How Did You Get Your Dog(s)?

Shy - free to a good home ad. A little girl had found her and brought her home and the family couldn't keep her. Prior to that she had been severely mentally and physically abused.

Rotten - from a friend BYB, before I knew better. I got lucky with her, but I'll never do it again. He's no longer breeding, after getting stuck with several puppies he couldn't sell.

Boomer - from a ditch on the side of a country road at the ripe old age of 5 weeks. He had broken bones and cuts and scrapes the vet said were "consistent with being thrown from a moving car".

Wylie - SO found him napping on a taxiway at a local small airport. He had a broken leg - and it had been broken for a few weeks.

ORIGINAL: jojo the pogo

OMG that is about the cuttest dog I've ever seen - the little one running.

 
lol - that is not my dog (wish it were) was a photo I nabbed from a group of shots sent in an email - see my crew at [linkhttp://www.amitielsdoghouse.blogspot.com]www.amitielsdoghouse.blogspot.com[/link] yeah guess I am one of the few with 2 blogs, 1 for me and 1 for & by the furbabies

Michelle (who went to the bridge Jan-07 - you're all better now sweetheart):  From a local shelter in  NY in 1995.  I had been to the shelter the week before and adopted a border collie mix who was not a good match at all.  I brought her back heartbroken a few days later.  I left crying and emptyhanded.   The shelter remembered me and called me a week later to tell me about a Cocker Spaniel that had been surrendered by her family the night before.   It was obvious that Michelle got less than optimal care - her fur was so overgrown that her feet looked like giant fur covered snowboots,  she had so much dandruff that I thought they had put a flea powder on her at the shelter, and she was so scared she wet herself and was sitting in a puddle of her own urine.     On the ride home from the shelter we got stuck in a little traffic.  Michelle was in the back seat and rested her sweet little head on my shoulder while we waited for the traffic to clear.   I feel head over heels in love that very moment and spent the next 10 years cherishing my baby and Michelle returned that love 10 fold.
 
Prancer was adopted 8 days after Michelle passed away.  She came from a rescue organization about an hour from my home in Florida.  The rescue org I got her through takes in alot of dogs from high kill shelters, and that's where Prancer is from; she had been found as a stray in Miami.   She was matted so badly she had to be shaved to the skin, she had scabies and was seriously underweight.   She was adopted out for one week but the family returned her because she "didn't get along with their other dog".  After going through all that Prancer came to her forever home (here) and forgave everything from the past and is my "little bit" and my "fluffernutter".  Prancer loves to learn and it really warms my heart to see her eyes light up when I get the clicker out or to see the determination in her face as she tries to figure out the exact behavior I'm shooting for during training.   She's a cutie and has a great big place in my heart.

Weston-("free dog")-Got from BYB. The "breeder", as many others, bought the dogs because 101 Dals had just come out. Well, things didnt turn out so well and they didnt sell like she thought they would so she was giving them away. She was a friend (at the time), and I had always wanted a Dal so I went to her house and picked one out. I actually picked Easton (Weston's brother) out but sadly he got hit by a car and killed very shortly after I got him. So, the "breeder" had one dog left, Weston. His parents should have never reproduced.  He is epileptic & the BYB knew it was "int he line" but still didnt get his parents fixed.  rime example of why people dont need to buy from BYB's.  : (

Marley- Got from a BYB. She came from NC. She also has issues with being undersocialized as a young up. I bought Marley's brother as well but (another reason not to buy from a BYB) they both had parvo when I got them. Marley's brother died. Thankfully Marley survived. I love Marley to death, I say she is my perfect dog, she is so sweet, and so well behaved, and "listens" so well (to hand signals, she is deaf), but she does, and always will, have issues dating back to before I had her that come down to bad breeding & a "breeder" who had no idea what she was doing..      

Nico-Adopted from local shelter. All of my future animals will either be rescued or adopted from a shelter. This is the route for me!
 
ETA-I also got both Marley & Weston before I knew better.

I've loved reading everyone's stories! It's so nice to know how many people have rescued!
Sooner, the stories of Boomer, Wylie and Shy had me in tears! I am so glad you and your SO were there for them!
 
Dodger was found at 4 weeks of age, left in the woods with 2 siblings.  My friend asked if I wanted a puppy, I said sure without any thought (or preparation) and she dropped Dodger off 2 weeks later[]...

Ananda (at the bridge)--Akita mix adopted from the pound
Conrad--bloodhound mix adopted from the pound
Marlowe--black & tan coonhound, adopted from a shelter

I got Jake from a local breeder here in Georgia, who sells his puppies fast. I got there just at the last minute to get my Jakie-Puu. =) I'm glad that I got him too. He was Andrew's pick of the litter and was going to keep him.
 
I got Lyric from a breeder in MO. I waited forever to get another Border collie.

Bo (american pit bull terrier) - he was being used as a stud for a back yard breeder who was the daughter of my husband's friend. He was being treated terribly and was only 15 months old. We asked if we could have him and they just gave him to us for free.
 
Tyson (american pit bull terrier) - I found him through a rescuer in the next town. His family didn't want him any more and were going to just give him to a guy who fights dogs. We took him instead.
 
Ace and Sadie (american pit bull terrier/boxer) They were from a friend's cousin's oops litter between his purebred pit bull terrier and his pit bull/boxer mix. They were free. They don't even look like they came from the same litter though. Ace looks just like his daddy the purebred pit and Sadie looks just like her momma the pit/boxer mix. They even have the same coloring as their parents.

Emma (JRT) came from a local shelter, where she was born.

