Your dog's history?

[TexasRanger]

What happens to your dog before you got him/her? If known, where were they born? How many owners did they have? You can add anything you want.

Zane (my parent's dog): Was born in the spring of 2008 on the bad side of a nearby town. Someone had tied fireworks around the necks of the puppies and lit them. All but two where killed. A kind lady found them and took them to a nearby vets clinic. She had them boarded there for several weeks until they where old enough to be adopted. She ended up having to take the Zane and his sister to a shelter in our town after attempting without success to find a home for them. We brought him home in July of that year.

Abby: Was part of a litter born in November 2008 to a street dog in the same city as Zane. We adopted her at 8 weeks old from animal control services at an adoption event.

Deputy: Was born in 2007 and ended up in a high kill shelter in a small town. A lady who fosters for a rescue pulled him the day he was to be PTS. She kept him for several years, but ran into financial trouble and had to re home him. I adopted him in 2010.

Kieber: Was estimated to have been born in October of 2013. He was found by a woman and her son running free along a busy road. I adopted him last February.

Past dogs:
Nina: A b&w Sibe my parents adopted in 1996 (I was 6). She was brought in with a suspected Wolf hybride (this dog was HUGE), who ended up being PTS after he attacked the soldier who adopted him. We had Nina for about a year before my parents got tired of her issues and took her to a Husky rescue.

Nala: A tri-colored small mix from a petstore in 1997. My mom looked in the window and saw this cute tri-colored puppy staring at her. Nala was the only one awake and she did the "paw to the window" and my mom was hooked. She passed in 2008.

Chance: A chow X my dad's coworker gave to him in 1999. The lady owned Chance, his mom and several of his siblings. After the mom accidentally hung her self on her tether, the woman re homed them all (they reminded her of the mom). My parents rehomed him in 2001 since we had to move and he had way too many behavior issues for them to handle.

Chevy: A Choc lab X we adopted in 2004. She was a present to a teenage girl from her boyfriend. Boyfriend broke up with her and Chevy was relegated to the backyard. When we got her she was skinny and covered in ticks. She was PTS in 2011 due declining health (vet estimated she was over ten).

 

[Shai]

Kim
What happened to your dog before you got him/her?
Litter dropped off along a rural road in Tennessee, joined up with three strays (a Lab and likely her daughter, plus a small mix breed adult). Neighbors called the shelter a week later who eventually contacted the foster mom who drove straight out. By then only one of the puppies was still alive -- most had been picked off at night. This one had escaped by hiding under one of the neighbor's sheds every night and staying close to the big dogs during the day. Neighbor considered keeping the last pup but the foster mom talked them into letting her go along with the adults. All four ended up on Petfinder and that lone survivor puppy became my Kim.

If known, where were they born?
Unknown, probably somewhere in Tennessee

How many owners did they have?
Unknown, probably just the original people plus the foster home

Webster
What happens to your dog before you got him/her?
Well right before I got him, his owners (a couple) broke up and left their apartment. Neither wanted the dog so they dropped him off with a guy they knew who managed a local aquarium store and told him to find the dog a home if he could. At the time I was really into the aquarium hobby and had been stopping into the store once a week for about a year and was on familiar speaking terms with the manager.

Before all that, I don't know. He was already 10 months so it's hard to say.

If known, where were they born?
Unknown

How many owners did they have?
Unknown

Mira and Lodin's stories are more like, "Born in their breeders' homes and raised lovingly for 8-10 weeks by their canine mothers, the household humans, and many visitors before coming to live at my house"

 

[JessLough]

Past Dog:
Rosey
What happened to your dog before you got him/her?
Found as a puppy (~3 months old) running along the Queensway. Friend of my aunt's picked her up, and brought her to my aunt, knowing she's an animal lover. My aunt couldn't keep her, but promised she'd find her a loving home. I guess my aunt mentioned this to my parents, and I came home from school to a dog.

If known, where were they born?
Unknown, probably locally.

