Furday Storytime

[Hounds_N_Leo]

I thought it might be fun to have a dog related one of these every "Furday"?

...topic for this inaugural edition?

"The First Dog In You Life That You Remember"

The first dog that I can recall is Tasha. She was owned by my mother's dad...my granddad. She was what I believe now to be an Anatolian mix. VERY large, lanky and tall yellow colored girl with a black muzzle and ears, and loveliest black rimmed brown eyes.

She watched out for us hooligans when we played in the backyard and I recall she had puppies once by the neighbors black lab. She ended up with 3...one dark red one, one yellow one and one black one. CUTE! Us kids had a grand time picking them up and carrying them all over the place.

I think the saddest day was when we went over and Tasha was gone. She was old then and they just told me she ran away...but obviously looking back that is not what happened.

[RockyMountainDobies]

The first dog I remember was Blondie, she was a pit that my dad got as a teeny tiny pup, maybe 6 weeks old when she came home. I was only 6 months at the time. I vividly remember riding on her as a toddler and then I remember the devastation of having to give her up after my parents got divorced when I was three. My mom couldnt keep her in the apt we were in and my dad is a jerk that didnt want to take her either. My mom says the day she dropped her off at the shelter the guy that took Blondie into the back wound up taking her home. She was an awesome dog, I still have pics of her somewhere. I also remember she had pups at one point, because I remember a whelping box in our livingroom.

[Swissies4Me]

Jake is the first dog my family had that I remember. He was a mix...not sure what of but he was pretty big. When my sister was 3 she was obsessed with the "Wizzard of Oz". She'd dress up like Dorothy complete with Ruby slippers and Jake would get dragged around the house as her Toto. He was a great dog!

[bren]

The first dog I remember is Sandy. I think I was maybe 4 when we got her? I can very vividly remember being inside my aunt's house and having my mom call me outside. I guess my aunt's neighbors had Sandy (a larger sized cocker spaniel) and 2 german shephards. The german shephards weren't really getting along with Sandy and somehow or another offered her to my mom. I'm not sure how old she was, but Sandy was an older dog. I remember mom asking me if I wanted her and OF COURSE I did. She went home with us that night and was my bestest buddy from that moment on. She was so great with us kids ... she would let me do anything to her. I used to lay my head on her stomach and watch tv every afternoon. A lot of the pics of Cleo with Lily laying on her, remind me of Sandy. She got sick, although I'm not sure what caused it. Maybe just old age in general. Super Bowl Sunday when I was about 7 or 8, my mom took us somewhere and when we came home my dad told us she had passed away. We buried her in the back yard and I cried for days and days. And now, I'm going to start crying again. She really was a great dog.

[Swissy Mom]

The first dog I remember was Pepper. He was a Border Collie. My mom and I were living with my grandparents and Pepper was Grandpa's dog. My grandpa would take Pepper and I for walks all the time. We went all over the place...me, Pepper and Grandpa. It's a great memory. Pepper lived to be about 16 (I was about 5 when he died.)

[sam.i.am]

Our first dog when I was 3 was sort of accidental -- we were going to be moving and my Dad did not have a job, but Mary (a Saint) came and parked herself in our yard during a freak snow-storm in southern VA. We took her in and she was my best friend for the time we were there (about 8 months). When we left, my Dad still did not have a job (he was getting out of the Navy) and we were not sure where we'd land, so we could not keep her. I was devastated -- and still get teary-eyed when I think of her. That was my first encounter with a Saint and they forever made an impression on me.

[ToBScholarly]

My first (and only) doh in my childhood was an English sheepdog named Dudley. He was big and fluffy and happy. My [insane] mom is not really a dog person though and so after having had enough of grooming him constantly, my parents gave him away. Or he got hit by a truck. I don't recall which.

I may have to call my mom now and yell at her.

[dogsDearly]

My parents got a Rough-coated collie puppy 6 months before I was born. She was sable, so of course they named her Lassie. My earliest memories of her tied up to one of those cable dog runs in the back yard and how she would run back and forth. When i was about 4, we moved to California and she no longer had a run and was able to live in the house with us. She was such a great family dog.. not overly hyper as some collies can be.

I remember playing this game with her when i was little.. "Ready, Set, GO!" I would say "ready!" and she'd jump into a play bow. I would say "set" and she'd hold her breath... and then I'd say "GO" and she would jump around me, wuffing and pretending to be all tough. She was so great at determining how rough to play. With my brother, who was 10 years older... she would play really rough. With me? She'd grab my arm very gently. I never once had a scratch.

