One of my dogs developed osteosarcoma..they suggested amputation.. I said, really? How do they respond? Vet said, they don't care. No stigma..they just keep eating and playing. No worries. I wish we could have no stigma..
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Looking for advice about a new dog
- Thread starter TheArchitect
- Start date
My general hope is that I can be half the person my dog is.
Thread Starter
TS
I don't want to steal Mia's thunder, but here's a quick update.
Gypsy was definitely Phil's pick, although I liked her, she wasn't automatically my soul mate dog, until she was home about a day. Now she's my dog, through and through. In fact, she's snuggled up next to me on the love seat as I type this.
View attachment 98190
On eating habits:
After we got her own dog food (from advice from Andy, Kevin and Bob in the Dog Nutrition thread) she started eating regularly and her digestive system settled down.
On walks:
We live one block away from a great trail system to walk or hike.
We started taking her on a routine walk on leash. We practiced stopping at corners and waiting to cross the street. On the third day we got to the trail head and let her off leash to see how she'd do. She got super excited about having more freedom to explore but stayed pretty close and came when we called. I tried a whistle but that didn't work. Calling her name does. Even when she encounters other dogs on the walk, she comes when we call. Still put her back on leash when we got back to the neighborhood.
Yesterday we let her start through the neighborhood off leash and she did pretty well but we had to reinforce stopping at the curb before crossing the street. (she forgets)
View attachment 98191
On other dogs:
While on walks, she greets other dogs very friendly, sniffs and wags her tail, then comes when we call her to keep following.
We've had the Minks bring their dogs over a few times. She started out snarly, like she wanted to protect her new home, but she figured it out and is playing pretty well with them, with the exception of protecting her "one" toy.
We're working on that.
Tennis balls: She didn't play with the tennis ball at all, but Mink's dogs love to chase the ball, so we've been playing with them. For the first time last night, she paid attention to the ball and got protective of it with Tule, but we reinforced sharing. Its everyone's ball.
She mastered coming in the dog door pretty quickly, but for some reason we can't get her to go out the dog door without us coaxing her. She'll learn.
She is a really good dog, and a wonderful addition to our home. Really, the only thing we need to work with her on is continuing to socialize with other dogs on her turf.
No thunder stolen. Congrats on stealing 'your' dog from Phil!
@TheArchitect congrats! I'm happy for you and Mia!
Andy Mink
Everyone loves spring skiing but not in January
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Cute pup! Congrats. But where's the challenge in a dog that doesn't shed?
You can change the name if you want to. Petfinder has an article about it.
How to Change Your New Dog’s Name | Petfinder
If you've adopted a dog or puppy with a name you don't like, these simple tips will show you how to teach your dog a new name within just a few days.www.petfinder.com
We thought about changing Gypsy's name but decided to let it be.
hahahah, you know the secret to a new dog in the home ???
Foster till your significant other finds their soft spot for the pooch.
Nevermind.... thought better of it.
Well, there is that, but I really was ready for a new pup in the house, and I liked her when we saw her at the shelter, but Phil knew she was the right one when I was still, hmmmmm, maybe.
I swear, she's glued to me as much as she can be. And I fell in love. She's pretty sweet.
@TheArchitect how's Mia doing on day 2?
Thread Starter
TS
My wife has allergies so we need a hypoallergenic dog. That's my excuse anyway.
She's similar, maybe a bit better. We're giving her as much time to hide undisturbed as possible
I'd like to thank you for starting this thread.
I imagine that some day it will be found by someone searching for tips on adopting a dog and find it useful.
We often say, When you're answering a question on Pugski, you're not just answering the persons who's asking, you're answering the 1000s of people who may find it on the web.
Thread Starter
TS
You're very welcome! It can be frustrating when someone starts a thread looking for advice and it just stops before you get the results so I do my best to 'finish' any thread I start.
Good luck with Gypsy!
I'm on Siberian numbers 8 and 9 at the moment.
