The dog musing/vent thread

For what it is worth, I'm fairly impressed with how you are handling everything. Being able to see what is right for the dog, and being able to understand that this wasn't necessarily a failure of the rescue/foster other than in a bad luck kind of way...that's all so hard when you are stuck in an emotional situation. And you've managed to stay very reasonable about it, at least "publicly". I've been seeing all those "memory" posts on my Facebook harking back to a young female border collie I almost adopted, and I wish I'd been less "dramatic upset teenager" about it (I was way too old for that).

I definitely agree that you shouldn't be writing off a dog all together. I mean, if you decide you'd rather wait until you are in a house, that's one thing, but I think there are a ton of perfectly nice, fun, athletic dogs who could do just fine in a set up like you describe. I don't think your desires are all that extreme or difficult to work with. You've had some bad luck on actually connecting with a few dogs, and you've had one that is having trouble being successful in your situation. If you want a dog now, I'd keep looking. See if you can find a place that would let you foster for a weekend, so you have a lower pressure "test" period.

Whatever you decide to do, with Signal and with any future dogs, I certainly wish you the best of luck. You are due for a break.
 
Definitely sorry you're going through all this. Maybe take a breather before jumping back in to look for a dog again. But I really do think there's a dog out there that would be a good, fun companion for you as well as be able to handle living in an apartment. :)
 
Can I just take a moment to share that Brisbane, for all his evilness, is amazing?

We've been working on pivots off and on for a while. The last time we worked on anything remotely related was well over a month ago. Got out his pivot platform (the Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe) and had him taking one step at a time without cribbing his body either direction. Got us lined up in heel position and then I would take a step away and then he would take a step to get back into position.

"Let's try something new! This time, we're going to move at the same time, ok?" And then we both took a perfectly synchronized step to the right, followed by a beautiful pirouette around the book, because Brisbane understands spoken English.
 
I don't think your situation as far as the apartment goes is an unrealistic one to keep a dog that fits your needs and requirements in, at all. That's how most big-city (not suburban) apartment buildings are set up, and tons and tons of people keep dogs in that kind of housing, and most adult rescue dogs aren't going to have that level of HA. I'd actually think you'd have more success with an adult rescue than a puppy....lots of puppies develop issues like DA/HA/territorialness/reactivitiy as they approach adulthood, and if you looked for a foster that was in an environment more similar to yours (like a dog that's being fostered in the main city and not outside of it, in an apartment and not a stand alone home), you'd surely be able to find a good fit.

I lived in an apartment like that with my foster dogs, and one was extremely DA/DR but not at all human reactive, and it was tough...and tbh I think if had adopted him with the intent to keep him long-term I would have returned/rehomed him. My building wasn't huge (6 floors, probably about 12 apartments on each floor) and only one or two other people on my floor had dogs, so it was fairly easy to time walks around their walks, and take the stairs. I can't imagine him reacting that way every time we saw a person :( I think Signal will be a lot happier in a home with more space/less activity.

Out of curiosity, though, you say the elevator is one of the worst parts, and I'm sure this wouldn't make a huge difference, but doesn't the building have stairs? Unless you're on an extremely high floor....
 
lancerandrara said:
Oh man, I didn't realize- this is actually the first time I've lived in this type of apartment and the first I've seen it. This style is probably more common in certain areas. The apartments I've lived in in the past are usually just various separate buildings, 2 floors, maybe 3~4 families per building- and they lead directly to the outside and the grass and all that. And are located in very quiet suburban areas. Kind of like town homes. I'm right now smack in the middle of a super high-traffic city city. I just moved in to this city in LA a couple months ago.
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Ahh yah, Quadplexes! We have those too, but normal apartment buildings are exactly like you describe. I was just trying to figure out if I was completely missing something :lol-sign:

I'm really sorry you had to make the decision to send her back, but it definitely sounds like it's best. I'm glad you're not blaming the rescue, and hope this situation won't scare you off from another try.
 
