Describe your dog...

[wolfsoul]

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.

[Suki Wingy]

Niño, 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.

and here he is last week


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.

[Chilli]

Why must I choose between my two boys?! ..... its... so hard! I suppose I'll choose Ethan since he has "more of a story"...


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.


Here is a picture of Ethan taken yesterday. You can see how different he is, how much more happy and healthy he looks.

[critter crazy]

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!!!

[jennawing]

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-


Natalie throwing a fit on the bed-


Natalie and McCoy the Rat-


Natalie standing still for once-


Natalie doing her jumps- with one of her ropes-


Natalie at about 8wks old-


A moment of insanity-

[LeahMM]

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!"

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.

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.