<p>My W is having a garage sale today and her dog- a Papillon (Pepper) is running back and forth from the front to side doors whining about not being glued to her favorite person in the world. In the meantime the worlds nicest dog- an English Setter (Rufus)- wanders the house- looking for the perfect place to hide a disgusting piece of rawhide. Between the two of them they could power an entire city. But only today because once Rufus finds the perfect place for the rawhide he will sleep for the next 3 days.</p>
<p>They can be annoying, but I can’t imagine living without one. Currently we have two.</p>
<p>We’ve owned Newfs since we’ve been married, on our third now. First was here pre-kids, dog was 2 when son was born, about 4 1/2 when d arrived 2 plus years later. As such, he was “our” (meaning mine and the wife’s) dog.
He was great with the kids; my son was attentive but indifferent, my daughter all over him. S was 9, D 6 when he passed.</p>
<p>Second Newf came within six months, kids were an intergral part of the acqusition process, including the naming. He was a real family dog; I called him a “Cling-on”, as he could not get enough of family contact. No favorites, he would drool on all of us equally. He passed after 9 years, son now 18, d 15.</p>
<p>Third Newf was found within three months. While wife and I had the final choice, D had her nose deep in the process. Rode home in her lap. Still in her lap now at 130 plus pounds. While she and I co-trained him, he is clearly her raison d’etre. He tolerates the rest of us, will lift his head when we come home, seek us out if we’re the only game in town. Other than that, we’re a source of food. Dog hears her car a mile away, greets her with true doggie devotion when she comes home; pines and is miserable when she leaves.
Generally makes the rest of us feel like chopped liver.</p>
<p>D was an animal care major, and schemed with my wife to override my castle mastery by adopting her training dog from school, a retired racing greyhound (he’s actually tan). He initially was a very loving addition, greeting/responding/obeying all of us equally, but each day picks up more of the Newf’s behavior, and is slowing relagating the rest of us to second class citizenship.</p>
<p>Just a matter of time before we become invisible.</p>
<p>When she leaves, and these guys cross the Rainbow Bridge, D will have no influence on selection, training or visitation rights on the next one. </p>
<p>I deal with the hair, poop, vet and food costs. I at least want the devotion.</p>
<p>Call me selfish. :D</p>
<p>Aw, violadad, I can just see all of that.</p>
<p>Every time I hear that 50’s song in my head, “Leader of the Pack,” instead of hearing a motorcycle rev up (“vrrrrm, vrrrrm, vrrrrRM!”) I think of alpha dogs.</p>
<p>I hope your dogs transfer allegience to you when they don’t have D to slobber over. Don’t teach them how to email her. Maybe you’ll be lucky and they’ll be fickle.</p>
<p>When our S=2 comes home for a visit to this empty nest + 1 Akita/shep mutt, the dog lets out a gut-wrenching howl and they go off together. I think the dog tells on us, how bad we’ve been while S’s been gone.</p>
<p>When I come home the dogs lift their heads and say its you and go back to sleep. When my W is out Pepper waits by the door and lets out screams of joy when she hears the garage door open. Rufus runs over to the door and silently waits with Pepper, his tail wagging 100 miles an hour.</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong both dogs like me and our D- it is just that they exist for my W. She is the center of their universe.</p>
<p>My S already talking online with his roommate for next year about who will bring the fridge and who will bring the microwave. I told him that our dog is wondering: Who’ll bring the pooch? The dog will be lost, at least for a while, and then he’ll figure that it’s just my H and me, and he’ll adjust.</p>
<p>Our lab is, hands down, the most well-adjusted member of our household.</p>
<p>She seems to like us, and is happy when we come home (though not in any way that might detract from her dignity). After sniffing and wagging, she rolls over to indicate that she will now accept a tummy rub. This attitude extends to the return of Her Boy for school vactions. There is nothing submissive about it. That is what we are here for: food and tummy rubs.</p>
<p>While my husband is by far the pups favorite, when she hears the kids lock their car doors on their arrival home, she barks like crazy and runs to the door. </p>
<p>Now, when my husband comes home, she is standing at the door with a ball in her mouth. Guess who gets the first kiss when he gets into the house; and no, it is not the one he has been married to for almost 30 years!!</p>
<p>When H comes home from work, the dog (min pin) greets him by jumping up and down like a yo-yo, wagging her whole body with joy! He gets a grunt from the teenager and mere hello from the spouse. Maybe the humans need to take a lesson from the pooch.</p>
<p>My son flew to NH with me last summer to pick out a puppy from a wonderful litter of Australian Shepherds - I was vacillating between two males (I have two females already) and he picked the red merle - “Mom, he has such a SWEET FACE!” I couldn’t argue with that, could I?</p>
<p>The dog is close to a year old now and is a great dog - wonderful to train, loves dogs and people, and is beautiful as well (I compete in musical freestyle, needed something flashy-looking). But when my son comes home for term breaks, the puppy goes CRAZY - leaping up and down for 15 minutes, licking all the skin off my son’s face - he knows who his REAL owner is! (I’m the poor cousin, for sure).</p>
<p>Wow, 3 Aussies? We have one and she is a handful (after owning several pretty easygoing mixed breeds, aka mutts). Not enough to herd around Boston. Finally calming down at 7 years old. </p>
<p>What the heck is musical freestyle? Skiing with a saxophone?</p>
<p>Our 11 year old Shih Tzu is my dog- I claim rights as the food/walk/toilet/bath/vet/car ride, etc provider all these years. But I’m not the one who spoiled the dog with table treats or a dog treat every time I come home from work. Son often ignored the dog so his returns aren’t greeted with much. Our dog often ignores me when I come and go, but my ego is refreshed when my H tells me how he pines for me when I’m gone on errands. It is amazing how we go out of our way to do things for the critter- such as getting up from the recliner to pick him up (small dogs find furniture a challenge to jump up on, although they usually can), and all sorts of things we don’t do for less helpless family members. A cute face and unconditional devotion will do that.</p>
<p>We have two Labradors…a yellow female who I’m very attached to (and vice versa), and a black male.</p>
<p>I wish I could take the yellow female (Izzy) with me to college. :(</p>
<p>THere is a story in my H’s family that when l of the 5 boys was found to be allergic to “Butch” the dog, the oldest brother lobbied to give away the allergic brother, not the dog. Both stayed but the 4 brothers wanted to rid themselves of the heartless older brother. He went to Cornell, finally. The allergic brother outgrew his condition and now owns 2 sleek greyhounds (ex-racers). Things work out.</p>
<p>I have 2 Cardigan Welsh Corgis- female (dominant- gives full meaning to the word “*****”) and male. They are MINE. The male herds my son (15), and only my son. Maybe he thinks of him as an overgrown calf?</p>
<p>We have a Pembroke Welsh Corgi. She is neurotic and spoiled, and we couldn’t love her any more. She is convinced that everyone who comes to the house is here to visit her. She’s full of personality, but does not like other dogs to approach the house. When we return home in the afternoon, we can spot her waiting for us with her nose poking through the plantation shutters on either side of the front door. If you’re familiar with corgis, you know they have very short legs. Her favorite sleeping position is on her back and all four legs face north. It’s pretty funny.</p>
<p>How delightful hearing all these dog tales!</p>
<p>Ours passed a year ago & we’ve been wavering on a new one (well, I’ve been wavering…).</p>
<p>I just keep thinking how much mental/physical energy I devoted to the dog (is she hot? (big, black, furry dog–didn’t like heat); is she scared? (fear of loud noises); etc.).</p>
<p>It’s nice to give some of that energy to my human family, now (lol). Plus, instead of an abstract pattern of yellow spots on our (big) front yard, it’s now so green that neighbors stop to comment (feel guilty for even thinking of this as a factor!!).</p>
<p>I told my local dog park friends (whom I still visit, even sans dog): getting a dog is not rational; if you did a 2 column pro/con assessment you’d never get one…it’s an emotional compulsion (like having a kid).</p>
<p>Still wavering.</p>
<p>We had a Bernese Mountain dog who was the undisputed queen of the house, the neighborhood, the universe. Never met a dog who didn’t submit to her. Was exceptional with small children, letting them manhandle her endlessly. Tolerated the rest of us with dignity.
We now have a yellow lab who is, to put it bluntly, extremely good-looking and dumb as a bag of rocks. Also scared of everything – ducks, the dishwasher door falling on his head, etc.
I recently adopted a mutt from an animal shelter that my Ds volunteered at for all of two minutes or so – just long enough for me to acquire another dog. This dog is a genetic disaster – his rib cage is bigger than his head and his tiny behind – someone at some point broke one of his back legs and it never healed properly – he is quite the drama king and cries whenever I am not home. LOVES me completely. Bosses the lab around unmercifully. Oh, has sinus problems, too – sneezes and snorts constantly, snores, etc. And I of course love him best.</p>
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<p>watch out – they can read</p>
<p>dbwes-same with my Yellow Lab, but I love her the best. 
She will be walking and bash her head into a small table, shake it off for a second or two, then just keep walking.</p>
<p>She also (and I can NOT figure this out for the life of me) wags her tail in a circle, and her whole body wags with it! I’ve never seen a dog do that before.</p>
<p>I’m so attached to this dog…we brought her home from the breeder in my lap, and I pretty much raised her (not to mention I was about 10 when we got her, so I’ve pretty much grown up with her).</p>
<p>LOL, p3t – and LOL HisGrace about the bashing into the table – I’ve seen that as well!</p>