How many owners did they have?
Unknown, probably just the place she was born and then us, with the very short (hours) stint with my aunt.

 

[Slick]

Leo was born sometime in March 2013. He was abandoned with his mother and siblings on the side of a road when he was just a few weeks old. At 12 weeks old he was accepted into a Shelter Dog Service Dog Program (I don't know what the official name is). He was fostered by a woman with many other dogs (that's all I know about her). At 8 months he failed out of that program (my guess is for leash reactivity and being highly distracted by other dogs while out and about). At this point, he was returned back to the shelter and fostered by the woman who initially chose him for the Service Dog program. She posted a craigslist post about him, I applied, and the rest is history.

 

[Laurelin]

Summer was born in her breeder's house and kept back as the pup from that litter. She never grew a coat (till she got spayed). So she failed as a show dog but they wanted to breed her because she had a great temperament and build. At 2 years old was bred and reabsorbed the litter. At 3 she gave birth to a stillborn puppy. When she was 4, her breeder offered her to me since she knew I was looking for a dog and they weren't wanting to try for a litter again. So I took her home with me.

Mia: born at her breeder's, came home with me at 16 weeks old.

Hank: picked up as a stray and brought to local animal control. No prior history known. He stayed there about a month then I brought him home.

 

[meepitsmeagan]

Harlow and Tulsa are both breeder dogs. Harlow was born locally, Tulsa about an hour away.

Rider was found as a stray in rural Idaho, put in a shelter, pulled by his rescue, fostered in Montana for 3 months, and then wound up with me.

 

[BostonBanker]

Meg was an owner surrender to a high kill shelter in WV. A rescue down there that coordinates with northern shelters pulled her, and she was subsequently pulled by my friend's rescue up here with me in mind. She was about 18 months old, had apparently had a litter not long before being surrendered, and, from our best guesses based on behavior, had probably been an outdoor only dog. She couldn't do stairs, and acted like she'd never been indoors before. She was with my friend for one night, then fostered by me for a few weeks before I decided she was staying.

Gusto's story varies from the one his littermate's owner was told a bit. They were either oops offspring of an Amish farmer's working dog, or oops puppy mill puppies from upstate NY. Either way, they were not what anyone was hoping for, and the owner was apparently threatening to kill the puppies. They were 'rescued' by young people living in a mobile home on a nearby farm, then abandoned in that home when they moved on. Somehow a rescue got word that they were there, and a representative of the rescue went and got the four puppies to place privately. Two of them (including Gusto) were being fostered by a friend of mine. I fell in love with him, and she kindly hung on to him for a couple of weeks while I worked out whether I could take him or not. No idea what age he must have been weaned, as he was 7 weeks old for several weeks while I knew him. He was probably about 8 weeks when he finally came stay with me.

 

[lancerandrara]

Both dogs I brought home as puppies. Rara from an obvious BYB (but I didn't know anything at the time), thus all her health issues. Lancer from a random breeding between a male farm dog Aussie and a companion female waaaaay out in the country somewhere discreet and farm-y and unknown that I don't even remember. Therefore, Lancer is a complete NATURAL at herding... I couldn't believe my eyes when I brought him to herding classes.

Rara: runt of the litter. Literally half the size and literal weight of her siblings. Her mom and dad were both around 27 lbs, but she's filled out now at 17 lbs.

Lancer: OPPOSITE of runt of the litter. Also, big, confident, testy, and fearless... which makes me sad to how he is now, because of some traumatic experiences he's had when he was around 4 months old. His parents were ALSO around 27 lbs, and he's grown into 45 lbs. LOL.

