Hi, everyone. I apologize in advance for the long post, but adding to my family is something I take VERY seriously!
I used to be on chaz a lot, talking about Milo (a maltese mix) and McGee (a chihuahua mix, who was born and adopted by me during my time on chaz). Sadly, Milo passed away from a sudden cancer late last year at the age of 10. Here's a photo of the two of them together shortly before Milo got sick.
I'm an art therapist at a residential treatment center for adolescent girls. I have the great joy of being able to bring my dogs to work, so the loss of Milo has been hard on the teenagers I work with as well. McGee and I have been going through our grief process. She is an anxious, timid dog by nature and we have done a lot of training with her. Specifically, we use Click to Calm techniques to help temper her fear responses in new situations.
McGee is now 5 years old. Until Milo was gone, I never realized how much of her leader he was. Her timidity has gone up and she seems very lonely and sad. Sometimes she doesn't eat for 2-3 days in a row. When we have play dates, she seems to perk right up and do better for a few days, including eating and socializing. See the evidence of positive play date below.
I love that tail!
Because of this, it seems like adding to our pack sooner rather than later might not be a horrible idea. Until Milo's death, McGee had only ever been alone when Milo went to the groomers or the hospital. I'm interested in your thoughts, as chazzers have never let me down before. I have experience with basic-to-intermediate obedience training, including clicker training, NILIF, and mental stimulation. I do crate training and my dogs live in the house. They are all trained to ring a bell when they need to go outside, etc.
More about me: I own my own home with a fully fenced yard. I now live in a city where it gets cold and snowy. Most days of the week I take my dogs to work with me. I have friends and family in the area who love my dogs and can dogsit when I go out of town, though I have been known to take both dogs with me in planes, etc. for travel. I can afford vet care and walkers/boarding when needed. (Though Milo's cancer treatments almost tapped me out, I'm rebuilding those savings.)
At work, my dogs are required to be tolerant and friendly and relaxed around a lot of different kinds of people and with an unpredictable schedule (sometimes I am in meetings most of the day, sometimes they do nothing but get attention). They often join therapy sessions to sit on laps and be petted. They have crates and hidey-holes in my office for when they want to be left alone. I am connected with the therapy animals association in town (they bring dogs to our treatment center weekly) so if I wanted to pursue full TDI certification, that's a total possibility.
Gender, color, "cuteness" are way less important to me than temperament and a good fit. After going through the process of evaluating my lifestyle and needs, here is a short list of things that are most important to me, in order of priority.
So, for instance, I LOVE Italian Greyhounds, but they don't match the temperament and cold-tolerant bullet points. I enjoy the company of large dogs, but don't feel they are right for McGee at this time, etc. Who can hang around chazhound for very long and not be intrigued by Papillons?! Of all the purebreed options, I think this one matches me best. (Right size, right grooming requirements, right temperament and trainability, etc.) Unfortunately, most of the reputable breeders I have spoken with in my area won't have puppies available until the summer or later. There's a breeder who I'm not CRAZY about (She has dogs from very reputable lines, just doesn't do any conformation herself.) but will have puppies available in April-ish.
Meanwhile, there is a litter of rescue puppies that will be available soon. The woman caring for them works as an animal trainer at the zoo, has taught obedience classes and has volunteered at our local Humane Society doing temperament testing for matching dogs with families. She had identified 2 puppies in the litter as being the most tolerant and moderate temperaments. Of those two, one seems to be very interested in exploring her environment and the other seems very interested in me. I am first in line for adopting him, if I decide to have him.
Momma is a black and tan cocker spaniel (25-30 pounds maybe?) and daddy is suspected to be a neighborhood miniature australian shepherd. Because of the foster lady's background, the puppies are getting good socialization, vet care, etc. The dog as an adult may push the upper limit of my work's size requirements and, as with all mutts, there's no guarantee of anything. But he is very sweet and seems to be a very good dog so far. (He's 8 weeks now, wouldn't be coming home with me for 2 more weeks.)
So, the way I see it, here are my options. Please weigh in!
OK, Chazzers. There's the whole, long story. I've never bought from a breeder before -- only rescue scenarios. What would you do?
I used to be on chaz a lot, talking about Milo (a maltese mix) and McGee (a chihuahua mix, who was born and adopted by me during my time on chaz). Sadly, Milo passed away from a sudden cancer late last year at the age of 10. Here's a photo of the two of them together shortly before Milo got sick.
I'm an art therapist at a residential treatment center for adolescent girls. I have the great joy of being able to bring my dogs to work, so the loss of Milo has been hard on the teenagers I work with as well. McGee and I have been going through our grief process. She is an anxious, timid dog by nature and we have done a lot of training with her. Specifically, we use Click to Calm techniques to help temper her fear responses in new situations.
McGee is now 5 years old. Until Milo was gone, I never realized how much of her leader he was. Her timidity has gone up and she seems very lonely and sad. Sometimes she doesn't eat for 2-3 days in a row. When we have play dates, she seems to perk right up and do better for a few days, including eating and socializing. See the evidence of positive play date below.
