What was your first impression of your dog?

[Amber]

For Junior, I was volunteering at an adoption event, like I did mostly every Saturday. It was the day after the school year had finished. When the truck with the dogs on it pulled up, all the volunteers went up to get a dog. They pulled Junior and a little puppy out of the same crate. I was pretty bummed that I didn't get the puppy, but I guessed Junior would be alright. I got his file and his info, and it turned out that this skinny, shy little mutt had only been pulled from a gassing shelter in Georgia late the night before, and had been driven up to VA that morning.

He was so shy with everyone at the event, and no one even asked about him. But he curled up on my lap and stayed there for three hours. At the end of the event, there was absolutely no way I was letting him get back on that truck. So I talked to my mom and she finally agreed that we could foster him. We asked if he was available to foster (the rescue only puts less-adoptable dogs into foster care) and they told us no. We thought about it, and decided to bring him home.

BEST NOT-THOUGHT-OUT DECISION EVER.

The first picture I ever took of him:

His first hour home:

 

[Brattina88]

With Maddie... it had been a very very long haul of researching, begging my parents, preparing, etc...
Finally, I found a breeder who had puppies, and I was ready... and I had my parents full support. I had a phone interview with the breeder. She took down my info, asked questions, and I took down all or her info (I still have my notes from that phone call lol).

I wanted a female really really bad. Preferably buff, but that didn't matter AS much. She had ONE female left, a buff. Like it was meant to be. We planned to meet the next evening, but something came up to where I couldn't go (school related, but I don't remember what it was, meeting or something). When I called her back to tell her, and reschedule, she said she had another family coming to look at her tomorrow (was supposed to be after my family did). I got off the phone... and cried and CRIED. I thought FOR SURE that family would take the puppy I wanted ("mine")

So, when my parents picked me at the school the next day (very late, around 8)... sleeping in my seat... MY puppy was in the car!!!! They had went and picked her up for me, and I didn't have any hint that they were going to do so!

I just remember going "Oh my God... Oh my GOD!" until my Dad told me to stop. :rofl1:

It was LOVE at first sight. And she was perfect. And she still IS perfect! Perfect Match!!!

Still today I will randomly make my Mom tell me the story of what happened while I was at school that day. She talked to my Dad about it, and they decided to do it. They called the breeder and explained, she was happy to be in on it. They went and looked at the puppies, and saw the sire / dam... and found the reason Maddie was the only buff, female left was because she was the runt, smaller than the rest and had short stubby legs... And that Maddie is colored exactly like her Dad, but not proportioned like either one of them :rofl1: My Dad even did some of the "puppy tests" on her before they made the final decision - handling paws, dropped the keys, all of that stuff I read in books and bugged them with for months... lol...

<3 <3

 

[elegy]

my first impression of luce in her kennel at the shelter was "what a sweet, quiet little dog". BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA there was just something in her expression that made me want to meet her, and then when they got her out of the kennel for me, and she dove snorting and kissing into my stomach.... forget it. hook, line, and sinker.

my first impression of mushroom was omg luce likes him i'll take him. i really didn't think about it beyond that. nice dog, needed a home, got along with luce. sold.

with steve, i had the choice of two out of his litter. i picked him because he was the naughty one. in the videos of his litter, he was the one trying to take the magazines out of the magazine rack. he was the one who would pick up a toy and leave with it and then all the other puppies would go "ooh cool! look what he has!"

and alsotoo, come on now:

 

[Dreeza]

Oh boy.

We had been trying to get a dog for months. We had originally researched breeds, blah blah...then we started calling/visiting shelters. And we got turned down like 10 times in a row...either because we had never owned a dog, or because we did not have a fenced in backyard.

We saw "Tango" on pet finder - the pic was of 2 puppies - one was a rottie (?) mix...and the other was a black dog.

We thought Tango was the rottie mix & went to go get her, especially since we had called the woman & she said we were eligible to adopt.

We got there and asked for Tango...and they brought us to this black dog...we were like wtf??? Turns out the black one was Tango. The rottie was already adopted though, so we were like "what the heck, why not?"

Tango (now Oakley, obvs) came BOUNDING out of the cage and nearly mauled us over. The woman assured us that he just had a lot of pent up energy from being cooped up all day & that he was normally pretty tame.

