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I've posted before about Wiggles, my APBT adoptee. He was found as a stray, adopted out to a family w/2 small children, and seemed to return on his own. The family couldn't handle him so they gave him to a friend who liked the dog. Then the friend moved away and Wigles was left outside the shelter. I just can't imagine him finding his way back to an industrial area on his own, although maybe he did.
Can't understand these people who give up their dog just because it's getting on in years--but that was probably one of the reasons our last dog, Goldie (yellow lab mix), was available for adoption. Our yellow lab had just passed away and I had been looking in the shelter for a yellow lab. On my birthday, I went to the shelter and there sat Goldie-- a calm, pretty, white lab mix, just waiting for me. She was so big, some people thought she was a Great Pyrannees (sp?). She was 7 years old and had been sitting in the shelter for several days already. Immediately after adopting her I brought her down to the lake for a swim (she had webbed toes as labs do so I knew she'd love the water). Took her out onto the dock where the water was about 4 feet deep. I tossed a tennis ball in the water for her to go after. Goldie immediately jumped off the dock--and sank! Oh dear, she'd never been in the water before! After several seconds of watching her standing on the bottom, looking at me up through the water, and me yelling at her "Swim!" she finally bobbled up to the surface and headed straight for shore. It took me 6 months of working with her to get her out into the water again and then she loved it. Goldie was a wonderful dog and we enjoyed her company for another 6 years . Her last day was spent at the beach, romping in the water with other dogs. The next day, her heart gave out and she was gone--but not gone from our hearts.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
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Originally Posted by SunInHair
Can't understand these people who give up their dog just because it's getting on in years--but that was probably one of the reasons our last dog, Goldie (yellow lab mix), was available for adoption. Our yellow lab had just passed away and I had been looking in the shelter for a yellow lab. On my birthday, I went to the shelter and there sat Goldie-- a calm, pretty, white lab mix, just waiting for me. She was so big, some people thought she was a Great Pyrannees (sp?). She was 7 years old and had been sitting in the shelter for several days already. Immediately after adopting her I brought her down to the lake for a swim (she had webbed toes as labs do so I knew she'd love the water). Took her out onto the dock where the water was about 4 feet deep. I tossed a tennis ball in the water for her to go after. Goldie immediately jumped off the dock--and sank! Oh dear, she'd never been in the water before! After several seconds of watching her standing on the bottom, looking at me up through the water, and me yelling at her "Swim!" she finally bobbled up to the surface and headed straight for shore. It took me 6 months of working with her to get her out into the water again and then she loved it. Goldie was a wonderful dog and we enjoyed her company for another 6 years . Her last day was spent at the beach, romping in the water with other dogs. The next day, her heart gave out and she was gone--but not gone from our hearts.
That's a beautiful story, Sun (and funny about the swimming). I hope you find that sort of doggie happiness again.
she's somewhere in between those 2 pictures right now.
her story is nothing exceptional; i decided to get a dog, but i wanted to wait a couple of weeks because i was going away for a few days. my husband is not much into dogs but said ok, on the condition that it not be a scruffy dog with a beard because they gross him out (the way their beard gets wet). we decided that we'd probably get a short-haired dog, like a pit bull or beagle. i wanted to get a pit bull just because there are so many at the shelter and they are sweet dogs, but i needed a dog who would be ok with my cats. that doesn't eliminate all pit bulls, but it does narrow it down a lot.
i got antsy and decided to resume volunteering as a dog walker at a local shelter, just to suss out what kind of dog i wanted and get some idea of the responsibility of dog ownership (i haven't had a dog since i was a kid). dumb move! i walked a lot of dogs who were really lovely, but resistable. i saw sadie there but avoided walking her because she is a beardo dog and i didn't want to fall in love with her. however, the 2nd or 3rd day i volunteered, this one volunteer who likes to order others around told me sadie needed a walk, so i took her. halfway through the walk i called my husband and told him i had found our dog.
he came with me the next day to meet her and was like "ok... but what about this pit bull? or THIS pit bull? or this beagle? or this german shepherd?" i told him we should take sadie out and get to know her, that she is a really great dog no matter what she looks like. finally he said the decision was mine.
well within a couple of weeks he was telling me that if picking the dog had been up to him, we would have a dog eating our furniture and our cats and pooping all over the place. he is totally in love with sadie and wouldn't trade her for another dog. he even sees scruffy dogs and says "aw, cute dog!"
she is such a great dog too, totally disproves the "only emotionally scarred/aggressive/incorrigible dogs are in shelters" myth. she came to us with basic training, she is a super quick learner and has the gentlest disposition. i have no idea why someone would have given her up - if i remember correctly her and her sibling dog (who i didn't meet) were given up because the family moved. it makes me angry to think about someone doing that to her. she was in the shelter for 2 weeks too! and it scarred her - for a long time she wouldn't walk into our vestibule or any other small enclosed space without an open way out, and she was super anxious about us leaving her.
