They Have Their Little Ways

I come from a family of unashamed pet-owners, though it seems to me that the pets we have owned have done more of the owning of us than we have of them.

Watching our feline and canine companions over the years has led me to the inescapable conclusion that the term pe(s)t is more accurate.  I doubt any of them did not, at one time or another, thoroughly get in our ways – sometimes bizarrely, sometimes bewilderingly, and often humourously.

This book is about what happens when a family of inveterate pet owners and their pets interact.  It is a series of anecdotes and reminiscences about the shenanigans that pets can inflict upon their owners, sometimes bizarrely, sometimes bewilderingly and frequently humorously.  Pets show us what to do with rugs on polished marble floors; the correct use of garden pots, sinks and washing machine drums;  the dangers of hot air balloons;  the unreliable nature of lakeside vegetation;  how to hunt rabbits, possums and birds (and even, on occasion, catch them!); how to travel across several meridians of latitude in a style guaranteed to maximise the embarrassment to their owners; how to provide instant and unusual assistance in the garden;  and the joys of getting themselves, or their owners, thoroughly wet at any given opportunity.