Adopted two dogs yesterday

[DELETE-PLEASE]

My wife and I are in the midst of purchasing a house and it won't close until the end of the month. But we knew we wanted a dog. So I started going to different rescue groups to see what's out there. She (of course) fell in LOVE with this tiny puppy. No clue of it's breed. A basket of twelve puppies was dropped off at one of the rescue worker's houses and she never saw the mother or father, nor talked to the person dropping them off.

It's a freakin' cutie. And I personally wanted to adopt an older dog, and my FAVORITE breed is the flat-coated retriever, and I started looking into newfoundlands as they are supposedly WONDERFUL family dogs, just a bit drooly and large.... Lo and behold, the previous week they had JUST picked up from a kill shelter (the day it was going to be euthanized) a dog that seriously looks like a newfy mated with a black lab. So it's got the newfoundland hair, but the black lab size. And it's EXTREMELY friendly and walks well on a leash, and from what I saw in the kennel, looks like it LOVES water and loves to play.

So we told them our situation (house won't be ready for about three weeks) and they wholeheartedly agreed to hold onto the dogs if we adopted them that day. And the adoption fee was VERY reasonable. All shots and neuter (both are males) for 100 bucks each. I'm gonna throw the two foster families a little extra (bring them some dog food or something) as a thank you for fostering and for keeping these dogs till we can take them.

I can't WAIT to move into the new house and bring them home! Until then, I'm gonna start going by the foster families and visiting the dogs and start training the older one (basic sit/stay stuff).

Guess the breed! We have no clue!

Alexi

 

[Silver Penguin]

Love to hear happy news like that. You've found two friends for life and two lucky pups have found a loving home. Looking forward to seeing lots of photos in the future.

Our lives haven't been the same since our boys came to live here. The Shepherd/Rottweiler came from the pound and the Shepherd came from a family that he grew out of (at less than a year old). Sure you can live without a dog, but is it really LIVING?

 

[Patriot]

wow...very nice...the world needs more of those animal foster parents who are all wonderful, fantastic, upstanding pillars of society...

please continue to post pics and how it goes over time for those wonderful critters here... Members Pets Thread CLICKY

 

[twodogs]

Daddy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've waited so long.

 

[Neil San Diego]

Guess the breed! We have no clue!

Harbor seal? (sorry, but that a real cute little puppy face there)

Congrats! Hope everything works out for all parties involved.

Looks like we adopted a stray as well, a husky/white lab mix. He decided he liked our house and moved in last week. We have a steep learning curve to go through in the next few weeks, since neither one of us have had a dog in 30 years.

Again, congrats on the new friends!

 

[BikerGeek99]

Guess the breed! We have no clue!

Harbor seal?

SSHHH!!! Don't tell Odot!

Alexi - cute pups! Have you picked out names for 'em yet?

 

[DELETE-PLEASE]

Alexi - cute pups! Have you picked out names for 'em yet?

We're going with Wayne for the black dog, and Grayson for the small dog.

As in Bruce Wayne, and **** Grayson (Batman and Robin). We're figuring on Batman themed names for all our future pets. Just cause he's pretty damned cool.

Alexi

 

[YooperDick]

I have two dogs that were trained the same way my wife trained me; a lot of discipline and very little affection.

 

[cruppelt]

Very cool! Congratulations on your new family members, and good luck on getting into the new house ASAP.

 

[bikesniffer]

My wife and I are in the midst of purchasing a house and it won't close until the end of the month. But we knew we wanted a dog. So I started going to different rescue groups to see what's out there. She (of course) fell in LOVE with this tiny puppy. No clue of it's breed. A basket of twelve puppies was dropped off at one of the rescue worker's houses and she never saw the mother or father, nor talked to the person dropping them off.
It's a freakin' cutie. And I personally wanted to adopt an older dog, and my FAVORITE breed is the flat-coated retriever, and I started looking into newfoundlands as they are supposedly WONDERFUL family dogs, just a bit drooly and large.... Lo and behold, the previous week they had JUST picked up from a kill shelter (the day it was going to be euthanized) a dog that seriously looks like a newfy mated with a black lab. So it's got the newfoundland hair, but the black lab size. And it's EXTREMELY friendly and walks well on a leash, and from what I saw in the kennel, looks like it LOVES water and loves to play.

So we told them our situation (house won't be ready for about three weeks) and they wholeheartedly agreed to hold onto the dogs if we adopted them that day. And the adoption fee was VERY reasonable. All shots and neuter (both are males) for 100 bucks each. I'm gonna throw the two foster families a little extra (bring them some dog food or something) as a thank you for fostering and for keeping these dogs till we can take them.

I can't WAIT to move into the new house and bring them home! Until then, I'm gonna start going by the foster families and visiting the dogs and start training the older one (basic sit/stay stuff).

Guess the breed! We have no clue!

Alexi

Love ya for loving and adopting dogs from a shelter, it's the way to go...sooooo many in need of a loving home

congrats on your decision and many years of enjoying the companionship of these unconditionally loyal creatures

Alfredo

 

[wingshot]

As a dog rescuer myself, you are a top notched family. We need more people like you!!!

