I found this thread courtesy of a fellow member on a rat forum I belong to. She said it was a great place. I've read quite a few threads and this seems like a great forum. (So, thank you Carrot if you're reading this!!)
I am a 32 year old SAHM/Lupus-Fibro sickie who keeps a small zoo to keep me from losing my mind. My daughter, my girlfriend and I are animal lovers in a big way. We have 12 rats, 5 cats, 3 dogs and a ball python.
Our three dogs are: Cera, a three legged GSD/Chow mix, Charlie, an emotionally fraglie shih tzu/poodle mix and Ellwood (Woody) a Boston Terrier. Cera and Charlie are pound puppies and Woody is a purebred Boston.
Cera came to us as a four legged 9 week old puppy. She lost her leg at just over a year when my sister was visiting and she left the front gate of the house we lived in at the time open "for just a second" to get something out of car. Cera darted out into the street right into the path of an oncoming car, which was only going about 25 mph or we'd have lost her. The accident tore the nerves in her leg and she lost all feeling in her right, front leg. The leg was amputated at UC Davis vet hospital and the bone was donated to their oncology dept. for bone grafts. She is our "Grand Lady." Very elegant and dignified and the most aloof of all the dogs, though she's been with us the longest. She'll be six in March and is Charlie's best friend in the whole world.
Charlie was picked up as a stray, then left in the shelter by his "owner" who was breeding "designer dogs." When she found out just how high the fines are for unneutered, unregistered, unvaccinated dogs, she left him in the shelter because after he was "just a stud and not a more valuable bitch." I saw his picture on the shelter website and immediately fell in love. When we met in the acquaintance room he fell for me, too. We didn't know then that he didn't like children, that he was terrified of the groomer, that being taken to the vet would be traumatic. We didn't know that he would be afraid of raised voices, that he would cringe if someone even spoke loudly in his vicinity. He is very emotionally dependant on me and on Cera. In his ideal world, neither one of us would ever be more than six feet away from him. He is used to my daughter now, so he is not longer afraid of her, but I still can't trust him with children, because he is terrified of them and if he feels threatened in any way, he snaps.
Woody is our most recent addition to the family. We recently lost Scout, a Boston Terrier we adopted from the SPCA. A very nice breeder heard about our loss and she decided to place Woody with us. They had originally planned to show him, but he just didn't get big enough. At 11 pounds he's the smallest Boston I've ever seen. He's got lots of personality, but then, don't all Bostons?
We're very animal oriented around here. We only have as few as we do because my health is not the greatest. We had a much bigger rat colony, but we decided that we would let our numbers dwindle because I just don't have the energy to keep up with all the cages. All of our rats are senior citizens. We'd like to get down to 4-5 rats which would mean just one cage to clean. We're on a couple of waiting lists for a Boston Terrier puppy. I always swore we'd only adopt dogs from shelters or rescues, but Scout, our first Boston, changed that. We're so in love with the breed that we'll never be without one again.
So, if you've read this lengthy post, thank you. I'm looking forward to hanging out around here.
I am a 32 year old SAHM/Lupus-Fibro sickie who keeps a small zoo to keep me from losing my mind. My daughter, my girlfriend and I are animal lovers in a big way. We have 12 rats, 5 cats, 3 dogs and a ball python.
Our three dogs are: Cera, a three legged GSD/Chow mix, Charlie, an emotionally fraglie shih tzu/poodle mix and Ellwood (Woody) a Boston Terrier. Cera and Charlie are pound puppies and Woody is a purebred Boston.
Cera came to us as a four legged 9 week old puppy. She lost her leg at just over a year when my sister was visiting and she left the front gate of the house we lived in at the time open "for just a second" to get something out of car. Cera darted out into the street right into the path of an oncoming car, which was only going about 25 mph or we'd have lost her. The accident tore the nerves in her leg and she lost all feeling in her right, front leg. The leg was amputated at UC Davis vet hospital and the bone was donated to their oncology dept. for bone grafts. She is our "Grand Lady." Very elegant and dignified and the most aloof of all the dogs, though she's been with us the longest. She'll be six in March and is Charlie's best friend in the whole world.
Charlie was picked up as a stray, then left in the shelter by his "owner" who was breeding "designer dogs." When she found out just how high the fines are for unneutered, unregistered, unvaccinated dogs, she left him in the shelter because after he was "just a stud and not a more valuable bitch." I saw his picture on the shelter website and immediately fell in love. When we met in the acquaintance room he fell for me, too. We didn't know then that he didn't like children, that he was terrified of the groomer, that being taken to the vet would be traumatic. We didn't know that he would be afraid of raised voices, that he would cringe if someone even spoke loudly in his vicinity. He is very emotionally dependant on me and on Cera. In his ideal world, neither one of us would ever be more than six feet away from him. He is used to my daughter now, so he is not longer afraid of her, but I still can't trust him with children, because he is terrified of them and if he feels threatened in any way, he snaps.
Woody is our most recent addition to the family. We recently lost Scout, a Boston Terrier we adopted from the SPCA. A very nice breeder heard about our loss and she decided to place Woody with us. They had originally planned to show him, but he just didn't get big enough. At 11 pounds he's the smallest Boston I've ever seen. He's got lots of personality, but then, don't all Bostons?
We're very animal oriented around here. We only have as few as we do because my health is not the greatest. We had a much bigger rat colony, but we decided that we would let our numbers dwindle because I just don't have the energy to keep up with all the cages. All of our rats are senior citizens. We'd like to get down to 4-5 rats which would mean just one cage to clean. We're on a couple of waiting lists for a Boston Terrier puppy. I always swore we'd only adopt dogs from shelters or rescues, but Scout, our first Boston, changed that. We're so in love with the breed that we'll never be without one again.
So, if you've read this lengthy post, thank you. I'm looking forward to hanging out around here.
