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

[HairOfTheDog]

My dogs! I have a WHOLE PAGE of critter pics!!! How fun!

[alaskanfan]

The best dog I ever had was a sheltie, intelligent beyond belief (he voted republican).

[Argh]

Thank you for the beautiful Lab picture! And the other two dogs as well.

[Flyer]

I think the best advice I would have is exercise, exercise, exercise. And start training at an early age.

[Scott from the Left Coast]

I've got two Dalmatians who are now 5 and 6 years old -- but that means they're still as active as most puppies are before they get to year one. Only athletes should get Dalmatians, they require so much exercise that they'll kill most kill most people over the age of 15.

Of course, the funniest (and hopefully not tragic) stories are about to come: My wife has a screw put in her broken ankle tomorrow, and when she arrives home our Dalmatians will do the standard jump-6-feet-off-the-ground greeting we arrive back home. And they'll want to pile onto the bed (with great vigor) where she's resting and recovering.

Should be quite a scene. Hope my hair doesn't go gray...

[Flyer]

I figured you and your dogs would show up here. That 'mountain goat' picture is my favorite.

[KentuckyWoman]

bump for puppy lovers

[Cagey]

Thanks for the link. I've never heard of Labrapoodles until today.

[Flyer]

I lived with 2 Dalmatians for a couple of years and took care of a pair that were abandoned at the kennel I worked at. Yes, they require special people. Thanks for being one.

[LJLucido]

How dare you post something as frivolous as this when we have chickens being slaughtered by the billions every year? Are you saying one puppy is more important than a billion chickens? Why, I'll bet you'd even feed dead chicken carcasses to a dog! The horror!

[Razz Barry]

We had both knees repaired for our Jack Russell. Will that upset her/it more?

[mouse_35]

I normally wouldn't do this here but, since the thread has been started...If any Freepers in the Austin area know of anyone wanting a cat, please feel free to email me. We have 7. 2 are ours and 5 are cats we raised after their mother was dumped and had them in our garage. I don't want to take them to the pound, but we are getting desparate.

[Lurking Libertarian]

"I own a labradoodle" is it a cross with a standard poodle?

Mine is. Some are smaller-- crosses of labs with mini poodles. (Don't ask.) See the link at post #53.

[cmsgop]

You Need a Shih Tzu, no dog chases deer better!

[Flyer]

Siberians are strong willed dogs and will push you around if you let them. I hope y'all have the right relationship going.

[Lurking Libertarian]

I want a laptop for Christmas.

I'm not familiar with the breed.

[LJLucido]

I concur. We adopted a half Dalmatian and half (I think) Jack Russel Terrier. It's short but can run like lightning and never tires out. Thank goodness we have a large (fenced-in) yard!

[cjshapi]

That is the best photo I've seen in a while! Thanks for the laugh.

And for the record, I'll be celebrating Christmas with extra carrots for my 3 horses, snacks for the barn cats, biscuits for our sheltie and a can of fancy feast for the crazy house cat.

[Flyer]

LAUGH!