Why do you have the dog(s) you have?

Maggie:

Well because I really wanted a dog, and I wanted to rescue. Well that and her big brown eyes staring at me from her crate that day.

Teddi:

I think this says it all:

We have had many dogs since our 1st when I was about 10.

Our 1st dog ever was Sir Boliver - he was a darling pug.  We were asked to take care of him while his Military owner was sent  overseas.   I cant remember if the man ever came back all I know is he was with my parents until I was married and had babies of my own.

Thunder - A beautiful black & tan dobie.  He was from a champion blood line.  Dad flew to Iowa to get him came back w/Thunder and the Flu,lol. Thunder was supposed to be our show dog, he won 3 first place ribbons in puppy class.  Then when he had to move up, he did not have all his teeth and never did.  He was our pet, and he thought Boliver was his mommy so that suited us just fine.  Both lived happy full lives past my brother and I leaving home.  

Thru the years I have had other dogs, many that showed up in our yard in the country some that we rescued from shelters all that left a piece of themselves with us, teaching us each time about being better pet owners.  I will not name them all but they are all at the bridge waiting for us. 

Bear - RIP 1996 to  2004. Our first Rottie, bought for my hubby but heartdog of our son. Hubby always wanted a Rottie, his best friend had promised him a puppy from his male "Bear".  Unfortunately his best friend passed  away before that happened.  When we got our "Bear" that name was in memory of his best friend.  Bear was mostly an outside dog cause he went everywhere with our son.  He slept with our son, protected me and guarded the house.  Our son went to college and hubby traveled with his job.  Bear then became my dog :)  We became very close by the time he was 3. hubby was disabled in an auto  accident when Bear was about 4 he again became hubbys companion until a relatively routine type surgery took him from us at the age of 8.  He made it though the surgery ok but not through the night.  The vet was so upset that he asked if he could autopsy, found an enlarged heart that Bear had probably had since birth.   We mourned the loss and didnt think we could ever replace him. 

Shadow -RIP 2004 to 2008.  2 weeks after losing Bear I started looking for a Rottie puppy.  Found a lady that had 3 grown rotties, 5 puppies, 2 children recently left an abusive husband and lived with her sis.  She and I became instantly friends, I begged hubby to take me to see the puppies that night, 1 hour away.  When we walked into the back yard there were these beautiful fluffy rottie puppies all of them in the large food saucer scarfing down the kibble in front of them.  We were chatting and laughing when the biggest fluffiest puppy of them all left the saucer and ran straight to me.  I knelt down and he scrambled up my chest and nuzzled under my chin.

Now how could I resist, we were goners.  We took Shadow home and had 4 wonderful years with him.  He was our heartdog, he helped us learn and understand more than we ever knew about loving a dog, caring for a dog, including a dog in our lives.   He was sent to us, I know for this reason.  He did so much more for us than we could possibly have done for him.  We lost Shadow to cancer in Jan 2008.

Rocky - We rescued Rocky in Feb. 2008.  I fell in love with him on Petfinder he went by Guy.  His story was that his foster mom was called on the evening of Jan 23 by a friend with the flu and she was told there was a puppy whining outside her window and she was too sick to go out to find it.  The foster mom drove over to the friends house in the coldest snowiest day of the winter so far and found the precious puppy she called Guy.  Guy never went into a shelter he stayed with the foster family til we drove 150 miles to pick him up and take him home.  LOL!  He was thought to possibly be a Newf/mix, hubby loves to tell everyone we went 150 miles to get a black lab, lol.   We didnt know until we met Guy that day that he was found the same evening we helped Shadow cross the bridge.  We changed his name to Lucky that night but he liked to box hubby with his paws so it wasnt but a few days later that hubby said he should be called Rocky.  He is a very loving boy, he is our mouser and is smart as a whip.  Now tell me could you resist this petfinder pic?

Hot Shot - A few weeks after we got Rocky, a friend called and asked if we would be interested in taking a Bernese Mtn Dog.  The breeder was not going to breed anymore and had sold his male and female and a pup to some people that had not come and picked them up.  We talked it over as we had been a 1 dog family for 12 years.  We told our friend we would take the male if the people didnt show up.  Apparantly the people showed that weekend so we thought well thats ok.  Then in May our friend called back and said the breeder picked the male back up as the family was going to put him down if he didnt take him back.  We said bring him to us.   That is how we got Hot Shot.   He was shy, scared of everything, took up right away with Rocky.  Took up with me pretty quickly but hubby had to take it quietly and patiently.  We are now one big happy family.   Hot Shot is still scared of storms but that is about it!   We are certain he must have been abused by a man but he and my hubby are doing great. 

