I've got a new dog! (1 Viewer)

[Stan]

Glad to hear they also support rescuing puppies. I was severly chastised by a woman I'd been friends with for many years when I returned my rescue and got the black lab.
She was so angry, we are litterally no longer friends and my emails and phone calls go unanswered. May sound selfish, but sometimes you've got to do what's good for you and your survival first. I was extremely ill at the time, had been hospitalized twice and honestly believe my black lab has helped me. She's always there and always loving and caring, no matter what my mood may be.
The right dog can do wonders for you, your health and your family. In my area it's virtually impossible to find a rescue puppy, wish you the best of luck. Just as you mentioned, the puppy will be "trained" by the older dog and learn its place in the hierarchy.
Partially why I got a puppy was because I had a cat whose twin brother had died. The puppy theory didn't work on a cat. I thought they'd become friends because the dog was so young and small, but no such luck. The dog loves the cat, who "tolerates" the dog, but they're certainly not the friends I expected.
Good luck with things. I honestly believe people live longer, happier lives with animals. Some sort of bond forms and everybody benefits.
A bit off topic, but please excuse my spelling in earlier posts. I post a lot at night with only the light from my computer screen, so sometimes errors slip by. I remember spell checking posts in the past, but looks like they've removed that function.
Anyhow, have fun. Getting and training a new dog is a challenge, but it's also wonderful and well worth the effort.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Frezon Dog: Paws Deux



Meet Parker:

We brought Parker home today from our friends at http://peppertree.org/index.php

We've had an incredibly good first day today. Quite a contrast to our first few days with Moses. The drama and tension doesn't seem to be in play this time around. Parker seems to be fine with his role as submissive male.

And here is some evidence of that as Kelly is quite peaceably coexisting tonight with Parker:

 

[Greg_S_H]

Is his middle name Clack?
I like Parker a lot. What a sweetheart. It hurts my heart that someone would just discard a beautiful dog such as this (or even an "ugly" one). To me, they are members of the family. How can you have a family member for 11 years and just drive him out to the woods?
I had a neighbor with a dog that was always in the backyard. One day, it got out and I knocked on the door to return it. The owner said, "Oh, great. I was hoping it would run away for good." Soon thereafter, I didn't see it any more. About a year later, they had another dog that was--you guessed it--always alone in the backyard. Why keep getting dogs if you don't want them?
The reasons against getting an older dog are obvious, the most prevalent being the painfully short time with him. But, I'm glad that guy is getting a good home and a good life. I hope he's with you a good while.

 

[RickER]

Looks like you have 2 sweet dogs, Mike. Good luck with the newest member of the house.
Parker...thats a good name.

 

[Charles Smith]

What a beautiful picture of the two of them together.

 

[Sumnernor]

I have heard that some Germans during the summer leave their dog in the autobahn parkplatz and drive off WITHOUT the dog!

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

It's odd how cats establish intra-feline dominance. In my household it's always been a dominant female and a henpecked male.
Susie was the dominant cat in the house for many years. I brought home Dukie (named Duke after John Wayne) from the kitty shelter four years ago and he quickly fit in as long as Susie was in charge. After Susie died two years ago I went back to the kitty shelter and brought home Condoleezza Mice. It didn't take long for kitty Condi to establish that she was in charge of both Dukie and me. Dukie was two years old and Condi was four years old at the time of adoption, and both are now six.
Here they are the week I brought Condi home.

 

[Sumnernor]

I found a link about Cats vs Dogs:


http://now.msn.com/living/0429-dogs-cats-study.aspx

For me more interesting are the comments at the end.

 

[Stan]

The picture of the dogs together looks great. No tension, no anger between them. Think you found a good match.
Hope they live happily with you and your family.
It's so nice to see people who care for their animals, love them and treat them well.
If you want to see depressing, watch Animal Cops from San Francisco, Houston, whevever. I'm still is shock the way that some people treat their animals. I guess in my own naive world, I never realized how many truly scummy, disgusting people there are in the US. The saddest part is the animals can't protect themselves. Then God people are out there removing these animals, fining the owners and finding good homes for the animals when possible.

 

[Mike Frezon]

It's official!

We have gone through our two week "trial period." And it has been a major success. The two dogs are getting along pretty well. Little Kelly certainly does assert herself. But Brooks (his new name) defers to "her highness" at every turn and avoids any trouble.

As much as I liked the name Parker (because of my good friend, Parker Clack)...the dog just wasn't responding to it. It was a name he had been given by a different adoption organization about a year ago as he was waiting for an adoption that never happened. We tried a second name, same thing.

But he responds really well to Brooks. Brooks is derived from Ten Broeck--a longtime name in the Albany, NY area. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Ten_Broeck

I have quickly fallen for this dog. He had his first visit to our veterinarian today. There are so many mysteries involved with adopting an older dog. He's got a few health problems to overcome...and I am going to be sure to help him with those as much as I humanly can.

Brooks is one of those dogs who just seems to be craving love and attention and just wants to please as much as possible. Here he is with his head in my lap:

Who could resist that face? He is an absolute pleasure to have around.

 

[Charles Smith]

That face, indeed. This dog owns you. Congrats!