Lancer and Rara's personalities are also opposite-end in completely every way possible, so life is very interesting and... opposite. :ninja:

 

[Finkie_Mom]

Kimma: Born at her breeders', brought home at 8 weeks. She was trouble from day one, but I love her so much anyway. That's about it

Pentti: Born at his breeders' in Texas, sold to a family in Oregon. When he was about a year old the family decided that he was "untrainable" and gave him to a trainer to try to "fix." That didn't go well apparently, as the trainer took him a a shelter even though breeders' contract states that they will PAY to have any of their dogs back at any time, for any reason if the new owners don't want them anymore. Luckily the shelter scanned for a microchip, contacted the breeders, Pen went back to Texas, did the show dog thing for a bit, then was given to me. Yeah. He's TOTALLY untrainable

Bubbles: Born at her breeders', did the show ring thing as soon as she was old enough, finished her CH young, was back at the breeders' to eventually be bred and maybe shown as a special. I wanted her, he gave her to me, the rest is history

Jari: I saw him come in to this world. I didn't want a boy, but I fell in love with his boldness, his weirdness, and his intelligence. He's turning out to be a great dog <3

ETA - Might as well include my in-laws' dog too.
Lissy: Born at the breeders', sold to a family as an 8-week-old puppy. Family fell on hard financial times when she was about 7 (we don't know for sure - all of the breeders' paperwork burned in a fire a few years ago...), they took her in to board for no fees while the family got back on their feet. In the meantime, they said that if they found a good family that Lissy could be rehomed. My in-laws wanted an older Finnish Spitz, preferably somewhat trained. Lissy was sent to us for just the price of airfare. She came VERY overweight (she weighed 40lbs, whereas like Kimma weighs 19lbs and Bubbles is 23lbs), but overall she was happy at their home from day one. She's lost a bit of weight, she's more mobile than she was for sure, and she's a very content girl

 

[sassafras]

Pip: All anyone knows is that he was transported from Georgia to MN.

Maisy: All anyone knows is that she was pulled by a local rescue in the cities from a rural MN AC.

Squash: Him I know about. A member of another forum, a musher, had bought an adult female Alaskan to add to her team. After she came home, she kept getting fatter and it soon became apparent she was in the throes of an unplanned pregnancy. If I remember everything correctly, shortly before her purchase she had been leased to an outfit in Alaska by the previous owner where it is thought that she was impregnated by a mysterious midnight visitor. I was following the litter and at some point fell deeply in love with a little white guinea pig.

 

[Maxy24]

Tucker's mom and probable father were found running along the road in TN after a bad storm and were picked up by someone and given to the local shelter which luckily works with a rescue. They found out the female was pregnant so she and the dad went into foster care. Tucker was born and raised in that foster home until he was 10 weeks old and transported up to us.

 

[teacuptiger]

As far as I know with Roxer, she was born at the shelter, returned a ton, and ended up with me. All before turning a year old. They didn't really tell us all that much about her, after looking at two other dogs the shelter folks said, "oh, we have one you might like!".

 

[*blackrose]

Cynder was being given away by a coworker of DH's mother. Michael wanted a dog, so he went to go get her. She was an outdoor dog kept in the backyard, and I believe they were getting rid of her because they were scared she was going to hurt their kids. (Um. Wut? This is Cynder we're talking about...) They weren't sure how old she was, but DH thinks she was around two when he adopted her. Which would make her roughly nine years now. Her name at the time was Ginger (again, wut?).

Abrams was from a breeder in Michigan, born 4/11/13. I picked him up in June at 7.5 weeks old. He's been with me ever since.

I'll go ahead and give a little blurb about the present family dogs, too.

Chloe is "my" dog who currently lives with my parents. I adopted her my senior year of highschool. A classmate's Aussie had a litter of pups and they were giving them away for free. She hosted a bonfire at her house one night and I fell in love with Chloe. Took her home with me, parents said no. Gave her back. Took her home with me again, parents said yes because Grandpa, who was visiting, said yes. LOL

Gracie and Cooper are a mini Dachshund and Yorkie respectively. Two(?) years ago DH and I inherited them from his uncle who passed away. We kept them for about a year, and then when he enlisted he we decided it would be best to place them in another home. (I had been saying that all along, as they were a horrible fit for us). Gracie went to my mom, Cooper to my Grandma, and they are both happy and spoiled and make their new owners' lives that much happier. Before DH's uncle had them, Cooper came from a breeder who was going to euthanize him if he didn't sell because he was the runt, and Gracie came from the local shelter as a 9 week old puppy, because "she peed in the house".