Groar, Sadie is a cutie! You know there are canine DNA tests available, for maybe $50. You pay, they send you a swab kit, you return it, and in about a month you get the results. I did it for one dog b/c I never could tell just what she might be. Turns out she is GSD/GSP mix but no parent of pure blood. I can see the GSD in her now that I know what to look for.
what GREAT stories..... mine are not nearly so inspiring or touching.......
i had been in my house about 6-7 months and my then room mate and i were on the front porch one sunday morning drinking coffee and reading the paper when a car drove by with a dog hanging his head out of the window... i looked at megan and said something to the effect that i would LOVE to have a dog to run around with me and do stuff with..... she looked at me and said something to the effect that with TWO of us, we could take care of a dog.... i had only had cats for most of my adult life because i work a LOT..... well, we ran in the house to change clothes and 15 minutes later were on our way down to the no-kill shelter where i had gotten charlie-chubby-cat and max-the-mighty-hunter-kitty right after i moved in here..... we walk in and tell them that we were interested in a boy, about 9 months to a year old and that would be about 30 lbs grown..... they took us around to the various dogs and pups they had and none of them really "grabbed" us (me) .... we get to the last kennel and there sits my bailey-dog.... she was about 4 months old at the time and her shelter name was patches ..... they said that she had been there about a month but that no one had really shown any interest in her because of her looks ..... .... took one look at her and knew that she was "the one" ..... played with her in the getting to know you play room and that just sealed the deal .... they said that someone had been abusive to her and that she had some issues resulting from that ..... a THREE MONTH OLD PUPPY!!!! ...... we had to wait a few days to actually bring her home so she could be spayed and have never looked back.... she immediately bonded to me and has been my girl ever since she came home.... went in looking for a 9-12 month old, 30 lb boy and walk out with a 4 month old, eventually 50 lb girl......
she goes EVERYWHERE with me, except to work or if i fly to go out of town..... and THAT is rare..... we have been to omaha to help out a friend and then back for thanksgiving the next year.... we went to friends in ohio for july 4th in 2008.... we have been to north texas the past 2 christmases and will go again this year.... last christmas we also went on down to brenham and then to houston to visit friends and family and then back to friends in north texas for a few days before heading home..... we covered 2500 miles in about 11-12 days that trip.... she also goes with me on errands and out and about.... we patronize dog-friendly restaurants at every opportunity........she is truly my "heart-dog" ..... she has overcome most of the worst of what she was dealt early on and is great in every situation that we find ourselves in... she loves kids and is extraordinarily patient with them .... she still exhibits a little fear or wariness of young men ..... approximately adolescent age to mid-20's or so...... but even that is fading now......
we had buddy-the-giant-lab here with us for about 14 months.... 98 lbs of solid muscle with absolutely NO TRAINING .... i had to kick his person out of my house (one of those try to help a friend out and no-good-deed-goes-unpunished situations) and he just abandoned buddy with me..... buddy was too much dog for me and a potential liability because of his extreme protectiveness of bailey and me, so i found him a spot in a lab rescue group in tulsa..... took him down there the first week of april and he was adopted into his forever home within one month .... i still check on him periodically, and he is doing splendidly.... that was TOUGH.... but the right thing to do for buddy.....
as rough as he was on bailey while buddy was here, i could tell that she was missing canine companionship while i was away at work, so had been contemplating getting another dog for us..... went into petco 3 weeks ago tomorrow and OF COURSE stopped to check out the dogs that the rescue group had there that day...... talked to them a bit and told them that i was really looking for an adult male about 30-40 lbs .... they said that they had one coming in in about an hour that was being turned back into them because his person was in a 5th floor condo and it just was not working .... i talked to them about him for a bit and said i would try to get back before they left that afternoon..... well, we DID make it back and met charlie.... a border collie/lab and who knows what else mix...... has had a lot of obedience training and is thisclose to his canine good citizenship certification..... they were practically shoving him into my car.... told them that i could not pay his $175 adoption fee that day because i was only 5 days home from vacation.... they said not to worry.... i could foster him.....
charlie has been a challenge for me ..... he will be 1 on august 6th and is SUCH a teenager..... i can see his obedience training .... but sweet jesus..... he has made it his mission in life to be defiant and challenging to me..... and is EXTREMELY hard on bailey.... i am NOT a pushover by any stretch of the imagination and he is wearing me out..... and just when i think i have reached my limit with him, he melts me ..... i wake up in the night with his head resting on my chest right over my heart..... he curls up at and on my feet.... the list goes on......
so now.... i vacillate between turning him back over to the rescue and finding a 3-4-5 year old boy ....... or waiting out this adolescent thing with charlie.... i know he will be a good dog as he matures..... but i am worried about bailey.... he upsets her.... and although he is not aggressive towards the kitties, his play can be too rough for them too.....
**sigh**
bailey on a road trip:
bailey at about a year and a half old:
this picture is why i think she is camera shy now:
Groar, Sadie is a cutie! You know there are canine DNA tests available, for maybe $50. You pay, they send you a swab kit, you return it, and in about a month you get the results. I did it for one dog b/c I never could tell just what she might be. Turns out she is GSD/GSP mix but no parent of pure blood. I can see the GSD in her now that I know what to look for.
could you pm me the kind you used?
i've heard about those but i've also heard from a lot of people that they're not very accurate.
oh and bailey is so cute! one of the superficial things i was hoping for when i was looking at dogs was a spot over one eye... oh well!
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Oh dear, she'd never been in the water before! After several seconds of watching her standing on the bottom, looking at me up through the water, and me yelling at her "Swim!" she finally bobbled up to the surface and headed straight for shore. It took me 6 months of working with her to get her out into the water again and then she loved it. Goldie was a wonderful dog and we enjoyed her company for another 6 years . Her last day was spent at the beach, romping in the water with other dogs. The next day, her heart gave out and she was gone--but not gone from our hearts.
.... took one look at her and knew that she was "the one" ..... played with her in the getting to know you play room and that just sealed the deal .... they said that someone had been abusive to her and that she had some issues resulting from that ..... a THREE MONTH OLD PUPPY!!!! 
...... we had to wait a few days to actually bring her home so she could be spayed and have never looked back.... she immediately bonded to me and has been my girl ever since she came home.... went in looking for a 9-12 month old, 30 lb boy and walk out with a 4 month old, eventually 50 lb girl......
