The dog musing/vent thread

StillandSilent

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The rescue had him listed as an Aussie mix (because only aussies come in merle, duh :rolleyes:), but the picture I was sent of her was obviously BC. If not pure, at least 95%. Beautiful smooth coat sable merle, just like my Gambit.

The story I was given at the time was that she had been found as a stray with her five pups. At the time, there were four puppies left. A sister and Mom had been placed in homes.

When I went to get him, I knew I had been played big time. A worker was bringing him out when I pulled up, and when she put him in the grass, he just plopped over and laid there like he had been killed. No eye contact, no interest in me, just a complete and total shut down.

I know that that's when I should have just walked away. But I was thinking with my heart and not my head and I took him home anyway. HE spent the first five days at my apartment under my bed. At night, I could hear him scuttle out to drink, but no eating and I don't know how he kept from peeing or pooping.

Side Note: When I showed his picture to a friend who runs a rescue, her exacts words were "StillandSilent, do you see the schitzophrenia in that dogs eyes? Why are you adopting him?" Of course, I had my beer goggles on and didn't see it.
Within a week, I knew that he needed more then I could give him, so we set up an appointment with a behavioralist. While waiting for the appointment, I called the shelter I adopted him from to pump them for any information I could get.

Well, I must have gotten a different person then I had spoken to before (I asked a ton of questions about him), because I got a totally different story. The litter (and Mom) were not just stray, they were totally feral. The only way they were caught was by nailing them in a humane trap when they were about 5 months old. Mom was not adopted, she was sent to a 'sanctuary' for unadoptable animals. She destroyed three foster homes, and had no ability to bond to humans. The puppies were taken from her, put in a 10x10 run and that was it. They were fed, and vetted (Gambit received 6 puppy combo shots while there. My vet almost had an anuerisym while reading his records) and were pretty much left to their own devices. He never wore a leash, was never cuddled, never had anything done to help make up for what he had missed. I don't think he was ever separated from his siblings except for when he was neutered in his entire life. Poor little guy.

Second Side Note: I really think that the shelter did what they could for him. Getting him shots, getting him fixed, providing for his physical needs. It was a tiny shelter in a tiny town, and I think that the neglect he suffered was more out of ignorance of what animals like him and his brothers needed more then anything else.

If I had been told any of that, I would have never taken him. I wanted a dog to use in sports, and to take downtown walking with me, things I was assured he would be great at. Not so much.

Behavior eval rolls around, and the woman looked at him, watched how he moved and behaved, and referred me to US Davies, which tests for wolf/coyote genes. It will not tell you percentages, but it will tell you if the genes are present. Yep, they were.

Third Side Note: After speaking to the person who adopted his sister, the first one placed, her first words to me were to ask if I knew that they were coydogs. Apparently she had also had her girl tested, and had made the shelter aware of the fact before I adopted Gambit. Nice little bit of brushing under the rug there!

Almost five years later (December 31!), here we are. Gambit is loved and has a reasonable quality of life. He is very securely bonded to me, and has a tight knit circle of human friends. A dozen people tops, but that's a dozen more then I thought we would get. He does accept strangers after a period of time. He has become quite dog selective, but that could well come from the BC side. He has an actual sense of humor, and has been found swinging from the rafters more then once. I love him fiercely.

That said, he will always be an animal that I do not trust with strangers. He growls at people he doesn't know and he hates children with a passion. He's a creature who is too tame to live in a sanctuary setting but still too feral to live as a normal dog. He's caught between two worlds, and he always will be.

I don't know what happened to his brothers, or if any of them are even still alive.

Sorry to write you a book (and I had to stop myself from writing more, it's a sickness, I tell you.)

Gambit with his favorite Quote:

"Faithfulness and Devotion, things born of fire and roof were his. Yet he retained his wildness, and his wiliness. And from the depths of the forest, a call still sounded"
 

Slick

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Holy Smokes, have I just had a scare.

Get home and open the front door: No Leo greeting me.

Weird. There is some trash on the floor. Is he hiding from me? He has never hidden from me?

"LEO!"
No Leo.
Check through all of the rooms.
No Leo.
Check the backyard?
Front gate closed, but...No Leo.

Did my roommate take him for a walk?
Nope, leash and collar are still here.

At this point, I am FREAKING OUT!
A) Somebody has STOLEN MY DOG!
or
B) Leo has been rushed to the emergency vet by my roommates and somehow they have forgotten to text/call me.

:yikes: :cry: :yikes: :cry: :yikes:






Anyways, it actually ended up being:
C) Housemate put Leo into the backyard (probably because of trash, but not sure why actually). Yesterday's repair man left a small section of the fence open between my backyard and duplex neighbor's backyard, and Leo has shimmied his way over and is happily spending time over there.

He very happily came shooting round the corner to me when I found the gap, walked through and yelled from there (I'm guessing he couldn't hear me before that).

