Dog Owner Chat V. 5

[Huggles]

Back again… feeling kinda down and guilty.
I recently got a new dog, he was rehomed to me. Im still in contact with his owner but nothing is finalized and his owner has been MIA for 2 weeks.

This new dog was exactly what I was looking for as a sports dog. Hes perfect, he fits in amazingly well, hes easy, driven, sound nerves, all around great. But despite all this my gut is still saying hes not the right decision. I have no reason other than just a gut feeling and I think thats making it tougher. Ive also recently had a lot more bad health days and im scared of not giving an amazing dog what he deserves because I’m struggling. If im being honest I was hoping, and quite frankly expecting, his owner to contact me and say he couldnt do it and he’d want his dog back. But ive heard nothing from him. Im not sure what im asking or what my purpose for posting here is, maybe a second opinion to help me think through it? Ive just been in the dumps about it feeling terribly guilty.

[Blue_Aussie]

@Huggles
I was offered a BMD when she was less than a year old. I watch dogs and this puppy was not very well trained and still had accidents occasionally but I still loved her. and after a lot of struggling trying to decide if it was the best thing to keep her. I ended up deciding not to keep her and I do still watch her a lot but I regret not keeping her ALL the time. She is now such a good girl and, though I wouldn’t have my Aussie, Mazie, if I would have decided to keep her, I do wish that she was mine. But I am SO glad that it worked out that I got Mazie, so I guess it’s all how you look at it. You’ll find your perfect dog either way, if you keep this dog or not. C:

I’m not sure if I’m being helpful or the complete opposite but I wish you luck!

[Velveteen Hound.]

Back again… feeling kinda down and guilty.
I recently got a new dog, he was rehomed to me. Im still in contact with his owner but nothing is finalized and his owner has been MIA for 2 weeks.

This new dog was exactly what I was looking for as a sports dog. Hes perfect, he fits in amazingly well, hes easy, driven, sound nerves, all around great. But despite all this my gut is still saying hes not the right decision. I have no reason other than just a gut feeling and I think thats making it tougher. Ive also recently had a lot more bad health days and im scared of not giving an amazing dog what he deserves because I’m struggling. If im being honest I was hoping, and quite frankly expecting, his owner to contact me and say he couldnt do it and he’d want his dog back. But ive heard nothing from him. Im not sure what im asking or what my purpose for posting here is, maybe a second opinion to help me think through it? Ive just been in the dumps about it feeling terribly guilty.

How old is the dog?
I was recently given a puppy as well. She is a Cur, a breed I knew of, but little about. I've learned a lot, but I sincerely doubt I will ever get another Cur, or treeing hound breed. It has been.a.struggle. I love her - but she came to me with 0 formal training, and hunting dog instincts. I have thought about re-homing her so many times. I really hate puppies. Ages 7-14/16 months is pretty much my least favorite age of dogs, ever. The only thing keeping me from re-homing her is the fact that I don't know who I would give her too. She's really not suitable to a family with kids - and has SO MANY neurotic hunting instincts I can not imagine giving her to a family that would not do anything with her. this dog NEEDS stimulation.
I use to work in rescue - so bad behavior-ed dogs are not new to me. This is certainly also not the worse dog I've ever worked with either .. she really does want to be a good girl .. it's just age and breed for me.

Long story short - it can be age &/or time (in your possession) . How long have you had the dog?
I had my current older dog, 6+ montsh before I really felt he liked me as more than anything other than the meal giver.
We are pretty much inseparable now at 2 yrs

[Huggles]

I havent even had him a month. As I said nothing is even finalized, his owner has just gone MIA. I know for a fact I’ll never get a dog like him again unless I go to a breeder. He’s phenomenal. Hes so easy, without exaggeration he is everything I want in a dog. Hes 14 months. Trains super easily, I already have him off leash trained for the most part. I wanted to start with Rally so weve been doing rally style obedience and he just has it down. Compared to my current behavior mess, he is just simply a breeze. Perfect for anything I want to do. And my current dog loves him. He has really come out of his shell with him around, and I notice he has been quieter with his reactivity and he watches this dog succeed around people.

Im not sure if its pressure, if I am in over my head, if I don’t click with him, I cannot figure out why I am doubting this decision so much.

[Alicethewr]

Im not sure if its pressure, if I am in over my head, if I don’t click with him, I cannot figure out why I am doubting this decision so much.

