About Your Dogs

[KLADCkrs]

So, I've been watching these DVDs on training dogs that are reactive or aggressive to other dogs/people/situations/etc. The lady in the DVD (Leslie McDevitt, Control Unleashed) was talking about when we get frustrated with our dogs, and how they feed off that. She said when that happens, lay the dog down on a mat, do some gentle massage or TTouch, and think about the following things:

1) The first time you met your dog
2) Something your dog does that makes you laugh
3) Something your dog has done that made you proud
4) Something your dog does that makes you feel good

I thought it would be fun for everybody to share their replies to those four statements.

 

[KLADCkrs]

Farley (Ch Silverwood's Northern Light Am Can CD, RN, CGC)

1) The first time you met your dog

I had to drive 5 hours to the breeder's house. We'd been emailing since the day the puppies were born, and I had formed this attachment to the one named Farley, even though I hadn't met him. I walked into her house, and went into the kitchen where the puppies were. I sat on the floor, and one puppy immediately crawled into my lap, looked up at me and sighed. That was Farley - it was love at first sight!

2) Something your dog does that makes you laugh

One of the obedience commands that Farley does is called "finish" which means that he goes from sitting in front of me to sitting on my left side, in heel position. Most dogs stand up, turn and sit down again. Farley just shuffles his bum all the way around until he's in heel again. If I have food, he gets REALLY exuberant, and sometimes he ends up behind me.

3) Something your dog has done that made you proud

He was never really around kids much when he was a young dog. I'm single and I didn't have friends or family with young kids. When my niece was born, she lived with us for about 6 months. She pulled his hair, grabbed his nub of a tail and yanked on ears. He never so much as batted an eyelash, he just turned his head away and let her keep hurting him. He LOVES her so much.

4) Something your dog does that makes you feel good

His favourite time of day is bedtime, because it's our one on one time (the other two sleep in crates). As soon as I get into bed, he will stand right in front of me, making eye contact and wagging. The instant my hand touches him, he collapses, squished into me as much as possible, and makes this happy little groaning sound. I can tell that this is his utopia.

 

[KLADCkrs]

Grace

1) The first time you met your dog

I went to her breeder's house (10 hours away - same breeder as Farley, but I had moved further away since I'd gotten Farley) with a good friend of mine, who made the trip with me to make the drive not so lonely. Out of the litter of 5, 4 puppies ran up to me, and one hid. The hiding one was Grace LOL

On the trip home, the next day, by the time we made our first pit stop, she'd decided that I was HER person, and wouldn't even let me out of her sight. She's still that way now, unless she's getting into trouble LOL I always know when she's being bad, because she's not beside me.

2) Something your dog does that makes you laugh

She is absolutely obsessed with the laser light. She will try to climb the wall, will fly around the house, and will bowl the other dogs over looking for it. I use it very rarely, since it can lead to other OCD behaviors, but sometimes we play with it, and I always laugh my head off.

3) Something your dog has done that made you proud

When we did her Canine Good Neighbour test (like the CGC in the US), we had to heel around a distraction. The distraction was a guy on a bicycle, and he almost ran her over because he got so close. She didn't turn to look, didn't flinch, nothing. She stayed more calm, cool and collected than I did!

4) Something your dog does that makes you feel good

Grace is very appeasing . . . so if anybody at home is upset or yelling or fighting (we're very vocal and emotional in my family LOL), she will immediately run to me and try to crawl into my lap, to make me feel better. Even if somebody ELSE is upset, she will only run to me. She really is MY dog.

 

[KLADCkrs]

Jack Jack

1) The first time you met your dog

Jack Jack was born March 14th at my best friend Jackie's house. This was a long-awaited litter for her. His mom is black and his dad is black and tan, so when a buff puppy was born, everybody was excited. The weekend of April 4th I went and stayed at Jackie's house. I had Farley entered in some Rally Obedience competitions, and we used Jackie's place as a central place to stay. I spent all of my spare time in the bedroom with the puppies, and kept coming back to the little buff boy. I started begging my parents to let me have a third dog (yes, I live at home), and for some reason, the fates collided and my mother said yes. The rest, as they say, is history.

