Dog Tales

[Welsh Wench]

Commercial break here

The Westminster dog show is on Monday Feb 9th and Tuesday Feb 10th.

While we have always had German Shepherds (and an Irish Setter), I would absolutely love to have a Keeshond.
Not practical here with the heat, though.

[Tipsy Gypsy]

Ooh, thanks,WW! I loves me some dog shows.

[Lady Mikayla of Phoenicia]

I so want to watch Westminster!  alas the sacrifices of not having cable TV.  *Wonders if someone will invite me to watch it with them.* 

[Lady L]

Welsh Wench,
I have a Keeshond now. I got her on Palm Sunday in 2000. She's a bit small for her breed, but she is the sweetest dog. She's great with kids, too. Her name is Lady Blackthorne, but she likes to be called "Baby". Her favorite things to do are "talking" and eating. Oh, she also loves to sit in the snow and bark. She has had some health problems lately. She had a tumor in her eye that had to be removed. She has recurring ear infections and now she has a cough. I just had her to my vet last Fri and he gave her some meds, but he says she is "complicated".  She is doing better this week.

Last Aug., I got a rescue dog, a male black dachshund mix. He is the best friend for her. Whatever he does, she has to do too, such as having her picture taken and sleeping next to me. They both sing. I have never had a dog that sang in the past 35 years, now I have two! They are quite the pair.
My vet said Keeshonds typically live about 11 years, not as long as some breeds. Even with all of her health problems, she just keeps smiling.

[Welsh Wench]

She sounds absolutely lovely, Lady L!
I fell in love with Keeshonds when I saw them on the Westminster.

We had gone to the Eukanuba Dog Show a few years ago and walking back to the car, we saw the person that had the Keeshonds and got to play with them a bit. They were just beautiful!

[festmum]

I've got a 3 legged PotCake here on the island.  Her name is Tipsy (no...not because she lost a leg).  She's absolutely adorable, quite fast, and smart!

A PotCake is an island dog...decendant of the african dogs brought here during the Salt trade/slave days.  They call them PotCakes because in the early years they would throw out the "pot cake" made of stuck rice in the bottom of the pot to the wild dogs.

Some nights you can hear all of them howl all over the island...reminds of of werewolf movies!

[DonaCatalina]

Another Ada the Doberman story;

Ada was quite fast when she was young and she developed a fascination for the hordes of sparrows that would hide in the althea bush beside the patio. She would creep up slowly then plunge in and come our with one every time.
Now she didn't kill them, or even damge them. She would come spit them out in front of me.
I'd have to take the poor slobbered, terrified bird and set it up somewhere out of reach.
In a few minutes they would get over the shock and fly off.
I couldn't imagine what Ada thought she was doing since she obviously wasn't a Retriever.

[anne of oaktower]

I couldn't imagine what Ada thought she was doing since she obviously wasn't a Retriever.

I'd say it was a Love offering.   

[Lady Amy of York]

The  first  dog I ever had  was a Collie.   He looked  just like  Lassie.  Gorgeous  dog.  He was  my childhood  friend.     He had  been bred  to be a show  dog, but he  had  a eye defect  and  so  the breeders  put him up  for  sale  and  my family  brought  him.   The  breeders  had name  him "  Little  Bull"  cause  he  was  so  strong.    But despite  being strong, he  was very gentle.    He eventually went  blind in both eyes.    We had  this  little  brown cat  name  Coco, and  she  would  follow him all around outside.  If he  got too close  to  the  road  , she  would  go and  rub  up against  his legs   and  meow  like  crazy. She  was  his  seeing  eye  cat. 
He lived  to be  about  14, and  then we had  to put him to sleep  cause  he had  a tumor.   
         
  I wanted another dog after him,  but my parents  said  no  more  dogs.   Then a  few  years later on  New Years  day   2  Little kids  came  knocking on  my parents  door. They had a  yellow  Lab  puppy with them.  They had  been all over the  neighborhood  trying to find  who  this yellow  lab  belonged   too.  It was  cold  and  snowy  out, and   this poor  dog was  shaking all over.    We  had  just  gotten  new  neighbors  in  across the  street. I  knew  they  had  a  lab,  and  wondered if it was their  dog.  Unfortunately they were out of  town, so i could  not ask  them.   I   told  the kids, i would  keep  the  dog  overnight and  check  with the  new  neighbors  when  they  got  back.
     Well, it was not  the  new  neighbors  dog.        I started  getting attached  to the  dog, and  eventually  my parents  started  to  too.   We checked  all around  but  no  one  claimed  him.    We  named  him "   New  Years"  in honor of  the  day he  showed up  at our  house.   
  we had  no  dog  food in  the house  the  first night  he  stayed with us,  so we  fed him Christmas  cookies  that we still had left  from Christmas. after that  every year when  we  baked Christmas  cookies  there was  that  dog  waiting  for  his  handouts. ! :)New Years passed away two years ago  at the ripe  age of  15.
 

