christopherb
New member
@browneyes27 r/DoggyDNA for if you eventually test
Where are my shelter puppies at?
- Thread starter amn
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- discussion puppy 101
lightlovehope
New member
@amn I have a coonhound mix. He is now a year and a half old! I got him when he was 8 weeks old. He was a southern rescue also, who was most likely taken from mom too soon. He was fostered for I think a week with his litter. We got him at an adoption event and it was effortless. Filled out an application and then took him home. I am friends with the girl who got his sister on Facebook which is fun!
@amn We got our first dog, Henry, in early Sept this year. He was just shy of 6 months. Told he was a hound/lab mix... DNA test shows cattle dog, staffie, beagle, sharpei... And yet weirdly we find his doppelgangers all over.
So, as the story always goes, we went to the adoption event "just to look". I'd submitted an app for another (younger) pup, and hadn't gotten approved yet. When trh shelter realized we were interested in Bob (now ours), they literally pushed the app through within half an hour. Called all the references and such right then, because Bob had been at that shelter for ages (aka weeks, but it was a shelter that specialized in puppies so 6mo was "old"). Before I knew it, we had a dog!
Overall that day, he cost about $1000. $600 in adoption fees, and $400 in first time overzealous puppy owner buys (ex puppy pads we never opened). Maybe $1500 the first month with other expenses like vet and classes.
We don't know the history from day 0, but we were given his foster mom's number. We knew his birthday and his litter brother lives only 30 min from us. He's one of the best behaved dogs I've ever met from day 1, so I applaud his foster mom for that.
And, of course, the obligatory Dog Tax
So, as the story always goes, we went to the adoption event "just to look". I'd submitted an app for another (younger) pup, and hadn't gotten approved yet. When trh shelter realized we were interested in Bob (now ours), they literally pushed the app through within half an hour. Called all the references and such right then, because Bob had been at that shelter for ages (aka weeks, but it was a shelter that specialized in puppies so 6mo was "old"). Before I knew it, we had a dog!
Overall that day, he cost about $1000. $600 in adoption fees, and $400 in first time overzealous puppy owner buys (ex puppy pads we never opened). Maybe $1500 the first month with other expenses like vet and classes.
We don't know the history from day 0, but we were given his foster mom's number. We knew his birthday and his litter brother lives only 30 min from us. He's one of the best behaved dogs I've ever met from day 1, so I applaud his foster mom for that.
And, of course, the obligatory Dog Tax
sherri1263
New member
@sherri1263 We can occasionally see it - he is a bit wrinkly when he smiles, and he seems like he's got a bit of excess skin when he plays (my mom's dog likes to bite cheek skin 
) but we never expected sharpei in the DNA!
) but we never expected sharpei in the DNA!@amn We have two rescue / shelter puppies. The oldest is a little over 2.5 years old. The other is about a year younger.
We were told #1 was a boxer / Shepherd mix. #2 was supposedly Pyrenees / lab.
As is typical for my area, the mixes are more like Shepherd / pit / lab / staffie / golden for #1, and Pyrenees / pit / lab / Komondor (??) for #2.
Numero Uno came into the rescue as part of a litter from a (visibly) Shepherd mother who had been shot and had to have her right front leg amputated (and is apparently doing fine these days). We saw her on the rescue's page and called dibs right away. She was our first dog together, and my first dog ever.
Numero Dos was an "accident." Went to a PetSmart during an adoption event and I knelt down to say hello to a crate full of puppies from one litter. One of them came to the side and licked my nose through the wire, and I wasn't able to leave without him. Fortunately my partner was on board with getting a second dog.
Biggest issue that they both have is that we don't trust dog parks and don't have family / friends with dogs, so our guys are somewhat dog reactive. They're not dog aggressive but they do really want to go say hello in the worst way when they see another dog.
I know that my dogs aren't what most people want. They weren't really what I thought I wanted. (My partner and I were both really hoping for more Shepherd and Pyrenees in them in terms of size, behavior, etc.). But I have no complaints whatsoever, they're part of the family.
