Hi! Sorry this is sort of long, but, as I tell folks, I'm afraid that "'succinct' is not in my vocabulary." 
My husband and I are fairly new transplants to the high desert of Arizona from rainy western Washington. We're both disabled, so we're pretty much homebodies. (Our idea of "big" outings during the year are highland games, although we've not made it to one down here yet.)
I think I've always been "animal crazy;" my childhood ambition was to be a vet, and, even now, at over-50, I still sometimes regret that I didn't follow through on that.
I have to confess that, not having lived with a dog in years, I've become more of a cat person; I used to work 12 hour shifts, seven nights on and seven off, and cats seem to handle a human with that sort of weird schedule with such long separations better than dogs. It never seemed fair to a dog to expect them to adjust to that; they want to be with us so badly. With a cat, it was usually like, "Oh, are you home again? Yawn...."
A few days ago, we just got our first dog together, although we've each had dog buddies in our lives over the years. Mickey is a pound puppy, and, while the animal control guy thought she was a golden retriever mix, she sure looks more like a yellow lab or a lab mix to us. Despite the usual puppy problems -- chewing, nipping -- she's been a blast so far. We live in a dinky town with no obedience classes, so we're winging it alone as far as her training goes. Since it's been a long time since either of us had a puppy, we're in need of refresher courses ourselves, but I've already picked up some great info and cool tips on this board. Ya'll rawk!
We'd actually been thinking about getting a dog for awhile, but we already had a cantankerous old cat who gives new meaning to the word "dog-hater." She taunts them, then moves in for the kill (or, at least, a good swipe on the snout.) She used to be his daughter's cat, and the kidlet let Minnie roam. By the time Minnie came to live with us, she was nearly feral. So she's never been a big lap-cat, although she sure is hooked on "ear-lovin's." Rub her ears, and you're her best friend. She can be quite a noodge when it comes to demanding ear lovin's. My husband has bad diabetes, and Minners seems to realize when he's having problems before he does. She'll hop up on him and give him "kitty CPR," and she won't get down until he's better. She's sort of an intuitive, self-trained therapy cat, I guess.
We had thought we'd wait until Minners went to Rainbow Bridge before we brought one of "those trashy animals" (how we're sure Minnie thinks of them) into our home, but we finally decided that that wasn't any more fair to us or a dog we could be loving in the meantime as bringing a dog home would be to Minnie. Majority ruled. She's still getting lots of loving and attention, so we hope she'll tolerate the pup. I can't see her ever actually befriending any dog.
Knowing Minnie, I'm sure she'll prove the adage that "Old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill." Not that Mickey's very skillful yet at anything but heart-stealing, and that comes natural.
We wanted a dog not only because we both really missed having one, but because my husband may be needing a helper dog before long. We picked our pup because she was obviously bright, mellow (well, mellow for a pup!) and has a healthy dose of curiosity. She's not afraid of his wheelchair and thinks going for "rolls" with her new human is a blast! After we all survive basic obedience -- right now we're still in the housebreaking, "no, I am not a chew toy" stage; we've only had Mickey with us since last Thursday, after all, and, as with any rescued dog, we're not sure how much training, if any, she's had -- we hope she can move on to A-dog training. Even if she's not quite up to that, we'll still have a great buddy & companion. Anything else is, after all, just icing on the cake!
My husband and I are fairly new transplants to the high desert of Arizona from rainy western Washington. We're both disabled, so we're pretty much homebodies. (Our idea of "big" outings during the year are highland games, although we've not made it to one down here yet.)I think I've always been "animal crazy;" my childhood ambition was to be a vet, and, even now, at over-50, I still sometimes regret that I didn't follow through on that.
I have to confess that, not having lived with a dog in years, I've become more of a cat person; I used to work 12 hour shifts, seven nights on and seven off, and cats seem to handle a human with that sort of weird schedule with such long separations better than dogs. It never seemed fair to a dog to expect them to adjust to that; they want to be with us so badly. With a cat, it was usually like, "Oh, are you home again? Yawn...."
A few days ago, we just got our first dog together, although we've each had dog buddies in our lives over the years. Mickey is a pound puppy, and, while the animal control guy thought she was a golden retriever mix, she sure looks more like a yellow lab or a lab mix to us. Despite the usual puppy problems -- chewing, nipping -- she's been a blast so far. We live in a dinky town with no obedience classes, so we're winging it alone as far as her training goes. Since it's been a long time since either of us had a puppy, we're in need of refresher courses ourselves, but I've already picked up some great info and cool tips on this board. Ya'll rawk!
We'd actually been thinking about getting a dog for awhile, but we already had a cantankerous old cat who gives new meaning to the word "dog-hater." She taunts them, then moves in for the kill (or, at least, a good swipe on the snout.) She used to be his daughter's cat, and the kidlet let Minnie roam. By the time Minnie came to live with us, she was nearly feral. So she's never been a big lap-cat, although she sure is hooked on "ear-lovin's." Rub her ears, and you're her best friend. She can be quite a noodge when it comes to demanding ear lovin's. My husband has bad diabetes, and Minners seems to realize when he's having problems before he does. She'll hop up on him and give him "kitty CPR," and she won't get down until he's better. She's sort of an intuitive, self-trained therapy cat, I guess.
We had thought we'd wait until Minners went to Rainbow Bridge before we brought one of "those trashy animals" (how we're sure Minnie thinks of them) into our home, but we finally decided that that wasn't any more fair to us or a dog we could be loving in the meantime as bringing a dog home would be to Minnie. Majority ruled. She's still getting lots of loving and attention, so we hope she'll tolerate the pup. I can't see her ever actually befriending any dog.
Knowing Minnie, I'm sure she'll prove the adage that "Old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill." Not that Mickey's very skillful yet at anything but heart-stealing, and that comes natural.
We wanted a dog not only because we both really missed having one, but because my husband may be needing a helper dog before long. We picked our pup because she was obviously bright, mellow (well, mellow for a pup!) and has a healthy dose of curiosity. She's not afraid of his wheelchair and thinks going for "rolls" with her new human is a blast! After we all survive basic obedience -- right now we're still in the housebreaking, "no, I am not a chew toy" stage; we've only had Mickey with us since last Thursday, after all, and, as with any rescued dog, we're not sure how much training, if any, she's had -- we hope she can move on to A-dog training. Even if she's not quite up to that, we'll still have a great buddy & companion. Anything else is, after all, just icing on the cake!
