Our neighborhood’s animal magnetism

They’ve got it all — cuteness, charisma and hilarious habits.

For their ability to make us smile, we’ve deemed them the neighborhood’s  best pets.

What makes an Advocate pet edition model?

It is not necessarily impeccable breeding or a pretty mug but, rather, a personality — a certain je ne sais quoi — that jumps off the page.

Our 2011 model pet search garnered piles of adorable photos and amusing anecdotes. These finalists are the non-human neighborhood residents that most captured our hearts.

Benito, son of a model

Nick and Karen Ramos had a chocolate lab for 16 years, and after he died, they took some time finding another pet.

“My daughter [Lauren] has always wanted an Olde English bulldogge,” Nick Ramos says.

That’s not a typo. Olde English bulldogges are a modern re-creation of the extinct Old English bulldog.

They did some research on the breed and found that while the dogs do have some health problems, they are not as common or severe as other modern bulldog breeds. So they decided it was the best bet.

They bought him from a breeder near Austin, and they found that Benito’s sire had been a professional model that once appeared in print ads for Abercrombie & Fitch clothing stores.

“That’s not why we chose him,” Karen Ramos says. “We didn’t even know about that until we got there.”

Still, Benito follows in his father’s footsteps. Even though he’s not a pro, he is very photogenic and doesn’t mind posing or wearing costumes. The Ramoses sent in dozens of pictures of Benito — wearing sunglasses, in a St. Patrick’s Day hat and other hilarious poses.

But he’s more than just a pretty face. Benito is a terrific companion.

“My husband is semi-retired,” Karen Ramos says. “And he just follows him from place to place and sits by his chair.”

The Ramoses say they thought Benito would be small, but now that he’s fully grown, he weighs about 60 pounds. They take him to play at Happy Tails doggie daycare on Northwest Highway because he can’t take the heat outside. And Benito will be seen around town come football season in his own Romo jersey.

The three-quarter ton Chevy

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ub1OYPOzhk[/youtube]

It would be cheaper to have a crack cocaine habit than an obsession with horses.

That’s straight from the mouth of Harley Cozewith, whose love of horses started when she was a little kid. She doesn’t know where it came from, only that she always loved ponies.

“I started asking for a horse when I was 6,” she says. “My parents looked at me like I was the mailman’s kid.”

Although her parents didn’t have the means to buy her a horse, she once spent a week horseback riding at Girl Scout camp, and once or twice, her parents sprang for a lesson at the local stables.

Cozewith was almost 40 when her husband gave her a $100 “starter package” one year for Christmas. That included lessons with a professional trainer. But that was just a taste, and Cozewith wanted more. Soon, she wanted a better barn, a better trainer. She leased a horse, and then she bought her lease horse. She bought a bridle and all the tack, plus a horse trailer.

“It is extraordinarily expensive,” to own a horse, she says.

The first horse died after two years, so she decided to buy another one, a 4-year-old she named Chevalier. That’s Chevy for short, and since he weighs 1,600 pounds, his show name is Three-Quarter Ton — he’s her three-quarter ton Chevy.

Cozewith and Chevy compete in three-day events about four times a year. And sometimes they do pretty well. In March, they took fourth place out of 12 riders.

But Cozewith gets points just for showing up.

That’s because in summer 2009, she had an accident while riding a friend’s horse. She broke her hip and was in the hospital for three weeks, then a wheelchair for three months, then a walker and crutches. Over the course of 11 months, she had four surgeries.

The first time she got back on Chevy, she was scared to death and shaking.

“A horse can feel a fly land on its butt,” Cozewith says. “A horse can feel your heart beating.”

So a shaky rider makes for an anxious horse. Over time, and with Chevy’s help, Cozewith got over her fear. She will forever have titanium in her hip, but she has confidence in her heart and mind.

Cozewith lives on Goliad and is director of operations at the Museum of Nature and Science. She has three indoor cats, a “porch cat” and a Labrador retriever. Those are her pets, but Chevy is so much more.

“He’s my partner and my friend,” she says. “I take care of him and he takes care of me.”

Cozewith drives out to ride Chevy four or five times a week at stables in Wilmer. She gets there before the sun comes up, and she gets to work in Fair Park by 9 a.m.

“There is nothing better than watching the sun come up from the back of a horse,” she says.

Even though he is high maintenance and very expensive, Cozewell says, it’s worth it. She spends about $700 to take him to competitions. She pays vet bills and veterinary dentist bills. Every six weeks, the horse gets new shoes, which cost $125.

“Mama shops at Target,” she says. “Baby wears Prada.”

Newton the great

Jackie Mutz’s dog had passed away after 15 years, so she went to a no-kill shelter, Operation Kindness, to find another furry companion.

She saw one she liked on their website, but when she met the dog in person, there was no connection.

But then she met the 5-month-old Great Pyrenees whose previous owners had dropped him with a note stating they didn’t know he’d get so big. (He weighed 50 pounds at five months and now is about 106.)

“Really?” Mutz says. “Any dog with ‘great’ in front of their name probably suggests they’re going to be a big dog.”

Anyway, it was their loss.

Newton the Great Pyrenees is a big charmer, more popular and famous in the neighborhood than Mutz herself. And now he’s in service helping rehabilitate other dogs.

