Why did you choose the pet(s) you have?

I can't remember choosing ruby because I was too young, but we chose her because she wasn't the first one to come bounding up yet she didn't just sit at the back, just came plodding up! We had the pick of the litter out of 9!! And otto and Archie only had litters of three and were both the last ones, so we hadto bet them! We would of anyway!

We got Jasper as we wanted a Parsons Russell, and he was the only male in the litter. As for Flirty and Bandit, they both chose me. They were originally my neighbours cats but decided they prefered to live with me and moved in bag and baggage before I even knew what was happening, lol. 
They weren't IMO being looked after properly, as Flirty had turned into the neighbourhood cat, in every house except his own. And Bandit was almost feral. 

Many, many years ago (I was under 11 - can't remember precisely) I went with my parents to choose a dalmation puppy. We chose one that was interested in meeting people (some stayed in the back corner) but wasn't over boisterous.

As to the cats there were plenty of choices at the rescue but:-

Roman actively sort us out whereas others may have come to see us he stayed and fussed us not just asked for fuss himself and smiled. He is definitely a cat that smiles - just a gentle stretch of the mouth/muzzle & eyes that light up.

Penny & Osiris were to be rehomed as a pair & although we weren't looking for 2 cats to join Roman we couldn't find one that we were drawn to or would suit going outdoors or get on with another cat. We looked at the pairs & originally we'd decided on another pair (siblings) but they were already reserved. However oddly Mark was drawn to Penny & in some ways she is still his cat, whilst Osiris appealed to me, so 2 cats it was.

Lexie was another story which some forum members will remember. At the end of Jan 2012 a YC forum member posted that another member she knew personally, was having to rehome some of her cats & could anyone help. As they were local to me, I was now retired & we had thought about possibly taking on another cat from the rescue, we said we'd see if any would suit. We specified a female who was able to go outdoors & was either around 2/3 years old or 8+. We were given the choice of 3, 2 around 2.5 years old & a 12 year old. One of the 2 year olds seemed rather aloof so we narrowed it to the other 2 & of course we each preferred different ones! We felt that giving the older cat a home would be the right choice but the young had a strong appeal to me & more interested in us. Then the final reason for going for Lexie (the youngster) was the older cat was the same age as Penny & selfishly I wasn't sure I could face losing 2 cats very close to each other. Of course there was nothing to say that would happen but based on age it was a possibility. I have a feeling the other 3 don't think we made the right choice! Think they would have preferred none or a less troublesome cat but we wouldn't (most of the time) be without her!

Should have added this to why we chose Roman. We'd made our mind up, agrred everything with the rescue but went back to the pen to take a photo, as we were going on holiday for 2 weeks & the rescue were keeping him for us. It's not the best quality but who could resist?

20070922_1713 by osiriscat, on Flickr

I chose Charlie because he wanted to cuddle with me as soon as I picked him up. My sister chose Morandi as he was the wild one and the only black and white one in the litter (we needed gardening gloves to pick him up !)
We got Penny because mam already had a rabbit and we wanted to get her a friend, mam liked Penney because she has one floppy ear and one standing ear, also she was supposed to be female.
My goldfish Bop was a present from 2 of my friends for my 10th birthday.
All of my tropical fish I have were gotten because a) the breeds were compatible and b) their colours.
Nibbles and Munchy were a complete surprise from my parents.

Hers goes with my 9 pets:

Bramble was a feral kitten and the only one available from a cat rescue centre.  We wanted a boy kitten but when we took her to the vet for a check up, he was a she!

Kiba-Khan was in a litter of 7 and we  had first pick - my daughter chose him because he had a very cheeky face and lovely markings.

Kai Ruki was chosen because he was a cream tabby Maine Coon and that's the colouring we were looking for.  The breeder had 2, one was a classic tabby and white and Kai Ruki was the mackeral tabby and white.

Kali was a stray so she chose us.  Out of her 4 kittens we chose Blackberry as soon as she was born as we loved her beautiful tortie and white markings.  We ended up keeping Willow too as she was long haired like Blackberrry and for her unusual colour - she is black smoke.

Toffee chose us - but, who could resist a handsome ginger tabby and white? - he is very similar to Tonib's Roman.

And the dogs:

Aztec was last born in a litter of 5.  My daughter had told Sacha, Aztec's Mum to have a black puppy.  Well, he was black when he was born with a bit of white on his chest and on the tip of his tail.  However, he changed colour completely and is the colouring of a Yorkshire Terrier!

With Kobi we were looking for a Patterdale Terrier or a Border Terrier and I fell in love with his photo in the advert.  He was the last puppy left in a litter of 6 and was originally sold but the potential owner didn't turn up for him so he was readvertised.

Well i chose Sindy from my local rescue centre that i support, she was 2 and a half at the time; but was the only adult and it was her second time she had ended up their, first time as a kitten.all the other residents were kittens and i felt that everyone would be cooing over the kittens and she would get over looked.

Well has you know Riley came from a Breeder but i picked him because my hubby just didn't know which one to choose, so i decided on him as he was just sat on his own in the corner and all the others seemed quite hiper and one of the other boys was very vocal and bossy, i know i chose the right one he is just so full of character:-)