The first time you met your dog

[Kase]

I was thinking earlier about when I first met my dog Casey 8yrs ago. I had wanted a dog for ages and had built a great relationship with my Grandads dog Flash, even though I loved him I still longed for my own dog. One day I came home from school and my parents sat me down and told me I could have my first dog, I was sooo happy.

My dad had had dogs all his life and I had read my whole collection of dog books about a thousand times . We knew we were ready so the next day went to the local RSPCA sanctuary to have a look. There was this beautiful 6yr old mix called Rocksy who looked kinda like a flat coated retriever. We talked to the staff and they said she was a great dog. In the end however my parents decided against her as they thought it would be best if we got a puppy. The only reason for this decision was because of my mums job. She works at home as a childminder so we needed a dog that would be 100% with kids so we decided on a puppy as we would be able to socialise it from the begining and would know its background. In the end after researching dog breeds we decided on a Golden retriever.

We eventually found her 20 mins from our house at a breeders. The first time we went I just stood there for ages looking at all these Golden pups. I sat down and was given Casey to hold and from that moment fell in love with her (even though she peed on me ). The weeks waiting for her to come home felt like an eternity but eventually she came home and has been with me ever since. As I look at her lying by my feet all these years later I still remember our first meeting.

So I was just curious about when you all got your dogs. What drew you to him/her? Did you just know that he/she was the one? Also if you decided on a purebreed why did you choose that particular breed?

 

[Gempress]

We wanted a giant breed dog. The notice on petfinder showed a picture of Zeus' face, and said he was a "mastiff mix."

I went to the shelter, and saw that he was definately not a mastiff mix. While not small, he certainly wasn't giant. He was sleeping in the shelter director's (who was also his foster mom) office. I walked in the office and sat down to talk with the director. Zeus got up, walked right up to me and lay his head in my lap with a wagging tail. He gave the me saddest, sweetest look I'd ever seen.

I had to take him home.

 

[Kase]

It's so sweet that he walked right over to you and put his head on your lap. I can see why you took him home his face is adorable, I really like the picture of him on the right side of your signature.

If you don't mind me asking what breed is Zeus?

 

[Gempress]

Zeus is a blackmouth cur. We actually thought he was a mutt of some kind. But ironically, our vet is also the vet for two blackmouth cur breeders in our area. So he recognized Zeus right away at the first vet checkup.

Edit: and here's the full pic of him that you like so much.

 

[Dreeza]

we saw oakley's pic on petfinder, he was pictured with another dog, and we actually thought the other dog was oakley...so we were surprised when we went to see him, lol (the other dog had already been adopted)

the woman took him out of his cage and he went NUTS, he was dragging us around on his leash, jumping up on everyone he saw...but oh he was so freaking cute...we took him that day and he was soooooo good in the car (2 hour drive)

^^^ proof why you should do LOTS of research before getting a dog, LOL...we were soooo excited that my parents were letting us get a dog, and after being turned down by like 4 different places (cause we have never owned a dog before....) we just didnt even think that he just may not be the right dog for us, lol

and Now, i am sooo glad we didnt do more research, cause there is NO way we would have gotten him, lol

 

[Gempress]

LoL Dreeza! How can you not love the crazy dogs??

 

[Kase]

Gempress, I've never even heard of a Blackmout cur so that proves how little I know about different breeds. Im gonna have to have a look on the internet. Yeah, thanks I really do love that pic .

Dreeza, he's beautiful. I can see why you fell for him, his face looks so innocent.

 

[smkie]

I saw Victor's picture on petfinder and something in my heart went twannnng. I knew he was the right one. when i called i got a recording that this number was out of order. My pointer male had been pts two weeks earlier because of his cancer. When i saw Victor i thought he was a gift from the heavens above so the phone recording set me down in tears. I thought it was the meanest april fools joke ever for it was April 1. My best friend Kelly said don't give up. So i called the town that the number came from looking for their shelter, they had none. I tried the only vet, closed. I tried the police station, they had no idea who i was talking about. Back to tears. Then kelly called me and said she found the fund raiser for Save_Our_Strays and gave me the number. This ended up being the woman that was in charge of Victor! So horrraaay we finally got together on April 5.