The first three were all well researched pure bred Siberians from good breeders - the first two were brothers from show breeders, the third from a show/race/obedience breeder. The brothers "broke us in" as owners of Siberians. I'd had dogs all my life but never this breed. You might say my whole current house was designed because of them. We were both working at the time and lived in a town house and I can tell you that a Siberian under the age of three is NOT A GOOD FIT for this situation. I could write pages on their antics, but need to move along.
Due to an untimely demise of one of the brothers (dropped dead while playing), we replaced him with a dog from a different breeder, a girl this time, another pup. She was kept in line by her hero, one of the older brothers, the more stable and calm one. She worshipped him utterly, and when he died about 3-4 years older (same way), she went berserk (more stories) so we threw the dice and adopted a male through breed rescue, not for money reasons, but we NEEDED A DOG NOW.
He (dog 4) was a really loyal guy whose "god" was me. Unfortunately, his breeding sucked. Bad history with his prior owners, had been severely neglected. Bad hips, bad eyes, lots of health problems. Unlike the first two, he lived to a ripe old age, but he was increasingly tough to care for and it was a mercy when it was time. Because of our experiences with dog 3, we also increased the household to three dogs at one time so that if a dog died, they weren't alone.
Dog 5 was another GORGEOUS dog from the same breed rescue, and this time we didn't travel there and pick from a bunch, this was a look at a picture and a delivery in a park. I LOVED THIS DOG. He was Mister Personality. He thought he was a lapdog until his death and screamed bloody murder when his toe nails were cut. He'd been taken from his owners because not only did he kill all their chickens and their cats, but he'd been shot while chasing cows. He was extremely possessive about his food. I was the only one who could deal with him in this area and he scared me sometimes. He dropped dead the same way the first two had, while playing.
So naturally we had to replace him. We were out here in a "dog-designed" house in Montana by then. Double "airlock" exits on almost all doors (oops, missed that on the basement exit), heated kennel for when we're not home to prevent Siberian destruction, dog proof poo area, with coverage so the dogs can go in and out whenever they like but the mountain lions can't come in that way. 9 gauge chain link, six feet high. (Dog 3 showed us anything less strong than 9 is a joke). And so we picked up Dog 6, an escape artist par excellence (escaped from an 8 foot fence at doggy day care there) from Hamilton in a direct owner to owner adoption, bringing us to four dogs, what a zoo. She proved to be the healthiest, most mentally stable dog we'd ever had. She lived until 15.5 years old. She didn't stop trying to be an escape artist the first few years and we learned to line the fence line with large pavers and fill holes with boulders.
Dog 3 died while being operated on for a tumor on her liver. Not going to talk more about that, but it left a gap and we STUPIDLY adopted a "something" from a supposed animal control officer on the Flathead reservation. I look back and this was a case where my horror at this dog's condition made me make a major mistake. The animal (number 7 at this point) was filthy and being kept in a fenced area where they just threw the food on the ground. The claim was he'd been taken in a raid on a hoarder. I felt we could not leave him there. I now believe he was a coyote hybrid. When cleaned he just had the wrong head for a Sibe. After a few weeks, he also had both heart worm and lung worm, the last never seen in a dog in Montana. His heart was enlarged and we went through a succession of specialists, tests, medications, etc. over the next six months. $5000 later we had to put him down. He would collapse with just a few steps. Very pricey learning experience.
Which meant that when dog 8 arrived, from a televised neglect case in Washington (back with breed rescue again), we adopted her subject to extensive testing of her medical condition. She is still with us, but is a head case. Afraid of most people outside the family even after being with us 12 years. She's very sweet, but the only non-family male she has ever allowed to touch her is my daughter's current boyfriend. (Stamp of approval). At this point we were down again to three dogs, four was too many. And then it was two, and then she was alone. And she was just miserable without her last buddy. Moped for months.
And so we now have dog 9 as well. Once again, breed rescue. But this time we intentionally got an older dog, 8 years old. Because we feel that in the next 5 or 6 years we need to stop this big dog stuff. He's had 4 owners prior to this, but I'm in love again with this one like I was with dog 5. He's not been much of a buddy to dog 8 though. It's me he focuses on. After two years I think they've bonded slightly, but it's been a long two years. Another very possessive dog.
