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I thought it would be fun, to see how you all viewed your dogs. Pick ONE of your dogs (I know, I know, but please just choose one) and post a picture of them, tell us where you got them or how, and share whatever you want about them! I think we have had a thread like this before, but so many people have had new additions and such, so I thought I would bring up another one. :) Have fun!
I'll go first...
Autumn:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...SC06044fav.jpg
I got Autumn from a family in town. Actually, we kind of stole her. This is what happend... My dad is a landlord, and rents out trailor houses. The family was NOT supposed to have a dog, but they got one anyways. They almost always had it tied up outside. My dad told them that they had to find a new home for it. They got "rid" of her, but a week and a half later she was back. So, me and my dad went to her house and told her if she wanted to give us the dog, we would take her and find her a new home. But the lady was sleeping, and her two children (ages 5 and 3?) we outside playing by themselves. The puppy was tied up, but the leash was hooked onto a tick collar and when the puppy saw us she pulled and pulled and got loose. A neighbor man caught her and gave her back to the kid who put her in the house. Then the little girl ran inside quick and the puppy got loose again. Me and my dad looked EVERYWHERE for her, but could not find her. After a while, we were on our way home, and found her in a yard under a trailor, with another dog who lived at the home. I got out of the truck and got her, and we brought her home. We planned on bringing her to the Humane Society, because my parents didnt want another dog. At the time we were having troubles with Maggie barking and whinning all night long, and the day that we brought Autumn home, all that stopped, I guess she just wanted a friend! So we ended up keeping her. :)
She has meant everything to me. She is the best baby anybody could ask for. She has never bit me (not even when she was a puppy and teething) never chewed on anything. She loves to give kisses, and sometimes thinks she's a lap dog, which is fine with me! I love to snuggle with her. She gets really protective of me if I am holding her in my lap or something and Maggie or Boo boo tries to get me to pet them, she will bark and growl and carry on until they go away. She follows me just about everywhere, and is so well behaved. She loves everyone and everything. I love her to death, and she means the world to me. :D
Bailey...
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y61...6/Dscf1454.jpg
After months of looking for the perfect dog, I chose to buy a Great Dane puppy. I LOVE their personality and goofiness. The breeder had a litter of 15 puppies, with only a few available to pet homes. I had to choose between a Mantle, Harlequin and a Mantle Merle. I chose the merle because that is my favortite colour. I absolutely fell in love when the breeder sent me pictures of him. I have only had him for a few weeks and it feels like I have had him forever. He is the perfect dog for us, we all love him. Bailey is fun to be around, goofy, and has the silliest bark! He sounds like a Coonhound! LOL! I love him to bits and couldn't imagine finding a better dog than him. He suits my lifestyle almost too perfectly!
:)
Maggie Mae
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...e/f0875da8.jpg
Maggie is my heart and soul. I don't know what I would do without her, as I'm extremely attached to her. We got Maggie from a breeder when she was 5 weeks old. My dad is a landscaper and a job he did was for this guy, a breeder, well the guy said he'd throw in a puppy if he didn't have to pay in full. Honestly, one of the best deals I think my family has ever done. Maggie is an absolute joy to have around. She loves people and kids especially. She is extremely protective of my neices and will follow them around the house to make sure their safe. She'll let them play cards on her stomach or use her as a hill when they play with dolls and whatnot, simple stuff they know to never hurt her, and they love her to bits too. They are always looking for her when they come over. Maggie is probably one of the smartest dogs I know, she may not know a lot of tricks, but she always understands what you need and wants to help in any way she can. I swear she is more like a human. As much as I hate to say favorites, Maggie is!
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i7...5_60000_21.jpg
Maggy,
Is our first dog together we were talking about getting a dog and my husband had always wanted a border collie so he gets the breeder book out(he went into the dog store and they have a breeder book which has listings of all breeds) that day he called a breeder which was just at the Quebec border.And just so happend he had 4 females ready to go.We went and i liked the one girl but jamie is a sucker for the timid dogs Maggy was cowering in the corner well he got his way!and she has been a loyal friend ever since
I only have one dog:(.
SASSY:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...whatacutie.jpg
I was five years old when I got Sassy. I had had open heart surgery(I have a heart condition.) and have ALWAYS wanted a dog. Well, after two weeks in the hospital for recovery I was free. So, we went to my godfathers house for a *visit* and my parents said we were going to look at dogs this weekend! I had no idea I was going to get one. There she was. As tiny as a kitten. I took right to her and now she is mine forever. I've had her for 8 years and what a dog she is. She's so bossy! She has such a personality and is pure evil. But all in all, she is a GREAT dog.