HA! Y'all know how that panned out.

Anyways, my first impression was that he was an absolute psychopath, haha.

 

[BostonBanker]

My first thought was "no way". I'd given my friend whose rescue pulls southern dogs from high kill shelters my general guidelines for size, age, coat, etc. She said she'd start pulling dogs who fit that description, and I could decide when they were up here. Meg was in the first group she brought up after that. She got in on the transport around midnight, and my friend called the next morning and said "I have your dog." She had gotten to the house, gone to the bathroom outside, and then curled up on the couch and slept until morning.

I went to meet her that night, and she was wandering around the training center. Dark colored, which I didn't like, limping quite a bit on a front leg (sure, here's my active agility/hiking buddy!), no tail, and, while very sweet, clearly scared out of her little mind. Then a kid that was there with her mother walked up to Meg and picked her clear off the ground by her front feet, including that scarred and lame leg. And Meg merely hung there rather than taking the kid's head off as I would have expected. So I agreed to foster her, just because I thought she was sweet.

I walked her in the front door, where I had to lift her over the step because she'd never been indoors or up stairs before Vermont, and she came in slinking and terrified. My mother glanced up, said "We are going to have to keep this one; she's so homely nobody else will want her".

Now, of course, I think she is stunningly beautiful, brave, smart and perhaps my world revolves around her a bit. I give my friend all the credit for pointing me at the right dog, when my heart said "No way".

 

[mrose_s]

The first time I saw Buster was when Mum walked into the kitchen with a random puppy in her arms that she found in the carpark at the shopping centre and didn't want t get hurt. My first though "I want that dog" I'd been wanting a dog for a year or two as my own. We wern't planning on keeping him but he was just such an amazingly good puppy and when he was about 18 months old mum told me "he's your dog, you can take him when you move out, you love him the most and he loves you the most"
Whoever dumped an 8 week old in that puppy doesn't know what a mistake they made, they missed out on one of the most loving, kindest dog ever.

With Quinn, I contact a breeder and was asking her about the litter/parents atc and after a few emails she sent me a bunch of photo's of the litter to see if there were any pups I liked the look of. Quinn's face. She was the last photo I looked at and I knew I had to go meet her.
We packed off that weekend to meet the puppy that didn't want to talk to us but when we picked her up snuggled into our necks. That was confirmation. She was mine.

How could she not be?

Look how innocent she looks. :rofl1:

 

[Brattina88]

BB - what an awesome story

Actually, we could write a book with all of these! :rofl1: I really like this thread, everyone has really awesome stories!

I really can't picture Oakley as a Tango

 

[PWCorgi]

The first time I saw Frodo he was in his breeder's (and I use that term lightly) backyard with his aunt and the whole time we were there he tackled her and she would correct him. He'd tackle her and she'd correct him. As long as it took him to get back at her he tackled her again...and on and on. Really didn't want much to do with us. I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THEN :rofl1:

 

[Baxter'smybaby]

My son (then 8 years old) was begging for a dog after he had read "Call of the Wild". Of course we told him no---but someone I work with had a litter of labs. and she brought them in to school for the kids to see. Well, I saw Traveler, and I was in love. I spoke to my husband about getting a dog for my son..and my husband said "if you want to--then, ok". But at that point Traveler was spoken for, and her sister (who really was the pick of the litter) was not yet taken. But I really wanted Trav, I had connected with her that day she visited the preschool. As time went on, turned out the person who was going to take Trav, decided to wait to get a dog....so we were able to have her. We did not tell my son....we planned it as a surprise, and told the kids we were visiting the pups. When we arrived, my son (of course) asked again if we could get a dog....so we pulled out a collar, told him to go put it on Trav and we could take her home.....and this is what joy looks like....

The best part is --after we made our decision to surprise our son with a dog, (but before we brought her home) I asked him what kind of dog would he want (expecting it to be a husky). His reply? A chihuahua! LOL! When he was older, I asked him about it again--and he told me it was because he thought I would at least consider a small dog. Traveler was one of the best things to ever happen to us.

