Pups and Dogs

Yup...
...a 10 year old Dachshund named SLIDER! He was a present we gave our son for his 10th birthday. With son being an only child...Slider is like a 2nd son...but a total "mama's boy."

We have Ernie a Beagle. And his favorite thing to do is run wild on the baseball field. Ernie only has one eye now. He got hit by a pick up truck a couple of months ago and lost one of his eyes. So now he is really a spoiled boy. And since my youngest son left for school he gets all of my wifes attention. He is a great friend and we love him very much.

We have granddog who spends spends half of his life here, so we consider him our dog as well as daughters (he is here now while she is away).

Ranger is a mixed breed (lab and who knows what else) and the sweetest, most well behaved dog you have ever met (I ain't kidding). He was adopted by my daughter and was very instrumental in helping her recover from a very bad breakup many years ago. He lost his baby brother Sergeant (bull mastif) from complications due to seperation when they were seperated from her. Some say he died of a broken heart. It cost us a fortune to get Ranger back here to FL.

We love Ranger but we love our cat too!

Just like any other kid, he's missing his momma.

We have a Corgi. She is very smart and loves people. She is definitely too much of a licker. Someone said that Corgi's are supposed to be good watch dogs but she's the biggest coward I've ever seen.

Other than the hair I would recommend Corgi's for a house dog. Everytime we are gone for any extended period of time I miss her very much.

I want to let our group continue this. Lets just say I have something to say about what a pup brings to a family.

We have two both males a Boston Terrier Mix 7years old and a white boxer named Cash who is 3yrs old.

My husband says they live better than he does. lol

Irish Setter in NJ and black lab that stays with Junior in Winston-Salem. Junior and the dogs are enjoying the holidays together at home.

I request you read this link before reading the remainder of my post.

http://pugjourney.blogspot.com/2008/12/chapter-1.html


Lucy came into our lives after discussing with my oldest daughter that her pup can't be left alone while she was in college studying to be an RN and working so many hours. She agreed, and little Lucy moved in with us 2 years ago.

Lucy immediately attached to me two years ago as a one year old pup. Go figure?? I mean, she was my Puppy.

Didn't matter who took care of the immediate needs, Lucy always settled in with me.

During the middle of 2007, my Company was bought out and I was left holding the bag as an aging hipster. Lucy gave unconditional support and love. This Pup had it all and kept me sane through various struggles. Talk about being followed around!

About a week before Christmas, my 3 year old Lucy started to have seizures, many gran mals in a short period of time. After the 2nd one in the middle of the night, I drove her to an all night Vet because that is what pup people do. She seizured again, and they filled her with valium and we went home.

Little Lucy had another seizure that early morning in front of my kids while we were taking her to our regular Vet. Naturally, I did what I do best, search the web and try to determine how a perfectly healthy Pug pup can go from an active healthy dog to a mess in such a short time.

After 7 grand mal seizures in 12 hours, I felt in my heart this pup was dealt a bad card. They call it PDE, or Pug dog encepahalitis. Only one Vet, Dr. Greer has tried to solve it. You can Google her.

Our Vet used the usual Phenol treatment for seizures to try and regulate them. It worked for a brief period, but this devil inside her was relentless. When she came home, she started seizuring again. After a 30 hour seizure free boost, we brought her home again, and in one hour, started a series a petit mals that led into a coma, and on the Saturday before Xmas, Lucy passed after 5 days of fighting, in her favorite position, on her belly, head between her front paws on a chair in our living room.

We allowed her to remain there for 6 hours as we all cuddled her and started to grieve. Our Lucy had personality. Our young puppy was gone.

My daughter, who posted her grief is really struggling, as I am. I wrapped her up in a blanket and kept her safe, and my baseballer dug a spot for her in the backyard. Lucy hung around in our garage for 2 days before we determined she would be creamated. My teenage daughter, up until Lucy was delivered to her cremation kept going out to sneak peeks at her puppy.

I know grief from losing a parent. I remind myself that overall we are blessed. I just wanted to say that families with dogs have them become a part of their Fams. Lucy was the best pet any family could have.

I grieve not for me. I am sad because she had a blast with us. We had more pleasure making her happy.

Still cryin...........for her

I understand, many, many years ago when our family lost our dog, (also after a gran mal siezure which left him incapaciated and had to be put to sleep) I couldn't replace him with any animal, until my daughter brought home a 4 week old kitten in 1995. Recently we learned that our cat (we thought he got sick from eating bad food) most likely has a cancerous tumor, too old for an operation, loss of weight, 6 pounds in a few months the doctor told us this july it wouldn't be long. It is now December and my little old man is still hanging in there.
I posted the story about my daughter losing her puppy a few years ago. We have a webpage dedicated to him, she still has not gotten over the loss.

OLDSLUGGER,

That is very sad. I'm sorry for your loss.

I've lost friends before and it hurts.

We have a 2 year old boxer, aptly named Rocky, at the house. Extremely loyal but also very stubborn. He'll listen to your command, but only for about 10 seconds. LOVES to play, rarely makes a sound. Don't leave him alone though, he's eaten about half of our christmas cookies! He's adorable and is by far the most athletic dog I have ever seen.

Why am I not surprised at these replies so far.

We've got an 8 year old bichon frise named Rivo. What a great dog! And Coach May - ours lost an eye as well - when he was two years old, I took him up to the school yard with my son and he ran around while I pitched some BP.

Rivo was running around, and happened to be right around my feet when my son hit a hard shot that hit Rivo squarely in the eye. It was awful. I heard the crunch, and he started squealing in pain.

It was the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, and it took us awhile to find a vet that was open, the poor guy screaming in pain as we drove around looking. Horrible.

His eye is gone, but he is fully healed otherwise and is just a great dog.

Since I was the closest to him when it happened, and immediately grabbed him to comfort him when the ball hit him, I'm sure he thinks I did it to him. He steered a wide berth from me for quite awhile!

I just signed on to read after seeing the movie "Marley and Me"and was thinking about asking if anyone ever had a dog they really loved and I found this thread - weird. If you are a dog lover it's a must see. Not as good as the book, but still very good. BTW We have a lab.

They are a part of your family. They provide friendship , comfort and so much joy to your life. I have Ernie , Beau who is a 130 lb golden lab , and two cats. My special cat is Lilly.

When my son was a freshman in hs my wife came up to the field one Saturday as we were taking bp on the field. I heard a scream from behind the backstop and had to stop and find out what was going on. My wife was down the hill behind the backstop and said "Kenny come here quick!" I ran behind the backstop and down the hill and what do I see? My wife is bending over in the weeds and there are two little kittens that had just been born , maybe a couple of days old. You could hardly tell what they were they were so young. I said "Honey , no!" "No way we are going to take them. There is no way they are going to survive anyway." My wife starts crying and picks them up and takes them to the vet. The vet tells her they are not going to make it they are too young to survive. Well my wife refuses to give up. She takes them home and makes them a little bed and feeds with them with a med dropper. Two days later the boy "Felix dies." She cried all day. The other one "Lilly hung on." The days went by and Lilly kept growing and kept getting stronger. We went on vacation and Rhonda took Lilly with us. Everywhere we went she took Lilly with us. She kept her in her purse. Well that five years ago and Lilly is still with us.

I feel your pain Slugger. I understand your loss and how you are feeling.

We have a german shepherd named kaila. She is six. She was one year old when my mom and dad died 58 days apart. Shortly after ,she became pregnant. She didnt look pregnant but was real snappy with our other dog. I took her to the vet to confirm the pregnancy. She only had 2 pups. They were born Easter evening after a full day with family. My brother and his family were going to take one of the pups as they had just lost theirs right after our dad passed. As she went into labor she delivered a beautiful little girl pup that I named Sasha. Then her labor became difficult and it took several hours for the boy to come. He was a sable and he was limp as a wrag. She licked him and licked him to no avail. I scremaed for my husband and son to help. My dog was freaking and I was afraid she would step on the girl. I took the boy and gave him mouth to mouth and suctioned his nose and mouth out. I told my son to continue to bring warm towels as I rubbed him. I was determined not to lose the little guy. After several minutes he spitted and spurted and took in a breath. We named him Rory which meant fierce Irish warrior (my dad was Irish) I had both pups for 8 weeks. they were sweet but I had a special bond with Rory. First he was born 5 months after losing my parents. So he went home with my brohers family, he was an absolute boy dog, Every time I went to visit he knew me and would just cuddle and sing to me. We had a real love for one another, About ten months later I was at the emergency room with my daughter when my brother called. Rory had dropped dead at my sister in laws feet. I was devastated as they were. Did I save him just to have him be taken. But as time went on we came to believe that he was sent to us as a healing from the loss of my parents, he was here a short time but was so loved. I still miss Rory. I helped my brother and his wife pay and pick out a little girl german shepherd who they named Maya she is about 3 and she is a sweet heart. Dogs are really a mans best friend. I love my dog kaila and every night after my mom had died she began to jump up and sleep with me. I was grieving so hard. She slept with me for about a year. She is now back down on the floor. She knew I was sad. They have extreme sensitivities to the humans around them. I read the book Marley and me since its named after me LOL. I am waiting to see the movie.

OldSlugger,

A very touching blog, and I am guessing that most "dog people" understand. Growing up, my family always had a dog. About 2 years after we were married, my husband and I bought our first house and were able to get our first dog...Elwood (named from the Blues Brothers movie).

Elwood was a yellow lab, a hunting dog, with an insulated dog house in the garage to keep him warm in our Minnesota winters. Hahaha, he never spent a night in the doghouse since he was sleeping on our bed! A year or so later he had a "little brother" - the non-furry, two-legged kind, and a couple years later, another non-furry brother. But Elwood was still our baby.

The summer when Elwood was about 10 yrs old, we sold our house and moved directly across the street. Elwood was quite confused and when we let him outside, he would walk across the street to our old house, and take a nap in the shade under our old deck. But he finally adjusted to our new home.

A while later Elwood was really showing his years (11 yrs old) but seemed to pep up a little when he acquired a new baby brother, another yellow lab named Halsey, after Halsey Hall. What a cute little ball of fur!

Fast forward a few months, with my husband and son out of town with the travel hockey team. Suddenly old Elwood was falling down, unable to stand, and we knew the end was near. I had to be brave and take him in to the vet alone, where the news was bad. A tumor was encroaching on his brain, and there was nothing they could do for him.

I ended up sitting on the floor of the treatment room with my dear Elwood, stroking his head and crying, telling him what a good dog he was and how much I loved him, how much we all loved him, before they gave him the medication that would end his pain but take away my big, furry, slobbery, shedding baby. I looked up for just a second and saw that all the vet techs in the room were crying as they went about their jobs. Finally I said goodbye.

I went home to an empty house, empty except for little furry brother Halsey, just a few months old. He came running up to me, bouncing with happiness that I was home, and I ... could barely stand to look at him, because my Elwood was gone. I cried and told him to go away! Of course, within a few days little Halsey was a great comfort to all of us.

It's almost 12 years later. Our Halsey became the best hunting dog my hubby has ever had, and of course a full-fledged member of our family. He is a real "mama's boy" around the house, though he also loves to hunt. He is showing his years now, with aching joints and suspicious lumps. We know he won't be with us for a lot longer, and this thread has really touched me. I'm tearing up as I type this. These furry family members sure slobber and pant their way into our hearts.

Julie

We have one of those Chinese Shi-Shu. Humps everything.

We have a male (albeit extremely gender-confused) Maltese who urinates from a handstand position, thus requiring much in the way of frequent bathing. But he's very sweet and he loves us all very much.

os
very sorry for your loss,never easy losing a freind.


we have a 14 yr yellow lab.went to work with me every day for 12 yrs. he's retired from the job,but still peppy from time to time.

We have Jaybird the Jack Russell (my buddy), Oreo a black and white Feist (the old dog), and we're "dog setting" Bevy, our son's pit bull/Yellow lab mix (pure energy).

Great thread....

OS, my condolences. Must be very, very hard -- especially at this time of year.

Our pup arrived in our lives this August. We had told our daughter for years that we could not get a dog until her brother headed off to college. Before that, it would have been unfair to the dog to spend so much time alone while we were at BB games.

Tucker just about did me in the first month, while I was trying to house-train him, but since then he has endeared himself in incredible ways. He has been a part of our family for only 4 short months, but already I cannot imagine life without him -- and I know we all will be devastated on the day we lose him (which hopefully is a loooooong time from now).

Btw, he is a Cavachon -- mix of Bichon Frise and King Charles Cavalier Spaniel. 15 pounds, white and reddish-brown fluff-ball, adorable face, cuddly and affectionate, does not shed. Couldn't ask for a better dog!

My condolences Slugger. The unconditional love of pets reminds me of younger children. All of there actions and reactions are instinctive and not tainted by biases, ego or adjendas. I think that is what makes us fall in love with them.

We currently have two cats and bunny. Not a rabbit, a bunny, my wife reminds me. One cat is my sons best friend by far. They are inseperable. The bunny we found wandering in our back yard and my wife took in.
After numerous trips to the vet, over a thousand dollars, and miscarriages within the first month, 4 years later this bunny chases the cats around and has more tunnels and toys than any 4 year old.

I had a dog years ago and love talking about him to this day. When the grief subsides you will have many memories that will continue to bring you joy.

I was looking to get a Pug puppy for my teenage daughter.

Are these seizures a common occurence for this breed? That scared me and saddened me at the same time.

We have Mia, the "mutant" dog. She prefers to **** indoors.

Got her from my wife's sister, I threatened her with a whole litter of kittens in return. Her husband is allergic to cats.

quote:

Originally posted by YoungGunDad:
I was looking to get a Pug puppy for my teenage daughter.

Are these seizures a common occurence for this breed? That scared me and saddened me at the same time.

Unfortunately they can be, but a Pug is one of those breeds that are special. The research I did when ours became ill was extensive.

If you decide to get one, the experts say follow the papers back with the breeder as they are trying to eliminate, or minimize breeding with Pugs that have a genetic tie to PDE.

They also say that of all Pugs who suffer seizures, the majority do not have PDE and meds can control or eliminate seizures.

A Pug is the type dog that requires human contact unlike our 14 year old Golden Retriever who lays around enjoying his old age.

OS - your post brought chills and tears for me. I am sorry for your and your family's loss.

We have two dogs. Pepper who will be 15 next month is a springer mix. She's the sweetest thing in the world. We adopted her from the pound when she was a year old. Other than the fact she always liked to run like the wind if she got out an open door and she had a fetish for barbie arms and legs - she was a perfect dog. She's not very spirited anymore in her old age and suffers from some arthritis and hearing loss. When I lose her, it will be felt very deeply.

Our other dog is Magic. He'll be 13 in a few months. Magic is a lab mix and appears to be in failing health and I wonder if he'll actually leave us before Pepper. Magic is and always has been purely my daughter's dog. They belonged to each other from day one! I named Magic thus because we stopped at a pet store one day after church and I told my kids I must be under some sort of spell to allow them to have a second dog.

I wonder rather frequently what I will do when they pass on, as I know will be sometime in the near future. Our pets do possess a place in our hearts that is very special to us all.

Again, OS, my sympathy for the loss of Lucy.

Fungo - Love that last pic!

quote:

Originally posted by lafmom:
Fungo - Love that last pic!

Wasn't he on Frasier?

Funny thing. We are friends with the owners of Bil-Jac dog food. Their facilty is around the corner from us. They feed the Hollywood dogs.

OS8, Sorry for your loss.

I new I was in trouble when my future wife, HS sweetheart.
Brought a puppy home to here dad and family.
No Problem, great they have a dog.
Then not even a year or so later the Dog has puppy's.
They keep one.
Then maybe 6 months later.
My future wife and HS sweetheart, goes and finds a Saint Bernard
puppy and bestowed that upon her father.
And sure enough, they had a New puppy.