Morgan:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...ict/border.jpg
After almost a year of living without a Rottweiler, my family decided that we really wanted another one. We were already thinking about it around November or so but when we went to a dog show in January my mom was petting a couple of them and happened to run into a woman who is involved in the Southern Alberta Rottweiler Rescue organization. We actually wanted a younger adult (around 2-3yrs) but there were no young adult females available so we were then told about a 2 female puppies, one which was 6 months old and the other who was almost 4 months old. We were going to look at the 6 month old but she got adopted shortly after we were told about her so we then went to see the 4 month old and fell in love. Morgan is such a good puppy, I've never met a pup like her in my life. She's so calm, gentle and extremely willing to please us. She's only had 2 accidents since we've had, both were in the first 2 days and happened while my mom and I were out and my Dad wasn't watching her properly. She's never chewed anything she shouldn't have (well, she and Winston tried playing with a shoe once but that's all) and is a very quick learner. We can take her absolutely anywhere and she behaves perfectly, she's a little afraid of people at first but it doesn't take her long to warm up to you. She's also very quiet, she's only barked about 4 times since we've had her. After Echo had to be PTS we never thought we'd have another dog quite as wonderful as she was but Morgan is pretty close! She's such a great pup and will only become better with age I'm sure. I'm not sure what else to say other than how nice it is to have a Rottie again....
Sam
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a22...0/dressups.jpg
Well, Sam was one of the two surviving puppies from a BYB. His mom stopped feeding his brothers and sisters, so they died, except him and his sister. They sold his sister at 5 weeks old :( , and we got Sam when he was 9 weeks. I had wanted another Cocker Spaniel since my RB cocker had died. I dreamed of a parti color, and Sam just happened to be one! He's definatly my little man. He is the biggest cuddler in the whole world. He loves everyone, he's shy at first but once he warms up to you, he's your best buddy! He knows when I'm down and he'll make me feel better. He's the biggest goof... you can depend on him to make you laugh! He is my little sweetie.... his tail never stops wagging! I just love him to bits. :D
Adele:
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...i/IMG_1865.jpg
We don't really know too much about Adele's life before we adopted her. We don't know her exact birthdate, but it's sometime in August of 2003 (we celebrate her birthday on August 11th). She was about 11-12 weeks old when we brought her home. I was looking for another dog, and I actually wanted to find a male, but I saw Adele's picture on petfinder and fell in love with her face. :) She was at a shelter just into Minnesota close to my husband Eric's home town. So, when we picked her up we took Marta and stopped at the in laws and she got to meet their dogs on her first day home. We have a polaroid of all the pets and people together, and Adele looks so tiny. She has turned out to be a good friend to Marta, and a good dog. We usually say that Marta is "my" dog and Adele is Eric's dog, but neither of us could live without any of our pets. Adele is a very sweet dog, and will greet you like you've been out of town for months after you've been gone only an hour. She also adores peanut butter and knows the word, but her absolute favorite words are "dog park." :D
Jared - turning 6yr old Golden Retriever -
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...123/Jared1.jpg
When my mom and I moved to town we had to give up most of our pets ,at the time 2 dogs,9 cats (we kept 2) , the 2 dogs killed our goats so no worries there that was one of the reasons we got rid of them because we found out they not only killed the goats but were getting out and running deer and chasing horses around the area.) I was devastated because I had never ever in my life been without a dog. I begged and begged and begged for another dog. Well the chance came a friend rescued a golden retriverxGSDxafgan mix. Her collar had cut deeply into her neck and she was around 60lbs underweight. The people kept her until her neck was fulled healed then gave her to us. Nikki was wonderful until she turned neurotic.... She got into my closet dug the floor out and peed all over , refused to go outside because she was worried that we would leave her there. Those are just two of the hundreds of problems we had with her. We took her to the vet and asked is there any type of natural remedy that would help her calm down some. The vet recommended drugs.... serious people type drugs that were going to cost us 175$ a month. :( Sadly we felt it would be best to find her a new home that could afford that. Funny enough she went to a therapist that works with nervous behaviors in people heh! Once again my heart was ripped out because I'd bonded with my psycho dog. Once again the begging began. Finally my mothers current boyfriend talked her into it. She picked me up from school and stared driving. I kept asking where are we going? After about 40 minutes of her ignoring my questions we pulled down this long gravel driveway and I saw a huge grown golden retriever. She looked at me and said "You can pick a puppy but the breeder is only giving us a deal on the males so you have to pick one of those." I scrambled out of the car and ran to the door of the house. The lady took me around back to the yard and there were 8 wiggly fluffy fat balls of gold! I just sat down in the middle of them and let them all play around me. I actually wanted a female that tried to play with me non-stop but I had to pick a male. Finally one came over and sat in my lap and looked up at me with dark chocolate eyes and I knew I was in LOVE!!! We took him home and hes my best friend
Ask my some day why I neutered him.
