Per
was a pure race Miniature Pincher. He was the first pet in my life and I had the honor of knowing him from I was 4 years old until I passed 19, and he was probably the best friend I've ever had. Per had a handicap that made it impossible for him to jump, but he compensated that handicap with intelligence.  
For those of you who don't know the Miniature Pincher; it's a dog very like the Doberman pincher in shape, but they are much, much smaller; Per had a weight of about 7 lb, the color was red/brown. The Miniature Pincher is, despite their size, good watchdogs with lots of courage, and not least good companions. And if their stubbornness become rampant, you may always lift them up and "put them in your pocket".
An example of the watchdog: My Grandma always liked to tease him when she left our house. She could "steal" a ashtray or some other small object and put it in her purse before she left, and although he loved my Grandma, Per always saw it and prevented her with barking and growling from leaving the house, until she put the object back where it belonged.

Nette
Our next dog was also a Miniature Pincher. Some of my aunts had many of these dogs and they where also co-owners of a kennel breeding them. One of the dogs sold from this kennel was Nette, but she came to a family with small children who treated her very bad, and she was returned to the kennel and then passed on to us. (They saw us as some kind of social welfare institution I guess.) When she came to us she was a nervous wreck. For seven days she run around and around a table, only stopped for eating, drinking or a short sleep. After the first 10 days she behaved fairly normal, but the first year of her life had marked her forever. She was always nervous and sometimes difficult to handle. Even for a Miniature Pincher Nette was very small, she had a weight of around 4 lb.
  
Andy Cat
was the next animal in our family. He was together with 2 sisters born in our cellar by a half-wild mother. Except from his black nose and a few black hair in his forehead, he was all white.
Unfortunately his story got a sad end:  He usually never left the house for more than a day, but one day he dissapeard. After 10 days he came home. Around his neck was a ring of bare skin. He had obviously been tied up and had fought for more than a week to get free.
After then he was very afraid of children and as my sisters had small children often visiting us, he more and more often left the house, until he one day in early spring left the house and didn't return.
About 4-5 months later I was walking with a friend in a wood 2 miles from our home, when we saw a white cat looking at us. I talked to him and tried to go near him, but after a short while he turned around and dissapeard into the wood.
Early next day my mother, with tears in her eyes, came and told us Andy was outside, but she was not able to lure him into the house. So I went out, sat down and talked to him for almost an hour, before he suddenly jumped up in my lap. I could then carry him inside where he ate, before he found his old favorite place and slept for hours. In the late evening he wanted to go out - we never saw him again.
 
Pus (Salomon)
Today our pet is Pus, originally named Salomon. He came to us in october 1993, brought home by our then 14 year old daughter, despite prohibition from her mother and father, and very soon established himself as the Boss in our house.
Pus weights about 15 lb and is all black (or very dark brown) with a small spot of white hairs on his chest.
He will never lay in our lap. If we want to hug him we have to lift him up and hold him (which he accept for a short time only) , or sit down on the floor with him, which he sometimes demand us to do for hours, especially if he have been away for a couple of days. 
He very urgently protect his territory from the neighbors cat, with which he is in continuos war. He is a cat of today, and often sleep near or on the computer keyboard, and he love to look at the printer head on our printer running back and forth.