Childhood Dogs

[SpringerLover]

I had a customer today with two Samoyeds. My first childhood dog was a female Samoyed. I'd never say the breed as a whole is great with children, but that dog was a freaking saint. She put up with everything and never once laid her teeth on my brother or I. She died in 1998 but all of my younger years involved her. I would have another, if they were like her (and of course, I'm sure I'm forgetting all the terrible things she did too).

What was your childhood dog?

 

[BostonBanker]

We got a Bedlington when I was 10, and had him until I was 25. He was a pretty good dog, and adapted well as our lives changed as we grew up. He was a horrible resource guarder, and we used to think it was funny that we couldn't go in the room with him while he had a Frosty Paws without him growling (but we also never did anything to fix it). But he was nice to our cat (okay terrified of the cat), and a very sweet dog. I'd never own anything that needs so much grooming again, but I'm very glad we had him.

 

[*blackrose]

We'll, I'm only 23, so my "childhood" dogs aren't that far in the past.

But our first dog was Blackie, a rescue Labrador. A coworker of my dad's found him as a stray - our best guess is that he was a Christmas puppy, and then when he turned into an untrained, hyperactive intact male Labrador he was dumped. We had just moved out to where my parents live now, and mom wanted a dog for protection and Dad wanted a dog to keep deer/rabbits away from the garden, so...we got Blackie!

Best dog. Ever. I loved him to pieces. He was INSANE as a pup and had SO MUCH ENERGY. Super destructive. Very mouthy. But he matured into an awesome dog. He was DA towards dogs on our territory and very dog selective when in public (fine unless other dogs breached his personal space), but those were his only faults. Otherwise he was perfect and I hope to one day have another dog like him. I'm hoping Abrams will mature to share similar qualities as Blackie had. I miss him so much.

We also had Brownie, some kind of ACD mix, for a short while...she was a stray that was dumped off at our place and we took her in (later found out she was dumped by a classmate of mine's father because "she kept having puppies" ), but she was hit by a car and killed a few months later. She was also a good dog and wonderful with us kids. Superb mouser. She liked to herd our neighbor's cattle (luckily he was an understanding guy and realized she wasn't trying to hurt them and they weren't stressed, so he was okay with it). She had an EARSPLITTING bark. I do remember that.

She had a litter of pups shortly after finding us, and we kept Rose. She passed away this past May. She was a good dog. Also very DS, noise shy, had her stubborn side and very wary of new people, but she was an awesome dog. Great with us kids, very well mannered...just a good dog.

And our neighborhood dog, Loupie, an Alaskan Malamute. She lived with us, only went home to eat dinner, then she was right back at our place. She LOVED us kids. She was also a good girl. Very food aggressive towards other dogs and was also very dog aggressive (she and Blackie got along alright and she tolerated Rose, but she'd attack any other dogs she saw), but she was so sweet. We would play football with her, and when one of us would tackle the other we would call her over and she'd sit on whoever was down and give them kisses. LOL

All such amazing dogs. I am forever thankful I was able to share my life with them, because they helped shape my life into what it is today and taught me so much.

 

[Oko]

My childhood dog is still alive and well (uh as well as she can be). Her name is Cleo, she's a mini poodle, we adopted her from a cat shelter (yes lol) when I was five, at the age of nine months old. She was completely unhousebroken, as a matter of fact the first thing she did upon arriving home was pee on my mums bed heh. She's anxious, grumpy, and 13. She's always been a one person dog and got attached to my mom, then sister, and now dad. She's pretty adorable, smarter than any dog I've met, and adores lamb lung. Back in her heyday she was very fierce and went around on her walks marking higher than all the other dogs, haha. Just got her vet checked and she looks great, so hopefully many more years of her insanity.

 

[Tortilla]

Sally was my childhood dog (ignore my pouffy hair and socks on sandals!).

She died in November and was the dog that made me love dogs. We got her from a farm when I was eight and she died at fourteen and a half years old. I really grew up with her and she shaped my entire childhood .. the house still feels empty without her. Sally was an absolutely incredible companion and I know that there will never be another quite like her. I will have another Collie one day, absolutely.

