Howd you get your dog/s?

Well, Muskwa my husband bought from a breeder before we met. He waited for two years for the right pup.

Earle is Muskwa's son, as was Hoodoo. Muskwa's breeder borrowed him for one litter--part of the sale contract. Instead of stud fees, we took Earle. Hoodoo was adopted, but we took him back at 9months of age. He passed away last February.

Sleet and Paxil both came from the same musher. Sleet was my first real sled dog. The musher was looking for somewhere for Sleet to retire as she had younger, faster dogs and Sleet wasn't happy in a dog yard. So she told my husband she was going to shoot Sleet!:eek: He loaded her into our truck two seconds later. Now that we know this lady much better, it is very clear that it was an idle threat. She never would have shot Sleet, but she knew a sucker when she saw one! She laughs herself sick every time she tells that story!

Paxil was in the same situation--ready for semi-retirement and not happy being left behind when the team went out. The very first time I ever drove a dog team, Paxil was my leader. I told her musher that day that if she ever wanted to get rid of Paxil, I wanted her. Four years later, I got that call and Paxil came to live with us.

Pingo came from another musher. Similar situation though. She was one of his first dogs when he started getting seriously competitive about racing. Over a couple years, she got bumped from his A team and was spending most of her time on a stake-out. She wasn't happy, but she wasn't ready to be retired either. So my musher friend started nagging me to come meet her. He started in July, in December I finally relented and went over. Pingo came home that night.

Preacher, Franklin, Delta, Antare, Goldie, Mac, Ozzy, Founder, Chase, Raven, Pacer, all came from the local humane society. They had all been there for over 9 months, most of them had been there well over a year. Goldie holds the record as longest shelter resident ever--over two years! They all started as fosters. I failed at fostering all of them.

Kayleigh also came from the shelter. She'd only been there for a few days. I was just walking through the dog kennels. She jumped up on her cage gate and as clear as day, I heard her tell me to "get me out of here". she left with me that afternoon. Looking back there was clearly a reason--if the shelter had time to get to know Kayleigh better and all of her issues, there is a good chance she would be dead!

Chum came from the same place. I was supposed to be hiding him from an abusive owner. I guess, a year later, I still am!

I basically stole Bandit from a former neighbor. Bandit was being abused. He frequently slipped off his chain and came to our place. One time, I just kept him. His "owner" knew where he was and never tried to reclaim him. A couple weeks later, I found a bag full of leashes and his AKC papers hanging on my door.

Heyoka is also a shelter dog. He had spent three weeks at the Pound--a kill facility. The officer there just couldn't euth him so they held him until a spot was open at the no-kill shelter. We adopted him a few days later from there. He didn't fit our usual adoption pattern--he was highly adoptable and would have been gone in no time, but my husband fell in love and decided that we deserved an easy one!

Hobo, well most of you know Hobo's story. I was caring for his entire dog team while their owner was hospitalized, wolf attacked him and one other dog. Both survived. Hobo saved the entire team. Owner tried to pay the huge vet bill, I wouldn't take his money. He offered me Hobo instead. I accepted that payment! At the time, it was doubtful that Hobo would ever be a sled dog again, so he wasn't going to get what he needed in a competitive dog yard! I'm eternally grateful that he stayed. He brings us much joy and I'm not sure how I would have gotten through the first few weeks after Hoodoo died without Hobo. He still needed intensive care at that time and caring for him helped my mangled heart heal.

I think that's all of them!

My neighbor found Samantha and her puppy sister alongside a highway when they were 6 weeks old. She brought them back to her house and brought them over the next day asking if I knew anyone looking to adopt a puppy. My husband (then just boyfriend) knew that we wanted one eventually but had no plans on getting one until well after we got married. But I took one look down at her and she looked up at me and that was IT. She has been my baby girl ever since.