2) Something your dog does that makes you laugh

So many things with Jack Jack. He really is a clown, and when Grace is not in season, he's a fun dog to live with. He is all about me, to the point of ignoring my parents, and he's always doing tricks. I taught him a large repertoire, so now when I have treats, he runs through the favourites (shake, high five, play dead, spin, etc).

3) Something your dog has done that made you proud

Jack Jack is a dog with fear and confidence issues. He was attacked by Jackie's oldest female as a young puppy, and has dog issues as a result. I took him through puppy kindergarten, junior high and household obedience classes. I think my proudest moment was when I could walk into the obedience class without Jack Jack barking and acting totally freaked out.

4) Something your dog does that makes you feel good

Jack Jack is the ultimate momma's boy, even more than Farley. He doesn't even pay attention to my parents, he is always near me. When I'm on the computer, he will put his paws on my lap and nudge my arm to remind me of the more important things in life. The love in his eyes at that moment always makes me melt a bit!

 

[manuel]

KLADCkrs: That was fun to read. I can tell your dogs are a very dear to you.

1. The first time you met your dog
   • It was when we were picking Gabby up from the breeder. He was squirmy, fussy, and didn't want to be held. I told my wife she picked the wrong one. :lol:
2. Something your dog does that makes you laugh.
   • Gabby get angry sometimes when he sniffs another dog's pee. You almost hate taking this dog for a walk because has to stop and sniff every blade of grass. Every once in a while he'll come across a pee, mark over it, kick up some grass with his hind feet and growl a few times. He looks dead serious too. I don't get it but it's fun to watch.
3. Something you dog has done that makes you proud
   • I can't tell you how many times people have said, "Oh, what a cute dog!" He's older now and doesn't get as many compliments but it's still nice to hear.
4. Something your dog does that makes you feel good.
   • I love when Gabby lies besides me and rolls around acting silly (maybe he's just itchy). He seems to be enjoying himself and lets out a few growls. Sometimes it sounds like he's talking.

 

[Polly]

Polly's Pepper..

Kelly Great Thread!

I'm going to start with Pepper because he's been ours the longest now.

1. First time we met Pepper..

Pepper was first adopted by my best friends Jacie and Stu when their very first cocker passed to the bridge from Cancer. They found Pepper on the Pasadena CA animal control website and fell in love with his picture. Stu is a professional writer and works at home, and Jac is the Vice President of Human Resouces at Occidental College, so it was important that Stu be ready to adopt after loosing Marty. He decided he wanted to save a life after 9/11.. they are both from New York and of course 9/11 affected them both.

Anyway they fell in love with pepper's picture and adopted him. They named him Nirvana. Well Nirvana he wasn't

Pepper had real issues, and, still does. He was in pain although we didn't really realize it at first. He was so afraid. He would hide under the lowest table in their home and just snap and growl.

In just a matter of days they realized Nirvana was beyond their ability to care for him. The same day they came to that realization, we lost our little Pippen. She was hit by a speeding car. She got away from Michael when he was walking the dogs. At the time we had Patrick, Pookie and Pippen. Pip was Michael's heart dog. We were both completely devistated. Jac called me and asked us if we would take Nirvana.. at first I told her no.. it was too soon after our loss.. the next day. She said she was going to take him to Glendale ASPCA since they were a no kill shelter. When I told Michael, I could tell he wanted him. We slept on it and called Jac back and said we would take him and we met Stu at the Glendale shelter the next day and took Nirvana.. we re-named him Pepper Nirvana.


2. Something your dog does to make you laugh..

One of the funniest things Pep does is bite at dust motes. He loves to sit in the afternoon sun and out of the blue he will bite at them LOL.. very funny to watch.

