How did you get your furbaby? (bulldog, boxer, vets, schnauzer)

[zugor]

Long list covering more than 2 decades.

Clancy - pure bred golden retriever - bought as a pup from a BYB before I knew better 10/90 - 2/03

Solly - black lab mix - given to me by a friend who rescued mom and 6 pups dumped by the side of the road. Maybe five weeks old when I got him. He was my heat dog extraordinaire. 12/92 - 6/06

Nikki - irish setter mix about 4 months old when a neighbor gave him to me. 12/94 - 12/08

Calypso - pure bred chocolate lab - 6 weeks old when she was given to me by my vet who had gotten her from the breeder. She was very sickly and brought to the vet to be PTS. 5/04 - current

Sam - great pyr/golden retriever mix - about 9 or 10 years old when I adopted him from the Oakland, CA shelter. We only had a year together but he liked being a country dog when we moved to VA. 09/05 - 09/06

Bay - black lab mix - 10 years old when I got him via a post on the Petfinder forums. 92 pounds when I got him, 48 when he finally lost all the excess weight he was lugging around. 05/06 - 03/09

Monty - black lab - about 8 or 9 years old when I got him from someone who no longer wanted him. 07/06 - 06/09.

Orion - black lab - about 7 or 8 years old when I adopted him from a high kill shelter near here. 07/06 - 04/08

Sandy - black lab/flat coated retriever mix - 10 years old when I took her in. She'd been dumped on the Blue Ridge parkway with a not on her collar saying "I'm a very good dog. I'm ten years old and have all my shots. I need a new family to love me." We had 17 months together but I'd have to look up the dates.

Frannie - black lab - probably 7 or 8 when I got her. Another stray that was found by a member of the humane society who did not want to turn her over to the pound. Notices posted and pound notified but no one ever came looking for her. 08/10 - current

Toby - black lab/neufie mix - 10 or more years old when I got him from the local pound. Sadly we only had 7 months together. 08/11 - 03/12

Zach - big black lab - turned 12 just a couple of days after I got him from a family that could no longer keep him due to job loss, foreclosure, divorce. He looks a lot like Toby did and sometimes get called by that name. 08/12 - current

Dozens of foster dogs of various ages, breeds, sizes, colors, etc. Current ones are Amelia, a treeing walker hound who is probably 2 years old and Angelique, a feist who is cute as a button and likely 8 or 9 months old. Two foster horses, one who lived out her last couple of years with me and one who got adopted and is living the good life.

Oh yeah, some cats too but since this is in the dogs sub-forum we won't mention them.

[Fontucky]

Being in the right place at the right time. After being turned down by a local rescue for the adoption of a male black Lab, I was visiting friends in the Mojave Desert. We went to this ramshackle house in the middle of nowhere to deliver some food from my friend's church and the man there saw me making a big deal over Nanners. He said "You want her? Take her." So I did. And now she lives a life of indulged luxury lo these 5 years hence. She went from a dug-out burrow in the dirt, exposed to scorching sun, rain, snow, ice and wind, to this:

[Cabot]

My older boy is from the RSPCA in the UK and our younger one from a rescue. Our cat was a stray. All our animals over the years have been mainly strays with a couple or so rescues. We did have one as a gift and it was because she was the runt of the litter. They have all been wonderful without exception.

[Driller1]

Bear (now gone) and Angel were from BYB......I loved them but, never again will I buy from a BYB. (labs)

Now the hounds.......

Rip and Ape come from one of the foremost hound breeders in the country.

Hubby came home with Bo........neither one is talking yet.......I have yet to get those "papers".

Angie......came from a good trainer......but, not a proven breeder......we'll see.

[LuvABull.Denver]

I LOVE these stories!!! Keep them coming! (Please!!!)

[Squirl]

Looking at the Pets column on craigslist I saw an ad "purebreed Boston Terier, we are moving. Good dog, 5 years old. First one who gets here can have him." I got in the car and got him simply to save him. They'd had had him since he was 8 weeks old. They had only taken him to the vet during his first 2 years of life and he was just about 5 weeks shy of his 6 th birthday. They were not moving. They were leaving for vacation. Also they worked and he was having accidents in the house ever since their other dog had died of old age and he was alone all day. I had him neutered, microchipped, and he had mast cell tumors I had removed (clean margins) got him vaccinated and prepared to find him a proper home. My adult son adopted him and then he ran away within 2 days. I couldn't stop crying or searching. He was found 21 days later. His vetting had cost me about $600 when I rescued him, my son spent $800 having posters printed, paying rewards, etc. ....my free Craigslist dog was found! Again, I couldn't stop crying. He was home with me. I adore him. He adores me. Leo is over 9 now and going strong.

[stan4]

Rough collie - local breeder
Smooth collie - had to go all the way to Georgia to find one!

My first dog (when I was a kid and lived overseas) was a rough collie from a Danish breeder.

[Oreo's Mom]

Our first dog, Oreo, is our "boonie" dog we got from the animal shelter in Guam at six weeks old, covered with ring worms...I can still smell the rotten egg smell of the sulphur baths I had to give him to treat it. Zeytin, our Pekingnese we got from a Turkish family whom we were close friends with while we lived in Turkey. We brought both of them back to the states and we could not imagine life without their antics!

[AustinB]

Originally Posted by elston

Maine and its kind hearted citizens are to be congratulated......there are no kill shelters in the state of Maine and they continue to bring in dogs from the south and mid west to forever homes in Maine. Lets hear it for Maine.....the way life should be (for people and dogs)

Our latest, Gemmie, Came from a shelter in South Carolina. She doesn't care too much for the snow.

[Jezer]

Originally Posted by AustinB

Our latest, Gemmie, Came from a shelter in South Carolina. She doesn't care too much for the snow.

The opposite here.

Ours keeps wanting to go out and play snowballs!

Taken this morning;





Our choccy labrador has some relations in the area and we got her after having seen her cousin. She's just turned 14.