let's talk about dogs!

please do!

 

Not much of one, but I'm happy to tell if y'all wanna hear!

When I was 15 I fell down the stairs and busted up my ankle and my wrist - sprained them both really bad. (No, I literally fell down the stairs. This was my own clumsiness.) About a week after this happened, when I was still on pain meds, we were driving to do errands and outside a neighborhood someone was selling purebred puppies. Drugged up, I commented on how cute they were and how our dog at the time would love a playmate. When we finished the errands, we came back, and most of the puppies were sold. Two were left, and, still drugged but needing my next dose because my mom made me walk around and I could not have a cane or crutches (it was my right ankle and wrist so I couldn't have a cane or anything; I literally have no idea how I made it around, my memory is fuzzy), I started crying a little bit about the poor sad puppies left by themselves. My mom pulled over and we ended up buying the one who was snoozing. That was Charlie, my baby. He continued to be my baby until I left home, right after I turned 17.

When I made up with my mom I would come see him and he was still my baby - listened to me best and always wanted to sit on my lap. He loved our other dog a lot, but unfortunately, two days after I turned 21, she had to be put down. My mom then kept Charlie for another year, but he'd always been around people, and the house now just had him and my mom in it. He has separation anxiety and so when she got a job, he was just too much for her to handle. She told me either I could take him or she'd put him up for adoption, and the idea of that broke my heart. So I talked to boyfriend and roommates, and we took him. I've had him for a year now and he's my lovely darling boy, who still listens to me best but who adores my boyfriend beyond the telling. He's 9 in two weeks and he still acts like a puppy. I walk him and play with him every day and he has not the slightest indication of joint trouble, which is great for Bostons. He also always wants to be in the room you're in. It's very sweet.

edit: Also, he is my icon, because a) I'm a crazy dog person and b) I normally put a picture of my face as my social media icon and was at a loss as to what to put here, haha.

 

eeeeeee yay
okay first here is a blurry picture of my pupper

Spoiler: under cut because big

so her name is Hannah, she's a Bichon Frise, and she's a little on the big side--she's originally from a puppy mill and we think she's mixed with something else, though we aren't sure what. she's suuuuuuuuuper soft and fluffy and has a curly tail and she barks a lot, especially at squirrels. I read somewhere Bichons were squirrel-hunting dogs at one point, though they were originally bred to be lap dogs. Hannah's a little too big to fit in my lap these days, though that doesn't stop her from trying, and she'll invite herself into your lap whether you want her or not, but I don't mind. she's got anxiety and allergies and chews her feet when they itch, which is like always, so we have to spray her with a special spray to keep her from nomming her feetsies and give her anxiety medication, and she destroys pretty much every toy we give her, along with lots of other things in the house, but it's okay because she's cute. we finally found a toy she can't destroy, though--it's a hard rubber donut inside fabric, and she's had it for a few weeks now and it's still intact! she likes to eat stuffed animals and sleep at the end of people's beds, and she's constantly underfoot if you're cooking, and she loves veggies of all kinds and does not like dry food so we spoil her with wet food. she is one of the few dogs I've met who likes hugs, but she hates having her head touched. she's going to live twelve to fifteen years, since that's the life span of a Bichon. she loves people and parties but she gets really excited about them and jumps and nips, which can scare people, but she really just wants to play and doesn't mean any harm! she'd never actually bite unless really threatened. she loves being brushed and groomed, and she's got real hair, so she's hypoallergenic but has to be groomed once a month as a result. she's smart enough to open cupboards and to pick around the pill in her peanut butter, so we basically have to keep the food up high and stick the pill in chunks of wet food. she's not allowed outside unless she's on a lead, and one time she got away from me, ran up the street, and invaded someone's party. and the people thought she was just so cute and fed her, so now she thinks outside = food and will take any chance she gets to run away. and that's all I can think of about her!

 

Spoiler: my snoof

my pupper is gr8 she's a greyhound/beagle mix which means she has big floppy beagle ears but basically a greyhound body (albeit a bit smaller and chubbier than a standard greyhound). she's stressed out all the time and whines a lot for no known reason which is why we think her face went white so fast (she's 7/8 or so) but i think she's perfect anyway.

 

Dogs are excellent! I'm yet another sighthound enthusiast, as I see we have a couple others in this thread already. I want to adopt a retired racing greyhound as my next dog, once I live someplace where dogs are allowed/appropriate. Eventually possibly a borzoi or saluki mix, and possibly further down the line an INDog or Africanis, depending on how things go. I also like Dobermans, Belgian Malinois, Beaucerons, smooth collies, and are variety of other dogs (as well as just plain liking dogs, of course).

 

Popping in to agree that Belgian Malligators are gr8

 

god, talk about incredible fucking drive and energy- i had a friend who did schutzhund with hers, and after meeting one once while volunteering at a shelter (his name was rocky and i still have pictures!) i can definitively say that they are my very favorite dog breed to stare at from afar and never, ever have. 8P

 

I really really really want an Italian Greyhound (smol sighthound, all wire and silk) but my brain would never let me get a purebred puppy when it could rehome a Good Dog from a shelter. I'd love a regular former racing Greyhound, too, but I've heard they can be bad with anything approximately rabbit-shaped (including cats) and I couldn't bear just having one pet of snuggable size.

 

most adoption groups cat test their greys! so you can def get a greyhound that's chill w/ kitties w/ a lil bit of work, tho if i understand correctly their rxn to cats inside v outside can be different, even if it's the same cat.

(and idk if this helps your brain, but- get the dog that you want, that works with you. sometimes that means a dog from a shelter, sometimes that means a dog from a responsible breeder. you do the dog a disservice when you get them specifically because they're a shelter pup, esp when your needs do not necessarily fit the specs of whatever shelter pups you can find in your area. same w/ a doggo from a breeder! it's super subjective and, at the end of the day, you're not depriving a shelter dog of a home by providing one to a purebred, because a home that wants a purebred is not necessarily a home that'll accept a shelter dog for a variety of completely legitimate reasons. also, breed-specific rescues exist! so that's a thing too (8 )

 

I want a Goldichon or similarly-sized fluffy dog.

 

oh my god i just had to google them and they are absolutely presh!! so floofy

 

ye!!! I love them. and they supposedly have great temperaments :D and I could use a pupper in my life when I move out.