Sadly, I thought (before I started looking at dog subs on Reddit) that most of the pit and pit mix hate had died down in the same way that the Rottweiler and Doberman and Shepherd hate from the 80s and 90s had. I was wrong, and it's sad to see. As an anthropologist, I'm trained to break down society and culture to look for connections, interacting factors, etc. And it's so clear to me that the "statistics" that people cite regularly on Reddit are at best misleading, and at worst just plain wrong. But I also know that there are plenty of other folks who have dogs like mine and love them dearly, and so I just ignore those people.
I just woke up with my two pups lying between my partner and me, taking up a fair amount of the bed (and covers) and resting their heads across my legs. Getting them was one of the best decisions I ever made.
We were told #1 was a boxer / Shepherd mix. #2 was supposedly Pyrenees / lab.
As is typical for my area, the mixes are more like Shepherd / pit / lab / staffie / golden for #1, and Pyrenees / pit / lab / Komondor (??) for #2.
Numero Uno came into the rescue as part of a litter from a (visibly) Shepherd mother who had been shot and had to have her right front leg amputated (and is apparently doing fine these days). We saw her on the rescue's page and called dibs right away. She was our first dog together, and my first dog ever.
Numero Dos was an "accident." Went to a PetSmart during an adoption event and I knelt down to say hello to a crate full of puppies from one litter. One of them came to the side and licked my nose through the wire, and I wasn't able to leave without him. Fortunately my partner was on board with getting a second dog.
Biggest issue that they both have is that we don't trust dog parks and don't have family / friends with dogs, so our guys are somewhat dog reactive. They're not dog aggressive but they do really want to go say hello in the worst way when they see another dog.
I know that my dogs aren't what most people want. They weren't really what I thought I wanted. (My partner and I were both really hoping for more Shepherd and Pyrenees in them in terms of size, behavior, etc.). But I have no complaints whatsoever, they're part of the family.
Sadly, I thought (before I started looking at dog subs on Reddit) that most of the pit and pit mix hate had died down in the same way that the Rottweiler and Doberman and Shepherd hate from the 80s and 90s had. I was wrong, and it's sad to see. As an anthropologist, I'm trained to break down society and culture to look for connections, interacting factors, etc. And it's so clear to me that the "statistics" that people cite regularly on Reddit are at best misleading, and at worst just plain wrong. But I also know that there are plenty of other folks who have dogs like mine and love them dearly, and so I just ignore those people.
I just woke up with my two pups lying between my partner and me, taking up a fair amount of the bed (and covers) and resting their heads across my legs. Getting them was one of the best decisions I ever made.
frenchgirl
New member
@amn I got my puppy from Fund the Fur, a rescue organization in Arkansas. She was a bottle baby - found very young and the people at the rescue fed her with a bottle and kept her in an incubator. I fell in love with her the first photo I saw! Not sure of her breed as the rescue had no idea who her mom or dad was, but based on looks and temperament we think she’s a terrier/lab mix. She looks a little like Wishbone but she has blue eyes 
. She can’t control herself when there are bunnies or squirrels running around!
The woman running the rescue is a saint
The adoption fee included spaying and transport up north (I am in MA.) When I picked her up she was so little and snuggly! And then she pooped on herself on the car ride home. I had to try and give her a bath the first day (disaster.)
We had a really rough road at the beginning as a first time puppy owner. But we got through it by the skin of our teeth and she is almost 2 years old now. We are working on some reactivity issues but I love her so much and she’s a member of our family! I feel so lucky to have rescued her and the thought that she could have been destroyed before she had a chance to get to us makes me cry.
I just wish that all states had better spay/neuter laws so there wouldn’t be so many poor little pups running around
. She can’t control herself when there are bunnies or squirrels running around!The woman running the rescue is a saint
The adoption fee included spaying and transport up north (I am in MA.) When I picked her up she was so little and snuggly! And then she pooped on herself on the car ride home. I had to try and give her a bath the first day (disaster.)
We had a really rough road at the beginning as a first time puppy owner. But we got through it by the skin of our teeth and she is almost 2 years old now. We are working on some reactivity issues but I love her so much and she’s a member of our family! I feel so lucky to have rescued her and the thought that she could have been destroyed before she had a chance to get to us makes me cry.