Great stories everyone!! :D I just love hearing all the stories about how you all came across your wonderful babies! Hope we get to read more!
Hmmm, who to pick......???
Sleet is my canine soulmate. She's my best buddy. She was our first Yukon dog. At the time she arrived, we only had three other dogs. We had just met a musher named Trish and her family. Stuart was taking a class with Trish and her husband that ran for several weekends. On the last day, he when he got home, he said Trish had "sent something home" for me and it was in the truck. I was expecting some baking or something like that. I found Sleet sitting on the front seat, scared out of her wits.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ff/mesleet.jpg
This was taken just after she arrived. We bonded the second I looked at her. Sleet had spent her life as working sled dog, but at heart she wanted to be a pet. Trish recognized that and knew that she couldn't give Sleet that so she gave her to us. While she continued to work, it didnt' take her long to get comfy on the couch! Sleet pulled for me for four years. This is the first winter she hasn't worked at all. She has self-retired. She's probably 12 years old now.
Trish also gave us Paxil, for about the same reasons. I don't consider them rescues. They were in no danger with Trish. She's a wonderful, gentle woman and they could have lived out their lives with her. She knew that they weren't happy living in a dog yard though. The last time I saw her, she told me that the best thing she ever did for Sleet & Paxil was give them to me. I think they are the best gifts I've ever received.
Without Sleet, I would have never started mushing and if I had tried, we would have gotten nowhere! She was a phenomenal lead dog, never missed a command, knew where to turn even when I didn't have a clue. I got very, very lost once a few years ago. I was a long way from home and not equiped to spend the night outside. (I now don't leave the yard without enough to make it through a night). In a bit of a panic, I got off the sled, knelt in the snow beside Sleet and told her that I was going to trust her and asked her to pick a trail. The trail she picked led to a house, probably the only one for miles. They had a satelitte phone that they let me use, gave me some tea and cookies and treats for the dogs. When I couldn't get ahold of Stuart, they loaded my dogs and sled into their SUV and drove me home! I've never doubted my leaders since!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...leet_delta.jpg
Here's Sleet a couple days ago, hanging out with Delta. She gets along with all the other dogs. They all know that there are different rules for Sleet. There is no growling or snarling at Sleet allowed! She is usually first through the door and always sleeps by my bed. For a long time, she wouldn't settle down unless I had my hand on her back. I learned to sleep with one arm dangling over the side of the bed.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ogs/mybaby.jpg
Her eyes are cloudy, her hips are shot and her knees are going, she's got more grey in her black fur now, but she's still got a strong spirit, a happy heart and gentle soul. She's my special girl, always will be.
Well, Jesse is my only furbabe that is a dog, so I will do her!:D
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...a/f4a372f9.jpg
Jesse is my wonderful three-legged girl that my parents bought. We had an ESS before, and we had to give him to a farmer (Brandi was biting, and snarling at my parents and sister). Well, my dad loved black and white springers, and Jesse happened to be one of the last two in her litter. Well, we brought her home, and one day, on my family's way up to our shack, she fell out of the back of our pick-up (needless to say that we will never again put a dog in the back of a pick-up) and this is how she lost her leg. Her knee was shatterd, and part of the top of the bone in her leg ended up in her ankle. Her ankle was also broken, and partly shattered. We couldn't save her leg, so we had 2 options, 1) amputation, or 2) euthanasia. We didn't have to think about that decision!
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...a/f06871b4.jpg
Jesse is the love of my life, and she will never be forgotten. In fact, she is the reason I joined PT! She is 6 years old, and was born on March 10. I love my three-legged girl, and stated clearly in my sig, she has three legs, and a big heart!
