Share Your Mutt And Story

[Deleted member 28740]

Bella: My Mutt and my story (and goals): SAVE THEM ALL Best Friends

Bella and I found and saved each other. She was a stray, hungry and a character (doganality.) After black dog (with goofy ears and keen, searching, look deep into you eyes and just a bit of a wag for the tuna fish and crackers and lots of water) finished off my lunch while I tried the various animal shelters closed for the Xmas holidays on a Friday afternoon. Collar with no tags, smelly and on the road for a time, wary and endearing. Darn. Just moved a few weeks ago and could I bring her back to the property shared with the landlord. Loading up the old volvo wagon Black dog jumped in over the back seat and sat down in the passenger seat, with a grin that brought on the giggles. Who does she think she is? No worries the eyes told me, a journey, and better together. Truth.

I did not know I had PTSD while my life was devolving. We shared a lovely holiday (LL ok having had a break in while on a moto trip) and meantime trying to find who had loved and was loved by this character. Brought to a vet and no chip, shots, about 1.5 years old, tics and worms, very well behaved. Then to the shelter, no listing for lost dog, could I keep her while trying to locate her pal. LL said ok, and me, I was falling for her, and her soothing and playful and charming ways, not realizing that I was falling apart.

More to this story. Bella is my best friend. WWWWOOOOFFFF

My goal is to help Save Them All. a story and link to Best Friends : < ))

http://bestfriends.org/stories-blog-videos/latest-news/former-street-dog-unleashes-her-silly-side
"Sometimes life’s biggest breakthroughs can be revealed in the smallest movements. For a truly fearful dog, doing something perfectly ordinary for the first time — like getting leashed up, going for a walk or climbing into a car — can be the sign of a major step forward.

These wonderful aha moments happen all the time at the Sanctuary. They are the moments when dogs let go of their fear long enough to take a leap of faith and try something new. Before they can do that, they have to trust that nothing bad will happen during that first tentative, but brave move."

 

[Kintsugi]

Beautiful picture of your beautiful Bella.

My baby girl, Annie, definitely saved my life. I'd been chronically suicidal for several months when my boyfriend said he was getting me a dog so that I wouldn't be alone when he left to live in China that coming summer.

I thought that the idea was insane. I loved dogs, had dogs as a child, was pretty well-versed in training dogs, but I had just turned twenty, was living in my first apartment, still going to college, and thought it was very silly to make such a commitment just so I wouldn't be alone for a summer.

I could not be more glad that I got her. I truly believe I might have killed myself that year without my floppy little dog.

Annie was 2.5 years old when I rescued her. She and her sister had been dumped at a kill shelter New Year's Eve. They were on death row when the director of my local humane society noticed the girls, beagle/basset mixes, and drove eight hours to pick them up, because she has a soft spot for beagles.

I cannot thank that woman enough. Funny enough, they thanked me, saying how nice it was that I adopted an "unadoptable" dog.

When I saw Annie, she and her sister were in a crate together. Her sister was very excitable, jumping on the crate door and wagging her tail, trying to lick through the bars. Annie was curled up in the back corner. It was seriously love at first sight.

She was terrified and withdrawn. I asked immediately if they would take her out for me. The humane society staff had to all but drag her out. They put her on a 16ft lead and gave it to me. Annie promptly went as far as she possibly could away from me and the other people. I could see her shaking. "She was an owner-surrender from Tennessee," they began to explain. I looked at my boyfriend and said, "I'm an owner-surrender from Tennessee."

Because she was so timid, they considered her unadoptable, and they couldn't seem to understand why I was so instantly in love. When I walked her to the nearby pet store to get her her own leash, collar, bowls, toys, food, etc., she was violently shaking, tail tucked, totally freaked out by the commotion within. I picked her up. She tucked her head beneath my chin. I thought I was crushing her, so I lifted my chin as high as possible, and she stretched to press her head beneath it again, the shaking subsiding. I was completely in love.

Annie continues to be my baby. She goes everywhere with me. In the first year or so of her life, she very literally went everywhere with me. I couldn't leave her alone because of her anxiety, so she went with me to class, work, and restaurants. She attended dinner parties. She attended rowdy college parties. She was accustomed to wandering around dorm areas off-leash. If she stopped in front of a door, someone walking by would open it for her. She was the mascot of my workplace. She even got to go to my internship office with me at the magazine. She slept under my boss's desk. She had more friends than I did.

