Dog stories

[masseyrider]

The place I grew up was at the end of a dead end road.
The farm across the road from us only had a barn, the owner lived in the city.
He had a Rotti to guard the barn.
Being on his own the lonely mutt used to try to come over for some attention.
Not a good idea.
My parents at the time had 7 Terrier mutts. The largest was about 20lbs and the smallest around 12lbs.
They knew no fear and had a strong pack mentality.
Poor Rocky came over for a visit and got surrounded. They wouldn't let him leave and he got nipped from behind no matter which way he faced. When he finally made a break for it he ran across a field that had just been disked a couple days before and had dried off nicely.
All of them, Rocky running for his life, kicking up dust looked like contrails from fighter planes chasing a big bomber.
I had to go across the road to save Rocky, now cowering in his dog house, from the invading hoard.
They took this approach towards everyone and thing that wasn't part of their pack or household.

The local dogcatcher who knew us well came over one day laughing. He had received a call from a distraught woman saying he had to come and save a poor coyote from a pack of small dogs.
This was easily a mile away across the back fields.

Having only suffered a few minor injuries they all lived long active lives.

 

[nybirdman]

Love Labradors,between me and my kids had six over 30 years.Still think they are great but current health problems keep me from owning another.
Switched to German-shorthairs and had an
English Pointer for 15-1/2 years.
We own an uplands preserve and see about every bird dog breed out there.For us the GSP's are the best both hunting and house dogs.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Dog stories...

Could have so many. Wife and I have rescued labs since the mid 90's. I'll try not to hog up the thread.

With the exception of one Aussie I found as a newborn that was dumped way out in the desert with the rest of his litter mates. Found him while quail hunting when we still lived in Phoenix. There were only 2 of them left alive when I found them. I took one, my buddy took the other one. They weren't but a few days old, skin and bone, and covered with ticks. Called the wife on the way home and told her about the pup, but warned her that I didn't think he would even survive the trip home. He couldn't even lift up his head. Wife hand fed him from a bottle until he could eat soft foods. Long story short, he survived and flourished. We named him Lucky. Great dog, fiercely loyal family dog. Lived to be 12, cancer got him.

We've had many labs over the years. Don't really "favor" any over another but this one, Joshua, really stood out to me. Just a great dog, probably the best dog I've ever had. Rescued him at about a year old. He lived to be 13. His passing has been the hardest, even after 2 years gone now...

He was a big boy. 105 pounds while in his prime (and there was no fat on him). Loved almost everybody, but he had a "sense" about people. If he didn't like someone, it was for a good reason. I can count on one hand the times he didn't "like" someone.

One day while we still lived in the city of Bismarck, it was a nice summer day out and I had all the windows open and the front door open. There was just a light screen door across the door opening. I was sitting at my desk working and suddenly Joshua is up and barking towards the kitchen. I walk over and look out the window and there's a guy standing there looking in our back gate (the driveway went past the kitchen side of the house to the garage and back yard). I asked him what he was doing there and he came around to the front door, started this very weak and sad attempt at a generic "sales pitch" of something. Joshua was going ballistic in front of me, staying between me and the screen door (he never did this to visitors). I literally had to hold onto his collar with both hands to hold him back. All 105 pounds of this dog is on his back feet, and wanting after this "visitor". I finally said to the guy after a couple minutes, "My dog doesn't like you." The guy stopped talking and stood there. I said, "If I let go of this collar, he's going to be through that screen door like tissue paper. You'd never make it to the bottom step. I suggest you leave." The guy thought about it for about a second and a half and turned and walked very quickly down the sidewalk.

The guy had tip toed down my driveway to look into our back yard and at the side door into the garage. I had no doubt he was "casing" our house. Joshua had no doubts either. Never saw that guy again.

We're back up to 4 labs again, having just rescued our newest one in December. His name is Koda, and he's 6 years old.

