Four Paws
Nobody keeps the whole life of a dog. You will.
You probably have a photograph of the dog you grew up with. One, maybe two. What nobody has is the whole of it: every animal the family ever had, in order, every photograph and every video from the day they arrived to the day they went, and the sound of them. The dog you had at ten, the cat that lived to twenty, the pony — each with their own page, their own dates, and their own voice.
Their own place
Every animal, in order, under the people who loved them.
An animal has a page like a person does: a portrait, when they arrived and when they went, every photograph and video they’re in, and a note about who they were. Under each person in the family: their animals, in order — the line of dogs across a lifetime.
Bramble
Border collie · 2009–2021 · Helen and Jim’s
Stole a whole ham in 2014 and was never sorry. Slept on Jim’s feet for twelve years.
Helen’s animals
- Sadie 1988–2001
- Pip 1999–2012
- Bramble 2009–2021
- Otto 2021–
The car pulling up, 2016.
The sound of them
A bark. A purr. The bell on the collar.
The recorder works for animals too, and it’s the thing you’ll be gladdest of. Twenty seconds of the sound a dog made when the car pulled up is worth more, later, than a hundred photographs.
Litters and lines
Where the parentage is known, it's a tree.
Breeders and owners who know can link a litter to its parents, and the same tree that draws a family draws a line of dogs. Most families won’t know, and don’t need to: a timeline under a person is enough.
Common questions
- Can we add pets to the family archive?
- Yes. Every dog, cat, horse or other animal the family has loved can have its own place in the archive, with photographs, video and recordings.
- Can we record the sounds an animal made?
- Yes. The recorder works for animals too, so a bark, a purr or the bell on a collar can be kept alongside the pictures.
- Can pets be part of the family tree?
- Where the parentage is known, a litter can be linked to its parents, so a line of animals is drawn like a family tree. For most families a timeline under the pet is enough.
Four paws, in the family tree. They were family — keep them like it.