Gaci - her mother was "my" dog. Well, was going to be mine when she retired from breeding and when I moved out of home. As fate would have it, Gaci's mother died during Gaci's birth. It was a very traumatic time for me. Then the entire litter developed a very life-threatening illness due to the lack of antibodies from the mother's milk. My mother told me I could pick any pup from the litter I wanted and call it mine. At that time, because I was vulnerable, I picked in the way people shouldn't pick a puppy. I picked the only black female in the litter, as her mother was black. In hindsight, I'm glad I did, because she not only resembles her mother in looks, but she does not resemble her mother in personality, and has grown up with some very special needs, ones that I have been blessed to work with her on and help her overcome. She's smart as a whip, and my heart dog.

Shimmer - Shimmer was not planned. She was a young female kept as a breeding prospect, but from a young age developed some personality quirks. She's oversensitive for a Schnauzer, and easily stressed. Even telling her "no" would cause her undue stress, in which she would shut down mentally and be unable to learn much. A raised voice caused her to show immediate signs of stress. She was removed from the breeding program promptly, at about 4-5 months of age. I then began her training career to try to get her prepared for a new "forever home". She attended two clicker classes, a Rally-O class, and we spent countless hours training in public practicing. Her main issue was a traumatic experience she had with three strange dogs as a pup - it has forever impacted her initial reaction to strange dogs (react first, think later - thankfully non-aggressive, though, just reactive). For most dogs that experience would have been quickly overcome ,but Shimmer takes things personally and due to that it changed her. After putting so much work into her, I couldn't let her go. She worships me, and has climber her way into my soul.

Zipper - the newest addition (still a new addition). SO and I have talked for a while about getting a third dog. We knew we wanted a male (there's enough female competition between the two girls), and we knew we wanted an adult - we were too busy for puppy training. The main reason we were looking into this aspect was to find a stable dog for the two less-stable girls to learn from and look to, as well as a playmate for Shimmer as Gaci does not "play" with other dogs - she's above that, in her mind. So came Zipper, an intact 5.5 year old boy from my mother, as he was the perfect fit (I was going to look into shelter dogs for the "perfect fit", but didn't need to!). He's a sweetie, so laid back, so calm, a quiet boy. Fits very well into the household with the other two girls.

Penny: Throughout my childhood, I had begged and BEGGED for a dog of my own. Finally we moved to a new house and after tons of convincing, my parents agreed to get a dog. The only catch was that they wanted a small dog. I looked online at a local small dog rescue daily. One day a picture of a frightened, scared big eared female Min Pin pup came up. She was 9 months old at the time and had been surrendured to the rescue due to a claus in their condo not allowing dogs. We phoned the rescue up and made an appointment to go see her at her foster mom's house. She was a lanky, TERRIFIED little thing. Poor thing was simply pertrified and very unstable. However, I fell in love and took her home. We fostered her for 2 weeks. She was extremely scared of my father and barked at him constantly at any of his movements. She also pee'd around the house and worst of all- my bed and whined all night long. My parents really became frustrated and decided that Penny just wouldn't fit into the house hold. I remember I cried the whole night, holding her tightly. Fortunately, when phoned, the lady at the rescue (whom passed away herself a few years back, RIP) told us that marking my bed was actually a positive thing. It meant that she was accepting me and simply marking her territory. So, my parents gave her another week and it was decided that we would adopt her after all. She still is somewhat of an unstable dog, but she has come SO far over the years, it's incredible. It's believed that she was abused by a male, however, after 6 months of barking, Penny loves my dad now. She's my heartdog and I'm glad we didn't give up on her, because dog knows some else may have.

Daisy: This is a bit of a long story. I've always wanted to add another into the household, but the rest of the family had their reservations, so it just didn't happen for over 4 years. Then in October of last year, a friend of my brother's mom had come by with a little Pomeranian that she had just bought before coming to our house. She said that she had been fostering a senior Chihuahua puppymill survivor, but it wasn't working out, so she just went out and bought herself a new dog that was stable. Lordy, lordy. She had been fostering for the same rescue that we adopted Penny from. My dad was pretty ticked off, that she'd give up on a dog that she hadn't even spent a week with and had been in a PUPPYMILL FOR OVER 7 YEARS. What do you expect from the poor thing? My dad has always been against getting another dog, but what he said to her struck with surprise. He said that I'd take her in, foster her and work with her. I was dumbfolded, but happy and eager anyway. So, we made arrangments to go see the little Chi and we fell in love with her. She was extremely scared, but that's to be expected. We had to wait a few days for our application to go through, so Daisy went to yet another foster home in the mean time. The rescue had had her for about 5 months before we adopted her. When we got her, she would NOT step foot out her crate, was extremely shakey, wouldn't eat and just generally terrified. However, just a few months later, you wouldn't know she came from a puppymill. She's a spunky, adorable little thing. My dad is actually her favourite person. Being a tough grown man with a 5 lb Chihuahua on his lap is quite the site. Daisy still has her reservations and fears, but she has come along way. She's now a little piggie, who loves to race down the hallway at feeding time, snuggle up with people, hoard Nylabones in her bed and act like a normal dog. Daisy still has a way to go, but some days, I think she is more stable than Penny.