I love that tail!
Because of this, it seems like adding to our pack sooner rather than later might not be a horrible idea. Until Milo's death, McGee had only ever been alone when Milo went to the groomers or the hospital. I'm interested in your thoughts, as chazzers have never let me down before. I have experience with basic-to-intermediate obedience training, including clicker training, NILIF, and mental stimulation. I do crate training and my dogs live in the house. They are all trained to ring a bell when they need to go outside, etc.
More about me: I own my own home with a fully fenced yard. I now live in a city where it gets cold and snowy. Most days of the week I take my dogs to work with me. I have friends and family in the area who love my dogs and can dogsit when I go out of town, though I have been known to take both dogs with me in planes, etc. for travel. I can afford vet care and walkers/boarding when needed. (Though Milo's cancer treatments almost tapped me out, I'm rebuilding those savings.)
At work, my dogs are required to be tolerant and friendly and relaxed around a lot of different kinds of people and with an unpredictable schedule (sometimes I am in meetings most of the day, sometimes they do nothing but get attention). They often join therapy sessions to sit on laps and be petted. They have crates and hidey-holes in my office for when they want to be left alone. I am connected with the therapy animals association in town (they bring dogs to our treatment center weekly) so if I wanted to pursue full TDI certification, that's a total possibility.
Gender, color, "cuteness" are way less important to me than temperament and a good fit. After going through the process of evaluating my lifestyle and needs, here is a short list of things that are most important to me, in order of priority.
- Trainability. I have never had a very trainable dog. I'm very willing to adapt my life around my dogs' needs, but it would also be nice if they could shape around mine sometimes, too.
- Temperament. After owning a dominant/hyper dog and a timid/shy dog, I would love to have a middle-of-the-road, tolerant, adaptable companion for work and home.
- Energy level. Moderate energy is best. I am not much of a jogger/hiker. I can throw a ball or a frisbee with the best of them and don't mind short-to-medium daily walks. Mostly, though, my dogs get a lot of mental stimulation through mental games, interacting with a variety of people, and play time.
- Grooming. I am eliminating heat/cold sensitive dogs and would prefer one that does not require constant haircuts. I bathe my dogs weekly or biweekly, and do all of my own nail clipping, anal gland expressing, etc. I would just rather eliminate the trips to the groomers for clips and haircuts.
- Size. McGee weighs 6-7 pounds and my boss would prefer that any dog hanging around the office weigh 25 pounds or less.
- Age. With McGee's timidity, she can meet and get along with older dogs, but actually bonds with puppies. The dog pictured with her above was met as a puppy and they are now great friends. I'm leaning towards adding a puppy and doing my own socializing, but am open to the right older dog if found.
So, for instance, I LOVE Italian Greyhounds, but they don't match the temperament and cold-tolerant bullet points. I enjoy the company of large dogs, but don't feel they are right for McGee at this time, etc. Who can hang around chazhound for very long and not be intrigued by Papillons?! Of all the purebreed options, I think this one matches me best. (Right size, right grooming requirements, right temperament and trainability, etc.) Unfortunately, most of the reputable breeders I have spoken with in my area won't have puppies available until the summer or later. There's a breeder who I'm not CRAZY about (She has dogs from very reputable lines, just doesn't do any conformation herself.) but will have puppies available in April-ish.
Meanwhile, there is a litter of rescue puppies that will be available soon. The woman caring for them works as an animal trainer at the zoo, has taught obedience classes and has volunteered at our local Humane Society doing temperament testing for matching dogs with families. She had identified 2 puppies in the litter as being the most tolerant and moderate temperaments. Of those two, one seems to be very interested in exploring her environment and the other seems very interested in me. I am first in line for adopting him, if I decide to have him.
Momma is a black and tan cocker spaniel (25-30 pounds maybe?) and daddy is suspected to be a neighborhood miniature australian shepherd. Because of the foster lady's background, the puppies are getting good socialization, vet care, etc. The dog as an adult may push the upper limit of my work's size requirements and, as with all mutts, there's no guarantee of anything. But he is very sweet and seems to be a very good dog so far. (He's 8 weeks now, wouldn't be coming home with me for 2 more weeks.)
So, the way I see it, here are my options. Please weigh in!
- Sure-but-delayed thing. Wait until summer, hold tight with lonely McGee, forget the rescue puppy and get a Papillon from the super-awesome breeder.
- Less-sure thing. Get over my breeder snobbiness and get a Papillon from the meh breeder now, forget the rescue puppy.
- Big risk thing. Get the rescue puppy now, hope for the best, be content with 2 dogs.
- Crazy thing. Get the rescue puppy now, hope for the best, and potentially add a well-bred Papillon down the road. (The question of having 3 dogs is for another post entirely!)
- Something else?
OK, Chazzers. There's the whole, long story. I've never bought from a breeder before -- only rescue scenarios. What would you do?
look's so sweet,horrible to think she is lonely.Sorry for your loss also.
