Lets Go Back To The Begining

[MsKatie]

These stories are great

Our first 2 dogs we got when my OH and I moved into our first place together - we went down to the RSPCA together and looked at this big cage full of puppies (probably about 3 - 6 months old) I had always had a soft spot for the colour of Blue Heelers and there was a gorgeous girl there - she was so beautiful - I asked them to have a look at her and as I hugged her I was lost - I had met Jess - I looked around to see OH patting this incredibly cute little balck dog (A staffy x - although I had no idea then) - the choices of name - Eric or Clapton - needless to say he was called Clapton - we took both of them home that day and OH spent the afternoon rivetting new tin on the bottom of the gate so they couldn't get out *L*

They were terrors in their time - ate a whole water bed - several plastic clams - and every apricot that fell from our tree but they were such characters - we walked miles every morning with my mum and her beagle.

When they were about 5 I had the idea that another dog woulod be a great idea - as it would keep one dog company while the other went to Obedience classes - so I talked OH into it and we welcomed Bonnie - a Kelpie X - into our lives - she was 12 months old - undesexed (not for long though) and just the most beautifully natured girl - so loving and gentle.

We lost Jess at 11 - and Clapton and Bonnie were in their twilight years when Rosie - the pup from the pet shop - came inot our lives - my Dad had passed away and my Mum had sent all of the kids money as a kind of inheritance so when I saw this little thing with huuuge ears asleep in the glass cage I just melted - we actuallly walked past and then - on the way back - we went in and - when we left - we were the owners of an 8 week old kelpie pup - the other two were not too sure about it - neither was OH when he got up to go to night shift - his first comment "What the hell is that?"

Clapton was given his wings soon after that at the age of 16 - and we were once again a 2 dog household

And then - into our lives came Earl - our first pure bred dog - and a bloodhound at that - OH had always wanted a bloodhound and when I started making enquiries I met our breeder - and when she said she had 2 litters due and would we be interested in a pup - well - of course we said yes.

He stayed with her till he was 12 weeks old and we picked him up at the airport - he was a bit bigger than we thought he would be - he sulked all the way home but - as he settled in he has become the biggest, sookiest boy - Bonnie left us a short while ago - and now - with Earl and Rosie - our hypo, energetic little kelpie - we have a very busy house.

[Simply Grand]

I don't have any great stories about meeting my dogs, but I just wanted to say that you have beautiful, happy dogs and this is a nice positive thread :D

Thank you thats a lovely thing to say ! You might not think you have a wonderful story but im sure it is. Id love to hear how you met your dogs or cats or whatever creatures are in your life.

Ok, my German Shephard was a shy, scared, skinny little girl who was 5 weeks old, she was the only pup, backyard breeder, but I fell in love with her. She ended up living to nearly 16 years old and was a really wonderful dog and I still miss her a lot....I'll never forget the day I met her

I haven't got to the end of the thread yet so will comment again, but that's absolutely a great story! Who knows where she would have ended up if not for you and she obviously had a long life of being loved

[W Sibs]

awww... i love the stories and pics!!

Charlie and I were meant to be... he came into my life when I needed him the most. I was looking for either a Cavalier puppy or a Shih Tzu puppy, and my friend mention that she knew someone who had a male cav x shih tzu and should go meet it. He came home with me that day (he was 8 weeks when I met him.. the owner and I went to the vet that day to get him vac, microchipped and everything). He is my everything.

First night home

Emmy.. well, I just got her on Sunday!! The boyfriend and I decided we wanted to get a Japanese Spitz.. the only other small breed dog that I would consider owning. We were going with another breeder but she the first litter she had didn't work out... the boyfriend was feeling down about it and started to browse on DOL (to my shock and horror) and came across another breeder in VIC. Talked me into calling the breeder about a female JS she had. I called and the breeder and I just clicked, we kept talking and the more she told me about Emmy.. the more I liked. The BF and I drove down to VIC, we met Emmy and she was everything we hoped for and more. I am completely in love with her... she has added more happiness and joy into my family already.

On the way home to Sydney

[furballs]

I don't have any great stories about meeting my dogs, but I just wanted to say that you have beautiful, happy dogs and this is a nice positive thread :D

Thank you thats a lovely thing to say ! You might not think you have a wonderful story but im sure it is. Id love to hear how you met your dogs or cats or whatever creatures are in your life.

