Marble

I just realized it has been a whole year since that fateful day when I brought a sweet little sleeping spotty dog home from being spayed. Then the anesthesia wore off....... :o I've had Dresden a year today, and I have to thank you all for all your help, to be completely honest, I think I might have given up if it wern't for all your encouragement and very helpful advice :) Thank you!

[quote name='*marysmama*']Marble - I completely understand and agree with you. However I am married and so he gets to have a say too. While he likes the idea of rescuing, he doesn't want a "problem" dog. As many of us know sometimes you can explain something til you are blue in the face, and it doesn't make a difference. He is set in his opinion for now, maybe I can persuade him later. If I could find a jack puppy to rescue he would probably go for that. Besides the city pound I also know many people that are actively involved in Russell Rescue. I actually asked my husband if we could become a foster home, he was not amused. And I am just a sucker for a puppy, what can I say?[/quote] i completely understand :) i thought dresden was going to be a nice pointer mix, then 24 hours after i brought her home it was very very clear i was dealing with a totally different sort of dog then i thought i would be.......and posted pictures here and it was confirmed that she was an ACD mix :) she's turning out well but that's after having her for a year and staying on top of everything........

he sounds and looks like an awesome dog :) keep us updated...good luck to you and freebee

that is awesome :) congratulations :)

your girl is very pretty :)

gooey, RNP, courtnek, well put :) i enjoy reading what you all have to say.

just want to say up front i'm not trying to be obnoxious :) but i know you're in charlotte.... i adopted dresden from the pound up by the airport.....and every so often i go up there to visit all the dogs, the pit bulls in particular since most people won't pet them, and every time i go there i see a lot of small nice dogs.......usually there are several jack russels too......and they need help. not trying to guilt trip but they euthanize on average 1000-1500 animals every month. just a thought :) i do understand wanting to get a purebred dog from a breeder and wanting to know what you are getting into :)

i have to second what RNP said, my brothers dog is extremely well trained and he had a very easy time training her. also, i have a dobie mix and she and my bros dog ALWAYS want to be in your lap or leaning on your leg or lying behind you while your working on anything, they will become your shadow. i personally love it but it might get on some peoples nerves........ RNP your dogs are gorgous, i love black and tan dobies.........

i'm not an expert on either breed although i very much admire both, but you should also look into what kind of health problems go with each breed. i know a lot of thicker more massively built dogs (like rotties) have many more joint problems that more lightly built dogs (like dobies), just be sure you know what kind of problems to expect and what the pros and cons are of each breed. my brother has a red dobie, she spent her first year just with him, she met lots of people and went out with him all the time but she is very very much a one person dog. she tolerates other people, but she is very aloof with everyone but he and his new wife-who she also loves but not anywhere near as much as my brother. also you should look into the issue of ear clipping and decide what you would do about that if you got a dobie. i know some breeders have it all taken care of ahead of time but my brother had to take care of the whole process himself, including taking her to a vet for the procedure and keeping her ears bandaged and taped while they were healing. this is just my two cents, keep us updated and let us know what you decide :) good luck to you :)

you all are awesome, thank you so much for taking the time to help......you have given me a lot to go on and i really appreciate it. what is the best way to find a good trainer once i move? i for sure can't afford a private trainer and therefore would need a group class........i guess to vets offices? i will be taking all of your suggestions and will keep you all updated, i know there is hope for her, i just think like cassies dogs that she is somewhat of a special case and i need to watch all these things i'm not used to heing so careful about since i've always had labs. do you all think a halti would be a good idea for walking her where we will encounter a lot of other dogs and people? i was just reading the thread about haltis and was wondering if that would be a good place to start before going to a muzzle..........not that i would hesitate to use a muzzle if she was endangering anything...... she is also almost due for her yearly check up so i'll have the vet lady check her eyes then......thanks for the suggestion :) on another note, she is definitly a lot dobie. my brother brought his three year old red dobie female on our camping trip and not only do they look a LOT alike but they have many of the same mannerisms and funny looks and they even belly growl and bark the exact same way :) it was kind of eery....