 

[JacksonsMom]

With Maddie... it had been a very very long haul of researching, begging my parents, preparing, etc...
Finally, I found a breeder who had puppies, and I was ready... and I had my parents full support. I had a phone interview with the breeder. She took down my info, asked questions, and I took down all or her info (I still have my notes from that phone call lol).

I wanted a female really really bad. Preferably buff, but that didn't matter AS much. She had ONE female left, a buff. Like it was meant to be. We planned to meet the next evening, but something came up to where I couldn't go (school related, but I don't remember what it was, meeting or something). When I called her back to tell her, and reschedule, she said she had another family coming to look at her tomorrow (was supposed to be after my family did). I got off the phone... and cried and CRIED. I thought FOR SURE that family would take the puppy I wanted ("mine")

So, when my parents picked me at the school the next day (very late, around 8)... sleeping in my seat... MY puppy was in the car!!!! They had went and picked her up for me, and I didn't have any hint that they were going to do so!

I just remember going "Oh my God... Oh my GOD!" until my Dad told me to stop. :rofl1:

It was LOVE at first sight. And she was perfect. And she still IS perfect! Perfect Match!!!

Still today I will randomly make my Mom tell me the story of what happened while I was at school that day. She talked to my Dad about it, and they decided to do it. They called the breeder and explained, she was happy to be in on it. They went and looked at the puppies, and saw the sire / dam... and found the reason Maddie was the only buff, female left was because she was the runt, smaller than the rest and had short stubby legs... And that Maddie is colored exactly like her Dad, but not proportioned like either one of them :rofl1: My Dad even did some of the "puppy tests" on her before they made the final decision - handling paws, dropped the keys, all of that stuff I read in books and bugged them with for months... lol...

<3 <3

Awww what a great story!

 

[Beanie]

I love that story Bax... and those photos. Traveler was such a good girl.

 

[Baxter'smybaby]

Baxter's story--I had just lost our other dog Libby who was a rescue dog--lots of issues, but we loved her. Trav was lonely--so I thought I'd go "look" at a dog I found via petfinder--only to find she was already adopted. While at the shelter, we looked at pictures of a few other dogs...none stood out--but we decided to at least walk a few dogs---so we (my other son and I) chose Baxter and his brother to take for a walk. Well...beagle mixes, who have been in a shelter...going for a walk in the country.....guess how well they behaved?:rofl1: Like hounds! Didn't have a feel for either of them. UNTIL..we returned to the shelter to hand them back, and Baxter turned around and put his paws on my chest and looked me in the eyes....I SWEAR he was saying 'PLEASE DON'T SEND ME BACK THERE!" His brother didn't seem to care. So...I put an application in on him, and now he is my boy.
This is Baxter's brother:

This is Baxter when he first came home:

Wilson--well many of you know his story. Saw his picture, knew he was going to be euthed, and something about that face just called to me--so we got the chaz train worked out and the boy made his way here to us! He is quite the entertaining dog--and we adore him, issues and all! Here is his petfinder pic--how could you not fall for this?

 

[Baxter'smybaby]

I love that story Bax... and those photos. Traveler was such a good girl.

She was the best. Thanks Beanie.

 

[Brattina88]

Omigosh - Bax's brother is too cute, too! Do you know what ever happened to him?

Their stories are soo sweet <3

 

[Baxter'smybaby]

Omigosh - Bax's brother is too cute, too! Do you know what ever happened to him?

Their stories are soo sweet <3

LOL--if my husband would have agreed--I"d have taken them both---but alas, he could not be swayed. Anyway--his brother got a good home, from what the shelter had told me (I did inquire at one point).

 

[Zoom]

I just love all these stories.

 

[Southpaw]

I can't really remember much about meeting Lucy. I do know that she was actually not the pup that I wanted--it was her sister that I was begging to take home. My mom however, thought Lucy was adorable, and what really sealed the deal was finding out she was the runt. After that it didn't matter that this was supposed to be "my" dog, there was no way I was going to get my mom to leave Lucy there. She didn't leave a real good impression though when she threw up in my lap on the ride home!