Ok, my German Shephard was a shy, scared, skinny little girl who was 5 weeks old, she was the only pup, backyard breeder, but I fell in love with her. She ended up living to nearly 16 years old and was a really wonderful dog and I still miss her a lot....I'll never forget the day I met her

I haven't got to the end of the thread yet so will comment again, but that's absolutely a great story! Who knows where she would have ended up if not for you and she obviously had a long life of being loved

Thank you

[Simply Grand]

I loooooove this thread. What great memories to bring back! And what absolutely gorgeous puppies and dogs everyone has

Here is the photo where I first saw Saxon, even though I didn't know it was him:

Saxon is the one on top of his brother on the left. At the time I hadn't made any choice, and all the puppies were available but I just knew that he was my puppy . When I went to meet them at 2.5 weeks, it just so happened that I had the best connection with the puppy I was first drawn to in the photos (Saxon). Here he is when I first met him - and knew he was meant to be mine:

I brought him home at 6.5 weeks, which I now know is too young, but it worked ok, he could have done with the extra time with his family to learn manners better, but all in all it has turned out great. I do think he is VERY attached to me because he was so young when I became his mum/pack leader, but he is also a happy, confident and clever little boy, and those total baby days were so precious :D

This is the day after he came home...

I really like that there are so many stories where the dogs have chosen their owners, even better than the other way round!

[Sharna3]

Can I say, I love this thread :-)

My first love, Bastian, came via a breeder brother-in-law. He rang and said, when can you come over, I have 8kgs of black love for you... and so I got 'my' first dog, my beloved Rottweiler, Bastian. My fondest puppy memory is of him being soooo full his belly swished against the ground as he walked, though looking back, I think he probably had worms :-)

Our Sibe, Jazz, is more of a story... my OH had always wanted a sibe or a malamute, then he saw a rescue ad for a female sibe and went to see her.... 10mths old and skittish as - turns out she'd already been through three homes, after only 10 months!!! Her last owners had no fences and were shocked when she ran away ... then decided she was 'too much work' and took her to the vet, giving them the euthanasia fee. Who does that??? Anyway the vet advertised so my OH went to visit... I rang to see how he was going, when can I come and see her, and his reply - "uh, well, she's in the car with me..." She was a lot of work in the beginning but worth every second now!

Our newest addition, Harley, came along to help ease Jazz's and my grief at the loss of Bastian. We decided we wanted a Mastiff and so went looking ... we did NOT realise how adorable this pup would be and how quickly he would enslave us. My first memory - when we viewed him was at 4.5weeks and my OH was holding him and Harley just kept snuggling against Chris as if to say "you are my home" .... how can you NOT love that!

Love dogs, love this thread. Love all the stories :-)

[Simply Grand]

I love the stories of bonding with a baby, and I've had most of my pets since they were babies, but I think the amazing stories of coming across the special resuces/adoptions/fosters are almost even more special. To have these creatures who have been through so much show trust and happiness is so amazing. For me it's my old adopted puddy cat - I love the puppy and the other cat just as much - but it's such a different feeling to provide a happy home to someone who may not have otherwise had a chance at it.

Absolutely nothing wrong with giving a baby of any species a good home. but good on anyone who takes on an animal who has had a difficult start, and accepts all that comes with that

[RubyStar]

I had longed for a little yellow Labrador girl for as long as I can remember. Growing up I wasn't allowed one, but the day finally came where I was in the position to get one

My little Ruby at 3 weeks old:

6 weeks old:

8 weeks old and first day home meeting our Maltese, Chloe:

9 weeks old and proud of herself because she taught herself how to use the doggy door:

6 months old, first trip to the river, the little devil found mud first :D :

At a year old:

My beautiful girl now, at 3 years old My dog.

Edited April 27, 2010 by RubyStar

[newfsie]

We had our previous rescue newf PTS, because he had his third stroke and it was time...................I just thought i should let newf rescue know as we have always kept contact

They sent me this sad face and said she was unable to be placed, because she was unpredictable and people/dog aggressive

We were not emotionally ready for another dog, but knowing her plight we went to Sydney and brought her home........the first six month were a struggle, but she sent me on a new path of searching for answers. And me and her just clicked from day one. She has always trusted me and never reacted aggressively to me.

She has turned into my heart dog, a joy to own, a very special dog

The faces of Annabelle

[Spot.]