Stephanie and Jesse
Since we're just picking one to describe, at random so to speak, then no favoritism is implied at all, right? Don't want the Murph Dog or the Gull Man to feel left out, because they are just as loved. Hear that guys? ;) So with that disclaimer out of the way, I'm going to chose Oz to describe.
I stumbled across a litter of Smooth Collie puppies on the internet. I did a lil' research on the breeder and liked what I found, so I emailed her with interest in a couple of the female Blue Merle puppies. It was a litter of 9 I believe and they were all spoken for except for 1 Sable Merle Male and 1 Sable Male.
I talked to the breeder in length about the puppies and her breeding program. I really liked her and based on her description of his personality was drawn to the lil' Sable Merle puppy. His name was Cosmo at that time. I found out later he had the most gorgeous blue eyes. What all those people were thinking to pass him over, I do not know. Boy, they missed boat.
I named him "Whizzer of Oz" to go with my 2 lil' Toto dogs. He fit in immediately and it was obvious from the start that he was special. My Mom, who's not a dog person at all, fell in love with him instantly and commented on how he was always staring at me, just waiting for me to give him something to do. He's always been alert to me and everything around him, soaking it all in and analyzing it. He knows what I want and how things are suppose to be, so that if anything's amiss, he's right on it, letting me know. I swear he's the closest thing to Lassie, I'll ever hope to have in my life.
He's been in many training classes over the years and I've had several instructors comment on how intelligent he is and what a wonderful personality he has. In fact, they fondly referred to him as the Infamous Oz, sort of akin to being the Great and Powerful Oz, I guess. ;)
He truly loves everybody he meets, man or animal, so he's a joy to take anywhere we deem to go. I know I make him sound perfect and I know that's not really true, but boy he's dang close. I just can't ever imagine having a dog again that's this incredibly special.
My Grandmother has had dogs over the years that she has dearly loved and her children and grandchildren have had many dogs over the years that she's liked. I've had 4 myself. Yet, the only dog's picture that she has displayed anywhere in her house, is this picture of the Oz Man. No one is immune to his charms. :)
http://www.musicdogvideos.com/JustOz.jpg
Par...
I'll do Rusty... because he is my only dog.
When I was about 8 or 9 years old I got Rusty. He lived a few streets over... his orignal owners didn't really want him, I guess they got "sick" of him so when they moved his came with their house. Well the next people didn't really want him so they just put a dog house outside for him and gave him food. He would come around every few day say "hi" to my brother and I then leave. Once when he came around my mom gave him a hamburger and after that he keep coming back wanting more and more good people food. When we went away on vacation we left a giant bowl of food out for him in case he stayed around my house while we were gone, when we came back we didn't see him but by the time we got out of the car he came running from around back. He most likly stayed at our house waiting the four days we were gone. He would "sleep" on my moms chair because late at night when my mom went ourt for a smoke he'd be laying there. Well one day the dog warrten came around and stopped at our house and said why are you letting your dog roam around the neightborhood? My mom said hes not our dog but he comes around and we give him food. The lady said wait I know how this is its Rusty Johnston, Do you want him I'll ask the owners if you can. So my dad said sure we'll take him. Well sometime that day she called the house and said he was ours now. Hes about 7 years old, because the neightboors had said they'd pick him up when he was a puppy, and bring him home. (and they said 3 years ago he was a puppy... to that time) We also heard lots of storys about him.. once my mom was at the bank and saw him in the back of the car and said hi rusty... and she said once she had a guy coming in workin in her house and he had left the door opened and when she walked in her kitchen he was laying on the floor. We also have heard the teenagers would give him drugs (lsd,etc.) to laugh at him when he was all out of it. :mad: :mad: And we think he may have been shot with a bb gun. :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
I love Rusty soo much. I don't know what I would do without him, he had gave me scares in life and very fun times. He is the best dog ever thought he is scared of alot of thing. Overall He is BEST dog in the whole wide world. We don't know his real birthday, but his got cha day is Octomber 23
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2.../rustabust.jpg
Gracie is my first dog that I can call my own. She means so much to me, I really don't know what I would do without her.
This is going to be very long....