So, a range of dog personalities, and health outcomes. This all happened over about 25 years. We are pretty much experts on new dogs at this point and know all about introducing new dogs into packs, but hope to not have to do that anymore going forward. I like the concept of a small dog for old folks, but never the actual dogs themselves. I'm also not a fan of "dogs" in the abstract sense. I like particular dogs. I feel the same way about babies. Don't hand me yours.
The first three were all well researched pure bred Siberians from good breeders - the first two were brothers from show breeders, the third from a show/race/obedience breeder. The brothers "broke us in" as owners of Siberians. I'd had dogs all my life but never this breed. You might say my whole current house was designed because of them. We were both working at the time and lived in a town house and I can tell you that a Siberian under the age of three is NOT A GOOD FIT for this situation. I could write pages on their antics, but need to move along.
Due to an untimely demise of one of the brothers (dropped dead while playing), we replaced him with a dog from a different breeder, a girl this time, another pup. She was kept in line by her hero, one of the older brothers, the more stable and calm one. She worshipped him utterly, and when he died about 3-4 years older (same way), she went berserk (more stories) so we threw the dice and adopted a male through breed rescue, not for money reasons, but we NEEDED A DOG NOW.
He (dog 4) was a really loyal guy whose "god" was me. Unfortunately, his breeding sucked. Bad history with his prior owners, had been severely neglected. Bad hips, bad eyes, lots of health problems. Unlike the first two, he lived to a ripe old age, but he was increasingly tough to care for and it was a mercy when it was time. Because of our experiences with dog 3, we also increased the household to three dogs at one time so that if a dog died, they weren't alone.
Dog 5 was another GORGEOUS dog from the same breed rescue, and this time we didn't travel there and pick from a bunch, this was a look at a picture and a delivery in a park. I LOVED THIS DOG. He was Mister Personality. He thought he was a lapdog until his death and screamed bloody murder when his toe nails were cut. He'd been taken from his owners because not only did he kill all their chickens and their cats, but he'd been shot while chasing cows. He was extremely possessive about his food. I was the only one who could deal with him in this area and he scared me sometimes. He dropped dead the same way the first two had, while playing.
So naturally we had to replace him. We were out here in a "dog-designed" house in Montana by then. Double "airlock" exits on almost all doors (oops, missed that on the basement exit), heated kennel for when we're not home to prevent Siberian destruction, dog proof poo area, with coverage so the dogs can go in and out whenever they like but the mountain lions can't come in that way. 9 gauge chain link, six feet high. (Dog 3 showed us anything less strong than 9 is a joke). And so we picked up Dog 6, an escape artist par excellence (escaped from an 8 foot fence at doggy day care there) from Hamilton in a direct owner to owner adoption, bringing us to four dogs, what a zoo. She proved to be the healthiest, most mentally stable dog we'd ever had. She lived until 15.5 years old. She didn't stop trying to be an escape artist the first few years and we learned to line the fence line with large pavers and fill holes with boulders.
Dog 3 died while being operated on for a tumor on her liver. Not going to talk more about that, but it left a gap and we STUPIDLY adopted a "something" from a supposed animal control officer on the Flathead reservation. I look back and this was a case where my horror at this dog's condition made me make a major mistake. The animal (number 7 at this point) was filthy and being kept in a fenced area where they just threw the food on the ground. The claim was he'd been taken in a raid on a hoarder. I felt we could not leave him there. I now believe he was a coyote hybrid. When cleaned he just had the wrong head for a Sibe. After a few weeks, he also had both heart worm and lung worm, the last never seen in a dog in Montana. His heart was enlarged and we went through a succession of specialists, tests, medications, etc. over the next six months. $5000 later we had to put him down. He would collapse with just a few steps. Very pricey learning experience.
Which meant that when dog 8 arrived, from a televised neglect case in Washington (back with breed rescue again), we adopted her subject to extensive testing of her medical condition. She is still with us, but is a head case. Afraid of most people outside the family even after being with us 12 years. She's very sweet, but the only non-family male she has ever allowed to touch her is my daughter's current boyfriend. (Stamp of approval). At this point we were down again to three dogs, four was too many. And then it was two, and then she was alone. And she was just miserable without her last buddy. Moped for months.