She became used to noise, crowds, and other dogs. I took her to the dog park every day for two hours a day for eight months straight. For the first three weeks of this, she would not go further than 5 feet away from me. By the end of the year, she was invited to doggie birthday and Halloween parties. She had tons of friends. When I opened the car door, the other owners would shout, "Annie's here!"

The unadoptable dog became the dog everybody wanted. I was offered $8,000 for her by a rabbit hunter. My boyfriend's aunt and uncle essentially offered me a blank check for her (they're millionaires). I would rather cut off my right hand.

I could go on bragging forever about the Adventures of Simon and Annie, but I'll stop here, and maybe, after others have had a chance to get a word in edgewise, I will write a post about Hamlet, my young pit mix, who is 80 pounds of goofball.

:)

 

[Deleted member 28740]

@Simply Simon Thank you for sharing your pals and story. Also the encouragement to post this thread. In common, Bella also has more friends than I do and her presence gives me a comfort zone to interact. Impossible not to fall for Annie's soulful eyes. Looking forward to Hamlet installment. Woof.

 

[Changing4Best]

Dusty was the dog at the place where my husband worked. All the guys would buy her hotdogs from the hotdog stand, minus the mustard and all that. She loved my hubby best, we found out after he was away fro 6 weeks vacation. From across the parking lot, she spotted him on his first day back to work, ran across the parking lot and jumped into his arms! He called me and asked me if he could bring her home. We had 2 male dogs and she was a female, but we didn't think about that, I said "Sure."

Well, when she came into our home, she was in heat, but we did not know that. Next thing we know, she's "hooked up" with one of our dogs!

8 puppies later, we each fell in love with one of them and so we ended up with 5 dogs! Now these dogs were HUGE, by the way, so cleaning up the back yard after them was a daily chore or magnitude. I cannot imagine today how much dog food we went through, but it must have been tons of it, by the time the last one went to doggie Heaven.

We had other dogs later on too, after these ones left us, but none were as loyal and loving to me as Dusty was. She always stayed by my side, wherever I went in the house. She loved going for walks, even though we had a yard.

She died of kidney failure many years later. It was so tragic. They only live for 15-20 years at best, so we know we will lose them when we take them on, but we do anyway. Life would not be as good without them!

 

[UnKnown-Self]

I could not tell the story of how Eddie the Explorer and I came together and our story without posting this song with it. Mostly because I didn't even know I had it until my iPod was playing randomly as Eddie and I were walking some time after H passed away. It was the first glimpse that I just might be okay. It now plays on purpose when we go for a walk %75 of the time. It's the way his tail wags and his little bottom wiggles when he moves it goes perfectly with the beat of the music. He'll stop exploring occasionally to look back at me and smile.

H's son was in the Navy and had to do a 3 month run on a ship and asked us to watch him. He had gotten him from a neighbor who got him from someone else.
As soon as he came to the apartment he jumped right into my lap and we started talking. H nor any of his kids ever had a pet for any length of time so they were both surprised.
Eddie has the "IT" factor on cuteness and personality and to this day I can only think he had so many owners because he was on his way to rescue me.
When he came to us he needed to be defleaed, dewormed, all his shots and grooming. The vet figured him for about two years old until he found the chip. Then we found out he was 7 and will be 12 this October.
That was a scary time because we had to reach out to the registry to see if anyone was looking for him. It turned out he was left at the SPCA and we were able register him under our name. When the son came back he asked if we wanted to keep him. Good thing too cause it would have broke my heart to give him back.
He's a good roadie, and I try to take him with me wherever I go when I can.
When H passed he started sleeping with me and was/is such a comfort. My icon is him one morning laying on me watching me with concern. It was like that everyday for a long time and so one morning I took the picture with my phone to capture it.
He's not a dominant dog but he knows I'm a pushover so I have to make sure he has boundries. He will circle, roll over and sit up and beg for a treat. I need to go to a dog training class because I think he is well trained but will only listen to the command properly presented.
We talk all the time. He will answer me in little sniffs or sneeze like actions or a toss of his head. He will push his ball with his nose at me when he wants to play and give a little gruf if I am not in the mood or he will lay in front of me and let out a big sigh.
I think he's been abused in the past because when I have the broom or paper towel roll in my hand he shrinks and looks scared. I always stop and comfort him and tell him I would never hurt him, even if I call him a little mother f*cker because he's pulled tissues out of the trash, I don't say it mean. I just have to go towards the room he tore it in and he makes a beeline for his cage.