 

[Equinox]

I was 15 when I got Trent, but he's the closest I have to a "childhood dog", and I am so grateful for him:

 

[LostAndConfused]

Growing up, we had "vet clinic rejects."


The first dog was a big, solid black GSD named Buckwheat. Best dog ever. My parents have pictures of all of us kids with him, but I don't have any digital copies. I think he was a year older than me. His first owners got him as a young pup, but decided to rehome him when he was around 6 months because he chased & killed the cats. He did eventually learn to live with cats.

After him, we got another GSD. Earl was my dog. I was in middle school and he was my life.

 

[meepitsmeagan]

We had a few childhood dogs growing up.. two of them I don't remember. We had a GSD/Northern breed mix named Sheba and Butch was a Dobe mix. <-- those are the two I have no memories of.

We had two Labs... Sam was a black, Abby was her daughter and was a chocolate. Both of them were nice dogs.. Abby was used by my dad for hunting, Sam didn't have the drive but was a major sweetie. They were both good dogs, but definitely threw me off of Labs for myself. Not a breed I'd want to live with again. Sam died of old age and heart complications at like 14 years old. Abby died of seizure complications at 12.

Oliver was a Dalmatian mutt who was found on one of our corn farms... He was "mine". I showed him in 4H and he was my buddy. Dumber than a box of rocks and had some personality flaws, but he always treated me right. He was 12 when he died of some sort of cancer.

Jack's a Cocker who is my sister's.. he's quite a bit older now.. probably around 16? He still lives with my sister and dad as far as I know. He did really well in OB and loved doing trick training.

 

[Maxy24]

My childhood dog was Max. I was 4 or 5 when we got him. He was half Shar Pei, half lots of other things. He was a good boy, I don't remember much of his young days though. He destroyed a good number of things (bed, couch, ate crayons, yay multicolored poo!) when he was young, as an adult he liked my stuffed animals. When he got very old he only liked Build a Bears. He was buried with one and I have another in my room. He pulled like a freight train and resource guarded high value items. But none of that really mattered because no one cared, it didn't really affect us. He was tolerant as a saint with kids. He LOVED everybody so much, no dog has ever been happier to have people over. He loved Christmas too, he'd cry the whole time we were giving him his gifts. He was closest with my oldest brother when we were young. They did gross stuff together. He licked my brother's feet every night in bed, my brother would spit into the air and Max would catch it, stuff like that. When he was older and went to college and I started getting more into animals he started to be more mine. I started walking him and teaching him some tricks. He was so good with the cats. He was about 8 when we got our first cat, Neko, and Neko was absolutely enamored with him. They'd spend all day curled up in bed together. I think of everyone, Neko is the one who still misses him the most. My heart breaks a little every time Neko tries to cuddle with Tucker and Tucker gets up and moves away. Max died when he was 10, he had tumors in several organs that were causing him significant pain so he had to be euthanized. It was pretty sudden. He was showing signs of pain one day and was gone a week or two later. He hadn't had a single health issue before that. He was a really perfect kid's dog which is funny because he was returned to the shelter for nipping the children (a four month old puppy nipping the kids, who'd have thunk it). Everyone really loved him, much of my family has a hard time not comparing other dogs to him, romanticizing him, especially my oldest brother. He was our only dog (parents and kids alike) before Tucker.

 

[Toller_08]

I had several childhood dogs, but the childhood dog that chose me was my Miniature Dachshund, Jesse. She was a red smooth. A door to door salesman sold her to my Dad (he wanted my Dad to buy a vaccuum and somehow ended up selling his dog). She came with a lot of problems. She had zero manners whatsoever, no training, wasn't housebroken, was very possessive and would bite, etc. Just a whole bunch of problems. It took my mom well over a year to mold her into a good dog and somehow she managed it. Jesse turned into a fabulous dog. She was very mischevious and enjoyed finding naughty things to do haha. But she was so much fun and such a great family dog surprisingly. After we'd had her a couple of years she suddenly latched onto me and became my constant shadow. She was my little sidekick and I involved her in everything I did. I loved that little dog so much. Amanda's Nola reminds me a ton of my Jesse. She was about 12 when she passed I think, although we never really knew her actual age. We guessed she was about 2 when we got her. I used to have a couple of pictures of her on the computer, but I can't find them anymore, otherwise I'd share.