Here is her story: My husband always wanted a doberman since he was a little kid. He thought they were the most beautiful, most graceful dogs he ever seen. When we were living at our apartment he told me that when we buy a house he wants to get a doberman to go along with it. I was a cat person. I knew cats and I still do. I only had one dog growing up and we had her for a short time. She was a rott/dobie mix. She was a great dog but like I said we only had her for a short time. Someone ran off the road to hit her and sadly killed her. I told my husband that I wanted to reasearch the breed before we do anything. Of which he did he pulled up all kinds of website and sat me down and we read through them together. We decided we wanted to go through a rescue. We started looking up doberman rescues in Michigan. We found 2 that we felt good about. We bought our first house and got all moved in, in October almost 2 years ago. By the end of October my husband really wanted a dog. As did I but he wanted one a lot more than I did. We filled out an application to both rescues we found. I called them both as I sent out the applications to let them know I was sending one in. We got approved by both places. I was in contact with the one rescue almost every day. They told us about a younge female doberman. They told us about her never ending energy, and how sweet she was and funny. They told me that her name was Gracie. Which I just fell in love. They said they would send us a picture of her. Three days later I had a picture in hand and started crying because she was so beautiful. I called them and told them how beautiful she was. Then they started telling me about her history. Gracie came from a breeder, who for some reason decided that a Gracie needed to be hog tied and hung. Gracie had to free her self in order to eat anything. We don't know how she got to the rescue but she did. Her second home, was a construction worker, he worked long hours and didn't get much for money. He put her through basic training of which my little girl failed. (No suprise there!) Then he figured since that didn't work he should put her into agility. She was the top dog in her class for agility. She loved it because she used so much energy. She always had to think about what her next move was going to be. Well the guy could no longer afford to put her through agility, and afford her food as well. I believe he got laid off or something, and had to give her back to the rescue. Her third home was with a very nice elderly woman, who of which we have never met. She cared for Gracie and loved her like no other. Until one day she fell down a flight of stairs and broke her hip. She could no longer take care of Little miss Energy. Gracie went back to the rescue for the third and final time. A few weeks after Gracie went back to her foster home we came along. After speeking with the owner of the rescue as well as the foster parent on almost a daily basis, my husband and I decided to make the 3 1/2 drive to Detroit to go meet her. We were prepared to take her home but we also prepared to wait to come back to get her. As soon as we got inside the foster parents house Gracie came running up to us with her little nub wagging and so happy to be alive. She started to give us kisses and would let us pet her as long as we were willing to. The foster parent told us that if we adopt her and bring her back that she would be put to sleep. She said that we will be her 4th home in one years time. That it is way to much for a dog to handle. We agreed to everything on the contract and loaded all of her stuff up in the truck. We asked her if she wanted to go bye bye. We hooked the leash on her and walked her out to the truck. We were followed out there by the foster parents who told us that she doesn't like to jump into trucks you have to also lift her butt up a little bit to get her in them. She said that she likes to play helpless to see what she can get away with. Little did we know how good she was at playing that game. It took Gracie a good 2 weeks to become her self. Oh man were they right about her endless supply of energy. She never stopped until about 8:00 at night. We decided that she needed training, so we started looking into a few trainers. In March we called a dog trainer, they came out and on the first day she was a differant dog. She listened to our every word. She came when called, she sat when told. And just all around a better dog. He energy level went down some. Now she is use to the training methood and no longer does what she is told to do. Now we are kinda doing a play off of the training. Still the same training just a differant way to do it. Gracie is extremly smart as are all dobermans. She is almost to smart for her own good. When she gets mad at me for telling her NO! she runs in the office and slams the door closed. She will start crying because she can't get out. She has also learned how to turn the tv on and off when we don't pay attention to her. All Gracie wants out of life is some one to pet her, some one to play with her and some one to feed her. She is the sweetest dog I have ever seen. She loves every one and every thing. She doesn't have a care in the world. I'm sorry this is so long. I couldn't give part of her history with out giving all of it. She is really an amazing dog. I love her so much. I love coming home at night to see her running up to the door to greet me. Thank you for taking the time to read it. It is a very sad story but has a very happy ending.
Here are a few pictures of her.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...e/9e73b833.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...e/42909f71.jpg
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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...e/7791d8b9.jpg
I fell in love with Visa the day I met her. She was so small and shy that I thought she was only a puppy, maybe 7 or 8 months, but it turned out she was 2 years old. She was one of three surviving puppies from a litter that had come down with parvo. I met her on my first day of work experience at the grooming parlour that I now work at. I just loved how cuddly she was and how she loved to lay on my lap and just be with me. I told her breeder that maybe one day, after I got my catahoula, I would buy a Belgian puppy from her -- but it would have to be one of Visa's, because I wanted a dog just like her.
