A Pet is for life not just for Christmas

Consider yellow avoided

 

Cheers to Whiley,doing a good job there girl .xx

 

Hehe ta Gogs.

Woo - http://www.gardenerscorner.co.uk/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=39&t=000105

Tadaa.

 

Merry Christmas Everyone!



Mellow, Mary, Marble and Emm xxx

 

BM, I thought it was a lamp. :D :D

 

Kandy, just watched your link. tears again!!!

not going to start it all up again. Just to say i wanted a dog for Christmas when i was 8 (well, actually i told my mum or dad i wanted a brother or sister, as they were in their late 40's then, i got the dog :D ). my Peppy was a pedigree poodle but that was only because i wanted a 'minature poodle cos they do tricks'. Apparently i was quite adamant. He was from a proper breeder & we had him until i was in my 20's when he had to be put down due to arthritis (he became snappy etc which proved to us how much pain he was in cos he wasn't like that normally).

oh, what i put that poor dog through - dressing him up & putting him in my dolls pram :D seriously i miss him today. he was my little mate.

Now i have Joyce, she's a border collie/cross and she is from a rescue centre. we have had her 11 years now. she is adorable, spoilt of course, stubborn, clever, wiley & sometimes stupid. she is now showing her age. i hope, in fact i know, we have given her a good life. if, i ever had another dog, which i don't know about, it would definately be from a rescue centre.

i would say don't buy a pet at christmas if you are thinking of getting one. wait until Jan/Feb & get one from a rescue home. i know that sounds hypocritical coming from me, but although i was a kid when i got Peppy, he was coming into a good home where there was no way he would get neglected or anthing. as i say he lived till he was around 12/14 years of age and enjoyed his life.

here's wishing all our pets & animals everywhere a happy & safe Christmas.

cheers

 

That's good advice from borrowers. We never let puppies go around Christmas and never before well into the New Year. That's totally the wrong environment for a fragile new life. Anyone who isn't prepared to wait doesn't get a pup from us.

 

I think I'm going to have a rough ride on this one, I have bred Yorkshire Terriers twice now hence I have a mother and daughter combo but mum was only bred the two times and Jovi the daughter never.

Mum Pepsi had such a bad time the second time round so I had to bottle feed all her pups from ten days old, I never lost a pup and if I went out visiting anyone the pups came with me carry case and all.

Now here's where I'll get some people upset....I would never take on a dog that is unknown to me be it predigree or not as I have young children that visit me and couldn't cope if a so-called old friendly dog (that I took in) turned on one of them.

Now both my boys have been brought up with very large dogs (except for my toy poodle Cosmo and of course my two old ladies)just like Woo's beautiful Gypsy we had a fondness for long haired German Shepherds and many have graced our homes over the years.

One we got aged two who although didn't play with our kids wasn't bad with them either although we went on to have him for ten years I always kept an eye on him when he was with the kids.

Another one we got age four he was a nasty guy we didn't know when we got him that he was coded to attack on the word 'get' we had many a scary moment he would even bite tha hand that fed him! Bob loved that dog so much we put him to guard our chickens on our land after which we never had anything stolen but boy that dog couldn't be trusted!

Last year we had to have our beloved Rottie put to sleep as he had cancer, six months ago one of my sisters took in a Rottie and asked if I might want to keep him but the dog was a few years old and although he wasn't anyway near the size of our Rottie Dude he couldn't be trusted with children so I refused to have him.

What I'm really saying is that re-homing centres need to make sure that all the details are ok before releasing dogs into a new home only in this pass week has a woman been attacked by a Rottie just because they were unaware of it's back ground.

My Rottie wouldn't have hurt a fly unless someone got near his mum but boy was that little poodle a mean lady she bite me many a time I can tell you!
Helen.xxx.

 

Helofadigger, all dogs have a 'pedigree', it's just that you don't always know what that pedigree is. Quite often a mongrel will have a perfectly good and even temperement whilst a 'pedigree bred' dog may have been bred for looks and turn out to be quite nasty.
It is difficult rehoming as the animals are very likely to carry unwanted baggage with them. It may be that they have been mistreated or poorly socialised as a pup, or it may just be the upheavle and a sudden unexpected life style change that leaves them unsettled and frightened. We think that our job is to get them back to trusting humans again, assessing their character and matching them to suitable families who understand the needs of the dog. We don't always get it right I admit, but we are always there to help the new partnership and if the rehoming is obviously not going to work, we will offer to take the animal back.

 

Terrier I can understand what you're saying and I'm sure most of the time the pets turn out alright but what I'm saying is not all the time are people honest with problem dogs that they want to get rid of for want of a better word.

I have had personal experience of 'problem' dogs some with very minor problems to some that shouldn't have been rehomed in the first place.

I'm sure that at the time all the right questions are asked when a dog is taken in and its background is known where possible but I'm afraid I think some people lie just to get the animal off it's hands.