Mutz started fostering rescued designer dogs — the poodle mixes known as goldendoodles and labradoodles — a few years ago.

“Newton is the best big brother,” Mutz says. “Some of these dogs have been really neglected, and he gets along with all of them. He is so calm that they just follow him around, and he is a great role model.”

It took seven months to get the first foster dog ready to adopt because she was so afraid of everything — people, hands, cars, noises. But she would follow Newton around, and eventually, she started to heal.

Every day, Newton lets his owner know when its time to go outside, and she lets him out in the front yard. That’s where he sits and keeps an eye on everything, and that’s how he became so famous.

Occasionally someone will wave to Mutz in the grocery store and say, “Hey, how is Newton?” Sometimes she recognizes them, sometimes not.

“He greets everybody who comes by,” she says. “Kids knock on the door and ask if Newton can come out.”

Lovie, the Quaker parakeet

Laura Shoecraft wanted a bird. She’s not sure why, but she always wanted one.

So she waited for one to be born at a local pet shop, and she would go check on the eggs between classes at SMU. That was 1994.

Now her bird, Lovey, is 16, and Shoecraft says the bird is one of the best pets she’s ever had.

Lovey is a Quaker parakeet. That’s the same type of bird seen in the wild around White Rock Lake. Shoecraft discovered this one day while she was out walking and noticed squawking similar to Lovey’s.

“It’s silly, but I thought, ‘Can her squawking be heard all the way over here?’ ” Shoecraft says.

But Lovey doesn’t just squawk; she talks. She says “good morning” every day when Shoecraft takes the sheet off of her cage. She says, “I love you” (but only to Shoecraft), and she mimics the sound of the beeps that car key remotes make. She laughs and sneezes just like Shoecraft. And she says the name of her favorite color, orange, which she associates with her favorite foods, sweet potatoes and oranges.

Shoecraft also has two dogs, and when Lovey is out on the floor, they leave her alone.

“So kudos to them, too,” Shoecraft says.

Quaker parakeets typically live to be about 20 years old. But Shoecraft’s vet told her Lovey could live longer because she is very healthy and mentally stimulated.

“She’s just so special,” Shoecraft says. “It’s unbelievable.”

Loki the beauty

Susan Yost wanted a big dog that looked intimidating.

Living in Asheville, N.C., at the time, she liked to blow off steam by hiking in the mountains. But it occurred to her that could be dangerous.

So she went to the pound to find a big dog.

“It was between Loki and a Doberman,” she says. “So I went home and thought about it, and finally I decided to get the Doberman.”

But when she returned, the Doberman had been adopted, so Loki it was. The dog took to hiking in the mountains, and he did the job of looking intimidating.

“His previous owners had left him because they were moving,” Yost says. “He was the only one in the shelter that had a stuffed animal.”

Loki is not actually intimidating. He’s a very friendly dog, who is also beautiful. When they are out at the dog park, people often stop Yost to remark on Loki’s uniqueness.

“He is just the star of the dog park,” she says. “Everyone loves him.”

Yost, a graphic designer, and her boyfriend, an animator, moved to Dallas from Asheville, N.C., a few months ago. It’s the pits when the temperature is 75 in Asheville and 106 in Dallas. But they’re hanging in there, and they love their neighborhood, near Lindsley Park.

The couple also has two other dogs, two cats and a horse, which they board in Waxahachie.

“When we found out we were moving, we thought, ‘Oh, no, who is going to rent to us with all these animals?’ ” Yost says. “But then we found this place, and it’s been great.”

Jake and Bella, the loving siblings

 Laura Bruner, who lives in the M Streets, sent in photo after photo of her dogs snuggling. Jake and Bella, both boxers, can even be caught spooning on their dog bed.

“He’s so sweet to her,” Bruner says of Jake. “He even lets her eat his food.”

Bruner got Jake as a puppy 10 years ago after her brother-in-law interested her in the boxer breed. Since boxers typically live only about 10 years, Bruner decided to get another boxer pup. Bella joined the family about five months ago, and when the two are not romping and playing together, they usually are snuggling.

Jake is protective and likes to do the right thing for his master. He will sit in the front yard and not run off. But Bella is still a puppy. She is rowdy and loves people and dogs. When picked up, she goes limp for belly-rubbing time.

It’s no wonder boxers are one of the most popular dog breeds.

“They have such sweet faces,” Bruner says. “With all those wrinkles, it’s like you can tell what they’re thinking.”

Sugar the ragdoll

Sugar the cat has a personal “cricket cam.” It’s not something on the internet, although that wouldn’t be too surprising.

It’s a little carrier containing live crickets. Sugar’s owner, Carolyn Davis, feeds apple slices to the crickets. It’s like having a pet for your pet.

“She loves watching them in their environment,” Davis says. “It’s a great idea for an only child in a condo.”

Davis lives near White Rock Lake, and another of Sugar’s favorite diversions is watching birds and squirrels through the window.

“Her little paws have never touched the cement,” Davis says. “But she thinks that’s wonderful.”

Davis found Sugar, who is a breed called “ragdoll”, at PetSmart on Greenville Avenue during an SPCA adoption drive. And she’s been a low-key, entertaining pet for the past five years.

“She loves people, and she’s the most incredible cat I’ve ever had in my lifetime, and I’ve had many,” Davis says.