 

[SpaceMutt]

Born to a pregnant dog at a county rescue (don't know whether she was a stray or surrender), in foster with many siblings, and was the last to get adopted - I showed up and it was just him and his sister left, and she already had an app in. His mother was returned once and relisted as needing to be an only dog, so I'm assuming she had some sort of issue there in her first adoption, but she got adopted again and has stayed put. The pups are spread alllll over the country, Shar Pei pups aren't easy to find in rescue (and even though they were mixes, they looked pretty much all Pei as babies, and that continues to be their dominant "look").

 

[amberdyan]

Hugo was picked up in the downtown area of a big city where he walked up to an animal control officer with trash in his mouth, 2/3rds the weight he should be. He was at the animal shelter for about a month before I got him. We went in and looked at a sweet pit/pointer mix who was just WAY too much for us and then saw Hugo being looked at by a family who was considering adopting him. I thought he was adorable and when they said they were leaving to think about it, we swooped in and asked to see him. : p He cuddled, he wanted pets, he wanted to play and he acted like he would do ANYTHING for the treat in my hand so he came home with us. They think he was about 5-6 months.

 

[elegy]

Luce: picked up as a young adult running as a stray with another pit bull. maybe had a litter before i adopted her? she's 12 now. old fart.

Steve and Beanhead: raised by breeder til 7 1/2 weeks then home with me. no excuses for their boneheaded behavior.

Hambone: no idea. Showed up on a friend of a friend's porch in NC. Nobody claimed him. Transport was arranged and now he lives with me in PA. He's a bit soft but a pretty awesome little dog and I'd have another.

 

[Annabell]

Fable was found as a VERY pregnant stray in Southern California in January of this year. She gave birth to 6 puppies about a day after she was picked up. Fable had no collar or microchip when they found her, so they waited the 10 days for someone to come pick her up, and when no one claimed her, she and her puppies were transported up to Oregon by START. A small rescue took her in and she was in foster care for about 6 weeks with her puppies. Once the pups reached 7 weeks old, they all went to their forever homes. Fable was up for adoption for about 3 days when I decided to foster her for a week to give her some TLC after the puppies. 3 days into her stay with me, I decided I could never leave her, and the rest is history!

 

[Dagwall]

Jubel was surrendered to a kill shelter in Caroline county just north of Richmond VA. His owner lost their home due to foreclosure and moved back in with their mom who said no dog. He was about 1.5 at the time. Was pulled by rescue in northern VA and spent 10 months there before I came along and adopted him.

 

[Southpaw]

Juno's from a breeder. Came home with me at 7.5 weeks old.

Lucy is from a crap breeder - we brought her home at 11 weeks old.

Cajun was a private rehome, and as far as I know, the woman we got her from got her from some sort of breeder.

Happy is the most mysterious. The story I got from the rescue is that she was transported up here from Iowa, from a "rescue" that was really more of a hoarding situation, when the person running it passed away. Everything prior to her being transported here is unknown.

 

[Paviche]

Rowan was presumably purchased as a puppy from a breeder in either North or South Carolina (I can't remember which.) I don't know if his old owners lived there as well or if they bought him out of state. He ended up living with them in Fountain, CO until he was about a year and a half. They had a couple of kids and another smaller dog as well. The family was a military family and were being stationed in Germany, so he was turned over to NBRAN. His foster mom had him for a few months, I think, and then he became mine, a month before he turned two.

Riff was purchased as a puppy from someone with a farm and an Aussie bitch that had gotten pregnant. Dad wasn't known but they strongly suspected a GSP. The family lived in Longmont, CO and had two small children and an older dog, a BC I think? When he was just shy of two, they responded to my Craigslist ad looking for a dog, said that he was bothering their older dog too much (which I believe but now I don't think that's the *only* reason they were rehoming him.)