I think this normally happens when the dog is out of the puppy stage and no longer the cute pup anymore and needs the firm but kind hand to train him to be the dog he should be.
Helen.xxx.

 

I fully agree with you , Helen.

 

Hi all, yes my comment wasn't to make people worried -although i'm sure you are all to well accustomed to pets to know that.

My Joyce is so soft. but one thing i've noticed, she doesn't seem to like 'crawling' babies. this has only happened once, and being Joyce in her own home she just walked away. she didn't get angry or anything i just knew she wasn't happy.

the thing is if she did get annoyed (& i still believe she would not actually bite, cos she doesn't bite anything unless attacked & even then she'd rather run away), i couldn't risk her even snapping at anyone.

she knows all the kids (growing up now) & adults in our street - she's been brought back by some when she's done her sneaking out :D So, they know her - but i wouldn't have her in say, a creche. i wouldn't take her anywhere if i thought she wouldn't behave, but then i know how 'good' she is. and she is good, believe me, you've never known such a docile dog.

However, going back to the start. when we thought of getting a dog, a friend of my hubbys said 'oh, my uncle is ill, he needs a new home for his dog' so we said we'd try.

Brought the dog round, with bowls & all, was quite a big dog (not really just me scarddy cat), hubby went out & i put food in bowl, said to dog ' go on then' & pointed to food. The dog growled. That was it for me. i wouldn't have any dog that growled at me. i know in a way that i maybe could have persevered but i wasn't going to be alone with a dog that growled at me.

Was i wrong?

i know now that the poor dog probably needed all the help it could get, but at that time we couldn't have helped it. i hope it went on for a few years happily, but somehow i doubt it. not because of the dog itself, because of the situation. i still think of him anyway, so i think that's a good thing.

The thing i think to remember is that - what is your dog used to. my dog is not used to kids running around, although my son has known him since my son was 6 years old. When Joyce was young she used to 'go' for kids ankles that were running. of course it was nothing bad, she was always on a lead etc. but just imagine if she wasn't & had been brought up badly.

That's why getting a dog from a rescue is a bit risky, but they do try to match now i believe. even when we got Joyce, we had to sign an agreement and everything. I just think, to the breeders - if you are doing for the right reason, well done. if you are doing for money then **** you. To people who put animals in rescue centres, all i can say as it least you are being responsible. to all others, i hope you have the life you have given.

Sorry for going on.

Happy Christmas & best wishes for 2008.

cheers

 

Interesting reading all round!

I have my own throughts on the matter...

My parents have had two dogs. We bought Bracken - a springer spaniel - from a registered breeder. He had his kennel club certification, we met the mum and dad. He was about 6 months old when he first showed signs of aggression - he was on the ground, and I was kneeling beside him - playing with one of my toys (I was about 14 at the time. I asked him to drop the toy from his mouth - which he didn't do, so I went to take it out. He snarled, and I got such a fright. My mum took it from him - but again he snarled and was not happy to give in.

Things escalated from there, to the point that I was terrified of him. He would attack anyone who went near his bed in the kitchen - often not letting anyone in the kitchen with his aggression and threatening snarls. We took him to the vet. He was neutered, given medication, taken to training/behaviour classes etc. He was already trained to walk on the lead, sit,lie down, stand, and stay, come and move from in front to by the side etc, so it's not like we had neglacted to train him.

In the end, he bit my mum's hand - leaving 23 puncture wounds. She was the only one brave enough not to stay away from him. We had him put to sleep when he was not quite two. The vet guessed that he had some kind of imbalance ortumour in his brain.

Not long after, we adopted Ben at 6 months old from the cata and dog home. His previous owner had died. From the start, he was a different dog. A collie cross (blue merle), he too was keen to be trained, and could do the same as Bracken. He was such a softie, and loved to be cuddled - he sould come and lean against you. Hims only problem was that some male dogs found him quite attractive - but when asked to 'sit' - we found he gave them a bit of bother with their advances! Poor thing! Towards the end, he became a bit senile - barking at all hours to get out - then just standing at the back door etc. He was 16 1/2 when the vet was called to put him to sleep - his back end gave out. He was a wonderful dog, and cured me of any fears I was left with after Bracken (though I am healthily respectful of dogs I don't know).

So, my experience of not knowing the background to a dog somewhat contradicts others opinions. However, that is what makes us all so interesting - our differences!

 

just like to add that I find most dogs will back away from confrontation if they get the chance.
With children it different and often its the kids that need the training not the dog.
I was brought up with a dog, and not a real softy, but I knew when to back off.
Most dogs, (unless really evil or trained to attack)will give ample warning. If we dont heed it, its our fault.
Having said that, I agree, you need to find a dog that suits your situation.
There are some really daft owners out there.

 

In my humble opinion here ,yes i agree with Pete, very much so. Generally behind a "bad dog" is an even worse "human being",so many rescue dogs have come from horrendous backgrounds.
There is an illness called "rage syndrome" ,sort of an epilepsy related illness that tends to affect a few breeds ie. Springers,Retrievers etc.