DO NOT SCARE ME LIKE THIS DOG!
:madgo:
 

Beanie

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that moment when you're cleaning and find your dog's panties and are sitting on the kitchen floor crying because you will never need them again.

crying.
over dog panties.
 
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I want a puppy NOW. Why are the people I would want to get a puppy from moving their planned breeding dates back... I have been waiting for my sport dog for like 5 years now and I do not think I will be able to wait another 2 years. 1 year to have a puppy home with me sure, 2 years probably not..

I think my career change is also making me want a puppy more. Although I am enjoying my current dogs and we are doing things like agility, disc, rally and nosework, I really just want my faster, drivier, sport dog. Although waiting has forced me to become a better trainer, I have been working with Chloe a lot and she is getting so much better and has taught me a lot. Angel has always been so easy as she has more drive than chloe has even with me working on building chloe's drive for so long and I really do not want to push angel too much as she is my heart dog and I do not want to hurt her as she is getting older. Maybe I am a little too careful with her? But her back legs tremble after not much exercise at all and it just makes me sad seeing signs of her getting older. Chloe on the other hand makes me happy with how eager she is to learn, however, I hate working through her fear issues, and overall they have pretty much gone away, but the other day we had a rally practice and the signs were close to the wall and other equipment or just a lot of signs near each other and she just immediately shut down because she is afraid of stupid things like that.. too much pressure. So I got a little frustrated with her about that and just working with my dogs really makes me want a sport dog in general.

I never wanted schnauzers, my mom made me get a breed that didn't shed when I had allergies and of the none shedding breeds I knew of/researched when I was like 10 years old, I decided on schnauzers. I love my dogs dearly, but they just are not what I REALLY want in a dog.

But then I hear about people getting angry about people like me that are always thinking about my future dog and that upsets me too. Maybe they haven't had dogs that did not really match what they wanted? I'm not sure. But I have been patiently waiting for my sport dog for a very long time.. waiting so long has been very hard and it keeps getting harder the longer I have been waiting. And even more hard now having a job that is at a place I can bring my dogs to work with me, taking classes and working on the equipment, etc. Maybe I am asking for too much when I want my next dog to be drivey (food and toy motivated), having a lot of confidence/not too sensitive to sounds or objects, being fast, and preferably like (or be neutral) to other people and dogs.

I have even looked at other breeders in australia, the ones that I would potentially get a pup from have a few pups on the ground right now and I will be sent pictures- but right now is probably too soon since my townhome only allows 2 dogs I believe. and other than that it sounds like other breeders aren't planning a breeding for a long time either. So I will probably wait.. I just hate waiting and I am tired of waiting.. that is all.

Rant/sadness over. Poor me with real first world problems..
 

pinkspore

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But then I hear about people getting angry about people like me that are always thinking about my future dog and that upsets me too. Maybe they haven't had dogs that did not really match what they wanted?
That's definitely what I feel like when I hear "Stop talking about Nextdog and focus on Nowdog!" I mean, it's one thing when Nextdog is supposed to be better/faster/more intense, and another when Nextdog should merely be better suited to your activities of choice.

For me it was "Nextdog will be physically sound and capable of engaging in active sports without injury being an absolute certainty." Brisbane has been a fabulous dog for training me how to train, but with his structure flyball/agility/disc were never even an option.
 

lancerandrara

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I want a puppy NOW.
-----
I never wanted schnauzers, my mom made me get a breed that didn't shed when I had allergies and of the none shedding breeds I knew of/researched when I was like 10 years old, I decided on schnauzers. I love my dogs dearly, but they just are not what I REALLY want in a dog.

But then I hear about people getting angry about people like me that are always thinking about my future dog and that upsets me too. Maybe they haven't had dogs that did not really match what they wanted? I'm not sure. But I have been patiently waiting for my sport dog for a very long time.. waiting so long has been very hard and it keeps getting harder the longer I have been waiting. And even more hard now having a job that is at a place I can bring my dogs to work with me, taking classes and working on the equipment, etc. Maybe I am asking for too much when I want my next dog to be drivey (food and toy motivated), having a lot of confidence/not too sensitive to sounds or objects, being fast, and preferably like (or be neutral) to other people and dogs.
That's definitely what I feel like when I hear "Stop talking about Nextdog and focus on Nowdog!" I mean, it's one thing when Nextdog is supposed to be better/faster/more intense, and another when Nextdog should merely be better suited to your activities of choice.
I know exactly the sentiments. :s As long as you understand your dog, your situation, and your reasons for "wanting next dog", whatever other people on the internet judge you by is really meaningless in the end.

I wanted a sport/competition dog for many years, and I got Lancer as a pup 3 years ago for that purpose. But really, I did NOT have ANY clue then how important of a role genetics and parents play in the stability/temperament of a dog when I got him. Through some additional unfortunate experiences he's gone through during his fear periods, he's now 100% incapable of being in the same vicinity as more than one excited/barking dog with dog sounds, and he can't do the sports I was hoping for in college. But turns out that he's pretty snazzy at nose work, so I'm doing what I can with him! LOL

With Rara, she is just straight up from an unknowing BYB who was perfectly good-intentioned, but did not know the complexities of breeding- Rara's history of hind leg injuries prevents her from doing anything that has to do with jumping hard more than one or two times in a row.