I have have rescued two thus far and they have been the best dogs; period. You will eventually find the issue that got them released from their previous family, but in my experience exercise, exercise, exercise and more exercise is the cure. Consistent rules and discipline with expectations of them being a contributing family member also helped.

 

[Silver Penguin]

As a dog rescuer myself, you are a top notched family. We need more people like you!!!
I have have rescued two thus far and they have been the best dogs; period. You will eventually find the issue that got them released from their previous family, but in my experience exercise, exercise, exercise and more exercise is the cure. Consistent rules and discipline with expectations of them being a contributing family member also helped.

Hey Wingshot (or anyone else out there), any suggestions to help me with walking my dogs? I have two rescued Shepherds. Either will walk fairly nicely alone but I want to get maximum mileage by walking them together. The big guy pulls, even with a haltie. Then the smaller dog (alpha) pulls too. I'll stop walking, step in front of them to show that I'm the pack leader but then they pull again. Some days, they will walk beautifully so I know they can do it.

 

[DELETE-PLEASE]

Good "ol Caesar (Dog Whisperer) recommends getting a walking stick and blocking them from walking out in front of you when they try to move forwards. A corrective noise (whatever noise or word you use) and blocking them. What I saw online was that if the dog walks out in front of you just immediately turn around (holding the leash VERY firmly) and walk the other direction. The dog gets a jerk on the leash that is amplified by him walking the other way, tries to figure out what the heck happens, then tries to catch up to you. If he tries to lead again, turn around again. I guess the eventuality is that the dog will learn that if he goes in FRONT of you he'll get ******, so he just follows you instead to NOT get ****** around.

Alexi

 

[ShawnKing]

I started looking into newfoundlands as they are supposedly WONDERFUL family dogs, just a bit drooly and large....

I had one as a kid. Saying a Newfie is "a bit drooly" is like saying Rossi is a "pretty good rider".

from what I saw in the kennel, looks like it LOVES water and loves to play.

Newfies and Labs *love* being in and playing in water!

Congrats on the new friends for life!

 

[wingshot]

Hey Wingshot (or anyone else out there), any suggestions to help me with walking my dogs? I have two rescued Shepherds.

I did same as Alexi did with a few things differently... I used my heal in their chest to push them behind me and I stop everytime they got in front of me and backed up making them turn around and heal again before we continued. Lastly, I use a hand signal for healing. Typically, a single finger against my leg to let them know where they are suppose to be.

 

[kolonial72]

The black one looks a little like the dog in the picture to the left. He was a lab/border collie mix. Weighed in at about 55 lbs.

Congrats on the home and the dogs.

 

[DELETE-PLEASE]

So we convinced a very frustrated worker at PetSmart to allow us to use the scale to weigh the black dog (Wayne). A whopping 75 pounds!!! And he doesn't want to jump in the truck so I have the pleasure of lifting him in and out of the back seat of our Dodge Ram. lol. Once he's in he's fine with it. Rides VERY well. Just lays down or sits down and relaxes. But I'm HOPING that he is at his full grown size. The vet that works with the rescue estimated him at about one year old, and I'm hoping that he's DONE! But those paws of his are MASSIVE!!! They STILL look goofily large on him.

The young one we're not sure of. One thing I'm worried about is it being a Pitbull mix. Personally, I have nothing against pitbulls, and know that they can be VERY sweet dogs if brought up and socialized correctly. But being in the military, there are restrictions on dog breeds that you can own if you live on base. And that means no Pits, Dobermans, Chow Chows, or Rottweilers. I don't live on base now, but if it turns out to be a VERY obvious pit mix, I would worry that I'll be sent somewhere where I HAVE to live on base (Korea or Japan mostly). But with the long hair, it looks like even if it is, it may have enough traits of another dog to effectively hide it. Here's hoping!

Lastly, we're thinking about a doggie DNA test for both of these dogs to truly find out what they are. Anyone have experience and was it worth it? More out of curiousity than a "need" to know. Thanks.

Alexi

 

[Silver Penguin]

That's interesting, that the military specify actual breeds rather than aggressively behaved dogs. I suppose a firm, objective rule is easier to enforce than a subjective opinion about whether a dog is aggressive or not. Of my two dogs, the one with Rottie in him is probably the least aggressive. Both of the boys are pretty mellow but the pure Shepherd is probably the more intimidating.

 

[bigtallguy]

There are lots of different methods to train dogs and people have their own reasons for using any one in particular, that being said, I have trained two dogs so far, a german shepard and a yellow lab, using the "Koehler method of dog training." This guy trained many of the dogs used in movies in the past, also military dogs, etc... It is more harsh (ie there is discipline involved if needed) than some other methods but the book explains the reasoning behind everything and it all makes sense. Both my dogs responded well to it and I haven't had any trouble with either since then.

Congrats on the dogs and good luck!