Well, my roomate (at the time) had to give up her large dog and she was afraid our house would get broken into, so Marla (Visa's breeder) lent us Visa on the promise that I would train her and run her in agility. After less than a month, Marla had a call from a girl wanting a Belgian. Marla had said that no dogs were available, but this girl had just lost her Belgian and wanted to do agility, so Marla told her she could have a look at Visa. I was heartbroken when Marla took Visa. The next day, my roomate told Marla that I was very upset, and so Marla gave me Visa.
Even though she is still co-owned with Marla (until after her first litter), this is the first dog that I feel truly belongs to me. Even though Timber was my heart-dog and I loved her so much, I knew deep-down that she could never be all mine. Visa is the first dog I've been able to do most of the things I want with, like conformation and agility, and other sports. I love her even mor because I get to remember what she was like when I got her, and compare that to the way she is now. I'm so proud when Marla tells everyone how hard I've worked with Visa. I really have put a great deal of effort into this dog. She will have wonderful puppies and I can't wait to keep one and do even more with him than I do with Visa. I can't say Belgians are my favourite breed -- to be honest, I think the majorty of them are completely crazy. But they are certainly a challenge, and Visa has lived up to that promise, providing a challenge. She is the most high-drive dog I've ever had, and completely insane, but I've worked so hard with her and she is now the most advanced dog in our agility class, not to mention the fastest! Sometimes she can try too hard and look like an idiot, but she is fairly bright. I've had smarter dogs, but she thinks differently. Give her an inch and she'll take a mile for sure. You always have to keep on top of her. She is very respectful though, and knows who is boss. We are still working on some shyness issues (not genetic, but environmental -- she wasn't socialised enough), but otherwise I am very proud with how far she has come. Everyone told me that I was out of my mind having her as my first competition dog, that she was a Belgian with drive issues and would be hard to handle, but she has alot going for her now, and I think everyone is surprised by how far this dog has improved and will continue to. I don't think I'll have Belgians for the rest of my life,but Visa has certainly been a great dog and I will give as much love to her son.
Niņo, my one and only, my heart my soul.
He is 6 years old and we adopted him on June 15, 2000. He was somewhere between 6 and 8 months old. Here are the pics from the first day we brought him home from the shelter.
http://longfellow.zoto.com/img/768x1...fb59997af-.jpg
and here he is last week
http://longfellow.zoto.com/img/45/6a...7bf7cf203d.jpg
http://longfellow.zoto.com/img/45/a6...8a9ae03398.jpg
I don't know what breed he is, that is the "dreaded question" I can play the "guess that breed" games with ease but I still don't know. Most dog people say pit bull/ pointer, pit bull/ACD, or pit bull dalmatian. I don't think he's dalmatian.
Why must I choose between my two boys?! :o ..... its... so hard! I suppose I'll choose Ethan since he has "more of a story"...
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Here is Ethan the night we adopted him.
We adopted Ethan on Sept. 18th, 2004. It was my birthday, and out of the blue I decided that as a present, I wanted to take Frisk to Petco to walk around and such. When we got their, we did our usual rounds (looked at the rodents, reptiles, birds, etc.), then we did something we usually didn't do... really look at the dogs there for adoption. My mum, who always denied that she liked dogs, said that she really liked the "scared, skinny one". I looked over to him and I knew we would be together soon. He looked so pitiful and lonely, standing in a corner with a rope-like toy he was carrying around, his tail between his legs. He would constantly look at the people who were in awe over the puppies, as if he was saying "What about me?". He kept his distance away from the crowd and never approached anyone. He was already 10-12 months old, and was the only "older" dog amoungst the small puppies for adoption. A lady that organized the adoptions began talking to us about him. She said that he was rescued from an abusive home. One where a man kept around sixty crates stacked up ontop of each other with dogs in it. The dogs were abused, and Ethan shows signs of having such a tramatic first year of life. Ethan was underweight at that time, by around 5-7 lbs. The lady also told us that he has been through many homes, but none of them ever lasted. He had "issues" as they put it. My mum did something I never thought would happen. She said that we could foster the dog for a week! I was absolutely excited. I walked slowly up close to him, as not to frighten him, and I knelt down, putting my hand out for him to sniff it. I expected him to cower off into a corner, but he didn't. He took a few steps toward me and let me pet him. At that moment, I knew we weren't just going to foster him, but that we were going to give him his forever home. My mum filled out some papers and we found out that he didn't have a name. We would figure that out later. It was finally time to take him home. He was so scared in the store, that he couldn't move. My sister had to carry him out of the store, and I remember how so many people there thanked us and complimented us for adopting him, since he was the "older", more timid one. On the 45 minute ride home, he behiaved so well, just sitting in someone's lap. Him and Frisk got along from day one. When we got home, my dad had no idea we had a new dog. When he saw him, my father began to cry tears of joy. I'm unsure why, really. My father then sat down on the floor and held Ethan in his lap and continued to cry. It was really touching, and I went outside with Frisk and cried a bit, too. I came back in and Ethan and my father had made themselves at home on the couch in the living room. I didn't know that for the next week, Ethan wouldn't move from that room. Its true, for the first week that Ethan lived with us, he didn't leave the living room, he was too scared. You couldn't even talk above much of a whisper or else he thought you were getting on to him.
