Dogs.

[gsganzer]

I lost my black mouth cur in November after he got a fungal lung infection and it went miss-diagnosed by 2 different vets. By the time they figured it out, he was suffering and beyond hope. It still bothers me, he was like my best buddy that did everything with me, when I'm home. Our other dog was a dog we found abandoned on our street. It's a border collie-pit mix that has to be one of the most athletic dogs I've seen. My daughter claimed the border-pit and took her when she moved out. Now we just have my youngest daughters malty-poo, which means we're essentially dogless at the moment.

My daughter could tell that I was still sad about losing my BMC and not having a big dog around. She's put me on the waiting list for a BMC, with a litter expected in September. I'm kind of excited, but I know it will bring back feelings about the loss of my other BMC.

 

[2manyrocks]

GSD/Husky in post 88 was adopted today. Unbelievable that a dog like that was ever in the shelter.

 

[Rockbadchild]

There isn't any dog pound in my area, I am also against paying thousands of dollars for a dog. So I try to find something in the middle, I try to find folks who are not back yard breeder by any means but decided to have their female pregnant, yes ok they fit the description of back yard breeder but its not like they do it for the money or they let any random males do the job. Both my lab and my German shepherd parents had their papers and weren't related so no inbreed, I would not have a issue for it to be mix but I also like to know what I have, and I want them puppy so no bad behaviors gets ingrained.

 

[QRTRHRS]

I am going to comment to this thread politically by stating that breeders need to be licensed with those funds going to shelters. Next, mandatory spa or nueter for cats and dogs.

Anyway, I have had a few dogs from breeders but most of mine have been rescues. Some have been kill shelter rescues that were free for the taking and shuttled a couple of states or so away via a rescue network. One of the best dogs that I ever had was a French Beauceron that I paid $125 for from a person that trained dogs for police work and had rescued the Beauceron. $125 was cheap for this breed.

We took a Rottweiler from a divorcing couple that they had paid $1200 for. The first day she put her face to close to mine for my comfort and I gently pushed her away. When she growled at me, I launched her against a nearby wall, stood up and said, bad dog! Next time she snuggled up, I did not repeat the scenario, rather, I said let's go out. She jumped right down. So, it was a learning experience on our part. She turned out to be one of our best dogs.

We had an American Staffordshire rescue that would tear into other males. With him, we had to be careful to keep him isolated but that was our only issue.

Since we had to let our boxer go earlier this summer, we are down to one dog, a rescue. She looks min pin, rat terrier but is actually min pin/boxer whom we took in from a kill shelter in 2011. Since she is up there in age, we decided to not take in another dog until she passes. When that time comes, we will look for a bonded pair of boxers maybe. Bonded pairs of any breed are sometimes found because someone has had to give them up.

We have a local rescue that will rehome an animal for free, spayed or nuetered, no rescue fee required.

Having horses, a barn and some pasture make us a target for drop offs, both cats and dogs. Some we have kept, some we have found homes for.

Summing up, our experiances with rescues has been more positive than negative and with a little searching, we have not had to pay large adoption fees.

 

[Sigarms]

GSD/Husky in post 88 was adopted today. Unbelievable that a dog like that was ever in the shelter.

We fostered a Husky for some time (we named him Balto).

Husky's are high energy dogs that need space for that energy.

Lot's of people asked about that dog, and the trick is to finding a good home that will fit the dog.

We drove 2 hours to Asheville for a couple. They lived in a very small apartment with a very small fenced in yard. Sometimes as a "foster parent" of a dog, once you get to know the dogs personality and their good and bad traits, it really does give you a feel for the potential home. We ended up saying no to that couple because we felt like they stretched the truth on the home, but found the god a great home with a family up in Boone with a good amount of space to run around the house.

People being people gravitate to the cuteness of a dog sometimes, without really understanding the traits of the dog. One woman, I kid you not, called me and told me she bought a movie of sled dogs so she could watch the movie with the dog (I was kind of scratching my head on that one). Lets just say some very interesting people who should NOT own a dog probably get a dog for whatever reason...