Jazzy - Our family dog had died and we were all upset and very sad.  We weren't really looking for another dog yet,  but went to Petco for something and the Humane Assoc. was there with some puppies.  My youngest daughter took one look atJazzy and fell in love.  She's a mix breed, most likely part pit, and we knew she wasn't going to find a home easily.  My daughter, 12 at the time and always very responsible, really wanted a dog of her own.  She promised to work with her, and we brought her home.  That was 4 years ago.  Since then, she and my daughter have worked together at obedience and agility, and they compete in 4H.  They do great.  Jazzy is not a dog that most people would keep.  She definately has 'issues' - fear/aggression.  She hates other dogs and doesn't know how to play.  My daughter works with socializing her with people and other dogs, and works with her just about every single day.  She is totally committed to this dog.  So it's pretty neat to see the bond that those two have.

Lacie - she was a gift from one of my good friends.  She has 2 Standard Poodles and knew how much I loved her dogs. She contacted the breeder she got one of her dogs from, paid for a pup, and set it up so that I had pick of the litter.  (She had arranged all this with my husband beforehand).  I visited many, many times and finally picked Lacie.  And she is my dream dog.  If a dog can be your soul mate, she is mine.

Keisha - after getting Lacie, I discovered how much I truly love Standard Poodles. I love their gentleness, how smart they are, and I love that they don't shed!   Because Jazzy is older and doesn't like other dogs, I wanted a playmate for Lacie.  When she was 2 months old, I happened across an ad for apricot pups not too far from our place.  So I went ' just to look ' !  And I promptly put a deposit down on Keisha!!   She is my wild child - full of energy and constant motion!  Lacie and Keisha bonded instantly and have so much fun together.

Rex - he came into our lives kind of by chance.  We had talked about getting into breeding 'maybe, some day' and left it at that.  I didn't really plan on getting another dog, let alone a male.  But Rex, at 6 months old, desparately needed a home.  He was totally unsocialized with people or with other dogs.  He was scared of his own shadow - terrified to be more exact.  It was one of those cases of, I couldn't NOT take him.  He was so terribly needy.  Pure chance, luck, blessing - whatever - made it turn out that he has great bloodlines.  Rex is now almost 2 years old and a very different dog than when we first got him.  He excels at obedience, agility and rally.  He is a blast to work with, and a total lover.  He is still very leery of strangers, and always looks to me for assurance.  He isn't a confident dog and I think he'll always have fear issues to deal with.  But he is gorgeous and smart and very, very sweet.  He's my boy.

Zoe - I wanted a parti-poodle.  Pure and simple.  I love the breed and having run across a couple of parti poodles, I knew that one day I was going to have one.  I didn't really plan on 'one day' happening quite this soon, but what the heck.  I ran across a breeder, several states away, who had a litter.  She just happened to be traveling this way and was able to meet me about 5 hours from our place.  The price was right, the bloodlines were good so I took a chance and bought a pup, sight unseen.  Not sure I'd ever do it again (very nerve wracking and really not too smart - I ended up not being very impressed with the breeder) but Zoe is a wonderful girl, good bloodlines, great personality, great conformation, smart as a whip, and sweet as can be. 

My sister Suzi lived in North Carolina for a few months about 9 1/2 years ago, but after some stuff happened, she moved back in with us (to Maryland, I was 11), and brought her dog. Now, first of all, she'd been telling us for months how ugly this dog she had was, plus how she was scared of her for the first like month she had her...so we were all expecting some evil ugly dog, when she comes walking up with a 1-year-old "Shenandoah", who is and was a very cute dog... She says now that since we were all used to boxers, she thought we'd think she was ugly...yeah, okay.

Now she wasn't exactly a friendly dog, but she sure wasn't as mean as I expected her to be, and she warmed up really quickly.

After I made fun of the name a while (especially since my sister had taken to shortening it to "Doah";), she changed it to Cherokee.

Really soon after, Suzi started working full-time, plus going out all the time, and since I was homeschooled, I was home a lot, so she started paying me $5/day to take care of the dog when she wasn't there.

After a while, Suzi was talking about moving to Florida to live with some friends of hers (girl's got itchy feet, what can I say) who had several dogs, and Cherokee didn't get along fabulously with other dogs, so we decided that Cherokee would stay with me. She didn't end up moving at that point, but Cherokee became my dog anyway.

