Breeds with whom I've shared my life

[Genia]

Actually, Pam, according to the police, the man was within his rights because he was "protecting his livestock" The sad thing is that Dusty was my daughter's dog. We rescued him from the shelter when she was 4 years old. She named Dusty because of his color. We had him for 3 wonderful years. Dusty was such a sweet dog. He was so clumsy and would bump into furniture when he ran through the house. He was afraid of everything! If he heard thunder he would hide under a table or a bed and lose control of his bladder. I didn't witness the incident so I don't know if Dusty was trying to kill the chickens.

A few years after Dusty's death I was looking at the Pet section in the newspaper and saw that someone was giving away a Basset/Lab. I had to call. I was ready to get another dog since I moved from an apartment into a house and planned on going to a shelter. Seeing that brought back so many memories of Dusty, I had to call and that's how Jeffrey came into our lives. He's not as frightened of things, but he's just as clumsy!



[This message has been edited by Genia (edited February 22, 2001).]

[Daisy's Mom]

This is a great topic Rachel! My lovely Basset Hound Daisy is my first dog, but I have been blessed to know many other wonderful dogs in my neighborhood:

Joey - Bernese Mountain Dog. He lived next door with my cousins. A wonderful sweet dog who died at age 4 of cancer

Chelsea - Boston Terrier. Lived with Joey. She's six now, and rather antisocial

Sammy - Yellow Lab. Lives across the street. One year old, very hyper!

Moe - Brittany Spaniel. My best friend's dog and Daisy's boyfriend! He's 14 and lives down the street.






[This message has been edited by Daisy's Mom (edited February 22, 2001).]

[Corinna]

Going back 40 years yikes I am that old !!
BLINKY gold cocker 6months old got distember
PATSY black cocker/springer 17 years old had to have her put down blind deaf and loss of bladder control (she had a very high dignaty )hubby helped at her funeral under her faviorite lilic bush . had her longer than adopted brother.
SALLY black lab
QUEENIE yellow lab
SPOT brothers beagle and gery hound (climbed trees
Honey 1st regerstered Springer raised 4 litters of award winning feild hunters
Pandora Blind springer trained for tracking
Duke st. burnard
Angie gold cocker
Necia rottie
Shadow black cocker
Buddy Newfy
largent red chow
miling black chow
bear Newfy
and now the world famous sofa spud Merlin springer
I show and train dogs my dad says a house with out a dog is just a house not a home.

[wolflady]

Thank you Sandra, well said! Misty definitely had a huge impact on me.

I forgot to list my sister's 2 dogs! She has Bear (chow/collie mix) and Shadey (Sheltie mix) They recently opened up a winery in Indiana named after their dog Shadey. It's called Shadey Lake Winery (www.shadeylakewinery.com)

Karen

[AdoreMyDogs]

Karen (wolflady),

My yellow lab died just before I got married too...It was actually a blessing when he died because of a a couple reasons. First of all, I always promised Beener that I would be there for him until the very end, and I am good with my promises. He was "my dog" for all of my teen years, and he was there to help me through those rough years with a waggie tail and love filled eyes. When my husband and I decided to get married in Jamaica and roll our wedding and honeymoon together I would be gone for 2 weeks. About 3 weeks before we left for Jamaica for the two weeks to get married, Beener stopped eating and his bones began to show. I knew something was wrong with him but I had no idea he would get so sick so soon. I took him to the vet right away. It was bad. His whole stomach was filled with some huge massses. The vet tried a couple of medications, and Beener just could not keep anything in. Then he stopped drinking water about 2 weeks before I left for Jamaica. I took him back to the vet for any "miracle news" and the vet told me that he thinks Beener should "go to sleep" because the stuff in his stomach had spread so much and he was too old/weak/proud for major surgery and then chemo. I had the vet come to my house 4 days later. About a week and 1/2 before I left for Jamaica. He put Beener to sleep in our living room while he layed on a massive pile of pillows and blankies.

It was a blessing that he decided to get severly ill before I left for Jamaica, otherwise I would have never forgave myself for either waiting until he was in pain when I got home from my wedding or having someone else put him to sleep and me missing being with him in his last moments. I think he knew that he had to "give up on life" before I left for Jamaica. He was so smart and kind.

The other blessing about his passing was that shortly after he breathed his last breath I felt my first feeling of a spirit being lifted out of it's shell. I was holding Beener when all of a sudden I felt this AMAZING spirit start circling around me. I was sobbing so hard but this beautiful spirit that began to circle faster and faster around me lifted my sorrow away. It was so playful and light and happy. It was Beener in his original state. It actually made me smile when he did that. Here I was, holding my lifeless dog and I had a little smile on my tear stained face. The vet was still there when it happened but he did not feel it, nor did my family who had to leave the room while Beener was being put to sleep. It was him thanking me for being there with him, and for being his friend. It was a blessing.

Just thought I'd share that with you. I posted it awhile ago but you probably did not see it.

[petspoil]

Baby - Shetland Sheepdog
Gordon - Golden Retriever
Ruby - Shi Tzu
Kenji - Yorkshire Terrier
Lady, Daisy, Lucky - beautiful mutts
Bobby, Healthy, Donna, Nala, Simba, Cookie - miniature schnauzer

[wolflady]

Adore, what a sad, but great story! You're right, I hadn't seen your story before. I got teary eyed just reading it because I, along with everyone here who has lost a pet, can relate to those feelings. A first pet definitely has a huge impact on a person. I quite agree with you that it was a blessing that Misty went to the rainbow bridge before my wedding, because I was gone for a 2 week honeymoon(cruise), and Misty wouldn't have been able to be kenneled that long. Especially since the wedding was in my hometown of Columbus, IN and not in California. She was rapidly going downhill in her health, so we all felt it was time for her to go to the rainbow bridge at the age of almost 16.

I just thought I would share my story since I don't have a present dog as of yet to talk about, and my family really didn't grow up with pets, so this was a big impact on all of us.

[Rottie]

I've had a

Shepherd mix who looked an awful lot like a pure Shiloh Shepherd
black/tan German Shepherd
Yellow Lab
Rottweiler/Lab mix
Rottweiler*
black/tan German Shepherd*
black German Shepherd*

*=is still with us

[pupperluver]

Inky-Poodle mix
Izzy-Bloodhound
Sweepea-Greyhound GSD mix
Carmel-Collie
Queenie-GSD
Prissy-Peking.
Chelsea-Elkhound
Lammie-Elkhound
Sally-Golden Retriever
Annie-Golden Retriever*
Oakley-Golden Retriever*

*Current resident puppers!