I just wish that all states had better spay/neuter laws so there wouldn’t be so many poor little pups running around
@frenchgirl I'm in Massachusetts too. Small world.
frenchgirl
New member
@amn I got my puppy from Fund the Fur, a rescue organization in Arkansas. She was a bottle baby - found very young and the people at the rescue fed her with a bottle and kept her in an incubator. I fell in love with her the first photo I saw! Not sure of her breed as the rescue had no idea who her mom or dad was, but based on looks and temperament we think she’s a terrier/lab mix. She looks a little like Wishbone but she has blue eyes . She can’t control herself when there are bunnies or squirrels running around!
The woman running the rescue is a saint
The adoption fee included spaying and transport up north (I am in MA.) When I picked her up she was so little and snuggly! And then she pooped on herself on the car ride home. I had to try and give her a bath the first day (disaster.)
We had a really rough road at the beginning as a first time puppy owner. But we got through it by the skin of our teeth and she is almost 2 years old now. We are working on some reactivity issues but I love her so much and she’s a member of our family! I feel so lucky to have rescued her and the thought that she could have been destroyed before she had a chance to get to us makes me cry.
I just wish that all states had better spay/neuter laws so there wouldn’t be so many poor little pups running around
. She can’t control herself when there are bunnies or squirrels running around!The woman running the rescue is a saint
The adoption fee included spaying and transport up north (I am in MA.) When I picked her up she was so little and snuggly! And then she pooped on herself on the car ride home. I had to try and give her a bath the first day (disaster.)
We had a really rough road at the beginning as a first time puppy owner. But we got through it by the skin of our teeth and she is almost 2 years old now. We are working on some reactivity issues but I love her so much and she’s a member of our family! I feel so lucky to have rescued her and the thought that she could have been destroyed before she had a chance to get to us makes me cry.
I just wish that all states had better spay/neuter laws so there wouldn’t be so many poor little pups running around
@amn Both my pups have been rescues.
My first, Emma, was an 8 month old pug when we got her. She was my best friend for 13 years until she passed in 2021. I can’t remember the adoption fees but I would say it was about $400 and was from a pug specific rescue, included all first your vaccinations and her spay. We had a home visit and fell in love with her. She was the most gentle dog I had ever known.
Our new pup, Chip, we got at two months old in late 2021. He is a Yorkie cross. His adoption fees were $450, but included all his first year vaccinations and his neuter. I was trying to hold out for a year before getting another, but through a friend of a friend, saw his photo, and it was love at first sight. He was the runt of the litter, and they were looking for someone to take him. He is a monkey and a goat!
My first, Emma, was an 8 month old pug when we got her. She was my best friend for 13 years until she passed in 2021. I can’t remember the adoption fees but I would say it was about $400 and was from a pug specific rescue, included all first your vaccinations and her spay. We had a home visit and fell in love with her. She was the most gentle dog I had ever known.
Our new pup, Chip, we got at two months old in late 2021. He is a Yorkie cross. His adoption fees were $450, but included all his first year vaccinations and his neuter. I was trying to hold out for a year before getting another, but through a friend of a friend, saw his photo, and it was love at first sight. He was the runt of the litter, and they were looking for someone to take him. He is a monkey and a goat!
imagebeastmarkbeast
New member
@amn My wife and I were looking for a dog for a while when we saw that our local shelter had a litter German shepherd mix puppies. 4 of which were solid white. We filled out the application on a Sunday and picked our pup out that week. A week later he came home with us a week later.
It was set up as a foster to adopt situation. We were able to take him home at around 8.5 weeks old and begin the journey of puppyhood. During the foster period the shelter took care of all of his shots, we just had to go there and he’d get whatever he needed. Rarely ever took more than 10 minutes. Once he was old enough he went back to be neutered. Dropped him off in the morning and when we went back to pick him up we signed the papers and paid the $212 adoption fee and he was officially ours.
He’s now just shy of 6 months and he’s great. He’s honestly the smartest dog I’ve ever interacted with. He picks up on commands so quickly. I do think coming from the shelter made crate training much simpler. He took to it with almost no fuss. The biggest challenge with him is reacting to other people and dogs when we go on walks but we’re making decent progress with it. Honestly he’s a pretty chill dog for a shepherd. We’re starting to see some signs of adolescence so wish us luck lol.
