Dog Community

Hi!

Posted : 10/28/2006 5:39:18 PM

I'm not that new, but didn't want to miss out on the intros either!

My name is Lavinia, I'm 22 and from Christchuch, New Zealand.
I've always loved animals of all sorts and have had a not-so-mild obsession with dogs since I was about 4. I decided when I was about 14 that I wanted to be an animal behaviourist, so went to uni and double majored in Zoology and Psychology. I didn't enjoy Zoology as much as I had hoped, so switched to Psych for my Honours degree and graduated with first class Honours last year. Now I'm in the first year of my PhD, in experimental behaviour analysis, doing animal cognition, of sorts.

My parents were terrible irresponsible pet owners, so we had quite a few dogs while I was growing up. We got my Rody when I was 16, another rescue- a terrier x. Rody was fantastic and I loved her to pieces. I took her flatting with me but eventually gave her to a lovely family out in the country, after several months of guilt and deliberation- life was really unpredictable, there were

roblems with my flatmates, and she was at home for at least 10/11 hours a day by herself because of work and uni. I really regret my decision and still think about her heaps. I learnt a lot from that, and won't make the same mistake again.

Fast forward to now- thanks to my scholarship I was able to buy a house with a reasonable sized section with my Mum, and got Pocket, now 9 months, at the beginning of this year. She's a greyhound/ridgeback/lab/staffy- and is an absolute angel. Also, a few weeks ago, I've adopted a gorgeous wee tabby- Pita, who is Pocket's new best friend.

I've always really enjoyed teaching and learning from my dogs, and this forum has been a great source of information and support. I've learnt so much from everyone here, and feel like a much better dog owner for it.

So, that's me (sorry it's so long!).

ron2

Posted : 10/28/2006 8:06:31 PM

Ah, another accent I dearly love. I actually worked with an NZ guy. He actually preferred people to call him Kiwi. And, I happen to know, that moniker is in honor of the Kiwi bird, not the fruit, which is not even native to your country.

Welcome to the inner sanctum.

sandra_slayton

Posted : 10/28/2006 10:37:13 PM

That is an interesting story--for those that don't know, a flat is an apartment. When I sent Christmas cards to a couple of family memebers in Australia who live in apartments, i have to put Flat # whatevery.

It is good you have your house and land and can keep your dog forever.

Vinia

Posted : 10/29/2006 2:36:12 AM

lol! aIt didnt occur to me that you guys ouldn't know what I meant by flatting hehe
Actually, here in NZ we (as in the student population) call whatever we're renting a flat... so it could be a house or an apartment. So when students live away from home, renting, we call it flatting.
Don't ask me why..
Us Kiwis are weird. [

]

Giving Rody to another home was a really hard decision- I wish that I had found idog before I had cos it would've been great to have had that support and people telling me that I could keep her- then maybe I would have felt like I had other options.
I tried contacting her new family when I moved into my new place (just to see if maybe I could have her back hehe), but they never returned my calls. From the stories they told me when they brought her to visit, it sounded like she was in a great home and is/was very happy, though.

pofi_pasquale

Posted : 10/29/2006 10:41:19 AM

Hi, Vinia. Sorry about your history with Rody, but you made the best decision you could with your resources and what you knew at the time. I think most of understand how difficult it was, but that you were thinking of her best interests.

Pocket and Pita are adorable - so glad they both found you!