[quote name='Rosebud']:lol: Besides it was good excuse to post pics of my babies. :angel:[/quote] and make us all jealous :)

you people with lots of dogs are funny, your descriptions of your crazies is great :) if i can ever get dresden straightened out and have a house with a fenced yard i'd like to adopt a couple more dogs. maybe some really slow ones that sleep alot :)

so you all would recommend a halti over the gentle leader? just curious :)

good grief :) i thought i was logged in, that was me again. thank you too courtnek, i appreciate all the encouragement. i am usually up to the challenge but i guess all the stress of moving has worn me down and i'm sure dresden is sensing that too........every so often she gets into one of these stages and freaks me out some, throws me off i guess :) i have owned i three labs and am used to them and know their tendencies but dresdens mix is a whole other story....a constant learning experience for me.

okay, here we go again. last weekend i left dresden with my parents for three days, then as soon as i got back i left again with lady and dresden to go camping for five days. she did fine with people in general but her disobedience was really bad. she would never down when i told her to and when i (and my mother once) reinforced it, she'd growl and refuse to do it. at one point she wanted to sit in my lap, so i made her sit first and then when i went to lift her up she snarled and growled at me........now i know camping was a new situation for her, with all the new smells and noises and having twenty plus people around (i had eight siblings there, plus their children and in-laws etc)...... the only thing i can figure that would have made her get this attitude was that she and lady were sleeping in my tent with me on the same level as me, i'd wake up to her growling and have to make her be quiet half the first few nights, and then when it was light out she'd try to stand on me to look out the windows. now you all know when i'm home she never goes through doorways before me, she never gets a treat without working for it, commands get reinforced, she sleeps in her crate etc etc etc do you all think this is serious or do you think it was just the new situation and sleeping at the same level as me and all that? could it be that her "instincts" are kicking in at 16 months and she's going to be an hard to control, always have to beon guard for the growling snarling kind of dog? i've already told you she's really obnoxious when she sees other dogs, she barks and growls and raises her hackles and acts like she is going to kill them........ i hate to admit it but it scares me some, not that she growls at me and snarls, i'm not afraid of her as a dog, i'm afraid that she'll get worse and that she'll never be trustworthy at all. if you all have any suggestions let me know :) thank you so much, sorry this is so long..................

wow, a new baby and two new dogs all at once? you have my respect :) she is a very pretty dog :)

ha ha, i just got back from a family reunion and read this..........this is hilarious, although i am truly sorry for the loss of your chairs :( what about wrought iron? they would not get too far with that :)

we'd definitly love some (TONS) of pictures :) lady is part american eskimo, they are gorgous dogs.

good for you for adopting :) and it sounds like you're being patient and doing a very good job with him, he sounds like such an awesome dog (and he is handsome too :)) i hope he continues to improve quickly, i'm impressed ( and jealous) that he learned sit that fast, sounds like a smartypants :)

i'm not an expert at all, but i've read that with large dogs, many breeders recommend adult food from the start or switching over early......apparently they are concerned that puppy foods are so rich (i had this experience with dresden) that they make puppies grow too fast and give them tons of excess energy because they are so loaded with carbohydrates.......also they have a theory that with large breed dogs that if they grow more slowly their joints will be much stronger and therefore a lot more healthy :) maybe some large breed people here will know more, obviously this would apply to zoey more than cody.

oh, and i had to use a spray bottle with dresden to teach her go lie down, i only had to spray her twice. it's her quickest-reaction-command now. last night she was in the bathroom (you have to go through a closet to get to this bathroom) digging in the trash can looking for goodies, i called her and she would not come but i knew she was in there being bad. so i snuck up on her and sprayed into the bathroom three times, (this is all in the dark mind you) i missed her all three times and never heard a peep........i called her again and no answer....so i turned on the light in the closet and no dresden, looked again and there she was hiding in the corner under the clothes with only her head sticking out and her ears all back.........it was hilarious on the one hand, but on the other hand she was so scared it really made me feel like a jerk........... moral of the story, each dog has different triggers for what is effective and it never needs to include pain or you inflicting abuse on them. i know my labs NEVER would have responded to a spray bottle but dresden does, so it's worth a try. with any discipline there is a fine line between using it for training and getting on a power trip, a lot of people need to be careful with this............like i said, inflicting pain is NOT necessary........

[quote name='Kiger']Yeah but you don't have a dog like Kato who practices selective hearing. I took him for a walk the other day, I look down and there is the collar laying on the ground still attached to the leash - about 2 feet away from the little dog who is now smiling at me. Uh-oh... I turned around and acted like I had something really cool that I wasn't about to share. Works every time. :)[/quote] this is what i do with lady AND dresden, it works for two dogs too, especially if you act goofy and run away saying you have treats and making 'MMMMMMm" noises........ :D :D :D

wow, you all just give your dog the whole egg and they just eat it?? i've heard of feeding raw eggs but the whole egg with shell concept is new to me :) not that that says much :)

AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! she's gorgous!!! those pictures are amazing........i'm so jealous.......how big/old is she now?

[color=darkblue]happy birthday bk![/color] so has wisdom and sense come with age ? :):) i can't wait till dresden turns two..........aug 20 i'll have had her a whole year, she's only 16 months though. are you doing something special for BK?