The whole experience has been a major learning experience and growth period for both of us. Both my wife and I grew up with goldens. I raised and trained several but that was over a decade ago. Neither of us have ever owned a German shepherd or knew much about the breed. We went from the beginning stages of planning to get a puppy to puppy is home in about a week and a half with the way things played out.
It was set up as a foster to adopt situation. We were able to take him home at around 8.5 weeks old and begin the journey of puppyhood. During the foster period the shelter took care of all of his shots, we just had to go there and he’d get whatever he needed. Rarely ever took more than 10 minutes. Once he was old enough he went back to be neutered. Dropped him off in the morning and when we went back to pick him up we signed the papers and paid the $212 adoption fee and he was officially ours.
He’s now just shy of 6 months and he’s great. He’s honestly the smartest dog I’ve ever interacted with. He picks up on commands so quickly. I do think coming from the shelter made crate training much simpler. He took to it with almost no fuss. The biggest challenge with him is reacting to other people and dogs when we go on walks but we’re making decent progress with it. Honestly he’s a pretty chill dog for a shepherd. We’re starting to see some signs of adolescence so wish us luck lol.
The whole experience has been a major learning experience and growth period for both of us. Both my wife and I grew up with goldens. I raised and trained several but that was over a decade ago. Neither of us have ever owned a German shepherd or knew much about the breed. We went from the beginning stages of planning to get a puppy to puppy is home in about a week and a half with the way things played out.
sarahdiane
New member
@amn I found a listing for free puppies on the Canadian version of Craigslist- they weren't sure of breed but they said could be husky corgi mix, and the puppies looked exactly like little corgis. I begged my husband and we drove 2 hours to go get her. She was 10 weeks, in the middle of town and she had been eating garbage and had worms and was still wagging her little tail. She's now almost 6 months old and still has short stubby legs haha. She's my perfect angel, and I'm so glad we took her away from where she was living.
@amn Hilariously, I did not want a cattle dog because it didn't fit my lifestyle/personality and my GSD-mix from a breed specific rescue ended up having just enough cattle dog in him to have a lot of their more obnoxious traits (I now see cattle dogs and love them cos they look like my boy... just a lot smaller). He's been... a lot more difficult than most, but I wouldn't trade him for the world.
@amn I am on my 3rd pup, lol. My goldendoodle I got from a great ehtical breeder at 8 weeks. She's super well socialized, and she was always super duper excited to go to daycare and was kind of mopey afterward, and I felt bad she didn't have a dog friend at home. She now has a bonded buddy.
When my Goldendoodle was 8 months, we got another, but this time a rescue pup. We both wfh and had put a lot of work into training, desensitization, and socializing her. She has also never really had an adolescent phase at all even now at 16 months
My friend was fostering this gorgeous 10 month old husky aussie sheperd mix. I met her at drill weekend cause she was getting her socialized some more as she was really skittish. She was returned to the shelter at 4 months old. The family had had her for 3 months. According to my friend, who was also fostering her before the family adopted her. She returned a different dog, Im like 99% sure they hit her (I moved too quick to grab a falling item and she flinched and rolled onto her belly, it hurt my heart to see that) and she came back absolutely terrified of the vacuum, which she wasn't before the family took her, according to my friend. Like the first time I turned the vacuum on after I adopted her, she pooped herself in fear.
Anyway, when I first met her at drill, she came up to me for belly rubs and is the most sweetest gentlest girl. We set up a play date, and they got on like a house on fire, we had a trial week, and at the end of the week, I said this is her home. To be honest, I knew within the first 2 days she was here to stay. Both are now over a year old, and last week, I adopted a very sweet 5 year old chihuahua. He was a well loved owner surrendered pet. I met him, and he met my pups, and it was love lol.
I'm done now, though. Three is more than enough, and all day is a party with my little buggers lol. They also have off switches, which is the front room couch. For some reason, anytime we are there, that is chill out/nap time no matter what time of the day it is, lol.
When my Goldendoodle was 8 months, we got another, but this time a rescue pup. We both wfh and had put a lot of work into training, desensitization, and socializing her. She has also never really had an adolescent phase at all even now at 16 months
My friend was fostering this gorgeous 10 month old husky aussie sheperd mix. I met her at drill weekend cause she was getting her socialized some more as she was really skittish. She was returned to the shelter at 4 months old. The family had had her for 3 months. According to my friend, who was also fostering her before the family adopted her. She returned a different dog, Im like 99% sure they hit her (I moved too quick to grab a falling item and she flinched and rolled onto her belly, it hurt my heart to see that) and she came back absolutely terrified of the vacuum, which she wasn't before the family took her, according to my friend. Like the first time I turned the vacuum on after I adopted her, she pooped herself in fear.