At the end of this year we will have had him in our lives for two years. It seems like just yesterday he was just that cowering, timid dog. He is now our beloved member of the family.
It took us a whole year to get him fully potty trained. And I remember times when my mum and dad would threaten to give him back to the shelter, and I would remind them that he's still learning how to be a real dog.
To this day, he is still really timid. If you even just yell at someone in the other room to come to you, Ethan will think that you're yelling at him. He's deathly afraid of thunder storms and car rides. But despite his "faults", we wouldn't want him any other way.
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Here is a picture of Ethan taken yesterday. You can see how different he is, how much more happy and healthy he looks.
Well I will have to choose Duke since he is the only dog I have right now!! Last July we knew that our dear rotti Zeus was not going to be around much longer, getting up there in age, arthritis slowing him down and his eyesight was going. So hubby and I one moring talked about getting another dog, so we talked about what we wanted, I didnt want another rotti because my last two had died at such early agesI had had enough. I just could not bear to loose another one. So hubby commented on always wanting a bloodhound. I tld him it would take some searching to find one of those, not very common around here. So hubby went to work, and I began my search. It took me all of five minutes!! I couldnt believe it, right in the newspaper was a Bloodhound for free!!! what are the odds??? So I called the number and talked to the gentleman who said that they were moving and couldnt take their dog with them. Duke was only 3 months old and so adorable!! I called hubby and told him the great news!! we went that night and picked him up!! He has been such a great dog!! He is so much fun, has tons of energy and just loves all of my critters!! He was a little terrified of my horses at first but that wore off quick!! he now plays tag with them!! He got along great with our rotti as well, they were inseperable till dec when my rotti passed on. For a while Duke seemed to be heart broken after zues passed, but now he has claimed my cat as his new best friend!! Duke is my joy and I love him dearly!!!
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I will pick Natalie since there is more to tell about her.
Natalie is a mix of unknown origin. Her mother was a stray that had 11 puppies under our house. Mom looked like a Border collie, only taller, and all the pups ended up black with little or no white. We didn't intend to keep any of them, and they found homes very quicky at first- mom, in fact, was the first to go. But then people stopped calling all together and we had this one girl puppy left. It turned out to be a blessing, though, as our 7month old Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy, Conner, broke his runner and was hit by a car. A couple weeks later, Lila, his mom, had a stroke and we had to have her pts. It was very heart-breaking and having a puppy to cuddle and occupy our minds was quite a twist of fate.
If pressed, I say Natalie is a lab/dane mix. She's 82 lbs and 29inches now at 16 months old. She is still all puppy- just huge. She is very smart and knows tons of commands, though most of them are quite backwards. Wait means sit and thank you means lay down- use what works, huh? She is also a huge brat at times- falls on her back and throws a tantrum if you pay too much attention to someone else or if Sirius our gsd/lab/pit mix takes her toy. She jumps hurdles about an hour a day or else no one could stand her in the house. In December, she and our Rat Terrier Hogan were poisoned and we almost lost them both- thank you Dr Springer forever for all you did to help them.
Natalie loves jumping, plushies, rope, tennis balls on rope, the ducks at the park, the goat down the road, all kitty cats, and thinks all people want to show her they love her. She hates anything that smells like medicine and will bark at mouth wash, nail polish, etc. She loves to sleep plastered right to you, no matter the weather, and otherwise sleeps on the sofa on her back twisted into unbelievable positions and snores quite loudly. She also has a very queasy stomach since the poisoning, so you have to be careful she doesn't get any people or cat food or she will gas you out of the house. She is very gentle with all the little critters- lets rats crawl on her and the bunny hop on her- she lies very still and just watches them.