well Happy is from a breeder, I had wanted a puppy, and I was promised one when I was like 8, my dad said I could have my own puppy when I was older, well when I was 13 I figered I older lol so my mom and I started researching breeds, I actually wanted a sky terrier, but for some reason we looked into Border collies, which I really was not to fond of because of exersize needs. well I almost got a pup whos litter name was "ready" and they also took us out the there farm to see his sister, a 1 year old, started working dog. I wanted her lol but my mom said we'll think about it, but they were both gone when my mom called back. then we were looking at shelters, and I fell in love with a pointer named max, I wanted him so bad, we went to bring shadow to the shelter to see if they would get along, but max had already been adopted. finally while I was at school my mom found an add for BC pups at a farm store, looked up the website and fell in love the the pic of Happy, she my mom showed me, then she called the breeder, went to the bank so she would actually HAVE the money, and took me and shadow to the breeders, and well we brought Happy home :p

Misty, I got because Happy retired from flyball(for a short while) and my mom said to me "you need another border collie" well that just shocked the heck outa me lol never thought my mom would tell me I needed another BC ;) so we started looking, we found an add at the same store we found the add for Happys breeder, called them, and after much confusion we were able to go meet the pups when they were 4 weeks old. so we drove all the way to weybern to see the pups, and Misty happend to have every charicteristic we wanted, plus she wanted to be with me, she fell aleep in my arms and tried to follow me when we went home, we put a deposit on her, and came back on christmas eve when she was 7 1/2 weeks old, when we got there all the pups had been bathed, brushed, and each had there own little home made christmas bandana ;)

Ripley and Perky were both from the same shelter, Perky had been adopted then abandond a couple of times, and Ripley had been through 2 homes by the age of 8 months, Perky is as smart as a whip, and Ripley is the cutest dog on the planet, how they were dumped so often is beyond me.

Blair, well we did not plan on a pyreshep lol but Happys breeder, also bred pyresheps(she recently apperntly decided not to bother breeding such a useless and brainless breed anymore lol) well Blair was differnt from the other pups he had so many problems, from being undershot, to being severly premature so he was offered to us for free, his breeder fogering he would do well in a home like ours. and well he is the only pyrshep that is getting anywhere, every single other pyrshep owner quite on the dogs, because after a couple years of training the dogs could not learn a darn thing.

I already posted, but I just want to say, this is a really interesting thread! Thanks to everyone for sharing , it's amazing how many ways our four-footeds come into our lives & hearts!

Awww *hugs to everyone* we be so lucky. :D

Alden and I got Katie at a very difficult time in our lives. I had been diagnosed with uterine cancer. At that time we didn't know what that meant for me and we were stressed and scared. We decided we needed to get a pup to bring some joy and happiness our way. I knew Alden loved akitas and I knew there was an adorable akita puppy at our pet store. I kind of tricked Alden into going there by asking if he just wanted to take a look at the different breeds. He said ok and the next thing I knew we were walking out with our Katie Girl! When we got in the car he said "You knew she was there, didn't you?" I said "Yep!" ;) . I'm not exactly proud of the fact that I bought Katie from a pet shop but I'm not apologizing for it either. I would never ever change a thing. She has been a lifesaver for us! She was with me through 2 surgeries and 5 1/2 weeks of radiation treatments. She was there every day when I came home from the hospital after a treatment and laid beside me so I could always kiss the top of her head. To this day I love to smell the top of her head because it brings back a wonderful comforting feeling for me. I love my Katie Girl!

Tori, my little red headed husky girl was a HUGE HUGE SURPRISE birthday gift from Alden. Gosh, that man sure does give great gifts. :p Tori has been a wonderful additon to our family and brings us soooo many laughs! She is Katie's sister and best friend. She is my wonderful snuggle buddy and sleeps right up against me when Alden is working nights. We would be lost without her. I love my little Tori Rose!

Sorry to be so long winded. I just love my girls and could talk about them forever. :p

Robin :D

We got Oreo 15 years ago when a friend who drove for UPS told us about a puppy that was being neglected on his route. We went to the farm and they gave Oreo to us. She has not been the nicest dog but she is kinda cute.

Dazzi was added to our family when a guy who sold envelopes and paper to my office came in and said he was getting divorced, moving into an apartment that would not allow dogs and needed to find her a new home. I told him to bring her over to see if she and Oreo would get along - and he brought two dog beds for her, her crate, her toys, leashes, tie-outs, shampoo, dog food. And so Dazzi found her new home.

Taggert came from a rescue group in Toledo. I saw his picture on their website, fell in love with him and went to get him the next day. Christy was just getting ready to move to Texas with Brian and I guess the empty nest syndrome got to me.