And so we now have dog 9 as well. Once again, breed rescue. But this time we intentionally got an older dog, 8 years old. Because we feel that in the next 5 or 6 years we need to stop this big dog stuff. He's had 4 owners prior to this, but I'm in love again with this one like I was with dog 5. He's not been much of a buddy to dog 8 though. It's me he focuses on. After two years I think they've bonded slightly, but it's been a long two years. Another very possessive dog.
So, a range of dog personalities, and health outcomes. This all happened over about 25 years. We are pretty much experts on new dogs at this point and know all about introducing new dogs into packs, but hope to not have to do that anymore going forward. I like the concept of a small dog for old folks, but never the actual dogs themselves. I'm also not a fan of "dogs" in the abstract sense. I like particular dogs. I feel the same way about babies. Don't hand me yours.
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We had a husky once. I never knew they were such hunters! The German short haired pointer, a hunting dog used to chase squirrels all the time. Maybe caught one over the years and that probably because it fell out of the tree and was stunned.
The husky meanwhile, used to go out and drag back all sorts of creatures. One day it was a wood duck. Gorgeous bird, irridescent feathers around the head. There was a stamp at the time just like it. Here it was, dead.
The dog used to roam miles. Eventually, someone called and said if the dog kept coming back trying to attack his animals, he’d shoot it.
Oddest thing about that dog is she wouldn’t push open a door even if it was partially open. Would stand there and howl till you opened it.
@Sibhusky reading your saga of rescuing Siberians resonates with me.
The harsh reality is, you never know the whole story when you rescue. They tell you what they can, or what they want to tell you but you never know the whole story.
I've had a total of 6 dogs in my life with gaps in between. Three were beagle mix from a known mother/father. Great dogs for living in the country. One was a trained rabbit hunting dog. He was my childhood pet.
Two beagle mix were brother and sister. She was bright from day one, but he was a regular pain. He wouldn't house break, wouldn't come when called, dug up my garden, rolled in every disgusting thing you could imagine. She trained immediately, no house accidents, no digging of vegetables, no rolling in stuff, and came when called.
About 8 months after we got them, he ran out in the driveway to greet someone and got hit.
I was sad for a couple days until I realized how much easier life was with her (molly) alone.
After that was Otis, lab, rottweiler, boxer mix, whom I left with my wusband. Otis was a great dog and I cried when I left him behind but it was the right thing to do for him. He dropped dead while playing a couple years ago. They said heart attack, which isn't out of line for a 105 lb dog.
Everyone here knows @Ziggy, he was the official shop dog for Pugski and greeted every member of this site for the first three years until he passed over a year ago.
Now with Gypsy, we have a whole new thing going on.
This is where your stories resonate. We feel like the shelter wasn't 100%
As I posted in post #80, we spend a lot of time with the Minks and their dogs so we wanted to socialize her with them as soon as we could. The first night she was a bit snarly with Pepper, but it seemed to be quick and settled.
The second visit went along really well with the dogs playing well together, especially Tule and Gypsy, chasing each other around the yard, and Gypsy learning how to catch a ball and bring it back.
Yesterday we got a new dog toy because so many that were around were getting ratty looking, so we got out the new toy and she got protective of it, and snapped at Tule. Like, really snapped.
The only thing we can think to do is not have her toys out when Minks come over, at least for a little while.
But back to the part about what the shelter told us.
She's been great on walks, great with people, no accidents in the house, not chewing on anything she's not supposed to chew on. I really think these two things are going to shake out in time, but still, you just don't know what kind of baggage an 8 year old dog can have that someone didn't share.
The harsh reality is, you never know the whole story when you rescue. They tell you what they can, or what they want to tell you but you never know the whole story.
I've had a total of 6 dogs in my life with gaps in between. Three were beagle mix from a known mother/father. Great dogs for living in the country. One was a trained rabbit hunting dog. He was my childhood pet.
Two beagle mix were brother and sister. She was bright from day one, but he was a regular pain. He wouldn't house break, wouldn't come when called, dug up my garden, rolled in every disgusting thing you could imagine. She trained immediately, no house accidents, no digging of vegetables, no rolling in stuff, and came when called.