 

[Stan]

Loosely ties into this thread, but my neighbor got a pitbull, about three years old.
My whole attitude towards pitbulls has changed, it really is the owners who ruin the dogs and turn them into fighting machines.
This dog is so sweet, my dog and the pitbull both got out of their yards and they have become best friends. No fighting, growling or any other problems.
The pitbull came up to me and was cuddly beyond belief, he was so friendly. I would have been terrified in the past, but it was so obvious the dog was friendly and just wanted to meet me and my dog. I think it's people who train their dogs to be violent. Dogs are wonderful, it's how you treat them that has a lot to do with how they turn out.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Well another back story is that "Bach", as in J.S. Bach, means Brooks too. So maybe there's some counterpoint in store for you in the future.....
When you adopt a pet from a shelter, sometimes the shelter has NO idea what the name was so the staff just assigns one. My kitty was listed as "Calypso" in the shelter but I named her Condoleezza Mice when we got home. I think she likes the name. She negotiates very diplomatically with those mousies - and then she eats them.

 

[Greg_S_H]

I don't know if this is the proper thread, but I've been feeling down since yesterday. I was driving home and saw an old guy lying in a yard with his front feet dangling over the curb. He just looked really tired. I was worried he was lost or something, so I got out to check his tags, and his owner came around the corner. He said the dog was 15 and "on his last legs." When the dog saw his owner, he got up with some effort and walked into the house on stiff back legs. He looked happy to see his owner, but a little dismayed at having to exert himself. Kind of a hairy redhead in the retriever class. Very friendly. Every dog has to get old, but I really hate to see it. It reminded me of the last days of my Sandy. I just hope he is comfortable and happy.

 

[Radioman970]

Great looking doggies here. I love em!
Battling ear mites with Honey Bun.
How not to be seen!

HERE'S SCOOTER AND HONEY BUN!!

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/image/id/859555/width/600/height/453
Honey Bun (left)/Scooter (right)

 

[Radioman970]

It's official!
We have gone through our two week "trial period."  And it has been a major success.  The two dogs are getting along pretty well.  Little Kelly certainly does assert herself.  But Brooks (his new name) defers to "her highness" at every turn and avoids any trouble.

...

An adorable pair. I do have to wonder if they are huggers or kissers? Honey Bun LOVES hugs and Scooter passes out the kisses like aunts at the family reunion.

 

[David9Hester]

Ah that is so cool Mike. Congrats!

 

[Belladove]

OMG...It is so cute!!!!! Feel like getting one somedays.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

Mike-
Glad things worked out, Brooks is beautiful. I know I'm late to this part of the conversation, but its just a matter of finding the right dog to fit into "your pack" and you appear to have done that here. We have a VERY alpha 12yo female chow shepherd mix that we got as a stray when she was two. As long as a dog accepts that she is in charge they will get along well. If not then there will be trouble. We had a 9yo male Chow lab that we got as a puppy. It towed the line most of the time, but over the 9 years we had 5 or 6 big rumbles and usually someone needed stitches. We found that as a puppy it was cute and wiggly and got a lot of attention, so it was creating some confusion for the dogs as to who was supposed to be in charge. We started making sure that she got recognized by us first. She would get a treat first, be the first to get attention when we came back home and that made a big difference.

Originally Posted by Stan /t/319721/ive-got-a-new-dog/30#post_3925235
Loosely ties into this thread, but my neighbor got a pitbull, about three years old.
My whole attitude towards pitbulls has changed, it really is the owners who ruin the dogs and turn them into fighting machines.
This dog is so sweet, my dog and the pitbull both got out of their yards and they have become best friends. No fighting, growling or any other problems.
The pitbull came up to me and was cuddly beyond belief, he was so friendly. I would have been terrified in the past, but it was so obvious the dog was friendly and just wanted to meet me and my dog. I think it's people who train their dogs to be violent. Dogs are wonderful, it's how you treat them that has a lot to do with how they turn out.

We adopted a "rescue" pitbull last November. I too was a little iffy about the breed, but he had been living in foster care with kids and other dogs so we had the benefit of their experience. He is totally submissive to our chow. If she gets on him for something he completely backs off. Hes great with the kids and loves to meet new people and other dogs. The neighbors have an eight month old lab and a few other dogs that he plays will a lot. They will run, roughhouse, wrestle for hours and then sleep for the rest of the day. Since he doesn't have hardly any fat and such short hair it looks like we have been dog fighting him on some days with all the other dogs tugging on his neck during play. Our neighbors reaction when we brought him over to get introduced was pretty interesting. Initially she wanted me there the whole time he was playing. After a week of seeing how well he played with all the neighborhood dogs and how friendly he was with people (he LOVES meeting/giving kisses to new people) she was convinced that he must be some other breed and was shocked when the vet confirmed that he was a pit. He has changed her view and my view of the breed. I would love to expose him to even more people, but he is avoided like the plague by adults when we go out in public. He is completely submissive to our older Chow. She quickly put him in his place when he got here, gave him some follow up lessons and pop quizzes to make sure he understood the concepts and they get along great, both very happy with their place in the pecking order.

 

[Radioman970]

^
* Starts humming "Me & my Shadow"* :p