He came out of a neglect/abuse home. Badly under weight for his size (we'll fix that, lol), raw spots on his feet and nose. His ribs and hip bones were sticking out and his fur was badly matted. No broken bones thankfully, but he's been hit so many times in both ears that the scar tissues have nearly blocked one ear canal completely and the other one is halfway blocked. Our vet says he will have ear problems forever (he had ear infections in both ears from lack of draining) and need regular ear cleanings and possible ear drops permanently. $600 in vet bills later he has all his shots, blood work and ear medication. On his 3 week follow up visit, he had gained 3 pounds already and his ear infections were mostly gone. His sores are all healing very nicely and fur growing back over them. He's at 85 pounds now, and vet says he could carry 90-95 pounds with no problem. Still very skinny, but putting on weight and his energy levels are coming up well. With plenty of good exercise (every day) and premium food, I expect in 6 months he'll look like a different dog. Sad thing is he is so sweet and eager to please. He's coming out of his "shell" nicely already. I don't think he'd ever had a kind hand laid on him before.

 

[Snobdds]

Dog story? A coworker of mine has a friendly lab and used to bring him to work when we went to the woods. One day we were cruising timber and his dog took off chasing an elk calf. We heard the chasing and soon the dog came running straight at us with a pissed off mamma elk behind him. The dog and the cow elk were coming right at us. We broke and ran behind a tree group and as the elk passed she was throwing mud up in the air and close enough to touch. After the excitement was over, I told my coworker to leave his dog at home from now on.

That's was rude of you.

 

[scootr]

My Wife is a large animal vet. Saving dogs and working with dogs is her passion. There are 6 in my house. Mostly herding dogs. Corgi, Australian Shepperd, Border Collie, Heeler and mixes. She works them in agility, scent work, and emotional therapy. She works with the local fire, police, and HOPE a disaster relief organization.
In 2017 Hope flew her and the Australian Sheppard Star to TX to visit the evacuation centers for displaced survivors.
Pictured is Hotshot a 4 yr old Patterdale Terrier at the Cal Fire annual awards ceremony last week.

 

[scootr]

More dogs
Boots RIP national agility champ best buddy
Shortstop aka Shorty
GiGi and Keegan the double trouble team
My dog Tag impersonating Rin Tin Tin

 

[gsganzer]

I used to have a yellow lab named "Dually". He was really big for a lab, coming from hunting bloodstock, with a long back and snout, weighing over 100lbs. He was a badass, 100% outdoor dog, that was the patriarch of all the neighborhood. He regularly battled coyotes and stray dogs and wherever our kids were playing, he was nearby keeping watch of his kids. Whenever the lady folk would go for walks in our rural area, they'd go by our house first, to get Dually to walk with them for comfort and protection.

Nearby, we have a neighbor that had 2 Rottweilers behind a fenced pasture. Whenever anyone went near that fence, those Rottweilers would come racing out barking and snarling. I was always concerned about those dogs getting loose, as it seemed the pack mentality might kick in and they could really hurt a kid.

Anyway, one day a neighbor kid went to retrieve a kicked ball that came to rest next to that fence. As the boy went to retrieve it, those dogs came racing out barking, snarling and spit flying. Dually raced into action and got between the boy and the Rottweilers. I swear he puffed himself up to twice his normal size, with his hair raised, and he gave it right back to the Rottweilers, barking and snarling.

In the animal world, size matters, and those Rottweilers turned and backed off, retreating back to wherever they normally go.

With the dogs retreating, Dually who was proud of his accomplishment, walked back over to that little boy and proceeded to lift his leg and pee all over him, marking him as his property for future reference.

The neighbor and I still chuckle about it.

 

[gsganzer]

My daughter sent me this photo of my recently departed buddy Mason.

I don't know if he's sleeping, or crash landed.

 

[2manyrocks]

My mother had a toy terrier who gave my sister a special welcome home one time. The dog hiked his leg and peed on her ankle down into her shoe.

 

[Jstpssng]

Ruger was rather docile, but he had a pretty good bark and I've been told had a side you didn't want to mess with. One night before Christmas 2020 I let him out and he started barking the way he did sometimes so I said "Get him"!!! All of a sudden a truck started up and tore out of the driveway so I took a walk up. We hadn't had a company Christmas party because of Covid, so my employer had sent everyone a package from Omaha Steaks or one of the other food service companies. I felt like a cad, the poor driver thought I had turned my dog loose on him. The worst part is that I have no idea which shipping company delivered it. I talked to the UPS and FedEx drivers but neither of them knew what I was talking about.