Teenie (Dachshund) came from a mysterious phone call, when I worked at Petsmart. She came to me clean, with freshly trimmed nails, and a brand new collar, leash, and blanket. I suspect that she was either stolen or that the woman who brought her to me had an SO abusing her. She cried, when she handed Teenie over to me. I assured her that I'd either find the perfect home, or keep the dog (who's name I never heard, I didn't ask any questions, because it was all so sketchy). Teenie has been so abused, and so unsocialized, that I could never put her through transitioning to another home. She is happy here, and I love her.

The girlfriend of our friend's son bought Shadow at a pet store at 6 weeks old on Labor Day 2003. We got him from her on Saturday of Labor Day Weekend 2004, at 1 year and 2(?) months. Her family was going to put him to sleep. As I hear it now, they were probably going to surrender him to the shelter, which is a kill-shelter with a 7 day window after evaluation. Since he was a bundle of untrained energy, he could have wound up PTS. At first, we were told that they were going to do it to be mean to her. But knowing the young lady, now, I think she really had no business owning a dog. And it's a pattern. She gets a pet and then fails to care for it properly. She's not abusive just not all together "with it" on caring for animals. Anyway, at our friend's house that Saturday, she wanted to know if we would like to have him. I have been around dogs like anyone else, but have never had the chance to keep one for very long, if at all. We said yes. She left that very minute and that's not an exaggeration. She went and got our friend's grandkids and Shadow and brought him back, with all of his worldy possessions. A leash, a food and water bowl suitable for a 5 month old puppy and whatever food they were feeding him (probably Ol Roy, as they usually shop at WalMart). It took about an hour or so to get aquainted with him. In typical Husky fashion, he's a bit aloof until he knows you. I was talking about our huge backyard with squirrels running in it and then he was all over me.

When I went out to get my truck and bring it around, I was told that he waited at the door crying and howling, as in like a wolf, and how I could I just leave like that? When I opened the door to the cab, he jumped right in with an instant look of "aren't we going yet?" DW gallantly put up with a furry dog butt in her face for the 40 minute ride home. The first thing I did was get him a food bowl big enough for him. It was a month or so of constant support from me for him to realize that it was okay to eat more food than what fits in the old little bowl. And I switched his food immediately, based on the advice of our friend's husband.

It cost me nothing to take him.

Got Daisy from a lady at my moms job (free) lol some of her brothers and sisters have long legs and short legs daisy has short legs lol
 
Got Princess from an ad in the newspapers Free Black Labs lol People would only let us see the dogs at night and the lady had the nerve to say only 1 came out full black lab lol (reason for only seeing her at night got Princess home and she was being abused)
 
Lucky well my sister was 17 I believe worked in the mall and out of all the people that walked in and out of the mall Lucky would only cry when she went out there lol thats what she told our parents (real story a girl came in to her store she was working at and asked if she would like a puppy half chow / black lab)
 
Copper was found by my brother, some guy just let him and his brother loose in the street and my brother and his friend took them.
 

Kaydee came from a woman at work. she had put up a flyer "English Bulldog free to good home". some of my co-workers had met this dog and said she was a sweetheart. i talked to her owner and she said she was just too big for her house..which was weird cause EBs arent that big.... turned out Kaydee was an American Bulldog, so i begged and begged like a complete sap sucker for my husband to let me AT LEAST go see her...
The funny part is if he hadnt gone to meet this dog and just drove home we would have been stranded out in the middle of nowhere Florida. The car broke down just as we were leaving her house. fortunately she lived in the middle of town.

Ben i got from a friend's secretary. we had a GSD rescue that was climbing on our cars - brand new paint job on the mustang... gone.- and he was chasing our cats with intent to kill. she overheard us talking about these problems and what could we do short of breaking his skull (just kidding) she said she would love to have him but she already had one dog too many. turned out she also had a rescue (another bully) that she couldnt do anything with. he was friendly but wouldnt stay in the yard. turned out he is just a clingy dog. if you leave him outside alone he is going to try to find you.. or someone.. to keep him company. She was afraid to keep him inside because he always hiked his leg on things. she also warned me that he was a monster when it came to bath time. None of that was a problem with me because i'm home all the time, and i know how to go about house training. and bath time? he is such a little lamb when i bath him! Boss, the GSD is doing great now. they dont have any cats, or any cars low enough for him to jump on. they only have trucks... and he likes riding in trucks. it turned out for the best, but we made the agreement that if it didnt work out that we would trade back. So far neither one is unhappy. it was just different lifestyles that effected these dogs. i'm not much of a shepherd person and she wasnt much of an AB person.

Bo my cousin found free to a good home in the paper.... i dont know WHY she gave me that add.. complete with picture.. and i dont WHY i called.... it turned out they were having to get rid of him because their landlord was going to evict them if they didnt. apparently he barked at someone walking by and they reported a dangerous dog.... Well, they didnt know what else to do to him. they refused to send him to the pound, and they were getting all kinds of phone calls. one guy even asked if Bo would get along with his ten other pit bulls.... [:-]

And Cindi... just wandered up. my husband is going nuts. he is used to one dog at a time.... not me!! i love to have a pack of dogs! i grew up with three or more dogs. Maybe when the ones i have now all die of natural causes i'll just get one... but thats going to be a while from now and i dont plan on giving anyone up.

Our first lab we actively sought out a breeder for a field test prospect.
 
Our 2nd lab things kind of just fell into place and we got lucky on.

Got Harley from a family looking to rehome her because they said they didn't have time for her anymore.  It's funny, my boyfriend and I got her 9 months to the day they we officially started going out.  I didn't even realize till a couple days later.  The day I finally asked what was up since he wasn't stepping up to bringing up anything about commitment.[8|]

Rosie came from the SPCA. She was found on the side of the highway, and brought in. She was adopted out, but the lady was allergic and brought her back. Lucky for us!
 
I found Trooper on petfinder.com, and three days later, we brought Rosie to meet him. We took him home the next morning.