Anyway, when I first met her at drill, she came up to me for belly rubs and is the most sweetest gentlest girl. We set up a play date, and they got on like a house on fire, we had a trial week, and at the end of the week, I said this is her home. To be honest, I knew within the first 2 days she was here to stay. Both are now over a year old, and last week, I adopted a very sweet 5 year old chihuahua. He was a well loved owner surrendered pet. I met him, and he met my pups, and it was love lol.
I'm done now, though. Three is more than enough, and all day is a party with my little buggers lol. They also have off switches, which is the front room couch. For some reason, anytime we are there, that is chill out/nap time no matter what time of the day it is, lol.
@amn Seriously thought about a rescue dog but just couldn't find one that would suit a young family, my wife and i looked for a good 6 months but all the dogs we found were looking for homes without kids preferably.
In the end we decided to just buy a puppy, we may consider adopting a dog in few years time when the kids have grown up a bit.
In the end we decided to just buy a puppy, we may consider adopting a dog in few years time when the kids have grown up a bit.
@amn I work at a rescue and we had a mama dog get surrendered to us by a friend of an employee who took in the dog without any info on her and without running it by management first. We didn't know the dog was pregnant until our boss went to spay her. We welcome many unexpected litters at our facility so it wasn't surprising, but the sad part was that the dog wasn't even a year old yet. She got pregnant during her first heat.
Fast forward, she has the pups and none of them look anything like her or each other. She had many different sires while she was in heat, as she was apparently a stray. We don't know anything about what kind of dogs the sires were, but some of the pups looked like schnauzer crosses, a couple looked lab, and mine looked like a golden retriever. Here is a photo of him as a six-week old.
The adoption fee at my work at the time was only $75.00. That included Alfie to be neutered, fully vaccinated with age-appropriate vaccines, and microchipped.
Because I worked there, I got to visit him every shift and work with him on things like baths and socialization. Here is a photo of baby Alfie with our other rescue (also from my work) Brody.
Alfie and Brody are both tremendous joys to have. They are best friends and we couldn't imagine our lives without them!
**Edit to add: We recently did an Embark test on Alfie and found out he's 41% chihuahua, 24% poodle, 8% cocker spaniel, 6% pug, 5% Pomeranian, and 13% supermut, which means he carries a small amount of DNA from jack russel, pekingese, and yorkie.
Fast forward, she has the pups and none of them look anything like her or each other. She had many different sires while she was in heat, as she was apparently a stray. We don't know anything about what kind of dogs the sires were, but some of the pups looked like schnauzer crosses, a couple looked lab, and mine looked like a golden retriever. Here is a photo of him as a six-week old.
The adoption fee at my work at the time was only $75.00. That included Alfie to be neutered, fully vaccinated with age-appropriate vaccines, and microchipped.
Because I worked there, I got to visit him every shift and work with him on things like baths and socialization. Here is a photo of baby Alfie with our other rescue (also from my work) Brody.
Alfie and Brody are both tremendous joys to have. They are best friends and we couldn't imagine our lives without them!
**Edit to add: We recently did an Embark test on Alfie and found out he's 41% chihuahua, 24% poodle, 8% cocker spaniel, 6% pug, 5% Pomeranian, and 13% supermut, which means he carries a small amount of DNA from jack russel, pekingese, and yorkie.
imagebeastmarkbeast
New member
@amn All of my animals are from shelters and/or fosters working with shelters. Amazing animals, we always spent some time with them before adopting to make sure that they were a good fit. Don't get me wrong tho, I'd -love- a pure-bred Bernese mountain dog or a pure-bred Maine Coon, but I don't have that kind of money.
Pictures of our pups:
One is a GSD/Sharpei mix but looks and acts like GSD 10000%. Met her siblings at the foster and half the litter looked more like her and the other half were little wrinkle sharpie babies with her colors. When she gets sleepy her face wrinkles up real hard. Herds all day everyday, always looking to protect the house, especially herds her little sister. Becomes the opposite of a protect dog the second anything gets within 3 feet and then just hides behind one of us.