Anyway they were great dogs.
And we've had a dog in our house ever since.
After we were Married, We found a Half Bassett, half Husky mix.
Shadapaw, He was a great dog.
He could eat a whole Ham off the Table in less then 10 seconds.
Then came Beethoven, Bay for short.
What a dog, This is the Dog my son grew up with.
And I miss seeing them Wrestling around on the floor.
Now we have Harley the Mini Pincher and his buddy, Buddy??
Harley was brought home in Jan of 2005 as a pup.
And Buddy was a Lost dog that just showed up at the door one day.
There great buds and fight over the bones.
Its a vicious circle watching them trade bones back and forth teasing each other.
Anyway Dogs are Great companions, and I love them so.

EH

My wife is a dog lover, my kids are also, I always said if she brought a dog home I would leave. No ifs, ands, or, buts, I was gone if a dog was in the house.

I like dogs, grew up with them, and consider them mans best friend. The problem I had is I watched my mom take care of all OUR pets, while us kids enjoyed the benefits. As I got older, I figured that was not right. So my attitude began.

Fast forward to 4 years ago. The day before xmas and in comes a 8 week old multi-poo with the wife and daughters. I went straight to the bedroom, not to come out until the dog was gone. Two weeks later I was so hungry, I lost. New rules, they take her out, clean up the messes, and whatever else happened with the dog. Two nights later, 2am, I woke up for a drink and stepped in a puddle of pee. I woke up the wife and 2 daughters to clean it up. That went on for a month, everyone got up.

Fast forward 3 years. Guess who my best friend is.

.

Let me guess.

I'm not worthy of the "quick-picker-upper"

Sorry for your loss. That is the trouble with dogs -- they become a true part of the family and even when they live relatively long periods, they just are not around long enough. It is a truly tough, tough time.

Our dog Kody is the half Malamute half golden retriever on the right. He came from Alaska and specializes at jumping any fence under 4 1/2 feet and digging under all other fences. He is very athletic, but only a 4 tool dog as he won't retrieve.


Here's Kody and his buddy Duke. Duke looks like a cow. Duke is half hound and half Great Pyrenees.
They like to stick together, but Duke is 130 pounds and can't jump anything or sneak under the fence. Duke is your classic 1 tool dog.

Wow, Kody looks almost like our ranger. I did see I made an error, he's a retriever mix too (not lab), but wasn't sure what other half he was.

Ranger doesn't jump fences but retrieves, we could put them together to add up to a 5 tooler?

Thats funny, my dog can field ground balls as well as a mlb, she can run fast and sometimes catch the ball in the air.Foot work is excellent, quick and explosive. Her problem is once she gets the ball she wont drop it for a long time so everyone would run on her.She instead circles you with the ball to the point of frustration.

Great thread!

I'm sorry Old Slugger for your loss - I do understand.

How strange is this - We had two dogs - different breeds - one an Australian shephard and one a yellow lab that both had seizures. We controlled them with medicine. The Australian Shepherd had the worst seizures that required more and more medication to control them. She was so smart that we couldn't hide the medication in food anymore and she would not take the medication anymore. She died at about 4 years of age a couple of years ago.

I wish some Pet food company or someone would do some major study on the high rate of seizures in dogs - very common. We've checked our environment, dog food, etc. Dogs came from good breeders. ?????

We lost the yellow lab this summer to other health concerns - not the seizures. We made it two weeks until we got a new yellow lab puppy. Her name is "Trip" for the third yellow lab of this family.

We saw "Marley and Me" yesterday and my husband and I just cried and cried at the end. Just leave with the last ten minutes to go - It's just too tough!!

This newest yellow lab to our family is absolutely awesome - maybe third time is the charm! We absolutely watch her every moment or she is in her kennel so no damage!

Since my oldest son is at college and my husband no longer has anyone to play catch with - Trip has taken over that role! She will retrieve the ball for hours!!

I am concerned when I read in the paper today that there are record lab adoptions now after this movie. Labs are not a breed for someone who is not ready for some work the first year.

Curveball07,
Good point about the adoptions. Labs are high drive energetic dogs and require execise atention etc. As I mentioned prior we have a german shephers, the vet I take my dog to said many shepherds are nervous and high strung. We got lucky and have a nice tempered dog, BUT we exercise her every day, and more than once. If we didnt let her get that energy out I think she wouldnt be as good of a dog. High drive, high energy and shes 6.