our window all day. When he sees a squirrel, he wants to go out and chase it. He even climbs my oak tree trying to catch them. I don't know what my life would be like without Clyde.

Peggy Nichols

North Charleston

Lucy

Lucy was about 18 months old when she came to me as an abused, abandoned and scrawny Jack Russell.

She was captured in a cage and brought to my house and when she stepped her paws in the door, she captured a lizard and promptly ate it. That did it for me.

She is now more than 13 years old and has killed about that many snakes. She has sustained a few snakebites, which left me in tears and frantic phone calls to the vet. I eventually learned how to treat her snakebites at home.

Lucy does not know the meaning of play. To her, it is life and death. Since she lived in the country most of her life and ran wild and free on hundreds of acres, she is not the typical hyperactive Jack. When in the house, she is a lap dog and loves to be petted.

She now has retired to Mount Pleasant and lives a more sedate life. We do, however, watch for the cats in the neighborhood and keep Lucy on her leash. She definitely has two sides to her personality and I love her.

Bonnie Wilcox

Mount Pleasant

Compiled by Brenda Rindge. Got a pet? Tell us about it. We want to tell your stories and run your pictures of Rover, Boots and even Ziggy on our Pet Plus page. If it's furry, feathered or slithery, and you love it, tell us why in 250 words or less. If it's a hero, tell us. If it's a 'character,' share the antics. Send pictures (in .jpg format via e-mail) or a hard copy by snail mail that you don't need returned). We'll publish the most interesting, the cutest and the weirdest, but please no poetry and no letters from your dog or cat! Submit by e-mail to pets@postandcourier.com or mail to Pets, The Post and Courier, 134 Columbus St., Charleston S.C. 29403-4800. Always include your name, address and a daytime phone number.

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