I first saw a picture of Juno online from when she was 2 days old. She was the only female left, so if we were going to get a pup from that litter, it would have to be her. But that was okay--I liked her symmetrical facial markings, the kissy spot on the top of her head, and the fact that she looked nothing like Molly. We went to the breeder's house the next day, the pups were 2 weeks old... and even though you can't tell much from 2 week old puppies, there was no way we were NOT going to get this dog. 6 weeks later when we were bringing her home and she wouldn't settle down on the car ride and kept trying to eat my seatbelt, I had a real good idea of what I was in for.

 

[Laurelin]

I love all these too!

With Nikki, I had just lost my sheltie, Rosie and wanted another. I remember scouring the newspaper ads for weeks and weeks looking for sheltie puppies within driving distance. One day I found the perfect ad for 4 sable sheltie puppies- 2 girls and 2 boys. I don't know what possessed me but I took the ad to my parents and asked could we please just go look at them? they said sure but we were just going to go look. So that day we drove out and there were only three still there. They were just 5 weeks old. I picked out the naughty one and the owners warned me not to get her. But I did. She was fabulous.

With Summer I knew I wanted a male sports dog that was about 1-2 years old. Then one day I just got a call from Beau's breeder. She was like "I hear you're looking for a dog..." Me: "Yes...". Well what about Summer? I figured 1 year old male dog/4 year old female... same difference.

Mia... I didn't ask about Mia. I'd asked about pyr sheps and shelties and BCs and wasn't getting anywhere with any breeders I liked. So I had just moved in my new apartment and that night shot off emails to several pap breeders and rescues. Heard back from a few. I had inquired about a 2 year old sable female for Mia's breeder but she told me she thought she had a better choice in a puppy she had. I said no way, no puppies for me. But we kept talking about the puppy and the more she talked, the more I wanted to meet this little spitfire she was telling me about. So yeah, she talked me into her.

 

[CharlieDog]

Charlie was my first dog, and he was the product of my older sister trying to be responsible with her dogs, but failing in the end to spay her female, (her dogs seriously tied through a crate) and I was helping raise his litter. I did everything with those puppies, the super dog stimulation thing, when they were all puppies. I was like, 13 or 14, and just knew I wanted my own dog. We'd only had Daisy, who was our family dog for awhile, but she wasn't too interested in being a one person dog, and she wasn't mine to do much with.

Anyway, I begged and begged and begged for a puppy from her, but my sister wouldn't let me just have one, it had to be okay with mom, and my mom was NOT budging from a solid NO. They had been born early December, and I remember my new years midnight wish was that my mom would let me have a puppy. Well, a few weeks went by and they were almost ready to go to their new homes, and my mom came to me and said if I'd help dig the post holes to put up a fence, I could have one of the puppies. It was HARD work for a 14 year old, but I really did dig a crap ton of fence post holes and got to choose a puppy.

I didn't plan on Charlie at first. I'd spent the most time with a different puppy. I wish now I knew where he was and what kind of dog he turned into, but Charlie had two different colored eyes, and I thought that was awesome. He was full of beans and sass, and I ended up picking him instead. He was a really great dog. I wish I had pictures of him as a puppy, or even as an adult dog. I only have a handful though, and I regret that.

With Ozzy, he was the only boy puppy left out of the litter, and I didn't want a girl. He had the bi colored eyes too, and that just sealed it. I didn't even see a picture of his litter, I just saw the ad for them free to a good home, and decided to drive out there and take a look. He threw up on me on the way home, and was the most ORNERY puppy EVER. He's a good dog though, and I wonder what happened to the rest of his litter.

Enzo, I had been wanting a second dog, and had finally moved out of my moms house. I'd been planning on getting a GSD or a Border Collie, but my mom called me and said some distant cousins had been talking to OTHER cousins who talked to mom (because everybody knows I'm the crazy dog lady) and she mentioned her to me. They couldn't deal with a 9 month old Lab, and had a 2 year old and an infant and she was eating them out of house and home and locked in a crate most of the day. My cousins went and picked her up, and then my mom and I went and got her from them.

She too, threw up in the car on the ride home but after SWEARING up and down and hearing Virgo tales forever, I was very very unsure about getting a Lab, but she's turned into the best dog ever.

 

[Lolas Dad]

In most of these posts, it's not us picking out the dog. It is them picking us out.