At an early age, she got a cataract and was blind in one eye. But it never slowed her down much. When i was first learning to ride my bike on Christmas day, she got hit by a truck and got a big nasty gash on her back. But she recovered. She lived until she was 14. Just a big sweet sweet girl.

[Delynnr]

The first dog I remember was Lady, my Grandfather's bird dog. She lived a long full life. She was born the same month as me, so I always knew how old she was. Sometimes my Grandfather would ask me how old I was to tell someone how old Lady was toward the end. She lived 16 years! Which for a bird dog on an active farm/ranch in Kansas was and still is a miracle. She was a gentle, loving dog, especially for a bird dog. She LOVED to go hunting, but she was an amazing dog around kids. I remember her always being there at my grandparent's house. When I went back and she was not there it felt like the place was empty.

My first dog was Charlie. We only had him for a very short while. My parents had friends that had been called up through the military as reservists (both at the same time) something that they had been told was almost impossible as their jobs were very different. They had a senior golden that I loved and we agreed to take him for them. My dad at this time did not really want a dog, he was not a dog person yet, but Charlie was such a gentle loving older dog that we convinced him. We got the dog house all settled and went on a few trips to the local reservoir with Charlie's owners to get him used to us being around. They wanted to go slowly for both them and Charlie, they started this 2 months before they had to leave. He moved in with a month left before they had to go. We had him at our house for a couple of days. He started acting sick at out house so we (owners and us took him to the vet. We got the news, the bloodwork had come up abnormal and the vet thought his kidneys? were failing. So we all agreed that Charlie should live out the rest of his life with his owners. The vet discovered that whatever he had was so advanced that he only had a couple of weeks. Charlie moved home and lived about two more weeks and went peacefully in his sleep.

On a happy note I think Charlie was sent to us to warm my Dad up to the idea of a dog. Less than 8 months later we were able to convince my dad that the Sheltie puppies being born next door were destined for us and that is how we got Arrow!

[Mac45]

First dog I remember was King. My Uncle's German Shepherd. I was only around 2 when they got him.
King had a reputation as being mean, but he really wasn't. I could walk into the yard by myself and he was happy to see me.
He was extremely territorial and protective of his family. He bit a few people, but every single one was an idiot doing something he shouldn't have.
(A drunk that wanted to pet the pretty doggie, and a carpenter working on my uncle's garage that was positive he could "make friends" with King after being told not to are the two I remember).
Anyway, he was a great dog, and the reason that when I finally talked my folks into getting a dog, it was a German Shepherd.

[krb0471]

The first dog for me was a black Lab named Liz (Elizabeth). She belonged to family friends and we used to vacay in Maine with them. I was 4 and loved to walk the dog and boss her around- I was the youngest of the 2 families and she listened to me! Liz lived about 15 years.

[AkNeoLover]

Brutus was the first pup I can remember, although according to my mom, we have ALWAYS had a pup in the home. Brutus was a beagley boy and part of the reason I love hounds so much. He was most probably the laziest beagle ever, but the most loving towards his kids (my brother and I). My mother has a picture that I need to get scanned - I was probably 6 and in my jammies with brutus sitting in my lap as a puppy ....hmmmm, there is a trend going on with me, jammies and puppies LOL!

[Hounds_N_Leo]

FURDAY STORYTIME 10/7/2011

TOPIC: "THE MOST CHALLENGING DOG I HAVE EVER OWNED!"


We've ALL been there, the one dog we may have loved but wanted to choke out from time to time. Escapers, diggers, biters, climbers, destructo's, hyperactives, barkers, or just those dogs where there was ALWAYS something up at the vet's.

Let's share and commiserate on how it's NOT always wine n roses, sometimes frustration is also a part of dog ownership. But it was all worth it yes?

I will add my story later, busy morning...but wanted to start the topic off

[Swissy Mom]

Chloe was a chocolate lab. I loved her dearly, but loving Chloe was not easy. She had parvo as a puppy and her digestive system was never right afterward. I spent half her life cleaning up diarrhea and room clearing gas was the norm. Hyper doesn't even begin to describe Chloe. She was a whirlwind of energy...at ALL times! She was a barker, too. In hindsight, I'm sure I didn't exercise her as much as she needed, but holy crap!! She was a counter surfer. A food thief. She would take food right out of the kids hands when they were little. Chloe always seemed a few cards shy of a full deck. She was sweet and loving and dumb as a box of rocks. Of course, I was young and foolish myself. I adored her, though, and it wasn't until she was gone that I realized how stressful loving Chloe really was. Still, I wouldn't give up a single moment of it.