3. Something to make you proud..

Like I said.. Pepper was a troubled baby. He was a fear biter and snapper.. and still.. his favorite form of communication is growling. We have worked with him over the years and he has changed so much. We feel that we saved his life. And, that makes us proud. We have had Pep since 9/22/2001... 8 years.. he's about 9 now.

4. Something that makes me feel good...

With all of Peps fear problems, the one thing that makes me feel so good now is: Pep now sleeps with me every night!!!! I can't tell you how good that makes me feel. I truly think being in a pack of 6 was just too much for him. He now feels like part of the group and is always on the bed with us. I get up and down all night.. I'm not a good sleeper. He now gets up with me, waits for me to get back in bed, and then lays at my side when its cold, under the covers, when it's not, above the covers.

That makes me feel so good because I remember him sitting in a dark corner under Jac's coffee table snapping and growling. ^_^

 

[Polly]

Manuel
Your love of Gabby shines through every word you write! ^_^

 

[KLADCkrs]

These are great to read! I hope more people post replies on this thread.

Every dog that has passed through my house has a special place in my heart. I love these animals SO much . . . they give 110% of themselves and ask for so little in return.

 

[Mike]

These are great to read! I hope more people post replies on this thread.

Every dog that has passed through my house has a special place in my heart. .

Kelly, I'd be here all day writing about the ones who passed thru these doors, so I will just say that I agree 100% with your statement! Each and every dog that was, or is here now is loved equally.. each for their own unique reason. And I will never forget my fosters.. nor will I ever forget my dear ones who went to the Bridge. They will always have a special place in my heart too.

 

[OzPozz23]

Ozzie

First time I met him...
My mom promised me a dog when we moved, and when we went to the shelter, I feel in love with him

Something he does that makes me laugh...
He is such a show-off! I tell him to sit, and he will lie down, so I tell him to stand up, and he'll either roll over or play dead

Something he's done that I'm proud of...
I don't think a dog should need to do anything to please his owner. Ozzie is a great dog, and that's all I need to know to be proud of him.

Something he does that makes me feel good...
When Ozzie watches movies with us, it feels great to be able to have a small dog who can snuggle up on the couch with us.

 

[Polly]

Petunia

Or Tunie as we lovingly call her. We call her Tunie the Turtle, and she has a turtle bandana that Linny made her.^_^

1. First time we met Tunie..

It was at the Van Nuys Animal Shelter. I had been watching her on their website for over a week and wondered why she didn't get adopted. So Michael and I loaded the crew into the car and took a ride! The reason she wasn't being adopted was because she was blind, and had an upper resportary infection and they were going to put her down the next day.

We brought her home, took her directly to the vets. He said she was at least 10 years old, she was blind, and had not only a upper resportary but was pregnant and too ill to carry the litter full term. I ask if he could save her and he said he thought he could but he would spay her to give her a chance. So he did. She stayed at the vets for 2 days. And Tunie has been with us ever since.

2. Something Tunie does to make us laugh..

Since Tunie is blind, she is a very serious begger, but, she is usually facing the wrong direction when she is begging LOL.

3. What Tunie did to make us proud.

I'll never forget, my sister had a family BBQ at her home several years ago. It was really bitter sweet because she sold her home and since moved to Or. So this was kind of a good bye. She had a big pool. Sometimes it's easy to overlook Tunie's blindness because she knows our home so well. Well, she walked right off the edge of the walk right into the deep end of the pool. I freaked to say the least! I dove in after her. But, she just swam to the edge of the pool and followed the edge to the end and up the steps. What a trooper! But, from then on, I kept her on her leash.

4. Tunie always makes me feel good. She is a quiet good girl. We adopted her as an older dog, and we are giving her the best home we can now in her old age. She was a brood bitch for some BYB I think. She is tiny.. only 8 inches at the wither and from head to tail 23 inches long..
I'm sure she was touted as one of the new "mini" cockers. Michael has always refered to her as Pak's Ass.. since she was about the size of his butt LOL. When I let her coat grow out, Michael says she looks like a mop LOL.

Tunie is a really good girl. She is quiet, independent, and no trouble at all.^_^

 

[KLADCkrs]

Oh my Polly, I can just picture her begging in the wrong direction! TOO FUNNY!

 

[manuel]

Something he does that makes me feel good...
When Ozzie watches movies with us, it feels great to be able to have a small dog who can snuggle up on the couch with us.

I agree. I like just watching mine sleep next to me when I'm watching tv. They look so content sleeping.

We brought her home, took her directly to the vets. He said she was at least 10 years old, she was blind, and had not only a upper resportary but was pregnant and too ill to carry the litter full term. I ask if he could save her and he said he thought he could but he would spay her to give her a chance. So he did. She stayed at the vets for 2 days. And Tunie has been with us ever since.

That is so sad. I'm so glad she can enjoy a better life with you.

 

[karenwalksthedogs]

Dylan

1. The first time I met Dylan was when we drove 3 1/2 hours to the breeder to pick him out and pick him up. We had first choice of the males and it was actually very hard to choose. On the way home my dd had him out of his crate and was holding him. He never cried for his litter mates. He knew he was home.

2. Dylan can always make me laugh. He personifies the cocker standard of Merry. I always giggle watching him leap and run for his tennis ball. He just has Joi de vie! (Not sure exactly how to spell that.)

3. Something that makes me proud. Dylan has never seemed to be a brave dog but when we were walking and the unleashed boxer attacked, Dylan pushed Riley behind him, jumped in front of me, and fought. He wanted to protect us. Thank goodness he wasn't hurt.

4. Dylan's happy attitude makes me feel good. Dylan has always been loved and he expects that everyone will love him and he will love everyone, with very few exceptions (see boxer above.) Love and happiness just shine from him

 

[KLADCkrs]

Karen, thanks for sharing Dylan with us - he sounds a lot like my Farley, who also adores tennis balls and is a bit of a chicken

 

[manuel]

I'm glad no one was hurt. Dylan sounds like my Gabby. He wants to be friends with everyone.

 

[DJ's Three]

Since Hannah was the first of this trio, I will start with her. first alittle history on how we came to look for another dog. In Sept of 2000 we very suddenly lost our 13 y/o Booker to an Auto immune disease....I was devasted she was the puppy no one wanted due to a hernia and became my heart dog when I got her. 9 months later we lost Phreddie...she was 17 years old and the love of my son. He was only 2 when we got her and had never known a day with out her. So with a empty house and a sad heart we started looking "just looking" I told my hubby.

1) The first time you met your dog
After several conversations and email with the breeder, we drove to her home a couple of hours away to "just look" at a puppy she had available. There she was, then known as Crystal, a 12 week old black and white puppy. She was so cute, leashed trained and lovingly handled by the breeder's husband (I think that this was the part he hated letting his "babies" go). She was a pistol. I sat on the grass and she pounced and played with me. She was so michevious, thinking herself very clever she also thought to show me what a lovely lawn mower she would make. she ripped grass up by the mouthfull, running around me trying to get me to chase her. She came home with us.

2) Something your dog does that makes you laugh
She is such a mischevious dog, with a great sense of humor. She will come toward me, wiggleing that little stub like she is going to jump up in my lap for a cuddle. But at the last minute, that laughing twinkle will appear in her eye and she will jump up on Brian's lap instead. Then she will turn and look at me all innocent

3) Something your dog has done that made you proud
We were in a little town close by for a festible and I had not only my two ( Zoe wasn't here yet) on leashes but was holding the leashes of a friends two ( a doxie and a basset) a lady with two little girls, one in a stroller asked if they could pet the dogs. Maggie was delighted and Hannah was sitting pretty waiting her turn. I was keeping a close eye on the doxie who could be snippy. When I heard Hannah wimper. Looking down I realized that the youngest girl had a death grip on Hannah's eyebrow and ear and pulling. Hannah not having been around many small children was so good, she patiently waited for the mom to unlock the little ones fingers and then even let the older girl pet her like nothing had happened. I know that had that been the doxie, the little girl would have been bit.