She is most obsessive about her toys- will drop a toy in your lap over and over for hours as long as you keep throwing it in the air for her to catch. She goes through a lot of hoolahoops- she loves to run around the yard with one in her mouth and breaks one about every week. She also can be quite pathetic and will lay her chin on your knee and seesaw her eyebrows up and down if she wants to go play or wants what you are eating. But she loves all other animals, kids, and all people- but usually scares them off since she is big, black, and not the least bit subtle.
Natalie with a broken hoolahoop-
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Natalie throwing a fit on the bed-
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Natalie and McCoy the Rat-
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Natalie standing still for once-
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Natalie doing her jumps- with one of her ropes-
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Natalie at about 8wks old-
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A moment of insanity-
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I'll talk about Niki, my very first rescue dog. I was searching for a Border Collie for months when one day, I found Niki on the Humane Societys adoption page. I was at work at the time but afterwards, hubby and I drove down there to meet her. She was shy and mean to my husband. He said "We'll take her!" :eek:
Niki was two years old at the time and an owner surrender. Her owner was a homeless man and ill. They say he cried as they were going through the process. Niki was 100% unsocialized and probably had never been on a leash. When we took her to Petsmart the trainer there said that "the Border Collie was the smartest dog in the world but THAT ONE IS NOT!" She snapped and growled at him which prompted the comment. :rolleyes:
Needless to say we immediately enrolled her into classes and did the training thing vigorously for almost two years. She has her CGC now and is the sweetest dog you could ever meet. She's my heart dog.
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Georgiahttp://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...ogshome013.jpg
I came home from school and my mom showed me an ad in the paper. It said there was a white boxer puppy for sale. We went to see the puppy. She was small and very skinny, she was shy and scared. The dad dog peed all over and the mother growled. The breeder had starved the little puppy. We took her into our hands. We fatenned her up and she has been the greatest dog since.
Georgia has been an awesome dogs for years. I couldn't ask for more.
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Gracie's registered name is Juroblyn's This Time Around. she the first puppy i raised. i had just moved to Nashville,TN and wanted to start showing dogs. a breeder refered me to a breeder that had 2 female pups. one black and white and one grey and white. when the breeder e-mailed me a pic of the pups i just knew that the lil grey one was mine. at nine weeks i went to pick her up. she ran straight to me, as if to know i was there for her. her sister, aretha, lives with the breeder who referd me. my friend Judy. Gracie and her sister get to see each other often.
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Gracie did very well in the show ring and i looked forward to years of blue ribbons with her. unfortinatly this passed march Gracie was disqualified and suddenly ended her showing career. she was 1 1/2in over the breed standard. i was heart broken, but thought atleast i had Jake(my great dane) to fall back on. the very next day after the show Jake was taken from me. i was going through a ton a depressing things and Gracie was there for me. i'm so lucky to have a such a wonderful dog. pet or dog. :D
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wolfy is the first husky i had ever owned i got him at 12 weeks old. He ran in harness & raced ,but let my otherv dogs do most of the work ,bit of a lazy bum. He's so laid back for a sibe ,well behaved too!! when he was a few months old he chewed through to my neighbours fence ,she thought it was funny but i didn't as he could have escaped little devil.no way of escape now though. When he was a well lad he would eat everything in sight. hes 13.5 yrs now so getting on now.
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as a pup
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as a teenager
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at 13 yrs old
Roxy--
In 2002 we went to the local shelter looking for a Small dog. We loved this Yorkie, but he wasnt available till Monday, and his owners could still come back and get him, so...Roxy was there, and she was cute, but we never knew we would end up with her! We came back on Monday, and the Yorkie's owner had come back for him. So...There was Roxy, just sitting there looking at us. Mom-"Do you want to adopt Roxy?" Me-YES!! *starts jumping up and down* She got fixed, and almost ran away that day we went to get her and bring her home! :eek: But she was ok, and thank GOD! we caught her.
Roxy is my heart and soul dog, she is my soulmate, my everything, my world. I wouldn't trade her for a million dollars, and gosh, I love her to bits! She is such a spoiled girl, and OH how I love her!
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