2+ Dog Owners -- Honest Reply Please

I have different feelings for the dogs. Tookey I've had for 10 years, but he's bitten my husband pretty bad and we have to take precautions with the kids around him because he's food/toy aggressive, Gracie we've had since last Dec., but she is such a great dog. It's probably like my kids, one day one is on my last nerve and I'd be glad the other was an only child, then the next day they switch roles! As for a disaster, I went to grad school in OK and one weekend I had Tookey, my dear departed Anna (JRT mix) and was watching a friend's dog, a sheltie, collie, something like that mix. We got lots of tornado warning in OK, but this time the entire sky was black and rotating right overhead, like nothing I'd ever seen. I lived in a townhouse, so I shoved all three dogs, myself, and my laptop with my dissertation and data on it into the half bath downstairs!  That particular cloud touched down several miles north of us, along with several others that night. 

Do I have a favorite? Yup, I do. Charlie-Girl is definitly my favorite out of the two fosters I have right now, she and I bonded immediatly and for some reason I just feel closer to her. Incidently she's also the one I'd grab if I had to chose because she would NOT go to a stranger especially in a high stress situation,,,in fact she'd likely attack the poor fireman. Honestly though, my house is so small if it caught on fire all I'd have to do is say "lets go" and jump out a window and they'd both be right behind me,,,it might take me a good couple hours to catch charlie again but we'd all be safe. O, and the cat I would never be able to find,,and bad as it may sound to some I would not die trying to find him,,,I'd leave whatever opening I used open and hope he found it before it was too late. 

This is really tough. Hm. Many of my dogs are outside, and some are inside. I guess, if I were in a fire, I'd be herding them all out the door as fast as I could. I don't have human kids, so I'd risk my life saving my pets, no doubt.

There's two questions here - do you have an emergency plan and honestly, do you have a favorite?

I have a favorite, hands down. Ben's a privileged soul and he darn well knows it. I think a better question would be, if you could only spend money on something special for ONE dog, which would it be?

But the emergency question is a good one, too. Emergencies fall into three categories - fire type (get out of the house temporarily), tornado type (everyone seek shelter), and hurricane type (get the heck out of Dodge).

• Fire: Every dog here comes like, um, a house afire, when called. I'd call and head out the door. My kids know to run out and go to the meeting place in case of fire. I'd get my laptop too if possible. The garage (unattached, about 30 feet from the house) has enough crates for every dog here plus some - I'd take my kids there, crate up everyone, then make the kids as comfy as possible.
  
• Tornado: If I had enough warning I'd put all the house crates in the center hall. We have no cellar and unlike in flat areas it's impossible to predict what direction a tornado is going to take and go in the opposite direction. We ourselves would shelter in the bathroom walk-in closet, which is as large as a small room. Here's where privilege hath its perks - Ben, Cord, Maggie, and Zhi would probably accompany us (Ben and Cord sharing a crate). I've actually had to crate up in the basement before as well as get preschoolers down there, when we lived at our old place. One year we had three tornados pass within two miles of us on different occaisions - it was the year FL got those hurricanes one after another - those all became tropical storms that moved up the Blue Ridge Mountains, spawning disasterous flooding and tornadoes each time. It took about five minutes to get two kids and enough stuff to make them comfy, a couple crates (I used large crates and doubled up dogs - the large crates were stored downstairs at all times), six dogs, the computer, and a couple other vital things, down the stairs.
  
• Hurricane: I hope to goodness I never have to do this. But I do have a plan. We have ten dogs total to move, including the guard dogs. We'd strap down crates in our trailer, load the nine best ewes and a ram, sheep feed and hay, dog food, and a tent for us. A cooler and a box of emergency food would be in one truck, plus as much of our belongings as we wanted to bring, and the kids and more stuff in the other truck. Ben and Zhi ride with us, Maggie and the kitty with "Daddy", everyone else on the trailer. We'd go to Patrick's aunt's farm which is pretty far inland and in the mountains. The rest of the sheep and the ducks would be on their own. The tent would be if we couldn't get shelter anywhere that took dogs, for some reason.
  

ORIGINAL: brookcove

There's two questions here - do you have an emergency plan and honestly, do you have a favorite?

That's true -- I was more wondering about the favorite part. Maybe I should've worded the disaster part like this: If there *were* a disaster and there was *no* way you could save all of them, but only one for whatever reason... who would you choose? A cruel question, now that I've worded it this way, and everybody answered it fine so it's all good []

Yes, I have a favorite.

But since we're doing hypotheticals, I'd be able to save them all at the exact same time.  []

   Property would never come before them. 

I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks that way.  I'd be in the hospital recovering from burns and whatnot and the first words from my lips would be..."what about Xerxes, Gaia and the cat?"

I love Xerxes because of his devotion to me, and Gaia because of her independence and the cat because she's taught both of them the rules and never stayed mad at me for more than a week or two.  The cat would be the hardest to get, but she'd be rescued too.

I do have a favorite, but I wouldn't save him first.  We have 4 dogs (5 right now babysitting for the grandparents) but I'd have to get Chyna out first.  She had leg surgery two months ago and is still in a support bandage and a splint, so she can't get around very well.  Bevo (the favorite) is my constant shadow and would go with me immediately.  The fiance would grab Shooter (our puppy) and Schatzi (grandparents puppy) and Brinxx (his favorite) would follow him.  So in my own little perfect world everyone would be saved. 

I'd be in the hospital recovering from burns and whatnot and the first words from my lips would be..."what about Xerxes, Gaia and the cat?"

I'd say something similar, except that I'd be wondering about my dogs, instead of yours[]

Well no favorites between JJ and Pru...I love them both equally...but I have to admit I would probably try to get them out before the cats...lord knows we would all burn before you could freakin find them![:@]

I would proabbly have to get JJ our first becasue Pru is such a little spook sometimes and really follows his lead...so if he goes first, she would probably follow.

As far as property...nothing is more important to me than Dh and our furkids...so let all the rest burn!

In a fire, I would get Robin (the cat) and my husband would get Louise.   Mostly because Robin loves me and I have a much better chance of finding/catching/holding onto him than my husband.   If I was alone at home, have a crate that I could throw Robin into and then grab Louise.   But I think Robin could save himself from anything; he's wily, tricky and fast as a rocket.   I'm sure he would be out of the building the minute I opened the door, then go survey the situation from the safety of a nearby bush.

I love them both SO much, but they could not be more different.   Robin loves me and only me.   He has a mean streak, is very independent except for the 20 minutes a day he NEEDS me to pet him and is very smart.   He tricked Louise into her crate and closed the door last week, for example.    He loves being sneaky, loves instigating things between him and dogs (he set off my friend's dog's bark collar, for example), and is very clear about his boundaries.  Louise is hyper-affectionate, loves almost everyone, very trusting and she's a velcro dog.  She's far from stupid, but she's not a schemer like Robin.   She could never figure out how to trap him in a crate.