The other is a Lab/Pointer/ProbablyPit mix. Very Lab like. Lots of energy, lots of play. LOTS OF PLAY. Always carries something around in her mouth. No stranger danger, everyone is a friend, sounds are scary though.
Pictures of our pups:
One is a GSD/Sharpei mix but looks and acts like GSD 10000%. Met her siblings at the foster and half the litter looked more like her and the other half were little wrinkle sharpie babies with her colors. When she gets sleepy her face wrinkles up real hard. Herds all day everyday, always looking to protect the house, especially herds her little sister. Becomes the opposite of a protect dog the second anything gets within 3 feet and then just hides behind one of us.
The other is a Lab/Pointer/ProbablyPit mix. Very Lab like. Lots of energy, lots of play. LOTS OF PLAY. Always carries something around in her mouth. No stranger danger, everyone is a friend, sounds are scary though.
xsmbthu3hoa
New member
@amn I like big mutts and I cannot lie! Maggie is insanely cute, I love her eye patch!
My Spud is 2, I believe he is a staffy / shepherd mix. He was our first foster puppy and our first dog.
We got him from a small local rescue that is just awesome. It's run by an older couple out of their house, and a well organized network of volunteers. Super ethical and passionate people! They mainly rescue strays off the reserves. Their fees are insanely cheap - $500 CAD and it included his neuter, microchip, vaccines, a round of antibiotics for kennel cough, AND a pass to a puppy class with a choice of local trainers.
They rescued Spud's little mom while she was pregnant. She's only 25 lbs now that she's healthy weight. 3 of her pups turned out to be BIG (Spud is 80lbs, his brother is bigger), so they had to wean them early so she could better feed the 2 preemie runts (she was impregnated at the start and end of her heat cycle, so not all the pups came out fully cooked).
Here is his mom and her pups. He is the yellow one.
I picked him to foster because he was already hand shy and timid at 8 weeks old. I have lots of experience with fearful dogs, and we're childfree so didn't need a bombproof family dog. I really love timid/fearful dogs, he was perfect for us.
We've come a long way with his confidence, he's doing pretty great! He's such an easy dog, very gentle and biddable. He learns things so fast it felt like he came pre-trained. He loves dogs and he is fearless about agility obstacles. He will sprint up and down cliff faces and give me a heart attack while we're out camping.
We do have to be really gentle and use consent with handling him always. He is not forgiving at all when people break his trust. He'll always be on the cautious side, it takes a LOT of work to trust new humans and he remains suspicious for a long time. That isn't uncommon for rez mutts, as it's a great survival trait for strays. But he can calmly ignore humans, even strangers in the house (with management) as long as they're not trying to interact with him. Super proud of him all the time
Here is a video of him getting the 10 year old St Bernard mix we fostered to play
Here is him and a 10 week old foster puppy from the same rescue (This puppy we just had for a respite weekend, and he was an insane demon spawn but very very sweet)
Maggie is insanely cute, I love her eye patch!My Spud is 2, I believe he is a staffy / shepherd mix. He was our first foster puppy and our first dog.
We got him from a small local rescue that is just awesome. It's run by an older couple out of their house, and a well organized network of volunteers. Super ethical and passionate people! They mainly rescue strays off the reserves. Their fees are insanely cheap - $500 CAD and it included his neuter, microchip, vaccines, a round of antibiotics for kennel cough, AND a pass to a puppy class with a choice of local trainers.
They rescued Spud's little mom while she was pregnant. She's only 25 lbs now that she's healthy weight. 3 of her pups turned out to be BIG (Spud is 80lbs, his brother is bigger), so they had to wean them early so she could better feed the 2 preemie runts (she was impregnated at the start and end of her heat cycle, so not all the pups came out fully cooked).
Here is his mom and her pups. He is the yellow one.
I picked him to foster because he was already hand shy and timid at 8 weeks old. I have lots of experience with fearful dogs, and we're childfree so didn't need a bombproof family dog. I really love timid/fearful dogs, he was perfect for us.