BostonBanker said:
For what it is worth, I'm fairly impressed with how you are handling everything. Being able to see what is right for the dog, and being able to understand that this wasn't necessarily a failure of the rescue/foster other than in a bad luck kind of way...that's all so hard when you are stuck in an emotional situation. And you've managed to stay very reasonable about it, at least "publicly".
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I just wanted to second this. Major hugs. :(
 
I'm sorry Signal didn't work out for you.



I'm getting a LARGE (supposedly 90 lb) doodle foster tomorrow. He's only staying for two weeks until a permanent foster home opens up, but I'm really looking forward to having a second dog in the house, even if he's the size of 4 Smileys!

Crossing my fingers Smiley isn't a total jerk to him!
 
When you get a really cool, well-made, sturdy harness and... it does not fit your dog well because she's a freakishly hard-to-fit dog when it comes to harnesses.

But it's a Stillwater pink camo harness. :( I love it, and I want to save it for another dog, but I really just do not need more "well, it doesn't fit Roxie, but maybe my next dog?" gear.

I'm just so annoyed with searching for a harness that fits Roxie the way I want. At this point, I wonder if I'm just being too picky and should just stick to our step-in... But it slides around all over the place unless it's adjusted too tightly.

Maybe I need to have someone custom make one. Idk.
 
Have you looked at the Urban Trails harness from Alpine Outfitters? They custom make them so they tend to fit very well. I have one for Briz and love it.
 
pinkspore said:
Have you looked at the Urban Trails harness from Alpine Outfitters? They custom make them so they tend to fit very well. I have one for Briz and love it.
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Oh, I'll go check them out! Thanks :)

I've actually just asked my friend if she can custom make me a harness, lol. We shall see if she can find the fabric I like (blue/green leopard like my fave full circle collar) and I can decide on a harness style I actually like. If not, I'll give the UT a try.

I hate how picky I am about this though. I mean, as often as I walk Rox in a harness (which is 9.8 out of 10 times lol) you'd think I could just stick to one harness without getting irritated about something. Mostly it all comes down to the fact that basically all harnesses slide around on Roxie when she's walking loose lead. The only one that didn't was my Hurtta harness that sat across her shoulders, and she could slip out of that one way too easily :(

I wish that her tough skin (HDA) harness was meant more for walking instead of just pulling, because that one fits her very well. It just slides around WAY too much when we're only walking, though.
 
I love Brisbane's UT harness because it doesn't flop or slide at all. They had me send pictures along with measurements before they made it. Eight years later he had changed shape so much that it no longer fit. I contacted them to ask about having it altered and they just made him a new one in exchange for me sending back the old one.
 
pinkspore said:
I love Brisbane's UT harness because it doesn't flop or slide at all. They had me send pictures along with measurements before they made it. Eight years later he had changed shape so much that it no longer fit. I contacted them to ask about having it altered and they just made him a new one in exchange for me sending back the old one.
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They are awesome. I also had a UTH made for Maggie for rollerblading and it was my go to hiking harness too - such a good fit!
 
Just dropped Ru off for a dental, first time I've had anyone under general since he was neutered five years ago. My logical thinking brain says he will be just fine, but my emotional brain just keeps wailing "BUT HE'S SO TINYYYYY!!!"
 
Just a quick brag on my boy- my nieces (11 and 14) stayed with us for almost a week because the oldest one had a week long softball tournament in town and it was easier for her to stay here than have her parents try to find someone to drive her down (we're teachers so we don't work in the summer). I was a little nervous- our apartment is decently sized (950 sq feet) but adding two more bodies and all of their stuff is kind of a lot, neither of them really know how to interact with dogs, and one of them is a little scared of them. They both LOVED Hugo and he was AMAZING with them. Super gentle and cuddly with the younger scared one and playful and fun with the older one that wanted to play with him. It just melted my heart... I'm so happy he's such a good boy!
 
Sirius knows he's not allowed to leave the yard when he's off lead. He listens pretty well to... Well the neighbor and her kid were out (he has never interacted with them) he couldn't help himself he ran to them gave the kid a giant kiss and ran back. It was the cutest rule break ever <3
 
Something happened with Roxie today and now I have to put her to sleep.

I don't know how I'm going to survive this. First Nyx, and now Roxie. I don't see the point in breathing.
 
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