I was a more responsible dog owner at 11 then she was at 21, and Cherokee loved me just as much as she loved Suzi, so it made more sense anyway. If she'd stayed with Suzi, I know she'd have a significant bite record by now, and would honestly probably be dead, plus Suzi then was able to do her whole move-constantly thing all throughout her twenties without being "tied down" in any way, and I got my Cherokee, the love of my life, out of the deal, so it was best for everyone (or maybe not...but certainly best for me and Cherokee).  

I have them because they picked me. They aren't what I wanted or what I was looking  for. Apparently, I don't  know what's best for me, because they are absolutely perfect. We suit each other 's personalities incredibly well.

 Although I live in Alaska and own two Northern breed dogs, neither dog came from Alaska! However I am glad that both my dogs are naturals for this climate. It means that if we should lose heat or get stranded somewhere in the winter time, we'll all be okay. It means that if I need help in those circumstances, they would be able to help me.

Sofia is half Siberian Husky and was born in New Mexico. Her mother was an AKC red and white husky with blue eyes. Her ignorant owner let her run loose in the mountains while in heat. She didn't even realize her dog was pregnant until she was about to give birth! My son and I took the two "different" puppies from the litter, and helped her find homes for the rest. The litter had at least two sires. Sofia and her sister Athena clearly had either wolf or coyote blood. It wasn't until they grew up that we figured out which. (coyote) As puppies, they were fun and wacky little dickenses!

Ole is a rescue dog from Oregon. His origin is a mystery, although a BYB/puppymill breeder is strongly suspected. I spent a lot of money, time and energy to get him flown up here, and idoggers and others helped donate funds to get him up here! (thanks!)  He's a total LOVE, and has blossomed over the last year and a half. I hope to do agility with him. He's very trainable and smart and VERY goofy.

Penny is the result of about a year of pleading for a dog of my own and was my 13th birthday present. We knew someone who used to breed corgis and had one and I was very fond of her. I went to look at a backyard bred litter (we couldn't afford one from a registered breeder) and Penny was the smallest and cheekiest of the litter. When I picked her up she never wanted to leave my arms. I took her home a week later.

Kivi Tarro is the result of about 18 months of research. I was looking for a bigger dog, but not so big that it would be too rough with Penny. It also had to be a laid back dog and not prone to intensity. I wanted a tiny bit of prey drive, but not enough to put the rabbits in danger. Finnish Lapphunds fit the bill and were miraculously in the country, unlike all my other favourite breeds! Kivi's litter was due for just after we moved into our new house, and the breeder was local, so it worked out perfectly. I wanted a boy and Kivi was it. He's been everything I was hoping to get except that he won't play frisbee. He's perfectly suited to my partner, who just wants a living teddy bear. We are still fighting about whether he's allowed on the bed or not. He has this way of sneaking up when you're not looking and the other half certainly does nothing to stop him! We are forming a compromise that he is allowed up for a quick cuddle and that's it.  

Well the reason i have hunter is because he is adoreable and i love love love the golden retriever breed and he is a big snuggler and a big ole momma's baby. My next dog is gonna be a female golden cause i wanna name her Myia from the movie 8below..

My first dog, a bench bred black female labrador, passed away at age 13 years from cancer. Her parents were both champions, both competed in obedience, health tested etc, etc, etc. The breeder we got her from is very reputable. We're still friends almost 20 years later! My parents were on a waiting list for over a year before she was born. We didn't get to pick her, the breeder did. We named her Pepper and, honestly, talk about a sweetie. She was mellow, but loved to play. Smart as a whip, but a little stubborn. GREAT with kids, dogs, animals. A true Lab.

Well, I was so heart broken after her I said I'd never, ever get another Lab. So, I got a Cocker Spaniel. A friend of mine worked part-time at a local pet shop. There was a cocker there with a very infected "cherry eye". The mananger told my friend he'd give me the cocker free if I didn't hold the store responsible for any health problems with the dog. So, I went in and took home a small, male, black and white parti cocker and named him Barney. After we had Barney's cherry eye corrected- which cost quite a bit!

Then I moved out of my parents house and they said I could go but Barney's staying! Barney fits perfectly with my parents and brother. He has family and kids, around him all the time which is the way he likes it. He's a real people dog.

So, I didn't get a dog for awhile. Then I started searching online for a dog....and I found a link on craigslist for "saving georgia dogs". I looked into the shelter they try to help (Spalding County, GA) and realized "OMG- they gas the dogs!!" Well, I saw Apollo's Mom...and 10 year old black Lab that looked identical to my first Lab. I figured she wouldn't have a shot at getting adopted (old and black). So, I sent in an application. I got approved, but....she was already adopted! But, the had her "son" (not sure if they were ever related) that was to be gassed that day. That was Apollo. He had been overlooked and wasn't even on their website. I said I'd take him. That was March 1, 2007....and I LOVE LOVE LOVE him.