If you don’t have a pet in your life, then all of the cute pics of animals online may fool you into thinking that animals are just that – cute little ornaments that you have to feed. Pets are so much more than that, however, and any pet owner will tell you that they can be full of love and friendship. We searched various online communities high and low to bring you some of the most wholesome pics of animals that we’ve ever seen.

Scientifically, there are a few different concepts governing how we form relationships with the animals we love. One is their level of domestication – the more domesticated an animal is, the likelier it is to be able to form affectionate social relationships with humans. Another is anthropomorphism – our predilection for assigning human motivations and ideas to uniquely animal behaviors.

#1 They’re Waiting In Line

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#2 I Feel Like It Was Saying “You First”

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#3 The Little Thing Might Just Float Away

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Human relationships can be complex, so arguably, inter-species friendships can be even more complex. Instead of people with different personalities, perspectives and experiences, we have all of that plus different species with different wiring and capabilities.

#4 Orangutan Jungle School

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#5 A Cat Misses His Sister. He Sits Like This Every Day For Half An Hour. Animals Are Similar To Humans

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#6 My Husband Comforting Our Kitten At The Vet

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One of the most recognizable pillars of human-animal relationships (though certainly not the only one) is domestication. But how does domestication happen? We’re all familiar with the quasi-scientific story of wolves scavenging human waste and somehow gradually transforming into modern dogs, but how did that actually happen? One long-term scientific experiment in Siberia has shown (and continues to show) us what that may have looked like.

#7 I’m Currently In The Early Stages Of Labor And I Think They All Know It

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#8 I Guess Not All Will Agree But I Found This Little Guy Quite Cute

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#9 Love Comes In All Different Shapes And Sizes

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In 1959, Dmitri Belyaev initiated a long-term experiment that would use silver foxes to explore how domestication may have occurred in other mammals from generation to generation. Generation after generation of captive wild foxes were selected for breeding based on signs of agreeability to human contact. Within the earlier generations, the selection processes were as simple as whether or not the fox chose to bite an assistant’s gloved hand or whether or not they could be trained to eat from an assistant’s hand.

#10 Nothing Like The Soothing Feel Of A Wonderful Furry Baby

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#11 My Girlfriend Put A Bird Feeder On Our Deck. This Bastard Ate Himself To Sleep

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#12 I’ve Been Taken Hostage. Send Help

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In a few generations, a broad range of surprising separate genetic changes began to take shape. In addition to behavioral tendencies, the foxes began to develop floppy ears, piebald fur patterns, adolescent features, and other characteristics that we associate today with cute and domesticated animals. And, most importantly, these once-wild and -fearful foxes were now friendly and eager to please, some even learning to play fetch.

#13 Our Dog Has Hardly Left My Wife’s Side Since Baby Arrived. He’s A Proud Older Brother

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#14 This Is Truffles. She Works At A Children’s Optometrist To Help Them Feel Better About Wearing Glasses

Image credits: PhoneJazz

#15 Sweet Support Dog Who Gives Comfort To Children At The Dentist, Priceless

Image credits: reddit.com

As we’ve mentioned, domestication is not the only way that (once-wild) animals can form friendships with people. Some non-domesticated animals can also become friends with people under certain circumstances. One correlation is intelligence. Corvids, dolphins, and other intelligent creatures are regularly reported to understand human cues and form friendly, if not dependent, relationships. In other cases, wild animals with a natural tendency to form parental fixations or social relationships, like ducks, have formed social connections with people who’ve fit into their existing wild social behaviors.

#16 A Family Meowed On My Door And I Adopted Them

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#17 He Likes To Monch. It’s Gonna Be A Loooooong Car Ride

Image credits: Freeman Farm Miniature Cows

#18 A Real Gentle Giant

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Another common form of loose social relationship is when wild animals learn not to fear people based on simple reward psychology. In many national parks, for example, rangers caution visitors against feeding wild animals for precisely this reason. If visitors feed animals they see, the animals will learn not to fear people and to expect food from them, which can lead to dangerous situations.

#19 This Is Luna. She’s Not Usually Allowed On The Couch, But There Are Bigger Problems In The World, So She’ll Be Right Here If You Need Her

Image credits: WeRateDogs

#20 Precious Golden Retriever Allows Lost Koala Joey To Snuggle With Her

A lost koala Joey has been found snuggled onto the back of a family’s golden retriever. The Joey is believed to have been lost and found it way onto the family’s back porch and used the golden for warmth.
The golden is believed to have allowed Joey to spend the entire night on her back before the family found her like this the following morning.