We've come a long way with his confidence, he's doing pretty great! He's such an easy dog, very gentle and biddable. He learns things so fast it felt like he came pre-trained. He loves dogs and he is fearless about agility obstacles. He will sprint up and down cliff faces and give me a heart attack while we're out camping.
We do have to be really gentle and use consent with handling him always. He is not forgiving at all when people break his trust. He'll always be on the cautious side, it takes a LOT of work to trust new humans and he remains suspicious for a long time. That isn't uncommon for rez mutts, as it's a great survival trait for strays. But he can calmly ignore humans, even strangers in the house (with management) as long as they're not trying to interact with him. Super proud of him all the time
Here is a video of him getting the 10 year old St Bernard mix we fostered to play
Here is him and a 10 week old foster puppy from the same rescue (This puppy we just had for a respite weekend, and he was an insane demon spawn but very very sweet)
imagebeastmarkbeast
New member
@amn We adopted our boy in September, he and his litter had been dumped and were found roaming the streets, poor little guys. Small digression but why do that? Just take them to a shelter!
Anyhow, was just browsing the pet shelter website when I saw his photo and it was an instant feeling of yes, he’s the one.
Went to look at him the next day and found him to be lovely, although they weren’t sure what exactly he was. We guessed a collie mix of sorts which turned out to be true (collie, Australian shepherd and Great Pyrenees)
We really wanted him but asked to put a hold on him because things were moving fast. We could’ve taken him home that day but we suddenly got the jitters and were suddenly questioning should we do this? Can we handle him? So we ended up sleeping on it before making the plunge. Kinda regret that now as when I went to pick the dog up a week later he had had a growth spurt. That cute little pup now had bambi legs!
And dammit I forgot to bring a towel in the car, poor little guy was trembling with fear on the way home and peed a little on the seat. But I’ll always remember that moment. Him climbing all over the gearstick to get in my lap for reassurance. I stroked his head and once he calmed down I had this feeling of yeah, this is going to work, we’re going to be buddies.
That was 3 months ago and he’s still with us and getting better by the day, although in the first few weeks we really did question if we had made a mistake sometimes. The worst time being when he would get confused about his pee pads. He figured them out really quickly but sometimes he’d see a mat in the bathroom and go number two on it. Ok, we rationalised, we can see he’s learning so that’s something. Only he then turned around and began chowing down on it
But he got it eventually, don’t even use pads anymore as he would rather go outside.
He also gained something of a celebrity status at the apartment complex I live at. There would be residents I’ve never seen or spoken to saying ‘oh hey casper!’ When running into us and I’d be left thinking who the heck are you?
So yeah, that’s it, we’ve had some tough days but we love him and are happy we got him.
Anyhow, was just browsing the pet shelter website when I saw his photo and it was an instant feeling of yes, he’s the one.
Went to look at him the next day and found him to be lovely, although they weren’t sure what exactly he was. We guessed a collie mix of sorts which turned out to be true (collie, Australian shepherd and Great Pyrenees)
We really wanted him but asked to put a hold on him because things were moving fast. We could’ve taken him home that day but we suddenly got the jitters and were suddenly questioning should we do this? Can we handle him? So we ended up sleeping on it before making the plunge. Kinda regret that now as when I went to pick the dog up a week later he had had a growth spurt. That cute little pup now had bambi legs!
And dammit I forgot to bring a towel in the car, poor little guy was trembling with fear on the way home and peed a little on the seat. But I’ll always remember that moment. Him climbing all over the gearstick to get in my lap for reassurance. I stroked his head and once he calmed down I had this feeling of yeah, this is going to work, we’re going to be buddies.
That was 3 months ago and he’s still with us and getting better by the day, although in the first few weeks we really did question if we had made a mistake sometimes. The worst time being when he would get confused about his pee pads. He figured them out really quickly but sometimes he’d see a mat in the bathroom and go number two on it. Ok, we rationalised, we can see he’s learning so that’s something. Only he then turned around and began chowing down on it
But he got it eventually, don’t even use pads anymore as he would rather go outside. He also gained something of a celebrity status at the apartment complex I live at. There would be residents I’ve never seen or spoken to saying ‘oh hey casper!’ When running into us and I’d be left thinking who the heck are you?
So yeah, that’s it, we’ve had some tough days but we love him and are happy we got him.