After our first dal pup died, life was crap without him. We were recommended a breeder and sent off an email. The bitch had been mated the day I sent the email. It was a long wait I can tell you

I had the name Mia picked out for months in advance When the breeder posted pics on their website I fell in love with the girl with the spot on her nose....and breeder had named her Miah I had a feeling that she would be mine and the breeder allocated her to me and she was :D

She arrived via airplane one week after I had finished high school and the rest is history :D

First day home

Mia today

Edited April 27, 2010 by spotty

[16Paws]

It's funny how things turn out. OH and I decided we were getting a pup as soon as we had our own place (we wanted 2 dogs but would only get one puppy first). The running joke used to be that we were more excited about getting a dog then we were about buying a house (it was true actually :D ).

Choosing a breed took us about 6 months. I had grown up with Rottweilers and Border Collies but didn't feel either of those breeds would be suitable for us. We spoke to lots of people about their own dogs and their friends dogs and "Oh I saw an x dog at the park on the weeked - you should look into those" became a pretty common greeting at work for me

We eventaully agreed on a Labrador. The decision of whether to buy from a breeder or rescue was a very difficult one for me. I really wanted to rescue but I had bad experiences with a rescue dog in the past which only ended in heart ache.

So, started the search for a breeder, unfortunately I hadn't discovered DOL back then so I had to rely on my gut feeling and google. Buying from a breeder was a whole new world for me and OH. We were a little ... perplexed by many of the processes (what do you mean we pay $1000 and don't even get to choose which one we take home?!) We finally chose a breeder and after much discussion with her, our names were added to the waiting list for a litter due xmas 09. A couple of months later, we were contacted by the breeder, the litter had been cancelled, there was a family issue and breeding was on hold until further notice. By this stage I knew we had little chance of finding a breeder with litters due around the time we were hoping who still had 'vacancies' available :D

Time to start the search all over again. I can't remember now how we came accross it, but we stumbled accross the web site of a breeder we hadn't found the first time around. On the front page was a notice saying "We have one yellow labrador puppy available. 8 week old female". It was about 4 months earlier than we'd planned but we decided to contact the breeder and have a chat. That chat turned into a 2 hour drive to visit them. She was the last left of the litter. We had a good long talk with the breeder, she spent half of the conversation alseep on my lap and the other half asleep on OH's lap. There was 3 of us in the car on the way home.

Late last year/early this year we started considering adding a second dog. We knew we wanted to wait untl little miss was 12-18months old. During this time, I often felt guilty that we had purchased instead of adopting. My OH was aware of the experiences I'd had with a rescue dog so he was not overly keen on rescuing for that reason. So we talked to the breeder again about upcoming litters and she was more than happy to have us added to the list for a future litter. One day at the start of this year, I was browsing through a few pet rescue sites (a weird habbit I have even when I'm not looking for animals to bring home) when a face jumped out of the page and stole my heart from right under my nose! I realised it was just a photo but there was just something about this dog that was screaming at me (in a nice way ).

I was on lunch break at work at the time so I sent the link to OH and gave him a call. Conversation went something like "Oh my gosh, did you look at that link I sent you? Look at the link! Scroll down to 'Pop'. Seriously, isn't he beautiful." Keep in mind we had no plans to get another dog at this stage. So what's the logical thing to do, close down the site and go back to work. Sure. Stupid brain! What did I do, found the contact us page, called the shelther and enquired about the beautiful boy I'd just seen. Another email to OH "Babe, I called the shelter, he's still available". oops naughty me. Against better judgment, we both left work there and then. Went home, grabbed little miss then drove the 1.5hours to the shelter before closing time. We knew a dog like that would be gone by the weekend and I knew I just had to have him.

When we arrived at the Shelter, I immediately asked about him. My heart sank when the staff said "Oh another couple were just looking at him, I'll have to see if he's still available". Surely we hadn't skipped out on work and driven all this way for nothing? We hadn't. He was still available and we went straight out to meet him. First by ourselves and then in the 'meet and greet' pen with our pup. I almost cried when I saw them together. Youl would have thought they were long lost family. That sold us. We went home with 4 in car.

We still have moments where we think "hmm we really should have waited until she was older, had more training, etc" but they are so happy together that we don't regret our decision. Our little lab is 1 year old next month, we've given our adopted Golden the same birthday, he'll be ... well let's guess 4.

Edited April 27, 2010 by 16Paws

[MadWoofter]

Wonderful thread

After I got my own house (and put up fencing) I started the search through petrescue and other rescue sites. I was only ever going to get a pound pooch. I'd been looking for a few months, and while it was heartbreaking seeing all the unloved hairies, none of them really stood out to me. I eventually went to the RSPCA website and saw Tess' photo and just knew she was the one.