He understands me and it surprises me sometimes. This morning I was getting ready to leave for work and talking out loud wondering where my vape was. He went right to the TV tray in the living room and stood there wagging his tail and for sure, there was my vape. Sounds silly but I know he wanted to help me find it because that meant he was going for his morning walk before I left.
He will steal your food if you walk away and leave it too long and I can't let him have the run of the apartment when I'm not home cause he will soil on the carpet but never does it when I leave him in the laundry room.
But he loves me and he knows I love him. There is such a comfort in his company. At times when I am spiraling he will usually ground me by getting in my lap to be pet. He drew the line when I tried to hold him like a baby once and rock him, I think it was one of my child parts. But he lets me dress him up sometimes.

Sometimes I let him have the empty ice cream container, he was trying his best to get every bit.

Mostly, he's my friend

 

[UnKnown-Self]

:facepalm:I don't know why the pics didn't show

 

[Neverthesame]

The first blonde I ever fell in love with.

Pippin. At about 3 years old.
[GALLERY=media, 1460]Man's best friend by Neverthesame posted Apr 5, 2015 at 1:46 AM[/GALLERY]

Got her when I was about 7. From a young couple who were not able to take care of a puppy and a new baby at the same time.

After a few months with her she developed a problem with the cartilage discs in her spine. Needed surgery to correct it. The veterinarian told us she was likely to have the same problem over and over again. That if this was the case, euthanasia was the most humane option. He didn't think she would make it much past 5 years. I won't make you read to the end, to find out how wrong that guy was. She lived to be 17.

The back issue did come up a couple more times. But we had learned to give her an aspirin, and keep her still for a few days. The inflammation never got bad enough to require surgery again.

She had a knack for knowing exactly when I needed to talk. She used to make this odd humming sound. I guess she heard us humans talking to one another and wanted to join in.

I would spend hours sitting and talking with her. I'd say something, she would sit silently. When I finished a sentence, she would hum at me for a bit, then stop. We talked like that every day. I miss that the most.

When she became too ill to go on. We sadly had to put her down. Hardest thing in the world I had to do. Still, I don't regret being there for a second. When the vet gave her the drug, she went to sleep surrounded by the people who loved her the most.

This picture was taken in her last year. She's 17. Very old, but still cute as can be. And with fewer grey hairs than me.

 

[UnKnown-Self]

Awwww @Neverthesame

I hope you have a dog now. They are such great companions!

 

[joeylittle]

I don't know why the pics didn't show

I think because they are linked from Facebook. Can you upload from a different source? We can merge them into your post that way.

ETA: your links are live, now. Since you are a premium member, you can edit your post for the next 7 days, if you'd like to try and get them to display in-post directly using a URL that is not a secure Facebook link.

 

[UnKnown-Self]

I think because they are linked from Facebook. Can you upload from a different source? We can merg...

Thank you! I think they show now :-)

 

[Neverthesame]

Unfortunately no, I have not owned a dog since. For a long time I didn't want to. I would like to again, but the people I live with have allergies to pet hair.

When I find a place that allows pets, I will get a dog. Untill then, no can do.

Though I remember a story I forgot to add to the last post.

I don't remember why, but we had to have some minor vet procedure done on the dog. So she had to wear one of those cones. She hated it. So she was in full on moping mode for the whole time she was in the thing.

After a couple of days in the thing, she decided that if we weren't going to take pity on her and take the cone off, she was going to play up this infeebled thing for all it was worth.

Every time we'd let her out to go to the toilet (yard). She would slowly saunter to the door, dragging the cone on the floor.

(Scrape, scrape, scrape thud.)

The cone would get stuck on the bottom of the door jamb. Then she would just stand there. Wouldn't go back, wouldn't lift her head the whole 1/4 inch required to lift the cone over the lip of the door. Nope, you had to actually reach down and lift the sodding cone up for her. Lmao!

As soon as you touched the cone her little tail stub would start wagging. She knew exactly what she was doing. God it was funny.

Just in case anyone thinks that she somehow wasn't able to lift her head up, let me tell you. One day it was raining pretty good, so I took her outside when I had a cigarette in the garage.

(Scrape, scrape, scrape, thud.) "Really?" Tail wagging...

I finish my smoke, go to head back in. See the dog sitting in the middle of the yard looking straight up. The cone was actually starting to collect water!

Walk over to her. "Really?"

Tip the cone down, *splash* not exaggerating, I swear.
"It's not that bad, stop trying to drown yourself. Come on, back inside."

(Scrape, scrape, scrape, thud.) "Really?"

One of the funniest things I've ever seen. Lol.

 

[Kintsugi]

Thanks for a wonderful laugh this morning, @Neverthesame. :roflmao: