I Want A Puppy For Christmas!

Flyer and Gilligan ^ | December 13, 2001 | From the heart

[Flyer]

I want a puppy for Christmas!

Okay, I don't really want a puppy for Christmas. Yes, I do want a puppy, but not quite yet. My last three dogs have come into my life as adults. I haven't had the joy (and aggravation) of raising a puppy since 1986.

I had four dogs until just a couple of years ago.I had to put one to sleep due to trauma injuries, and another that was old with failing health. A third I put to sleep just about six weeks ago. She had severe spondylosis, but lived 3 - 4 years longer than the vets had expected. I cherished every extra day we had together.

I have mentioned here before that I used to work with dogs (and cats), up until a year ago. I worked at an animal shelter for 3 years, a veterinarian for 6 years and 2 years at a first class boarding kennel. During those eleven years I touched the lives of about 10,000 different dogs. That's not an exaggeration. I crossed paths with about 100,000 dogs, but I'm just counting ones I, in some way,  have touched their lives. (yes, much of this was from the work at the shelter. We took in 35 - 40,000 animals a year) Of the ten thousand there were probably 500 that I knew very well from seeing them over and over at the vet and the boarding kennel. I loved them as my own dogs and they loved me as their own 'person'.

My new puppy will be a Golden Retriever named Re-Boot, in hopes of filling the shoes (paws?) of the Golden I recently lost. My remaining dog is a Golden and yes, they are my favorite breed. There any many other breeds I like, though. Border Collies are very smart and I will probably have one some day. Corgi's have taken a piece of my heart, too. I will probably never own a Standard Poodle but they are very fun dogs once you get to know them. Over the years it was quite an experience spotting the common traits in the different breeds.

I want a puppy for Christmas. So why don't I get one?? Raising a puppy properly requires time and money. The time I have now. The money - I don't. So I will wait. My puppy will be there when I am ready. (and please reconsider if you are thinking of giving a pet as a Christmas gift - but that's a chapter in itself)

So why am I posting this frivolous little story? Because I hope to get the attention of all of you that read these animal threads and ask a favor of you. Lately Tabitha Soren   has been a pest on these innocent, "G" rated animal threads. I want to ask you to join me and just ignore her and not give her the dignity of a reply. I know, she gets us all PO'ed, but if we just ignore her she will lose the satisfaction of the attention she gets, and she won't have replies to reply to.

BTW. . . post your pet stories here and we won't let this warm and fuzzy thread get hijacked!

 

Merry Christmas,

Flyer and Gilligan

[bootless]

How can I type when I'm laughing?! Love what you did with the little animated guy!!

I'm in a no-dog apartment, unfortunately, but will definitely keep you in mind if that ever changes. Thanks!

[Flyer]

A few additional doggie notes. . .

Let your dog sleep with you (at least some of the time)

Let your dog lick your face (this is very important to your dog)

Talk to your dog in your real voice (the more you talk the more they will learn)

[Jefferson Adams]

I worked for a veterinarian many years ago for a few years. We had a dachshund come in once to be "de-barked". The doctor didn't much like to do that surgery, but he figgered that if he didn't, somebody else would. So he did it.

Unfortunately, it's kind of a tricky surgery, especially when you're an older vet with eyesight that ain't what it used to be, and he missed a vocal cord or two.

When the dog had healed, its owners brought it back and said "You either do this right or YOU KEEP THE DOG!!!" That dachshund sounded just like a chicken when it barked, honest to God.

The doctor didn't have the heart to do the surgery again, plus (being German) he had kind of a fondness for dachshunds. So the Santa Monica Dog & Cat Hospital got a new mascot.

He'd wander around in the hospital at his leisure, barking - so to speak - whenever he felt like it. People would come in to have their pets worked on and whilst standing at the front counter they'd hear this strange racket. "You guys have a chicken back there?" they'd ask? It was hysterical.

Other funny thing was, that dog HATED cats. And we had a lot of cats. He'd get himself all worked up, standing beneath a cat's cage, barking - so to speak - at the cat and hyperventilating until his tongue would turn blue and he'd pass out.

One of the funniest things I ever beheld.

But he was a great veterinary hospital mascot < g >

[southernnorthcarolina]

A neighbor told me he had a Weimaraner that was "college educated," definitely too smart for its own good. My sister also took one of the male pups. She named hers RUSH LIMBARK.

Weimaraners run in my family; parents and siblings have had 12 of them since the '60s. Some say it's a congenital defect (us, not the dogs). They can definitely be a handful, but always in an exuberant way. Absolutely great with kids.

My current Weim, just over a year old, also has a name with a conservative origin: Atlas, as in Atlas Shrugged. The breed was not imported into the US until 1946, but quickly gained a small but intensely loyal following. GOP credentials: Dwight Eisenhower had one (Heidi) at the White House, and another one was in a movie with Ronald Reagan (sorry, I don't know which one).

Next time you see Rush Limbark, pass along greetings from Atlas.

[HairOfTheDog]

Me? I love the smell of my dog. It smells like love.

I live on a farm... that would mean love smells like horse-sh!t.... I voted for cleaning the dog somehow.

[Jefferson Adams]

Female cats spraying is rare. Have you discussed it with your vet?

I used to breed Abyssinian cats. The absolutely most gorgeous cat I ever produced was a female. She started spraying at about 6 months. I got her spayed - which meant, alas, no kittens from her :( She kept spraying. She became an outside cat, even though my contracts on kittens I sold said specifically that the cats don't EVER go outside or if I find out I'll take them back, no refund, sign on the dotted line.

Rascal was a beautifully wild-looking thing to watch as she'd bound through the neighborhood when I called her :)

[Rustynailww]

thanks, i went to the link. nice dogs.

[2Trievers]

Cagey, You know you can NEVER spoil a Lab too much! As a matter of fact, they spoil YOU for any other dog.

IB ... best friend ever ... ????????????????? &;-)

[Flyer]

Ha! I forget I haven't lived on the farm for 2 years. 50 acres leased as cow pasture. They would roll in it, eat it and then come running home. I was assuming we were discussing a city dog.

[Tennessee_Bob]

They taste like venison.

Depends on what kind of seasoning you use....

[kassie]

Years ago we lived in a two story house. Our Christmas tree was beside the open staircase. We had two cats that fought/played day and night. They would run down the hall jump on the staircase and leap from it onto the top of our tree. From there they would chase each other all around it. Every day they would knock off balls and decorations. We would always leave the tree up until the Epiphany, had it not been an artificial tree it would never have lasted. The second year we put it up my husband got a big pump water gun and squirted them the first time they jumped on it. They had no idea what hit them and never got in the tree again.

[spectre]

That's some cute little "puppy" you got there, SAM!

sw

[Flyer]

Ah Ha! I KNEW I had read a tale of a spraying female recently. Must have been you because I remember the Abbies.

Most of my cats have just been 'cats', but I think Abbies are a wonderful breed.

[2Trievers]

You know there is a cure for that, don't you? &;-)

[texgal]

My 1st Yorkie lived just past his 19th birthday and he still looked much like a puppy. It was hard to part with my old friend last February. Our second Yorkie is 8 and still very much like a puppy. Great companion, low upkeep. Just happy to sit at my side or by my feet.

My favorite dog was our Weimaraner (sp?) - she was the best (after a wild, wild puppyhood!). She was a great babysitter after my daughter became a toddler. No one got close to our baby - including grandparents - unless we told her it was ok and the dog would herd her away from the street. All of our dogs were rescued or given to us.

[Flyer]

Ok everyone - break time. Take your dog for a walk.

[Tennessee_Bob]

Tinfoil.

No, no, not as a hat....cover the table top with tinfoil. Did that with my cats when they kept getting up there. They hated the stuff.

[kassie]

Bless your heart. I am so sorry for the loss of your pet. We become so attached to them, they love us unconditionally.

[AppyPappy]

I'm very sorry to hear that. Prayers on the way. I can't grieve over a dog because I know there are dogs needing homes at the Animal Shelter. The guilt overrides the grief every time.