[Swissy Mom]

Now I feel bad since I'm apparently the only one who has ever had a little monster.

[sam.i.am]

My difficult dogs rocked my world in such a way that required me to think differently -- in a great way -- and I just don't think I have the words to do them justice. So, you are not alone in having a difficult dog!!

[RockyMountainDobies]

Now I feel bad since I'm apparently the only one who has ever had a little monster.

Don't feel bad, we had Ren, a 1 yr old english bull terrier. She was more than we could handle and had some serious dog aggression issues. After only a few very hectic weeks in our home we had to return her to the rescue. Luckily her original fosters took her back and kept her as their own. She was super sweet to people, other dogs, not so much.

[Hounds_N_Leo]

You're not alone. I was just out of town/busy for this weekend!

NOW, our difficult dog was Buckwheat. Buck was a Terrier Husky mix we adopted as our "first dog together" when I moved to Tx. CUTE could not even begin to describe her really as a pup. Just ADORABLE.

She played with our cat and lived in our apartment and was really a fun dog. We let her get away with too much, giggled when she snarked at anything, and just generally did many things wrong as owners.

As our lives went on, we got married and had a kid, and like many dogs Buckwheat was not sure she was okay with that. We also got another dog which she actually didn't mind. As Lily grew up she interacted on an off with Buckwheat but Buck really just didn't seem too thrilled so we kept their interactions to a minimum.

As I got into Beagles Buck kind of got put onto the back burner since she was what she was and we just kind of managed her. She was fine with the other dogs and since I always had a sort of kennel set up once we moved into a house that was fine.

Buck got older and seemed to age a lot more quickly than it seemed a random bred smallishmedium sized dog should. Just got more cantankerous and vetting her was a nightmare because she hated most other people.

Elias came along and pretty much right away she decided THIS kid was not one she would even ATTEMPT to tolerate. She was nipping at him as a toddler when he wandered in the yard and this was with us right there.

It progressed to her just getting more and more grumpy, and upset with his presence...to where she'd also started going after ME whenever I wanted to crate her or do anything with her really. She was about....10 at this time.

Hubs and I had many heartfelt talks about her. Rehoming a dog like she had been allowed to become (totally on our watch) was irresponsible. She was a problem child but one we had created. We had a choice to either just deal and let her live out her life as is in relative isolation as she and our son could NEVER have any possibility of reconciling (he was terrified of her by this time), or putting her down.

We chose to put her down...and I sat with her while it happened. I thanked her for helping out with the Beaglets she taught manners to, and keeping the yard secure all those years. Thanked her for the silliness she brought into ours lives and her amusing little face and expression. And most of all, I apologized to her for our failures as owners.

She was a difficult dog, embodying almost every trait of the Terrier clan that can make them hard to live with. Prey drive, dog aggression at times, intolerance of children or their antics, unwillingness to give in or be less alpha in a situation, tough scrappy, and almost always wary of anything and everyone she came across. But she was also a tough little dog that put up with a lot and was never given or encouraged to develop the skills she'd need to deal with our kind of life...the life we didn't have at the beginning but came to live during her lifespan.

She was a great teacher of the important lesson of when one is young, choosing a dog considering EVERY possibility for the future. Love, marriage, children, other pets...etc.

That's my difficult dog story. So see? You're not alone

[mezmerelda]

Indy is the most difficult dog I've had so far. But she's taught me so much. I think most of you have read my Indy stories as they've happened. She's not bad, just different.

[Hounds_N_Leo]

TOPIC FOR TODAY 10/14:

"My Most Embarrassing Moment as a Dog Owner"


There are so many I could pick BUT I would have to say the time Sully peed BUCKETS in the show ring when we were up for VARIETY...not that we were in the running but STILL....there were Pro's and Ranked dogs aplenty in there with us and he just took the BIGGEST whizz I've ever EVER seen. It just went on and on and on...and I am standing there like a MORON not knowing what to do but wishing there was a way to snap my fingers and be back home in my bed, hiding under the covers!!