Raced out there the next day and met her and it was love at first site. She came from country NSW, shipped down to Sydney (they knew they'd never rehome her where she was), and had been there for three months. She came home with me the week later and is my heart dog.

Fleming is mine through default

I was fostering and Fleming was my third or fourth foster. He was a wreck - physically & emotionally. He had a very badly damaged hind leg which we ended up amputating, he was underweight, and had bits out of him everywhere. It took 12 months to get even a flash of personality out of him, and during this time there was not one call or email from anyone interested in meeting him. The rescue group I was with unfortunately closed down, so I signed the paperwork and Fleming officially became mine. Now nearly 3 years later he is a bundle of joy & personality, a happy boy who loves everyone and is an absolute delight. I'm so glad no-one wanted him

[kinsella]

Humphrey's litter was planned for two years. When his dad died, it became even more important to me. First photo is Humphrey at one week old and the second two are at eight weeks.

[HeavyPaws]

Humphrey's litter was planned for two years. When his dad died, it became even more important to me. First photo is Humphrey at one week old and the second two are at eight weeks.

I can't even express how much I want your Wolfie. So, so beautiful

[Dust Angel]

Humphrey's litter was planned for two years. When his dad died, it became even more important to me. First photo is Humphrey at one week old and the second two are at eight weeks.

I can't even express how much I want your Wolfie. So, so beautiful

X2

Im loving theses stories BTW! Thanks for sharing everyone! ;)

[Dame Aussie]

I first saw a pcture of Lili on her breeders website. That weekend OH and I drove over 4 hours to pick her up

We walked into the breeders yard and there was a puppy pen full of baby Aussies , I think there were 8 left....we walked over and had a play with them all, we wanted a female and there was two left, the breeder had a home for one but gave us the choice of which one we wanted. I watched them for a while and Lili just stood out, she was sooo gorgeous....20 minutes later we were back in the car with a fluffy puppy

I met Mosley when he was surrendered at the shelter I worked at. I was in the reception area when his owner handed him over. I gave him a cuddle and went out and told everyone he was mine. He was neutered the next day and we picked him up the day after. I can still remember seeing him sitting at the front of his pen after his operation howling his wee heart out

Though all was good when he met Lili, they played for about 16 hours straight ;)

[Diva]

Oh my, those 2 eight week old photos of Humphrey are gorgeous!

[mutt lover]

11 years ago I lost my beautiful little girl "Bonnie" who was a silky terrier x from a dog attack So say I was a basket case was an understatement.

Anyway one day a couple of months later I woke up one morning and had this feeling that I had to go to shelter that there was a dog there for me, can't describe the feeling as up until that day I'd said i wasn't ready to get another dog yet but was like something or someone was pushing me to go to rspca in burwood that day.

I saw a card on the outside of a pen that said Female Silky terrier X 8 years old, A gentle lady who's had a hard life and needs some love, but she was curled up hiding in her box in back of kennel.

So I went in and sat down just outside her box and spoke softly to her and she lifted her head and was just looking at me but not attempting to get up and come over, I started to cry as I noticed just how much she looked like my former little dog "Bonnie" and as I had my back to her I didn't see her get up but all of a sudden she pushed her little head under my arm and licked my face like she was saying "Don't cry I'll love you" and it was then I knew I'd found another special little Angel to help me overcome my grief of losing Bonnie. Lady turned out to be only around 5 not 8 like rspca had said and is now 16 and am dreading the day that I have to say goodbye to my angel as she has been my little rock, and have wondered why no one went looking for her as she was already house trained and has been the best little dog.

Edited April 28, 2010 by mutt lover

[MsKatie]

Bonnie at age about 10

B*gger off - I'm trying to sleep

Clapton at about 16

Rosie as a pup - look at those ears ;)

Who needs reindeer!!!!

After desexing - the socks are because she was so Damn flexible

Earl - when he kind of fitted into his basket

Earl and Rosie

Earl now

[MolassesLass]

This is ex-fiance, me (right) and my little brother (left) meeting Molly for the first time at about 5 weeks old. I had 3 to choose from, one was too quiet, one didn't stop barking the whole time and then there was my heart dog.

And here's Duke the day I chose him from his litter at 6 weeks. He was my second choice because the one I liked the best, the stud owner was keeping. He had the darkest red colouring and was big. He stayed this size for all of 3 weeks. ;)

The others I've bred so I met them pretty early on.