Snoopy came to be with us when Amy told me she saw him at a Pet Store in Toledo. A rescue group from a rural town about an hour away had brought him and some of their other pups there to find new homes. He was so cute but was already 7 months old - right at that age when he was not as cute as the darling young pups and a little more lively than others might like. I only wanted to look at him but the lady lowered the price and had him all bathed and everything when we went to see him and well, he ended up coming home with us.

Jack came when I was looking at classified adds on Petfinder because a friend had listed a dog on there. I saw this Airedale listed, e-mailed to find out a little more about him. And the next thing I knew we were driving to Kentucky to check him out. I have to say when we saw him I was not so sure Iwanted him he was such a mess but he rubbed up against Carl and it was love at first sight (but trust me not smell). He was filthy dirty, had ears and eyes infected and had some kind of allergy that had affected his skin and his teeth are all broken off from trying to chew his way off a chain. Now I am very grateful we got him - he is such a lover boy!

And Pippi came when a friend asked me to take her from a relative of hers who was keeping her chained to a dog house all the time and basically ignoring her. She had not been spayed and had not had any of her shots (she was a year old). She was afraid of everyone and had never been around other dogs. The plan was for me to socialize her, housebreak her and get her into the same rescue group we got Taggert from. I did socialize her (although she is still shy around new people and barks at them), and housebreak her although she made it onto their website she never made it out of my home.

I got my "baby boy" from a breeder that I worked for. Their were two litters to choose from. After the puppies were born I went to see. They were all so cute, I picked them up to get a good look at them and they were all fussy but when I picked him up he just layed there and when I went the last time to make up my mind he was the first to run up to me and then I knew.

I got my Tikeya just before my 12th birthday. It was a total suprise!!! my mom had brought me to a house that had three adult siberian's, and four little puppies, they were 5 weeks old.
I was so excited. my mom told me to pick one out!! I looked at all four puppies. there was two females and two males. one of the females was light red and very lanky with one brown eye and one blue eye. the two males were black, one had blue eyes and one had brown eyes. all three of the puppies were jumping all over me trying to get my attention. they were yapping and howling. then i seen her. At the very back of the pen a tiny black and white siberian husky puppy, curled up sleeping. I scooted over to her and picked her up, she was perfect, birght blue eyes, wonderful markings, and the most layed back "floppy" personality!!... I knew she was the one!!!! I put a red bow on her neck and then the breeder delivered her to my house a week later!!!! :D... she has been my best friend ever since...

Hey, Vette ... our old Acme friend! Long time, no see! :D

Lacie came from a pet store ... fifteen years ago, before I knew better! :o

Queenie came from the humane society in Fort Collins, CO.

Keito came from the humane society in Greeley, CO.

Wishbone, Lucky, Twister, Pepper, Georgie and Vanilla were breed rescues and/or through the humane society here.

:D hey hey!
someone does remember me. ;)

good to hear you and your fuzzles are doing good. :D

We went to the humain society to pick up a jack russle terrier cross we saw on their web site. When we walked in someone was walking out with the dog we wanted. We went in to see what else there was. It turned out, that there had been about 40 dogs seized from a couple in Yellowknife. We found Luna curled up in a little ball in a back cage and instantly fell in love with her. Two weeks after we got her, she had puppies. Hence Jupiter.:D :D

Luna was so afraid. It took three days before she would let us pet her. She was too scared to sleep, but so tired that she was falling asleep on her feet. She had quite a trip. We couldn't ask for better dogs. :D

http://www.talkingdogs.net/modules/c...cs/10005/1.jpg
Luna on right side.:D

Leo came from the SPCA. I got him at 8 months old. He was a very social dog, but totally out of control and had no manners. I had to make a special application and talk to the Director of Training to adopt him and although we had a difficult first year, he is my best friend and a perfect companion.

Penny Lane was adopted from the City of Buffalo Animal Shelter. She was 7 when I adopted her about 2 years ago. I heard that she was on the "down list" for the next day as they didn't think she was adoptable at her age. (I put an application in when she was still on stray hold) She was one scared and neurotic dog, but time, patience and lots of treats has turned her into a wonderful companion.