<p>Zooser, Over the break, I got reprimanded by D for not having new toys for the dogs. “Really, mom, you know they love to chew.”</p>
<p>Well that will show you, psychmom. After all, what else do you have to do?</p>
<p>You should have heard her disparaging tone.</p>
<p>Oh I can so imagine. Have you had “the talk” yet? About dog custody when she gets a place of her own permanently?</p>
<p>I used to have flat-coated retrievers. Those dogs are joy themselves. Everything is great in their world. Very active and loved the water. Now we have a field spaniel and he is one tough little guy. Loves the water and the snow. There are no brambles too brambly for him. I love him to pieces. He rides in the car beautifully, curled up into a little ball. Our cat has put up with both breeds of dog. The cat could cow the retriever but not the spaniel.</p>
<p>VH- my pup goes out the back door and then comes in the front door, or viceversa, even if I have left the door open for him. In the summer we often end up just leaving the doors open.</p>
<p>This pup is definitely an empty nester pup, he is so cossetted. My DD and her DH came by the other night, I looked over and the dog was on his bed in front of the fire with DD, her husband and my husband all on the floor snuggling and petting him. What a pampered pooch.</p>
<p>The one thing I don’t love about my dog is that he can’t be walked on a leash. He hates strangers so it’s not safe, but I love, love, love to walk a dog on a leash. I hope to have a dog to walk with someday. Preferably Duo the beagle.</p>
<p>Our new goof ball labradoodle puppy does something that none of our other dogs have ever done. She barks at people and animals on television. If the screen just has a menu, or lets say a landscape…no barking. But when other animals or people are on the screen and if they are talking or barking, then she gets vocal. Does anyone else experience this?</p>
<p>Oh I love this thread. Yay! </p>
<p>It made me feel much better to have someone else (Consolation?) mention their dog was their constant companion as they were alone much of the time. That is me. </p>
<p>Our first Lab puppy (a chocolate) came to us from an Ohio farmer; H traveled quite a bit and I did not like being alone, so he was a Christmas gift. He was 2 years old when our S was born; my MIL was worried about the dog by the baby, but I told her the dog was here first, if he doesn’t like the baby then the baby will have to go. That shut her up. He was a great dog; lived to be 14 1/2 with very few health problems. Protective and affectionate. </p>
<p>When he died, we got a second Lab (black) from a Virginia breeder. He was gorgeous, sweet, a real marshmallow. My absolute best friend. He had intermittent seizures his entire life that weren’t regular enough to require medication. We’d had him a few months and he ingested an athletic tube sock, which required that he spend Memorial Day weekend at the emergency clinic. We brought him home that Monday, planning on surgery at our regular vet on Tuesday. When he leaped out of the car, he ran to his “spot” and out came the sock. $1200 sock. He was diagnosed with lymphoma at nine years of age and died very quickly. It was by far the worst day of my life, worse than when my father died, because it happened so quickly and I wasn’t prepared for it. </p>
<p>And then came Sabadog! Sabadog is a yellow Lab who hails from Maryland via Texas. He is by far the smartest dog I’ve ever owned, smarter than I am for sure. We are (I mean I am) taking obedience classes right now. He thought his name was “Damnit Sabadog” for quite a while when he was taking toilet paper and extracting the center core from it. We’ve passed that stage now. He is spoiled rotten. He has tons of toys. His grandmother buys him Frosty Paws. We walk 6 miles a day. I am thinking of getting him a sister or brother. I can’t imagine him not being here. </p>
<p>We’ve also had hamsters, finches and a rabbit along the way. Our second lab and the rabbit were best friends (she was a house bunny who was free to roam). Sabadog would have eaten her.</p>
<p>musica…Sabadog does the same thing! He likes watching television and YouTube videos. His first mom made videos when they were puppies and he definitely recognizes her voice.</p>
<p>We rescued our first pet ever 2 years ago, a 4 year old corgi-beagle mix. His face can look totally corgi (ears up, eyes alert!) or totally beagle (ears down, head cocked, puppy dog eyes). I would LOVE to know his history. All we know is he came through the East Lansing pound which was perfect for us since H is a Spartan. 
He is chestnut in color. </p>
<p>I cannot imagine why this dog was in the pound. From day one, he has been freakishly well behaved and adaptable in our home. Never had an accident. Slept through the night from day one. Never has chewed a thing (funny, since we had never been dog owners we never even thought about not leaving shoes out - but he has never touched anything!). Rarely, very rarely barks at all - in fact, we weren’t sure for a while if he COULD bark. The only time we’ve ever heard him bark is if he is out on the deck and a stranger comes up on the deck - and still, most of the time he doesn’t bark. He obeys commands easily and communicates constantly with us even though he (of course) never says a word. My guess is that for some reason he was well trained but his family could not keep him. </p>
<p>He is spoiled in many ways but none of which are bad for his health. He gets walked 3 or 4 times a day for a total of at least 45 mins. We don’t give him table scraps in general, but on weekends when I prepare a big breakfast he gets “Sat/Sun morning breakfast” - a little bit of our eggs, banana or bacon after we have eaten. At night (he retires to his bed in the living room around 9pm each night) he gets “tucked in” with a blanket before I go to bed - I know he loves to be warm and cozy so why not? I throw a small blanket on him and he doesn’t emerge until the first of us comes down the stairs in the morning.</p>
<p>Really, I don’t know if we will ever have another pet after him. He has been one of the best things EVER for our family and I hope, we are for him. :)</p>
<p>I love hearing about all the rescues here. Our Lhasapoo Benji is a rescue and he is my muffin. He is so smart. We are unsure of what he was trained to do before he ended up with us. When you put his halter on he freezes. It is the funniest thing ever, even if you lift up his paw he just freezes like that until you say ok. When you put his coat on him…(because in California we are need our coats if it drops below 70.) .he will just stand there and not move until we say ok. My DD and I volunteer for a dog adoption group out here and it is so great to see dogs that have so much to give find happy homes! :)</p>
<p>BIL’s golden doodle watches TV. My SIL thinks it is because of the way the dog’s eyes are more toward the front. Funny dog.</p>
<p>Our dog is a 13+ year old Brittany. He is curled on the couch now, which we would not need if he were not here. He is going deaf and his night vision is poor as well. We do not have pet insurance.</p>
<p>Love my dog. Oh, and I love the lab next door and need to go let him out ( my job that was the kids’ job).</p>
<p>ZM- have you considered walking dogs at a local shelter? I used to do it my first few years on campus when I missed my baby terribly. Win-win for you and the pup waiting for his/her forever home :)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>:D</p>
<p>Fwiw, the EL shelters takes in dogs and cats that weren’t claimed after being put into shelter through PetSafe- a program for victims of DV who are trying to get their lives back together. PetSafe will hold a dog/cat for x amount of days without charge and turn it over to the survivor when they’re stable. However, often the survivor has to move in to apartments or the like which don’t allow pets so they have to give up their furry kids. Not saying that’s what happened but I know many well trained pups get put in there because of that.</p>
<p>That’s a great idea Romanigypsyeyes. Only downside is that you have to give the dog back, though, right? Not sure I could do that.</p>
<p>Fair enough, ZM. 
Maybe you could borrow a neighbor’s dog? Think you would be willing to give him/her back to a neighbor?</p>
<p>Ha, maybe. I had “adopted” a dog-like cat about two years ago. Loved that cat and I’m not a cat person. I still haven’t gotten over his disappearance.</p>
<p>My grandpuppy watches television. She barks and tries to find the back way into the television. Our female golden watches a little.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Ha! My old dog used to do that too. Half rott, half GSD. She wsa 120-some pounds. I’m glad she’s not alone in this since I’ve never seen another dog do it. </p>
<p>Never could watch Beethoven.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>My GSD was almost 2 when S was born. (I had gotten a puppy THE MINUTE my H started working locally, instead of in NYC where I also worked, so that he could come home and take him out at midday.) </p>
<p>Micah (the dog) seemed to visibly wonder why I had gone out and gotten this creature when we already had HIM. 
But, like all GSDs I have known, he was wonderful with children. He was mischievous though. When S started to crawl, Micah would reach out and very delicately take hold of the tiniest edge of the baby’s clothes in his teeth. Unable to make any progress, S would turn red in the face and start to roar. It was hilarious.</p>
<p>What’s a GSD?</p>