Other childhood dogs were Sabi, Bianca and Echo, our Rottweilers. Tuffy, our Bichon Frise and Sky, our Dalmatian. Tango was kind of a childhood dog too, though I don't really consider her to be as I got her when I was a teenager. Same with Winston, our first Doberman.

 

[ruffiangirl]

We had 3 dogs when I was a kid, first was Scruffy, he was a corgi yorki mix, he was poisoned at me grandmas when I was 7 . Dad swore we wouldn't have another dog, then when I was 12 a stray kept following me home, after 3 months my parents surprised me with a collar, leash and tag for her, her name was Buddy (I was obsessed with that Disney movie about the first seeing eye dog lol) she was a blue healer corgi mix, we had her for a couple weeks and she had puppies lol. We had found homes for all of them, one my sister took and her boyfriend was allergic too so he came back, one day Buddy got picked up by the town and she died in the shelter, no one knows how, so I was allowed to keep the pup, Copper (thanks again Disney). He passed away at 14 years old in 1999. My parents only ever had one more dog, Bear, a Shiba Inu we gave dad for Christmas, he passed away about 4 months after dad passed on, mostly from a broken heart I'm sure.

 

[Oko]

I was 15 when I got Trent, but he's the closest I have to a "childhood dog", and I am so grateful for him:

Oh I guess I'm still technically a child and I have Feist LOL.

 

[Paige]

Shelby was my first dog. I got her when I was four and she passed on ten years later. She hated other dogs, loved to eat and was my best friend. Typical Sheltie in that she loved to bark. She was one sassy dog but was super loyal. You could leave your back gate wide open and she'd never leave. I was devastated when she was attacked by coyotes and killed.



and I got Bandit before she passed on so while he wasn't really a child hood dog he was a teenage hood dog... that counts right? Man I feel old thinking I've had him almost as long as I had Shelby now. I hope he carries on being with me for longer. Like Shelby he is an amazing dog. Great with the kids, so loyal and just like her he is my constant shadow. Always there when I need him.

 

[Equinox]

Oh I guess I'm still technically a child and I have Feist LOL.

...but not, "child" being 15 years old like I was, right? Because holy crap if you are 15 years old, I am going to call you a liar since otherwise my mind wouldn't be able to process that.

 

[Southpaw]

Just Molly. I was 6 years old when we adopted her, she passed away shortly before I turned 18.

(Check out my hot green eggs and ham PJs)

She was phenomenal.

Otherwise I got Lucy when I was 14... so kinda-sorta-almost childhood.

 

[speedydogs]

Danny was my childhood dog - my parents surprised us with him when I was in fourth grade. He was a rescue and grew up on a farm, so he was a little wild when we first got him, but he grew up into a wonderful dog. Very dependable and easygoing, got along with pretty much everyone - my first 4H dog, too. He sadly passed away when he was around 7.

I also got Cricket when I was 14, so that sort-of-kind-of counts as childhood.

 

[JacksonsMom]

I love these kinds of threads. Enjoyed reading these.

We still frequently talk about our past dogs and have such fond memories (and not-so-fond also, lol) of them. Great part of my childhood though.

I started being a dog lover from the time I was born, LOL. I BEGGED my parents for a dog from ages 2-4, and then finally for my 5th birthday, "I" got Daisy, our Golden Retriever. Of course, being 5 years old, she ended up becoming more my fathers dog. But she taught me a lot. She was so patient with me. I also still have a scar on my knee from her - I always say I'll have a piece of Daisy forever with me. She was a pup, I was young, and we were playing fetch with a toy passing from one person to the next and her claw dug into my knee. I needed 7 stitches.... and I still loved that dog, lol. I came home and she slept with me all night and kissed my face as if to say she was sorry. But she was an awesome loyal dog, who LOVED my dad. And when he was going thru the divorce with my mom, she was really all he had for a while.
Me and Daisy:

Sadie. My first "heart dog" I think. I mean, it doesn't come close to what Jackson and I have, but I was so much younger. We got Sadie when I was 10. She came at a very devastating time in my life when my parents were getting divorced, but not only that, but other things were happening. It was a confusing time for me, so I got her out of sympathy from my dad. We were sooo not ready for a GSD and we got her from a terrible place and we should have known when the parents were aggressively barking at us to NOT take her. But we did anyways. She was MY baby. God I loved that dog. She connected with me more than anybody and slept in my bed every night. I tried to train her, the best I could. But she didn't get much more than just being in the fenced in backyard and that was it. We moved, and she ended up attacking someone that came on our property, and being put down on my first day of high school at a brand new school. I was devastated. Cried for days. I still miss her and regret everything we did wrong with her.

Carmen was a cockapoo that my little brother picked out from a pet store. He just WANTED that dog sooo bad, and my mom and step-dad were NOT ready for a dog, they are not good dog owners, lol. That poor pup was shuffled from house to house and kept in a crate for way too long. But, Connor loved her so. She was just... very sweet. After Connor died at the age of 5, Carmen truly became a part of the family though. She was a farm dog through and through. She had free roam but allowed inside whenever she wanted and slept in my moms bed. She would pick up snakes and fling them around, and block groundhogs out in the farmfield and not let up. It really was amazing to see. I brought Jackson home about 8 months before she passed away and she really taught him the ropes and ended up loving him a lot. She became more like my dog really. She annoyed me sometimes, she was so OCD - she was a dog that broke through EVERY screen in the house, and would just scratch on a door for hours trying to get out, etc. But I miss her and she was a part of Connor. She got run over by a car.

 

[AmberH]

My family was pretty crappy dog owners when I was a kid. But, I had several dogs growing up.

Tammy was my first dog. We were only three months apart in age. She looked like a smaller Newfoundland - maybe 60-70 pounds. She was supposedly a GSD/Chow mix but who really knows. Tammy had several litters of puppies and I got to keep one pup from each. However, most of the pups always died from Parvo at a young age. Butterscotch and Dutchess are the two more memorable pups. Tammy died when she was 16 years old.

My mom got Jewel when I was about 8 years old. Until then, we'd had a mix of different mutts. Again, most of the puppies dying from Parvo. My mom said she wanted me to have my first purebred dog and she decided a Boston Terrier would be the breed for us. Jewel had a litter of puppies and I kept Buddy. He is still alive today, living with my uncle. Jewel died pretty young from kidney failure. Buddy will be 13 soon.

*MY* first dog was DJ. I got him in 2000. He was a Malamute/collie cross. He was the first dog I really took care of on my own. He was the first one that was all mine. I learned a lot from him but we never really bonded.

I got Emily when I was 14. I owe her everything! She has taught me so much. Everything I know, I've learned from Emily. I joined internet forums because of her and despite all of her problems, I owe her everything. <3

 

[SpringerLover]

I kinda forgot I had this until now.

A recording off the TV of me walking Snowey. I'd watch it without sound as my mom and I are laughing a lot while I'm recording it.

Video

 

[Elrohwen]

All of my childhood dogs were mini schnauzers. My parents had two when I was born, but one died when I was very young and I don't remember him. Apparently he loved me and would sleep under my crib, patrol around my stroller, and hang out with me when I was a baby. The other passed away when I was 6, so I do have some memories of her. She was mostly old and grouchy and not a big fan of kids, so I think I left her alone most of the time.

After she died, we got two more (littermates), named Dusty and Cindy. They were pretty cool dogs. Not really great with kids in general, but I was a very quiet polite kid and I didn't annoy them too much :lol-sign: I always wished they were more cuddly, but Cindy did like hugs (she would wrap her head around you to hug you back) and loved to give kisses. She was one of the smartest and most intuitive dogs I've ever met, and I wish we had done more training with them. Dusty was a super goofy dog who was extremely attached to my mom, so I didn't have as much of a relationship with him, but he was a good dog. He was a bad puppy though, and was constantly chewing up my toys. I remember asking if we could take him back to the breeders on more than one occasion :rofl1: They both passed away when I was in college.

My parents and I still talk about our old dogs all the time.