About 8 months after we got them, he ran out in the driveway to greet someone and got hit.
I was sad for a couple days until I realized how much easier life was with her (molly) alone.
After that was Otis, lab, rottweiler, boxer mix, whom I left with my wusband. Otis was a great dog and I cried when I left him behind but it was the right thing to do for him. He dropped dead while playing a couple years ago. They said heart attack, which isn't out of line for a 105 lb dog.
Everyone here knows @Ziggy, he was the official shop dog for Pugski and greeted every member of this site for the first three years until he passed over a year ago.
Now with Gypsy, we have a whole new thing going on.
This is where your stories resonate. We feel like the shelter wasn't 100%
As I posted in post #80, we spend a lot of time with the Minks and their dogs so we wanted to socialize her with them as soon as we could. The first night she was a bit snarly with Pepper, but it seemed to be quick and settled.
The second visit went along really well with the dogs playing well together, especially Tule and Gypsy, chasing each other around the yard, and Gypsy learning how to catch a ball and bring it back.
Yesterday we got a new dog toy because so many that were around were getting ratty looking, so we got out the new toy and she got protective of it, and snapped at Tule. Like, really snapped.
The only thing we can think to do is not have her toys out when Minks come over, at least for a little while.
But back to the part about what the shelter told us.
- She gets along all the other dogs with no problem(She's snapped at Pepper and Tule)
- She has no dietary concerns or restrictions (she's gotten sick twice)
She's been great on walks, great with people, no accidents in the house, not chewing on anything she's not supposed to chew on. I really think these two things are going to shake out in time, but still, you just don't know what kind of baggage an 8 year old dog can have that someone didn't share.
How long have you had her now? These kind of sound like stress reactions. I'm wondering if she just needs some time to settle down and if repeated, short duration, low stress exposure will help. Then again, some dogs are so stressed in a shelter environment that they never really get to know the dog's full personality... Current dog came from a sad backyard breeding situation and is terrified of everything. Flips out at strangers making eye contact or entering the house. I'm 100% convinced the rescue didn't know because we met her at a Petco adoption event and it'd be a huge liability risk if they had known. Behavior didn't turn up until 3 months in. She loooooves other dogs but also snapped at a family friend's dog over a toy the other week. A lot of dogs when they haven't had anything of their own ever get very possessive of things they like, particularly as newer rescues
My old dog, on the other hand, the shelter definitely underplayed how dog-aggressive she was. Couldn't even walk on the same side of the street as any other dogs.
She's only been home 10 days.How long have you had her now? These kind of sound like stress reactions. I'm wondering if she just needs some time to settle down and if repeated, short duration, low stress exposure will help. Then again, some dogs are so stressed in a shelter environment that they never really get to know the dog's full personality... Current dog came from a sad backyard breeding situation and is terrified of everything. Flips out at strangers making eye contact or entering the house. I'm 100% convinced the rescue didn't know because we met her at a Petco adoption event and it'd be a huge liability risk if they had known. Behavior didn't turn up until 3 months in. She loooooves other dogs but also snapped at a family friend's dog over a toy the other week. A lot of dogs when they haven't had anything of their own ever get very possessive of things they like, particularly as newer rescues
My old dog, on the other hand, the shelter definitely underplayed how dog-aggressive she was. Couldn't even walk on the same side of the street as any other dogs.
That's why we're giving her time and being patient, but we don't want to subject @Andy Mink's dogs to distress while she's setting in.
So we'll do it in small doses and without the new toys that she seems to be trying to protect.
She really does do well in every other aspect.
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I see soooo many people always insisting on their dogs adjusting immediately and not letting them be individuals with feelings and needs. This forum is a refreshing change. You guys are all great dog parents.
Andy Mink
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I still don't think she's near 8. Maybe 4 or 5? Her teeth look way too good for an 8 yo that probably didn't have a great situation.
Yeah, I'm kind of with you, but trying to give the benefit of the doubt.
When all this crazy covid stuff shakes out, maybe we can convince @bbinder to come for a visit and get an assessment.
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