Pets and Peeps: Border Collie and Orange Tabby

The people: Lisa Cohen and her son Alex of Decatur.

Pets' names, nicknames, breeds, and ages: Kozmo (Kozzie, the Koz), border collie mix, 11.5 years old. Leonides (Leo), orange tabby, 2.5 years old.

How I met my pets: Koz was a mangy stray in the mountains who my neighbors found while hiking. We already had a dog, Zeus, who saw Koz and ran over to either play with him (or beat him up).  They became instant friends and my son, 11 at the time, asked me if we could keep him.  I instantly said no and that we did not need another dog. Alex looked at me with these huge brown eyes and said, "But I love him." I agreed to pet sit for Kozzie for the weekend while our neighbors went on a trip. That was about 11 years ago.  

As for Leo ... I had been catless for about two years and my son was in Spain going to school. One day, I felt this huge void between not having a cat and my son being across the globe, so I went over to Dearborn Animal Clinic and thought I'd just hang out with the rescues to see if any of them were meant to be my new baby. Leo was the only kitty who was just so engaging, so sweet, so big and beautiful and unusual with this stubby little tail. On the way to the car, the carrier came open and he jumped out, ran a few feet, then stopped and let me pick him up. It was love. 

I love it when my pets do this: Koz rolls on his back and puts all his paws in the air.  Since I'm a yoga teacher, I now call this Upward Splaying Dog. My favorite "Leo-ism" is when I'm teaching a yoga class and we're in the middle of a downward facing dog pose, and he starts at one end and walks underneath everyone as if we were there specifically to be a tunnel for him.

I wish my pets would stop doing this: Koz tries to "clean out" the litter box. Leo wakes me up by knocking stuff down near my head at 4 a.m. some mornings.  This includes paintings on the wall and my water bottle. 

What people say about my pets: Kozmo has a blue eye and a brown eye and people say he is so beautiful and sweet.  People say Leo is a very sweet kitty and can't get over how big and beautiful he is.

How my pets have enriched my life: Leo and Koz are so full of personality. They make me happy each day to come home or to go for walks with Leo.

If my pets could talk she would say: Koz would say, "Rub my belly." Leo would ask me for more food -- even if his dish was full.