The dog musing/vent thread

What is this puppy crack you speak of?

I'm sorry it's been so frustratin :-( My friends went through this a couple years ago and it was very frustrating. They ended up taking a dog that totally did not fit their requirements, but it ended up working out in the end. I hope you can find what you're looking for!

You're in the north east right? I think that can make things harder. I see a lot of pitties in the local shelters, or they are bringing up hounds from the sound, but I don't see the herding the sporting mixes that I prefer.

Have you tried breed specific rescues?

Its literally called Puppy Crack and its made by the Rescue Me Bakery in NC. But I bought it at a regular store downtown, so I assume its available in other places. Gimmick is still cruising the apartment looking for more

Thanks for the sympathy guys. I feel bad whining about it but gaaah...The search is getting tiring.

I have actually tried breed specific rescues, and there is some hope there. It's probably not as dire as I'm making it sound, I'm in a low place at the moment because I'm waiting anxiously to find out if a dog I really like is actually available or not.

Actually now I'm in Virginia, I recently moved. There are so so many hounds here, and I love me some hounds, but a lot of them are Loud with a capital L, and unfixed and used to marking everything (one otherwise lovable hound I met walked in and immediately lifted his leg on the walls, a purse, and a table). I don't mind doing training but there's a limit to how much I can work with when I'm renting.

Thank you. I do admittedly see a lot of reasonably nice dogs.
I think part of my issue is that I'm soooo picky. Astro has issues, oh man does he, but he's perfect for me. He doesn't bark. He goes into his crate and stays quiet for 6 hours. He would rather die than pee indoors and he squats to pee/doesn't know how to mark. He settles indoors. He meets strangers well.

What I'm finding is that a fair number of rescues sort of...not lie, but they want to get the dogs into homes. I'll say something like "I don't want any xyz" and they'll talk for awhile about how all dogs have xyz to a certain extent - except that's not true. Astro doesn't do xyz. Or they'll couch "he bit the vet three times" as "he has a hard time at the vet." They're long on flattering details but I want to focus on the problematic ones so I can weed dogs out. I know it's cold but I'm not invested in all the dogs, I want to get the right one for me.

Sigh... sheltie breeders.

"Well, it's not a show dog, so... IT'S AN AGILITY PROSPECT!"

no.

My friends wanted an older (3-5 years) mellow dog who was good with kids. No other requirements.

After going through multiple rescues (they didn't have a fenced yard, so were rejected by some) they were talked into a ~9 month old ACD. Seriously, rescue? That is nothing like what they asked for. His severe reactivity was also never mentioned.

He's a super cool dog, and while not the perfect kid dog he is good with kids. He is certainly not mellow, but he can settle. But still, I don't understand why rescues talk people into dogs that are nothing like what they want.

Quid would be homes 10 times over if I wanted to sugarcoat his issues. And he would be returned 10 times over, because not one of the homes who have inquired about him have wanted a Quiddich. They have all wanted a lab in a Quid suit and that just isn't him.

Its frustrating to see your dog, who you know is a good dog, passed over again and again, but its more frustrating to see them traumatized by bouncing home to home

Hmmm do I sign up for a few agility runs for the first weekend of October, or do I save that money and continue working towards paying off my credit card....It's been a while since we've done a trial, I think it might be time

I'm going to be super busy the next few months. Both Zander and Quinn are in nosework, Quinn also has a Jr. Beginner class, Quinn is being introduced to rubble piles and I am participating in SAR practice. (It is sorta fun hiding under slabs of concrete that weigh tons). Quinn ALSO has practice conformation sessions...

So it'll be a busy few weeks. But fun stuff is fun! And I am SUPER proud of Zander for handling Nosework. I mean, he did both pee on the floor and then attempt to poop, but for the most part he handled new place, new people, new dogs, strange sounds, scents, and sights fairly well and lightened up drastically after the class was over, then slept in the car on the way home. I think he'll do fine this week and really get in on the game.

And they are both finally playing with each other. Woot!

I'm just full of brags this week.

If I was in the right position, Quid would be mine 10000 times over. I adore that dog.

My aunt just called to tell me she's getting a Bernese Mountain Dog for conformation, and asked if I'd like to go to the Berner nationals with her in March.

Hell yes, yes I do.

Dogs love their new back yard!

Though Summer found herself a snake skin and got put out when i took it away. Weirdo.

Well, my mom didn't put any meds in P's food for dinner and he still didn't eat it. So he's off food because of Georgie being in season.

Pepper is also swollen AGAIN. I thought she was done. Appears not. Is there such a thing as a three-split heat? Because she still hasn't actually bled and she has always bled. She had straw colored discharge earlier this year and I was like YEP goin' in, but never actually bled. And she seemed like she came out then went back in, so I thought maybe split heat. Still no blood. Then she was out... now back in??? This isn't normal. I e-mailed her breeder to ask if she thinks I should take her to the vet and check for an infection of some kind, but she's acting totally normal....

I really really really want to spay her. I need to just push it and see if she lets me. I want to spay her and be able to enjoy my dog without having to worry about her around Payton, if he's going to be pestering her, or whatever. Ugh.

Lacey went into heat every 3-4 months because she went into a false pregnancy with every heat... I couldn't deal with it. I thought I could, but it was so much harder than just reading about heats.

False pregnancy is an idea, maybe that's what's going on... she's never had one before but could be.


It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't also have an intact male dog. I can crate and rotate... but it's just not very fun. I want to be able to enjoy all of my dogs all of the time. I never wanted a bitch anyway and definitely not an intact one. Sigh. I don't want to breed her and I would just want her done. But I think her co-owner still thinks she might possibly breed her so wants to keep her intact. I would almost put money on her never being bred and all of this is just to drive me crazy.
The only upside is she's not competing and might never, so it's not like it gets in the way of trialing. =/

Megatron is under the knife today. She's getting bladder stones removed, with a bonus spay and microchip thrown into the mix. I'm anxious about it. She's almost 10 and a whopping 7 pounds. I'm worried about the possible complications. Blaaah.

I'm really, really hoping that once she's healed she'll be a bit better at home. Lately she's been sucky, clingy and mopey. I'm kind of hoping it's because she's uncomfortable because of the stones. The other option is that she's just a sucky dog. It's so annoying because she's a totally different dog when she's working. Fun and animated. She drives me nuts when she's at home.

They normally all have a varied level of false pregnancy, because the hormones still adjust after the heat as if they were bred. Some bitches just go into heat really frequently.

I don't get it either. All I can think is that perhaps they're just really anxious to get dogs into homes and feel attached to all the dogs, and figure that people will adapt? I don't know. Every now and then I meet people really involved in rescue (like a woman I met who has half a dozen rescue dogs herself and helps run an org) who find it selfish when people have specific wants in a dog, and feel strongly that almost any dog can be good enough if you open your heart and stop putting your desires first. I try to tread carefully with those types but it's always tense, I'm not really apologetic about putting my own feelings and goals first when checking out rescue dogs. I'm pretty shallow too, straight up - I adopted Astro because he looked like a wrinkly smooshy drooly bear in his ad.

Side note, I checked the website and the girl I'm looking at is still listed. If she's still there by seven tonight it's a good bet that the people who put a hold on her decided against it, in which case I will swoop in tomorrow morning to meet her and potentially put a hold on her myself so she can meet Astro.

I don't want to say anything else about her in case I jinx it, and it's a long shot anyway.

What part of VA are you in? The rescue I volunteer with has a decent number of dogs that generally meet what you are looking for I think. But they only adopt out to people in our area.

Sent a PM Dagwall