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Original poster

Dog lovers tell me about your dog?

67 replies

juniperdewdrop · 08/07/2008 13:56

I got mine a few weeks ago from a rescue centre and love him to bits I've always liked dogs but never been a huge animal lover. I'd promised the boys when we got a garden we'd get a dog. So when we moved to a house with a garden and a great park over the road I had to keep my promise.
So after visiting one rescue centre with no joy we went to another and got our 17 month old whippet?/collie cross.
He'd been sent back and on his information from ex-owner it said 1) he hated other dogs 2) he ran away if you let him off the lead 3) he hates the wind 4) he hates being bathed ....etc.

Well, yes he did hate dogs...barked like crazy and totally showed me up. But that lasted a week as I kept taking him to the park, let him off the lead eventually, and calmly got him to socialise. Now he thinks he owns the park
He's only run away once and that was when my bf walked him. I was in hospital and bf had to take him out and dog just ran off. Can you imagine me coming out and breaking it to me that my dog had gone?

Oh and he often goes out with me in gales plus is very compliant when I bathe him.

It makes me sad to think some people just can't give a dog a bit of patience. This dog really is fantastic. So clever and friendly. My kids adore him so does the exdh. He even has him overnight sometimes.

I'm glad though that he came to me in the end

OP posts:

beaniesteve · 08/07/2008 20:22

Russell - woops.

TeaDr1nker · 08/07/2008 20:44

i have a dacshund - she is now 10, rather high maintenance but i would not be without her. She is a great hot water bottle in the winter and amuses my LO no end.

Won't walk in the rain, mind you she doesn't walk far now at all.....

smartiejake · 08/07/2008 21:53

I have a potty young sheltie (like a small collie- pictures on my profile)I have had this lovely breed in my life since I was ten (my parents still have them now too)

She was quite a naughty puppy but is beginning to calm down a bit now with the help of training classes and some ideas from the "dog whisperer"

She loves her walks but don't let her off as she ran after some nervous little dog once and would not come back. Our dog came back quite quickly but the nervous dog disappeared and we spent 2 hours looking for it. It actually had run home and we found her sitting on the doorstep!

I felt so guilty. Our dog trainer said if we can't be 100% sure that our dog will come back we should not let it off the lead. If she ran in front of a car and caused an accident I would never forgive myself so she has to be content with an extendable lead.

SHe moults for about 2 weeks every year and needs moderate grooming.

bethoo · 08/07/2008 21:59

Beeliesebub sorry typo but do the vets know what is wrong with Molly? is it her heart or some type of epilepsy? my Thor collapsed a couple of years ago due to some sort of problem with the brain sending messages to hisheart but recently was diagnosed with eurythmia (irregular heart beat).
Goober i used to walk a white boxer when i was younger, she was gorgeous but passed away at 9 with skin cancer.

boxers are great but are inundated with so many medical problems leading to short lives and huge medical bills.

Thor is asleep on the sofa as i type!

hatwoman · 08/07/2008 23:05

oh some lovely dogs here. We have just got a black lab and after a little initial scepticism (I am more of a spaniel person and see labs as a bit too sensible) I am head over heels. dds think I;ve lost the plot a bit coz I sing to him "can't take my eyes off of you....you;re just too good to be true...." he is totally incredible - intelligent - I;ve trained him to sit, lie, stay, walk to heel in 2 weeks. I can put his food on the floor and he won;t get it til I say. unbelievable....pic on my profile.

hatwoman · 08/07/2008 23:07

we are introducing him to the cat which is going ok....though we were a little bemused to see, erm, a certain arousal !

Beelliesebub · 09/07/2008 08:36

Bethoo....... Molly's had an irregular heartbeat since she was a puppy but the losing consciousness is a new thing. Basically the vet said because the breed are bred for their squashed face it causes all sorts of problems and her particular problem is that her blood is not getting to her brain due to the combination of her age, her heartbeat and undue pressure caused by the compacting of her face.... basically.

justageek · 09/07/2008 08:46

Our puppy, already named Oats when we got her 2 weeks ago, came from freecycle. I went to the sspca first but their kennels were closed whilst some work was being done. I went to the only other rescue centre and they only had a handful of BIG dogs in, as in a great dane and german shephard. So in the end i asked on freecycle, and a lady got in touch.

