[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

I resent my research being consigned to Mirth just because nobody else has the HoME extended edition.

Fordim has a very good point there: Legolas may well have had a white hare, which was the ancient symbol of poor timekeeping among the Sindar. It's possible, though, that he would have given any such pet a blue rinse. In his footnote, Tolkien says: "In fact Legolas was particularly fond of purple, especially as an artificial hair colour. His liking for it was so pronounced even for Thranduil's folk that it marked him out from his fellows from an early age."

Pets in Middle-earth were rare, particularly rodents, which have a tendency to eat beatifully crafted furniture and nibble perfect flowing locks. One of the few characters who does possess a dog, at least in early draughts of LotR, is Aragorn, whose West Highland Terrier would earn him drinks by balancing peanuts on its nose.