It's totally okay and normal to feel this way, you're not a bad person for being undecided on taking in another life.
Maybe you just do not feel the same bond as with your other dogs.
Maybe you're hesitant because the owner disappeared suddenly.
Maybe it seems too good to be true or you are comparing with your other dogs or maybe you can't explain at all.
This is all totally normal even for people who absolutely love their puppies.

Just take your time to think on it and decide what is most comfortable for your household/pack.
I hope you find your decision smoothly.

[fairytale.]

The last few months have been back-to-back medical concerns for Beaker. He never caught a break. After getting him to the emergency vet on Thursday, we hoped he was on the mend. We got him some good pain killers and he seemed to be doing better. Until last night when he suddenly became paralyzed. That was the longest night of my life.
Today, after some diagnostic work, we discovered he had aggressive bone cancer of the spine. The vet said that of all cases of bone cancer, the jaw and spine are the rarest. Bone cancer in the spine makes up 1% of cases. Unfortunately it was an aggressive case too, as it was a large tumor, and radiographs of the same area from 6 weeks ago showed absolutely no signs of it. Nothing I could have done would have made it better and only would have been to keep him around for myself, and not for very long either. So I made the choice to let him go.
Beaker came into my life when things were the darkest. My family was invited to join the adoption group we worked with for the arrival of a new truck of retired racers. I didn't want to, but my parents made me, and I'm glad they did. When we got there, my mom was told that there was a very anxious young dog who would run away any time anyone tried to go over to him. She felt that maybe he would come to me. So she told me to go sit off on my own and see what would happen. I didn't want to try, I didn't think anything would happen, but I was happy to sit away from everyone else. So I did. Sure enough, that scared dog slowly made his way closer and closer to me. He got close enough for me to touch, and the moment I did, you could see his anxiety melt away. I pet him for so long. I kept trying to get him to leave and go back to doing his own thing, but he stayed. Eventually, he did walk off (only because I insisted I was done petting him) and he had a newfound confidence. It was in that moment that I had something to fight for and look forward to. He was meant to be my dog. So, we visited him in his foster home a few times. Eventually she wrote us and said he was just too anxious and needed to go to another foster home because he needed more work than she could offer him. So we "fostered" him... which really was just putting off the inevitable adoption. When he came home, he was clearly going to be a lot of work, but he also knew he was where he needed to be. He gave me a joy and purpose when I needed it the most.
We both grew so much over the years. I don't think anyone who met us now would recognize us as the awkward, anxious teenagers we were when we met. Beaker constantly made friends. From being recognized at pet stores by total strangers, to even the receptionist at the emergency vet just a few days ago talking our ears off about what a great dog he was, that boy made an impression. Although he begrudgingly accepted Thora into the family, he loved her puppies. Everything he did was with Beaker flair, including being the dog who went out with the rarest kind of bone cancer.
I could keep going on about what a special dog he was, but those who knew him know. Those who didn't, you missed out, but you get the idea. My head and my heart hurt. I'm tired. I appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers today and I wish there was a better outcome. I'm glad he's no longer suffering and that our vet team today did everything they could to make it as painless as possible for everyone.

Copy/pasted from a post elsewhere. I am unsure if anyone who was active on the thread many years ago is still around, but I thought I would share in case they are and in case they care.

[eleutheromania]

@fairytale: I was here when you would share beaker a lot. I'm sorry that that happened so fast for you but I'm glad he is no longer in pain and you did what was best for your situation. I know you gave him the best and working at a vet's office, I know how tough those decisions are. <3

[drift.]

@fairytale
I'm so sorry for your loss, beaker sounds like he was an amazing bud <3

[Blue_Aussie]

I got a sheltie puppy last Saturday, her name is Zoe! I am planning to show her, does anyone show and have tips on how to get started? Thanks! This is my sweet girl after stealing my nieces toy lol

[.Middy.]

I show, and have a similar breed in rough collies. First things first, you really need to get ears taped so they don’t prick. Most breeders send them home taped.

Does your breeder show? Shelties are a extremely hard breed to show, so if your breeder didn’t show and didn’t sell your pup as show quality it’s unlikely she will do super well in the confo ring. I’m not saying this to be mean, just realistic. Shelties also have a height DQ so she may not even be able to show depending on how tall she gets.

I would highly suggest asking your breeder about helping you with showing, shelties have a very complicated grooming process they go through for show, you need to have the ears taped correctly as soon as possible. I’d also suggest a conformation class as soon as you are able to find one. Shelties are a table breed which has its own set of challenges vs a ground breed. I’ve only shown a table breed once so I’m not much help on that unfortunately.