 

[emmapatches]

When I first met my little Piper, her eyes were still shut. My 13 yr old JR had passed away peacefully about 4-5mths earlier, my best friends dog was acciedently pregnant. The puppies were 3 days old there were 5 of them I knew I wanted a girl, but when I stuck my hand in the litter one of them crawled onto my hand - I turned to my friend and said "girl or not this one has just chosen me". Then to my delight I was told that was a girl and she was first born - my friend said she had a feeling I would choose her. Now she is 14wks old and my best friend
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f21/emmapatches/P1020284.jpg

 

[Kase]

Wow Smkie thats a great story, Victor really must have been meant for you because even after all those dead end phone calls you still found him. Well done to your friend Kelly for getting the number.

 

[Kase]

Emmapatches, it sounds like Piper deffinately did choose you. She's beautiful .

 

[Fran27]

For Boris, I wanted a dog. I didn't find any I really liked at the SPCA so we went to that place that sells puppies (not a petstore, but more a puppy mill I guess as the dogs don't come from good breeders... we know better now though). Boris caught my eye right away because he was such a cute and big puppy.

For Tips, I saw him on petfinder and really liked him (he was 7 weeks on the pic). I managed to convince my husband to get another dog so I applied to him, and we got him a week later. He was really cute, even though skinny and a bit scared. MUCH smaller than I expected though, he was about 6lbs when we got him at 8 weeks... Now he's 10 months and probably over 60 lbs.

 

[Kase]

Fran27, I can see from your sig that Tips sure has grown, he's lovely (I'm glad you managed to convince your husband ). Where I used to live there was a dog that looked just like him its unreal. Also I'm glad you got Boris, he's gorgeous but I am a little biased .

 

[bubbatd]

I was in Golden rescue and a owner of one of Bubba's offspring ( pick of the litter) called me that they wanted to give Chip up...4 years old. They were moving, new baby etc etc. He was staying with a friend of theirs on a farm. I took Bubba with me to pick him up and foster. He was muddy, un groomed and seemed so hyper !! He loved Bubba , and I gathered his wet muddy cedar bedding from the field and loaded the 4X4. My 1st test was the hour ride home...I was used to good riders and had put a gate up incase he wanted to get in the front. He jumped in and the minute the car moved, laid down with Bubba and went to sleep. He was my dog now!

 

[gaddylovesdogs]

With Colby, we were looking for a puppy, and after a long search, finally found her. She was SO adorable, and such a sweetheart, we had to adopt her.

May we found, and she was so sweet we couldn't let her be euthanized.

Tippy we were actually trying to rehome, but she had other plans. So she stayed with us.

 

[bonster]

With both Bonnie and Zelda they were on a local rescue's website. Unbelievably Bonnie has been there for ages, around a year and had become their mascot dog (pics of her head on collection tins etc) - apparently no one wanted her because she was a little crazy and they were about to ship her off to Holland where they thought she'd have more chance of finding a home... when we got there it was a case of her chosing us she seemed so happy to be out of her pen and with humans, even if she was a little excited!

With Zelda is was a similar story, wanted a pal for Bonnie, saw her on the website and paid a visit... just in time before she was to be transported too! This was nearly heartbreak as they had to check she hadn't been "taken" already following her details being sent to a Dutch charity already. She was nervous but seemed to take to us and Bonnie quickly, and, the rest is history now...

* note to self, must keep off that website from now!! *

 

[bubbatd]

Great that most of these are rescue dogs !

 

[smkie]

Did they give you a few of those collection tins Bonster?

 

[Dreeza]

LoL Dreeza! How can you not love the crazy dogs??

haha ooh i do...

lets just say my dad was less than thrilled when he came home from his business trip a few days later...

my mom loved him from the second she came through the door from wherever she was and he attacked her LOL

my aunt...(she lives with us) didnt like him much, said he was a crazy mongrel (and when she says mutt or mongrel, it is not usually in a nice way )

i still cant believe my parents trusted my brother and i to get a dog without meeting him first or anything (talk about responsible dog choosing, hahaha)

its fun to read everyone's stories!!!! keep em coming!

 

[Kase]

Bubbatd, it's great that you rescued Chip and that he and Bubba got on so well. I'd love to rescue Goldens later on in my life.

Gaddylovesdogs, poor May I'm glad you rescued her from being euthanised.

Bonster, I love rescue dogs, they both look so happy and content in the pics in your sig and avatar. You could always go on the website every now and again, I mean 3 dogs isn't that many .