 

[Sigarms]

We had an American Staffordshire rescue that would tear into other males. With him, we had to be careful to keep him isolated but that was our only issue.

The terrier in my previous pic was honestly the best dog I've EVER owned and was more afraid of people than anything else.

We ended up keeping her because too many people looked at her as a guard dog of some sort when we tried to adopt her out.

Pick up this dog a couple weeks ago on a Saturday. GREAT dog actually, only problem is the dog would go after any dog around him. I took him to the shelter, told them what I had found, and they did testing with him. They called me back and said the dog would have to be put down. Went back to the shelter, put him in the fence for two days, and the last day treated him EXACTLY like any dog we're taken to the Vet for the last visit. He slept upstairs with us, gave him a 8 oz steak dinner, gave him a sedative and took him to our vet (who works with the county shelter as well) to have him put down. Hated to do it, but we couldn't keep him because the guy was like a monster around other dogs. Way I see it, he had the best day of his life with us at least.

He was the only dog we've ever had to put down due to aggression. Ironically out of 50 or so dogs through our home over the years, the only dog that ever bit me was a Chihuahua (one owner dog who passed away and wasn't good with men apparently).

Point being ANY dog can be aggressive, just that when they're strong and powerful, they can be like a loaded gun. The guy in the pic went after one of my dogs, but being he only weighed 30lbs and wasn't overly strong, it was easy to pin him down his collar so he couldn't move. No way could I do that with a 50 plus lb terrier breed.

Like yourself, overall experience with rescues overly positive.

 

[Jstpssng]

GSD/Husky in post 88 was adopted today. Unbelievable that a dog like that was ever in the shelter.

That was my thought when I read post #88.

 

[Jstpssng]

The terrier in my previous pic was honestly the best dog I've EVER owned and was more afraid of people than anything else.

We ended up keeping her because too many people looked at her as a guard dog of some sort when we tried to adopt her out.

Pick up this dog a couple weeks ago on a Saturday. GREAT dog actually, only problem is the dog would go after any dog around him. I took him to the shelter, told them what I had found, and they did testing with him. They called me back and said the dog would have to be put down. Went back to the shelter, put him in the fence for two days, and the last day treated him EXACTLY like any dog we're taken to the Vet for the last visit. He slept upstairs with us, gave him a 8 oz steak dinner, gave him a sedative and took him to our vet (who works with the county shelter as well) to have him put down. Hated to do it, but we couldn't keep him because the guy was like a monster around other dogs. Way I see it, he had the best day of his life with us at least.

View attachment 882679View attachment 882680

He was the only dog we've ever had to put down due to aggression. Ironically out of 50 or so dogs through our home over the years, the only dog that ever bit me was a Chihuahua (one owner dog who passed away and wasn't good with men apparently).

Point being ANY dog can be aggressive, just that when they're strong and powerful, they can be like a loaded gun. The guy in the pic went after one of my dogs, but being he only weighed 30lbs and wasn't overly strong, it was easy to pin him down his collar so he couldn't move. No way could I do that with a 50 plus lb terrier breed.

Like yourself, overall experience with rescues overly positive.

You're a good man for what you did for that pup.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I picked my last dog from a kill shelter. She was the best dog i had ever have. 13 years of pure joy. Not a single time she upset me. in 2019 she got a brain tumor. I still canot make myself to get another dog. I felt like i lost a child/best friend. It never happened with my other dogs before her.
So, shelter, no shelter, it depends on the dogs personality.

Know how you feel; wife and I discussed getting another dog when we lost one of ours; all things considered, the hurt of losing one is overshadowed by the fun, love and affection they have given over the years. We have had quite a few over our 60 years of marriage.

 

[2515R Dude]

Know how you feel; wife and I discussed getting another dog when we lost one of ours; all things considered, the hurt of losing one is overshadowed by the fun, love and affection they have given over the years. We have had quite a few over our 60 years of marriage.

Yes, for me extremely difficult part was last 6 months when she was slowly dieing, the look on her face when she could not get up to go outside to pee, the shaim on her face, she felt like she was betraying me or disappointing me. I won't be able to go through this again.