  When i got  married  and  moved into  my own house, my husband   and  I  got   a dog from a place  that rescued  golden  retrievers  and    yellow  labs. 
  We adopted  a   male   2  year  old golden retriever  named  Hogan.  he  had been  badly abused  and  beaten  by  his previous  owner. the poor  thing   had  the  look of  fear in his  eyes.   I told  my husband, as i soon as i saw  Hogan, that i was not leaving  without  him.  My heart  just  broke  for  him.     
  Hogan is  now  12  years old. he is  the  sweetest, gentlest, dog .   Very pretty dog.    He does not have  the  typical  golden retriever coat.  His fur is on the  curly  side, and  he  has   deep  gold  color  eyes.
  He is  big  dog.    He scares people  some  times  with his  size, but  he is  a big   baby.
    It is  funny cause one  time   when we were living in California,  our  security  alarm went off, and  the police  ended  coming  to the  door.     When one of  the  cops  came  to the  door, he  saw  Hogan,  and  question  why  we  had a  security system  when  we had  such  a  huge  dog.  I  told  him " just watch. "   I let Hogan out, and Hogan  started wagging  his  tail  and  wanting  to play.  I  told  the  cop "  Now  you know  why ."

Hogan is  a very smart dog.   One time when  we  left him   at  a kennel  when he  was  younger, he managed  to get his  kennel door open, and  they he  went around  and let all the  other dogs  out too !



A  couple  years  later  we went back  to the place  where we  got Hogan  and  adopted  a female  yellow  lab  named  Bonnie.  what can i say  about Bonnie.    Of all the  dogs i have  ever meet  she has  the  sweetest, most gentlest, disposition of  them all.  Even people  who  don't  like  dogs  are  won  over  by  her.    She   has  been  my faithful companion.  When  I was  dealing with all  my health symptoms, she  never left  my side. When my son was    a baby , she  was like a  second  mother  to him. She would lay  next  to his  crib, and  not  move  all the  while  he  was  sleeping. If  someone  came  near him, she  did not know, she  would bark  like  crazy.
     Back before Christmas  Bonnie's  health started  going down hill. she  started falling down all the  time  and   shaking all over. she is  only seven  years  old. Our vets  felt that Bonnie  had multiple  tumors  and  that it was  just a matter of  time.
  She  was put on meds,  and  so  far  Bonnie seems  to  be beating  the odds.   My whole  family is praying  that  maybe  the  vets  were  wrong  with their  diagnose.

LOL, i remember one  Christmas, when Bonnie  was just a puppy.  I had strings of  red  wooden beads  on  my christmas tree. they weres uppsoe  to look  like  fake  cranberries.  Well I  did not know, that tow of my cats, had  decided  to climb  the tree  and  knocked  the beads off the tree  and  onto the  floor,  where  Bonnie  could  get  them.
I was in the kitchen making dinner, and i realized  Bonnie  was  not  with  me.  I went to find here, and  she  had discoverd  the  wooden beads  and  had been chewing  them up.  Now  they must have used  some  type of  dye  to  make  the   beads  red.   Cause   my darlling liitle  yellow  lab puppy  was now a pink  lab puppy.    Her  face, her neck,  her ears, her front legs  and paws  were  bright pink !        It took several baths  before  she  was  yellow  again.


And  then their is  Annabelle. Our latest  canine  edition  to  the  family.  We adopted Annabelle  this  past  summer.  i wanted  my son to  grow  up with a puppy  of his  own, like i did  with  my collie.      When we got Annabelle  she  was only  4  months old. she  will turn a year old  this  month.  She is   a  Beagle/Shepherd  mix.   she has  the  beagle  body  and  the  Shepherd  coloring.   Knock on wood, she   does not  howl like  they say Beagles  do.
   We got  thru the potty training part,  but she  still  likes  to chew  on  anything she  can get  her hands  on  !

Along with the  dogs  we  also have  3  cats  and  two horses.   They are all part of  the  family  !

[Carl Heinz]

Judy and I have had a dachshund pack for over 40 years.  Pack size ranged from one to five.  The currenty tally is three (Cricket, Rustibits and Scooter).   Over the years, we've had eleven--mostly longhairs.  Right now two of them are keeping my feet warm.

Our first one, Fritz, was a small standard smooth.  I was a young enlisted man stationed in Georgia at the time.  Judy had joined me and was teaching school there.  We had rented a small house that had an enclosed back porch with a linoleum floor where we kep Fritz while we were not at home.  Over time, Fritz ate all the linoleum.  He was also the best retriever we've had.  Judy stayed with her folks while I was in Vietnam and her dad spent hours throwing a ball for Fritz.  He claimed anything that was round and also enjoyed tomatoes.

One of the more memorable guys (we've always had males) was Houdini.  Even for a standard, he was able to get into places that we wouldn't have though possible.  His escapes made us make changes to what we thought was a dachshund proof yard.

Gus (Gustav) was the largest dachshund we've ever seen weighing in at 35 poinds with very little fat.  He could really warm a lap.