Oats is a 9 month old staffie/lab/collie dog, from what i can see in her. Originally i thought i may have made a mistake, she was NOT house trained like the women said, and weed wherever, she had an umbilical hernia which i had missed, and a tendancy to nip ankles...not good with two young kids. However i figured she had had a bad start in life (her previous owners before the one giving her away had kept her locked in a dining room with a muzzle on all day to stop her chewing) and she needed a chance.

Best thing i ever did. It took 3 days of housetraining to get her going outside. She still has the odd accident when she is over excited but we are dealing with that. She turned out to be a very responsive, obedient, affectionate dog that just needed a really firm guidance, backed up with lots of loving attention. She now comes to bed when i do and stretches out on hubbies side, then when he comes in, sleeps at the bottom of the bed.

She is as soft as anything with the girls, has learnt to stop nipping ankles and has been trained to leave our house rabbit, whom can now go right up to her and sniff her nose. She also leaves the cats. She is great in the car, and had a bath the other night no problem. e can even now let her off her lead when out for a walk and she comes back no problem.

We all adore her, are very proud of her and how everyone always stops to comment on how much of a lovely dog she is. She is putting on weight now too as her ex owners had her on adult WAGG which she didnt like at all and just drank lots of water, hence the lack of house training.

We got insurance and in a few days will be able to take her to the vet to get her claws clipped and decide if her hernia will need surgery.

smartiejake · 09/07/2008 17:50

justageek- my first dog had an umbilical hernia that never gave him any problems. The vet said that if it changed colour he would remove it but to just leave well alone otherwise.

quickdrawmcgraw · 09/07/2008 18:10

beaniesteve - that's so sad! You poor thing.

We have a Yorkshire Terrier(Pic on profile)who was wandering round our village when he was about 7 months. We took him in and have had him for 9 months. I love him to bits but he can be a little yappy sometimes.
I work from home and it's lovely to have a little body in the house now that dc's are at school.
He's a realy lap dog and we I generally fall asleep every evening on the sofa with him asleep on my knees.

hatwoman · 09/07/2008 18:53

well done justageek. makes me very when people take on dogs without giving it any thought at all. there's just no excuse for it. but well done you for giving her what she needs.

ChickenBurger · 10/07/2008 11:18

that people give away dogs on freecycle!

Original poster

juniperdewdrop · 10/07/2008 11:36

thanks for all your stories I'm loving hearing about all your dogs as are we all by the sounds of it.

Sorry to hear about your dog beaniesteve He's an arse doing that to you.

OP posts:

Rocky12 · 10/07/2008 17:54

We have a rottie, previously owned a Cavalier Spaniel who ruled the house and we swore we would not get another dog like that. Rottie's are very misunderstood dogs but she is much much eaiser than Rocky our CKC. Not sure how good she is at looking after the house. She barely lifts an eyebrow when someone comes to the door and the window cleaners didnt even know that we had a dog for months even though they passed by the utility room to get to clean the windows at the back.....

wotulookinat · 11/07/2008 10:53

I saw a gorgeous dog yesterday - it looked like a rottie x staff and was soooo cute! Like a sausage on legs.

littlejo67 · 14/08/2008 22:11

My dogs have a thing about birds. probably due to their nature as they are Springers.I took them to the beach and a flock of seagulls were flying pretty low overhead. They gave chase - one jumped up and wacked one with its paw and it crashed to the ground. The other springer grabbed it. A small girl on the beach started crying due to the murderous scene!! Loads of people turned to look. With embarassment my husband who is vegetarian ( and bird lover) tried to rescue the seagull.
Our dog ran into the water to avoid capture followed by my husband. He dragged her back to shore - wet upto his thighs in winter!! She would not let go until we covered up her nose!! poor bird was dead. Husband was not impressed!!

miloopy · 14/08/2008 22:34

littlejo67 you have made me laugh, as I have 2 naughty but gorgeous spaniels, Molly is 9 and likes nothing better to find poor hedgehogs in the garden in the evening. She circled them for a while then picked them up. She has managed to get 2 in her mouth once. Many a time my poor DH has had to chase her around the garden or a field. We have to prise them out and then hope they will recover, they do usually. I don't let her out off the lead in the garden at night now. I also have a sprocker spaniel who is just a wet blanket but truly loyal.

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