Going to adopt a dog soon =D

[Coote]

Been in touch with some local shelters recently, and I'm probably about to adopt one of these two beautiful girls (assuming I'm not beaten to it in the next few days).

Meet Nina, the German Shorthaired Pointer mix, and Millie, the Australian Cattle Dog Labrador mix.

[Seerah]

Cuties!

[Cairenn]

My favourite breed is Rescued. Thank you for opening your home and your heart.

[Coote]

Originally Posted by Cairenn My favourite breed is Rescued. Thank you for opening your home and your heart.

Rescued dogs are always the most loving. =D

[Coote]

UPDATE:

Somebody beat me to Millie, and I couldn't afford the extra hidden fees for Nina.

I went to the SPCA earlier today to meet with another, and we immediately hit it off. Apparently he didn't get along well with his previous 3 owners, the last of which only had him for 24 hours. I filled out the paperwork, got him chipped, and they let me walk out with him instead of waiting several days like I would have to with most of the dogs.


He's a B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L 6 month old Beagle! I brought him home, and he spent the past 3 hours nonstop playing with my aunt's Pom-Poodle. He does well with other animals, and come Monday, I'll see how well he behaves around my nephew when he comes over.

http://imgur.com/a/Od1KC

His original owners named him Spot, but he doesn't react much to that name at all, so I'm currently trying to come up with a fitting name. Looking through game/cartoon names or references to name him.


I'll have a short video or two to put up soon of him playing with the Pom-Poodle. She's a scary little yapping rat.

[Dridzt]

Lou? (*)

*

[Strgazr]

OMG too cute. I have to make my first post a reply to a beagle!
I love beagles, we have 2 currently. I'm so glad you found him.
I'll just throw out a couple of tips, you may already know about. Beagles are extreme chow hounds.
This means the easiest way to train them is with food rewards. Doesn't even have to be treats,
just grab a handful of dog food and start working on sit, stay, etc. People will also try to tell you that
beagles are too noisy, but they don't have to be. Beagles are pack animals, they are meant to be in a
pack or group, this is now you. They get scared and lonely when left alone and start barking and howling
trying to find their pack.
I hope you have a great time with him and well done adopting a rescue!

[Coote]

Originally Posted by Strgazr Beagles are extreme chow hounds.

Tell me about it. Can't leave any sort of food just laying around, or he'll be a fatso in a straight NY minute.

Originally Posted by Strgazr People will also try to tell you that beagles are too noisy, but they don't have to be.

I love his howling. It's almost as awesome as a Husky's. Even when he gets at it, he's so much less annoying than a freaking Pom-Poodle. As energetic as he is, the little rat (Pom-Poodle) is always getting him going, chasing him around yapping.

Originally Posted by Strgazr They get scared and lonely when left alone and start barking and howling trying to find their pack.

I learned this the hard way last night. I put him out my room last night because he kept trying to attack my blankets thinking it was still play-time. 30 minutes later, he's howling, and after I fell asleep, 20 minutes later he's scratching at my door, howling, and managed to open it by throwing his body at it a couple times. I wake up with his face sticking in and howling until I let him back in. At least after that, he slept nice and soundly right at my feet before waking me up at 5am to go potty.

[Cairenn]

Boo, sorry the one you originally wanted got adopted before you got there, but yay that it got adopted. Yay that you found another one to adopt instead.

[Kendian]

Originally Posted by Coote His original owners named him Spot, but he doesn't react much to that name at all, so I'm currently trying to come up with a fitting name. Looking through game/cartoon names or references to name him.

Apologies for a late response; the name Buxton jumps out at me~

[Coote]

I was leaning towards Porthos, one of the Three Musketeers, and Jonathan Archer's pet Beagle on Enterprise. Apparently I'm the only one who liked the name, and the rest of the family decided on Tucker, my late grandmother's middle name.

[ckramme]

Commander Charles Tucker III, Chief Engineer

[Be3f.]

Originally Posted by Coote and the rest of the family decided on Tucker

If I ever get a dog, it will carry the glorious name "Dog".

[Coote]

Originally Posted by ckramme Commander Charles Tucker III, Chief Engineer

/salute
RIP Trip!
/cry

Originally Posted by Be3f. If I ever get a dog, it will carry the glorious name "Dog".

We now have a dog and Alistair is still the dumbest one in the party.

[Torhal]

Originally Posted by Be3f. If I ever get a dog, it will carry the glorious name "Dog".

Or, if you like being "clever", Diogee. (D. O. G.)

[break19]

If I ever get another dog, I'm giving it a cat name.. Think "A Boy Named Sue" ...

[Bambi]

Adorable!
We adopted a pug (well, bought it from someone else). I feel so bad for her, with her breathing problems.

[Coote]

Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to keep him much longer. I love him, and get on with him great, but he's not a good fit for my household.

He gets along well with the other dog most of the time, but not so much with the children. Despite all my efforts trying to crate train him, and curb his destructive behaviors, it's just been getting worse. The past couple days, he destroyed all the pillows on my bed, a blanket made for me by a family member, my shoes, the cord to a guitar amp, 2 pairs of drumsticks, a PS3 controller, the charger for a family member's iPad, and my headset.

Having to bring him back is not fair to him, but keeping him is not fair to the others who live with me, and it's also not fair for him to be the target of constant anger. He's essentially still just a puppy.

[Nuggs]

Honestly, and don't take this the wrong way, sounds like you weren't prepared.

The dog you got is six months old, that IS still a puppy and they are still extremely hyper, chewing on things because of their teeth and all kinds of stuff. Stuff WILL get destroyed, it's up to you on what it is.

You have to puppy proof your house. My dog(Got her at six weeks) was the same way for the first year, it's a pain and I learned after three months to keep things picked up and put away.

Another thing is making sure they get enough physical activity. When dogs are alone, they get lonely/bored and that's when the most destructive behavior happens.

If you can, tough it out, puppy proof the place(Keep your important items picked up!) and help everyone else understand that it's a puppy, it doesn't know better and there has to be some preventive measures in place so your important items don't get destroyed.

It's a pain, you likely have at least six months of this behavior left and if that's not something you want to do, I'd suggest sticking to older dogs which have grown out of this phase of their life.

Good luck, hope you stick with it. If not, I hope you find a wonderful home for it.

PS I'm no expert, just giving tips from my experience as a dog owner with puppies.

[Seerah]

Nuggs is correct, in that the puppy had a lot of energy and was teething. Exercise and chew toys (and/or Kongs) are a great way to keep destruction to a minimum, as well as crate training. We had to crate one of our dogs every time he was left alone (including when hubby was at work and me in the shower) because he would get anxious at the separation and not know what to do with that energy. One time I thought I would see if he had grown out of it, but I came out of the bathroom to find a corner missing from the top-back of my leather office chair and stuffing all over the room. Back in the crate for him the next day!

Note: he is now a very well-behaved dog! Though both our dogs still get crated when we leave the house.

But I also know the feeling of not being prepared for a dog and needing to bring it back to the shelter for a better home. The first dog we adopted had severe separation anxiety. We'd leave the apartment for an hour and she would bust out of her crate, poop all over the carpet and chew anything in sight. After a week or two of this, I cried all the way to the shelter and back home. But she really needed a home where she could be kept outside when needed and have someone with the time to ease her of her anxiety.