The original Rusty could sit up with his rump on the floor and his tail at a right angle to his back and wag it.  I've always wondered how he managed that because he carried it normally so it shouldn't have been a joint problem.

Of the current lot,  Cricket and Rustibits are tweenies.  They're too big to be miniatures and not quite as big as a standard.  Cricket is so named because he jumps.  Rustibits is the sentry.  He performs guard duty when he's in the yard.  You can almost visualize him marching back and forth with a rifle on his shoulder.  Scooter is a miniature and is only around eight months old.  He's hyper active and gets into everything.  Right now, he's at the terrible twos stage.  He knows when he's not supposed to do something but that doesn't stop him.  Frequent shouts of SCOOTER!! can be heard.

Scooter will probably be the last.  Judy and I are now of an age that we have to be concerned about our guys surviving us and their having to be placed if we're not around any more.  The breeders where we got them both have return policies, but we'd prefer not to have that as the solution.

Having the guys over the years has made our lives much more enjoyable.  Each of them has his own tale.

[Hoowil]

Ok, typical gross dog behavior, or at least so I've been told. Our dog April eats ANYTHING, and I do mean anything. Granted its not all her fault. She's got an immune disorder that means she'll be on prednizone for the rest of her life. And prednizone causes cushings disease in dogs, so she always feels like she's starving. But onto the story.

We also have a now two year old. April enjoys eating diapers. If we don't put them immediately into the pail, they disappear. YUCK! But its not only the dirty ones... Shortly after we realized what was happening, my daughter and I were outside with the other dogs, but April hadn't come out with us. I go in to get a drink, and April had pulled an entire package of fresh diapers out of a bag on the couch, and in the course of a few minutes, destroyed them all, spreading bits of fluff all over the living room.

Our other favorite April story is from when she was a puppy. We had been taking her to the local dog park regularly (until she got sick. Immune disorders and dog crowds don't mix). One time we went after dark, my wife, the dogs, and I all being a little stir crazy. As soon as we get in the gate, April takes off full speed across the park growling and barking. This is a dog that hides from the cats, and shakes if you say her name in a harsh tone. We were a bit concerned that such a timid, non aggressive dog would react like that to something, and the fields next to the park do have a couple coyotes. I ran after her into the dark park. When I get to her, her hackles are up, her lip is curled and shes snarling like some hound of hell. I didn't see what she was growling at, so I watched her for a second, as she started circling around. Somebody apparently had moved the chairs in the park around a bit that day, and she was going around a clump of three empty chairs, snapping and snarling at the chairs. We've never been sure if she was just surprised that the furniture had been moved, or what, but the mellowest dog I've ever had was reacting savagely to those green plastic lawn chairs.

[Lady L]

Maybe your dog sensed something paranormal. They are sensitive to that. My Keeshond will stare up above the closet and track something around the ceiling. The other side of the wall is the stairs and then the fireplace. She will also stare up above the fireplace. Once I was watching tv, when she was acting that way. Husband came home and had his digital camera, so he took a couple of pics. Yes, there were orbs right where she was looking. I know that orbs can be dust, bugs or precipitation, but in this case, I don't think so. I had also been sensing something was watching us at the same time.

[Tremayne]

Do other people's terriers dig in blankets?

I have a jack russell cross (Daisy) and supply my dogs with used quilts and comforters for beds. She burrows, fiercely, in these beds, digging, routing around with her nose, growling and snarly in complete vexation the whole time. The result is usually a buried dog, though if the house especially warm she'll simply nest. It's especially humorous to see her try to extract herself when she gets lost within the blanket. There's a lot of thrashing and twisting and falling until she finds an exit. The cats find this curious but have never pounced on her.

The really extraordinary news with Daisy is that she's starting to walk straight. Used to be she circled and circled and circled on a leash. She was what I call a whirligig dog, much to my dismay. But lately she has prolonged periods of walking in a more or less straight line in front of me. What a relief!

[Zoë]

A few Thanksgivings ago we had family over for dinner, and my uncle and aunt brought their border collie Rio over to play with our border collie Harley...these two are thick as thieves and have a blast near each other.  All the same, we put Harley in the garage that night to eat his dinner because otherwise he wouldn't settle down long enough near Rio to do so.  Unfortunately we forgot that the pan of turkey grease was also in the garage, and didn't realize it until Harley licked it all up while he was out there supposedly eating HIS dinner.  He was a pretty sick puppy that night but he won't go near grease now!  Smart boy. 

[DonaCatalina]

My daughter has An American Stafforshire Terrier named Bailey. I refer to him as my Grand-dog. People often mistake him for a Pitbull puppy, but he is going on 7 years old and only weighs 30 lbs.
(Well he usually weighs more after visiting Grandma)

He has very thin hair and when it gets cold he likes to be covered up completely. He will half-heartedly nudge his blankets and then give the nearest person his poor pitiful puppy look.
It usually works.

As soon as he's covered up, he curls in a ball and goes to sleep.