Image credits: Getafix84

#21 I Brought One Of My Baby Bunnies To Meet My Great-Grandmother

Image credits: purpleelephantdance

Many of the same ideas work for non-human inter-species friendships. Domestic animals are already well-equipped to form friendly and loving relationships with both people and animals, but what about inter-species friendships in the wild?

#22 Came Home To My Roommate’s Dog Protecting My Kitten From The Loud Thunder And Lightning Outside

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#23 I Often Substitute Teach At A Small Farm Town Nearby. Here’s The Agriculture Class’s Current “Project”

She was born premature, close to 2 lbs when most are born closer to 10 lbs.

Image credits: Tayabida

#24 My Cat Is A Very Proud Mom

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Many such friendships are built on naturally occurring mutualistic tendencies. These are cases where certain species rely on one another to gain an advantage in their environment and both benefit from the exchange.

#25 Went To The Beach Feeling Bad About Having To Hang Alone, This Cutie Decided To Join Me Out Of Nowhere And Helped Me Feel Much Better

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#26 Murphy, The Bald Eagle That Was Trying To Hatch A Rock, Has Been Given A Chick To Raise. Here He Is Feeding It

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#27 Couldn’t Figure Out Why My Music Kept Pausing

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One example is the oxpecker, a bird that loves to perch on the backs of various large mammals living in Africa. The birds find easy meals on the backs of zebra, wildebeest and other creatures as they feast on the various parasitic insects that these mammals attract. Their relatively gigantic friends also keep them safe from smaller predators, while the birds, in addition to providing a hygienic benefit, keep watch in all directions and can alert their larger hosts if any large predators or humans approach.

#28 How My Cat Looks At My Boyfriend

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#29 I Hope This Picture Will Brighten Your Day A Bit

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#30 Little Bear

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#31 My Cat Showed Up At My House Like This Today. Apparently, We Have A Cat Lover In Our Street

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#32 She’s An Old Lady, But When She Looks At Me Like This, She’s My Little Kitten Again

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#33 The Gang

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#34 Now That’s A Great Place To Be

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#35 My Wife Is Three Weeks Away From Her Due Date And Our Cats Love Snuggling Her Belly

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#36 I Met This Adorable Guy Today. Cuteness Overload

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#37 When You Tell Her A Story That She Doesn’t Understand, But She Loves You Anyway

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#38 Two Years Ago We Rescued The Dirtiest, Most Diseased, And Starving Tripod Dog. Today He Is Gorgeous

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#39 One Of The Most Unique Friendships We’ve Ever Seen

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#40 Our Newest Rescue. She’s Afraid Of Men So My Husband Put A Blanket Down For Her To Choose When To Approach. She Laid By Him And Used His Head For A Pillow

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#41 This Is My Boyfriend’s Office, He Works From Home. Here Are All Of The Socks She Brought Up From The Basement To The Third Floor For Him Today

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#42 We Don’t Have Kids So My Wife And I Take Our Dog Around To Look At The Lights. He Loves It

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#43 My Mother Insisted We Put A Bindi On My Bird To Celebrate Diwali

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#44 King Of The Tripods. And This Household

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#45 Last Time You Didn’t Believe Me, So Now I’m Holding Him Close To Myself To Show That He Is Indeed Huge

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#46 My Girlfriend’s Rabbit, Banjo, Has A Smaller Rabbit On His Nose

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#47 Proton Celebrated Her Sweet Sixteen Today

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#48 My Wife’s Grandma Passed In Her Room Yesterday With All Of Us Around. My Dog Always Protected Her While She Was Lonely. He’s Been Looking For His Friend All Day

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#49 My Brother Is In Another State Right Now Due To His Job. His Wife Decided To Set Up A Skype Date For Him And His Dog

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#50 This Is Heidi. Heidi Has Vitiligo

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#51 Found This Little Trash Heart In My Work Dumpster This Morning

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#52 Someone At The Purrfect Day Cat Cafe In Louisville, KY Filling Out The Paperwork To Take This Kitty Home

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#53 Today His Intrusive Thoughts Won After 2 Years Of Fighting The Urge To Jump In

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#54 Annie Turns 15 And Gets A Steak

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#55 Flat Tire

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#56 My Friend’s Dog Found A Kitten In The Yard, Brought It Inside In Her Mouth, And Has Been Fostering The Kitten Since. Nobody Told The Kitten She Isn’t A Dog Yet

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#57 After Almost 1.5 Years Of Training, I Entered My 6-Year-Old Rescue Bully In His First Agility Competition. He Was The Only Pitbull-Type Dog There

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#58 Perfect Couple

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#59 Fluffy Highland Cattle Calf

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#60 Athletes In Retirement

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#61 It’s A New Day, He Is Getting Bolder In His Attempts To Be My Cat

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#62 Cozy Cats’ Family

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#63 One Of The Kittens In Our Neonate Center At Work Decided To Show Off The Beans

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#64 Good Job, Momma. We Weren’t Expecting 3

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#65 As You Can Probably Tell, I Am Thrilled With Our New Opossum At Work

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#66 Toby Snuck Out Early This Morning When I Opened The Door To Take Out The Trash. He’s Back Now, And Very Remorseful

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#67 My Kitties (Brothers, 10 Months) Are So Connected. They Always Do The Same Things. So Cute

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#68 Here Is A Possum Meeting A Santa

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#69 Christmas Eve Visitor

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#70 My Cat Ralf And I In The Same Place, 20 Years Later. She Was A Bit Grumpy During The Photo Shoot

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#71 Baby Otters

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#72 Been Feeding A Stray Cat For A Few Days, And Today I Let Her In The Shop Because Of The Rain. He Immediately Felt Like Home, So I Decided To Let Him Stay In His New Home

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#73 My Wife Operating On Our Boy’s Best Friend. He Is Making Sure Everything Is Going Well

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#74 My 7-Month-Old Son Was Sitting Playing When My Wife’s Great Pyreneese Walked Up And Sat Beside Him. One Of The Greatest Moments

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#75 Two Cats Ying-Yanging?

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#76 Big And Smol

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#77 Tiny Fuzzbutt Climbs On Me All The Time

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#78 Just A Rat, On A Cat, Riding A Dog, Riding The Bus

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#79 A Very Happy 14th Birthday To My Biggest Puppy, Bailey

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#80 My Roommate Took Her Samoyed To A Color Run

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#81 He Wouldn’t Eat When Fed Elsewhere, But Started Eating When Placed Among The Grownups

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#82 My Own Little House Elf

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#83 A Wild Rabbit Has Been Coming Around My Parents’ House The Last Few Weeks. He’s Getting Braver, And Yesterday He Met Their Dog

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#84 People Who Worked At This Cafe Used To Take Care Of This Stray Floof. During Lockdown Almost Every Shop Was Closed, Floof Still Waits For Them To Open

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#85 Good Thing Mom Has Milly Around To Help With All The Things

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#86 The Veterinarian Said He Needed To Lose Weight. I Present To You, Dechonkified Chester. He Didn’t Like The Journey But Never Takes Food For Granted After The Diet

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#87 Baby Deer… So Tiny

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#88 It Is Windy Today

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#89 “We Can’t Keep Her,” He Said. “Well, We Can At Least Fatten Her Up So She Doesn’t Look Sick,” He Said. Now, She’s A Permanent Family Member And A Daddy’s Girl

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#90 He Has His Thinking Rat On

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#91 My Friend’s Cat And Rat Are Best Buddies

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#92 A Story About Crisps In 4 Parts

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#93 Spike, My Cardinal Buddy Came To Visit Me Today

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#94 I Normally Feed Him At 5:30am. It Was 5:35am And I Was Still In Bed So I Got This Look

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#95 This Cute Mouse

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#96 My Dog Charlie, Having Successfully Executed Her Masterfully-Planned Heist On My Seat, Performed In The 30 Seconds I Went To Get My Coffee

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#97 My Handsome Man In A Rainbow Spot

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#98 My Pup Sat On My Lap For The Entire 6-Hour Drive Home After Not Seeing Me Since January

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#99 My Wife Is 30-Weeks-Pregnant, And This Is How Her Cat Cuddles With Her

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#100 Someone Really Enjoyed Their First Groom

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#101 Someone Abandoned This Sweet Girl Near Our Property. She’s Home Now And Happier Than Ever

Welcome to the pack, Thena!

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#102 A Few Weeks Ago We Found A Family Of 6 Living In Our Backyard

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#103 Hostage Situation! This Is What Happens After Being Away From Home For A Couple Of Weeks

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#104 My Sister’s Goat Had A Baby Today And The Chickens Came To Say Hello

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#105 Griffey’s First Day Volunteering At The Hospital

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#106 Daycare Sent A Picture Of My Dog And His Colorful Bestie

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#107 A Snake Has Caught A Mouse. He’s A Little Confused, But He Got The Spirit

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#108 I Started Feeding Bar Nuts To These Crows That Are Regular To The Patio Of A Bar I Work At. My Collection Of Gifts Finally Started After 3 Months

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#109 Lucy, Waiting For The Fire To Start In Her Favorite Box

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#110 Need Help Identifying New Bird At A Bird Feeder. Wrong Answers Only

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#111 When My Grandmother Was In Senior Care In 2014, There Was A Support Cat Named Ginger. Today, My Grandfather Moved Into The Same Place And Look Who’s Here

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#112 Thought My Dog Would Be Depressed While My Girlfriend’s Mom Watched Her For A Week Until She Sent This

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#113 12 Freshly Baked Puppies

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#114 Rory Got Spayed And Gave My Wife The Most Unsure Grin

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#115 I Am Away For The Week And Our Pet-Sitter Sent Me This

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#116 I Work As A Dog Groomer And Got This Absolute Gem Of A Picture. I Laugh Every Time I See It

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#117 Rescue Cat I Met Today At A “Cat Lounge” Shelter

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#118 This Is Jake. He Reigns Puppy Terror On The Lives Of My Parents

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#119 Put Your Shoes Back On, Please

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#120 Odin Brought Me Almost Every Single One Of His Toys This Morning

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#121 The Two Men Of My Life Napping Together

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#122 Barney’s First Visit To Bunnings (A Hardware Store In Australia). Dogs Are Allowed To Visit If They Stay In The Trolley

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#123 Trying To Come Up With A Band Name And Album Title For This Super Group

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#124 I Picked Up This Little White Boxer Pup Only A Couple Of Hours Ago. She Took To My Brother’s Golden Retriever Instantly

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#125 My Wife Went To Work For The First Time In 3 Months. No Words Are Needed

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#126 My Wife Gave Birth 1 Week Ago And Is Finally Able To Sleep On Her Back. Our Kitty Couldn’t Be More Thrilled To Have Her Happy Place Back

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#127 So My Friend Saw A Monkey Riding A Goat

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#128 Our Kitten Got Spayed So My Wife Bought Her A Sunflower Cone. She Was Not Amused

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#129 This Good Girl Wandered Into My Gym This Morning

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#130 My Grandma’s Ducks Hatched Next To Two Turtles And They Think The Turtles Are Their Parents

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#131 Wife And Pup Decided To Take A Nap This Afternoon On The Porch

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#132 Comet Is 4 Today

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#133 The Two Of Them Seem To Be In Love

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#134 She Turns 15 In 2 Weeks. Just Got Back From Doggie Physical Therapy For Her Back Legs, And Still Wants To Hang Out With Daddy To Watch The Sunset

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#135 My Dog And I Dressed As Scooby And Velma This Year

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#136 Pretty Handsome For His Late 20s

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#137 A 23-Year-Old Chihuahua Named Spike Is Currently The Oldest Living Dog In The World

Rita Kimball found Spike in the parking lot of a Camden, Ohio, USA, grocery store, she had no idea the little Chihuahua would still be her pet over 13 years later – let alone become the oldest dog living.

Image credits: GuinnessWorldRecords

#138 My Girlfriend’s Siamese Cats Sleep Together Like This All The Time

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#139 This Is How I’m Greeted Every Day After Work. Instantly The Stress Melts Away

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#140 Had A Minor Surgery Yesterday, Luckily Peanut (Right) And Murray (Left) Are Here To Help Me Recover

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#141 Lilith, Clancy And Their 4 Newborn Kittens

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#142 True Love Has No Boundaries

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#143 This Snake Visiting My Parents’ House

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#144 My Girlfriend’s Dog Turned 6 The Other Day

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#145 I Saw A Sleeping Bird On The Windowsill When I Left For Work Early This Morning

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#146 So Apparently In My Absence My Husband Has Hung Cat-Level Wall Art. So Sophisticated

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#147 He’s Such A Distinguished Gentleman

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#148 My Mom’s Cats Watching TV While In The Dryer

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#149 A Rat Riding A Cat Riding A Dog

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#150 Living Their Best Life

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#151 My Girlfriend Put A Bird Feeder On Our Deck. This Bastard Ate Himself To Sleep

Source: boredpanda.com