4) Something your dog does that makes you feel good
Every morning when I sit down to read the paper and have coffee, Hannah gets in my lap and snuggles with me. She has done this since she was a puppy and it never fails to warm my heart.

 

[DJ's Three]

Now our Sweet Maggie Mae;

1) The first time you met your dog
We got Maggie from the same breeder as Hannah. The day we "just went to look" at Hannah, fell in love with her and decided to bring her home with us we met Maggie. We had done a tour of the breeders home, looked at Hannah's parents and played with several of her other dogs. We then got to see a litter of puppies that were four weeks old. OMG, they were sooo cute. Toni let the mom out to get some loving from her husband and we got to see the puppies. There was this one little black and tan girl trying her best to get the others up and playing...they continued to snooze having full tummies. She pranced and bowed and tryed so hard she had me in stitches. I jokingly said to Brian that we had always had two so I should put a deposit on her too....I almost fell over when he said OK. I spoke to the breeder about the availability of this little girl and was told I would have to wait to find out till she had more time to evaluated the litter but that she would put a ribbon on her and keep me on the short list. Several days later she called to see If we were still interested, we were, I put a deposit down on her and 4 more weeks later and Maggie came home with us.

2) Something your dog does that makes you laugh
Maggie is the happiest dog I have ever met. She smiles in greeting you, her tail never stops and she laughs...I swear she does. I brings a smile to my face every time. She is truely the "merry" cocker.

3) Something your dog has done that made you proud.
Maggie is a dog in motion, ready to play all day and not one to sit still on your lap while there is a ball to chase somewhere. When my dad was the rehab facility recovering from a bad fall that caused a leg injury I took Maggie to visit. She sat on my dad's bed for the longest time while dad pet her. He hated being there and that was one of the few times that I saw him relax while there. He spoke of it several times after he came home (where maggie would not sit with him for more than a minute)

4) Something your dog does that makes you feel good
She absolutely adores my husband....I have often said that she would walk through fire for him. Her devotion to him is endless and this makes my heart light and brings a smile to my face.

 

[DJ's Three]

1) The first time you met your dog
When I orginaly was looking for a new cocker I had contacted several breeders who did not have any available puppies. One year after purchasing Hannah and Maggie, one of these breeders contacted me and asked if I was still looking for a parti cocker. She even sent picures of a three day old litter. After a week of disscussion with Brian I contacted her and said yes I was. She did not know which puppies would be available on a pet contract yet but would put me on the list for a female. Every three days she would send me updated photos of the litter. Finaly she sent me pictures of the three females that were available and I would get second pick. When Zoe was 9 weeks old we got to go and pick her out. I don't think that I even remember way she seemed to be the one and hardly remember the other one. Maybe it was because of her problems that I was meant to bring her home.

2) Something your dog does that makes you laugh
We call Zoe' "the mouse that roars" when she sees a big dogs she puffs herself up and barks at the other dogs like she is as big as a great dane. Then when the other dog gets closer, she backs up till she is behind Hannah and Maggie.

3) Something your dog has done that made you proud
It took Zoe forever to learn the simplest of commands. What the other two learned by eight months took Zoe almost two years to learn. But learn she did. She would look at you and you just knew that she was trying to figure out what it was you wanted. It was funny though she was potty trained by 6 months old. but sit and stay???

4) Something your dog does that makes you feel good
She snuggles..and has utter trust that I will help her through life (except when I have that ?>:L pill bottle in my hand,LOL)

 

[manuel]

Thanks for sharing DJ. Hannah was so patient with that little girl--they can be so forgiving. Maggie knew your father wasn't feeling well and kept him company to cheer him up. :huggles:

EDIT:

She snuggles..and has utter trust that I will help her through life (except when I have that ?>:L pill bottle in my hand,LOL)

That's 'cause they taste bad. Don't they Zoe? Gabby takes pills every day so I can sympathize with her.