Even with that stuff, I still get the "focus on now-dog" thing going on too, and like... come on now, can we not have general dog goals that simply haven't been fulfilled yet? :confused:

You know you, and I don't think your next-dog requests are going to be very hard to come by or anything either, within the right breeds!

ETA: Also, it's awesome that you worked so much with your schnauzers! I really don't understand the "focus on now-dog" comments if they're aimed anywhere at you. :s
 
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StillandSilent

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Yep. Gambit has the drive for sports, but I can not take him out in public. All the training in the world will not change this about him, though I have yet to give up hope.

Gimmick tried sports and he was....well, he was glad to go back to his job of holding down the couch. I'm not wasting money on something he doesn't enjoy.

Glitch better enjoy these things.

I'm currently petsitting a coworkers dog. Holy crap, I don't know how you people do it with four! I feel like my three are so in tune and perfect, and this little monster has thrown a monkey wrench in it all.
 

BostonBanker

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But then I hear about people getting angry about people like me that are always thinking about my future dog and that upsets me too. Maybe they haven't had dogs that did not really match what they wanted?
I'd bet the exact opposite. Some of us have not only been there, we are still there - although I certainly try not to get angry or preachy about it. And it doesn't ever actually make me angry, except in certain situations I've seen where I truly believe the dog is paying the price for the owner's ambitions. But it is something that does elicit an emotional response in me. Not anger, but both sadness and frustration - for both the dog and the owner in a lot of those situations. Not because I've never been there, but because I know exactly how it feels to be in that situation, and to have to fight my way through it.

Not that I'm saying every single dog can become a star if someone believes in them, or that every dog's issues can be "fixed" (and that's without even touching on the physical issues, which is yet another ball game).

I'm not immune to it. I have horrible puppy want, and I show friends pictures often enough that I do occasionally ask if I am, in fact, becoming one of those people who only focuses on the Next Dog. I spent most of the day in a group lesson with four friends who have essentially the dogs I want my next dog to be...and me and Gusto. I'd be lying if I didn't say that I left those lessons with a bit of yearning. But equally thrilled with my dog, and with the amazing learning experience I'm getting, both from him and from watching everyone else train their lovely young border collie superstars. My turn will come, and I will have so much more knowledge when it does. And that amazing puppy will throw 100 different issues at me that I can't even imagine at this point, and some of them will suck and leave me thinking about how the NextNext dog won't have these problems.

And on and on it will go.
 

Laurelin

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Heh I have my 'nextdog' and there's STILL things I would change or add or what have you. I do think it can be a bit of a trap to kind of idealize 'Nextdog' a bit much. They are dogs after all. I have yet to meet a perfect one. Hank is like 80% what I want, which is pretty darn good. But there's still frustrations... just different frustrations compared to the papillons.
 
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Just tell them you have the magical ability to love and do things with the dogs you already have AND plan for an additional dog AT THE SAME TIME. (Other skills involve enjoying breakfast while thinking about what to make for dinner, and paying attention to your job while thinking about what to do this weekend.)

Superhuman.
 

DJEtzel

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I wouldn't worry about other people too much. It'll always happen.

Every time I get a new dog(3 times now!), I get comments like "what about Recon?" "Where's recon?"

He's doing all the same stuff and I'm spending just as much time enjoying him. He's just not as good (so he doesn't place), and looks like a troll for photos, so why bother? LOL.

Friends and fellow competitors know how I feel about each dog and that I don't value one above the others in general or neglect the oldest. But people will believe what they want to with the information presented. Just a part of life, sadly. Aka they are all shits, who I'm going to like most depends on their behavior for any given day. ;)
 

BostonBanker

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Heh I have my 'nextdog' and there's STILL things I would change or add or what have you. I do think it can be a bit of a trap to kind of idealize 'Nextdog' a bit much. They are dogs after all. I have yet to meet a perfect one. Hank is like 80% what I want, which is pretty darn good. But there's still frustrations... just different frustrations compared to the papillons.
Gusto was my NextDog, and I distinctly remember having a conversation with my mother about adding him as a second dog, where she asked what I was going to do if this wound up being another dog that didn't want to do agility. And I said "after what I accomplished with Meg, no other dog could possibly be harder to train for agility".

And Gusto has been laughing his little butt off for the last few years. Because holy crap. Meg was a breeze, relatively speaking, and I spent multiple classes running the trainer's dog because she wouldn't come out from under the table.
 

lancerandrara

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Just tell them you have the magical ability to love and do things with the dogs you already have AND plan for an additional dog AT THE SAME TIME. (Other skills involve enjoying breakfast while thinking about what to make for dinner, and paying attention to your job while thinking about what to do this weekend.)

Superhuman.
I AM LAUGHING. Truly superhuman.
 

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