Thanx, I am going to check it out. I did some career building tests online. I am applying for any jobs that are within the times and days that I want. I am figuring out babysitting if I need it.

The puppy sitch is coming along slowly. My Dad always says that a dog picks you. We will get one when it happens.

But..But...Puppy breath.. how can you wait? lol

I'm trying to wear my H down to let me have another little house dog. His biggest complaint before was all the hair that my Cocker Spaniels shed. Yes, chasing hair balls did get tiresome, but I loved my dogs dearly and still miss and grieve for them.

I did want a Wheaten Terrier, because they don't shed, but YIKES! They are EXPENSIVE! I then decided that I might as well go for the shih tzu, because they don't shed either. However, the smushed up nose thing turns me off...and they are more inclined to have breathing problems, from what I understand.

However, yesterday, I met the most charming lil' miniature snauzer and fell in love. If I coulda dognapped him, I would have!

It wouldn't have worked out, though, because I have a slightly agressive outdoor dog who would NOT like another male dog here. So, I will have to get a female and have her spayed.

So true that a dog picks you.

In 2004 or 2005 when we bought my mini doxie, my grandfather's friend brought the cage of puppies over to his workplace.

He set the puppies out and one in particular, a female, crawled over to my grandfather. He "chose" her.

And she's been with us ever since.

Our sweetheart border collie died almost four months ago. She was almost 15 years old.

15 years ago, Kasey and I were staying at his parents while I worked for them; we went for a walk that morning and about three blocks into the walk, I looked down to check my shoelaces and there's this 8 week old puppy bouncing around my feet. We went to every house along the way and one block up and down each cross street; no one had lost a puppy. She was gorgeous - black with brown eyebrows and the sweetest face. She was love embodied in a dog. We put an ad on the local radio station and in the newspaper but all we got were calls from people in different parts of town telling us they'd found a stray puppy that looked just like her. The county didn't have a local shelter.

So we figured she picked us. And we kept her. She loved every kid in the neighborhood. One boy who's family was moving begged us to let him take her with him. That was a hard hard day.

Her only flaw was that she was a sheep dog and she had pickup envy. She kept trying to catch one that had a sheep in the trailer from up the street. He'd go to work with this pet ewe in that trailer and she'd try to hitch a ride every single time - and one time it caught her instead. She only slightly learned her lesson. She'd bark and run along the road from the inside of the fence after that.

If you can't tell - I really miss her! I can't bring myself to look for another dog. Because we weren't looking when we found her/she found us!

LC


Careful, major problems sometimes. Too inbred from the wrong breeder. Had one that would get mad over anything and everything and when she did, she would pee on your shoes or dump in front of you. She had to learn to be an outdoor dog pretty quick.

...

Great story on the sheep dog. Caused me to remember the Akita that picked me. I loved that dog. Josan loved me. I could walk her without a leash, which shocked the breeder when she happened to be driving by one day. Her stomach turned when she was twelve. The vet couldn't save her. But I was allowed to sit by the cage with her head in my lap until she died.

Larry

My Dad loved the shih tzu him and his second wife had. His SIL stole it from him right after his wifes death and lets just say he was allready enough of a mess at that time.

My son walked into the house the other night with this dirty little white shih tzu he found lost on the street. It had the petwatch tag on him and we found the owner very quickly.

The dog was, can I say polite? attentive? seemed to look right into our eyes when we talked to him. He followed us around like we knew him all our lives he was so cute.

Our husky/shepard wanted to come in from outside to er.. Play with him? lol more like chew on him like he tries with the cat.

Our puppy came to us - it was odd how it all fell into place.

His mum has the same name as my niece; his grandma, the same as my daughter. The breeders son, the same as my son and now one of his sisters has the same name as my other niece.

We happened to be visiting friends just 10 miles down the road from the breeder on the day that was best for us to visit.

This pup, although the littlest (and only 2 weeks at the time) made a real point of dragging himself towards DD - she was the one that was take or leave a pup - the rest of us very very keen. So it was him that we had.

And for those of you that haven't seen a recent pic, this is him at 15 weeks
Ted

Under all that fluff he is all poodle build - but has the worktop cruising/ food stealing qualities of a labrador.

And he is none shedding (so far, have to wait and see what his adult coat will be like)

I LOVED all of the puppy stories. Our dog, Skyler, was just like that. I had a dream about a dog. My bestfriend and her husband were getting a free puppy from their friend. We went with them to look while they picked one. Their friend said that all of the dogs were spoken for. We met them(they were 3 weeks old). We left happy for our friends but sad for ourselves. 3 weeks later, my bestfriend called and said that we could get one of the pups, someone had backed out. We went over and there were 13 puppies sitting in a cage. My WH bent down and put his hand in the cage. 12 puppies went away from him and one went to his hand. We picked her. Funny thing is, we went there for a male puppy. I looked at her and she looked just like the puppy I dreamt about a few weeks earlier. Her name in the dream was Skyler.

May 23, 2008, Skyler had to be put to sleep. I was a very sad day. We all missed her. A couple of months later, I had a dream about her. She was walking with another puppy. I heard the name "Saddie." The dog looked like a German Sheppard mix.

Today is an okay day. I often have to tell people that an Okay day is better than a bad one.

I was not even thinking about a house dog when my H brought Honey home to me. He had gone with his friend, who was picking out a puppy as a Christmas present for his wife. Honey was the last little male puppy left, so my H decided, on a whim, to get him for me.

He brought him home, and I was instantly hooked. He was 5 weeks old, and we bonded. He loved me and my family, but I was the ONE for him. He was incredibly smart, having come from a long line of obedience champs, and was SO easy to train and teach. He would obey my H and kids when they told him to do some of his tricks, UNLESS I was there. If I was there, he would not move, but sorta look over at me as if to say, "Well, Mom, let me know if you want me to do it!" I would then tell him to do whatever, and he would instantly perform the trick.

The only time he did not sleep beside my bed was when one of the grandkids spent the night, and he would sleep under their crib. Anytime they stirred during the night, he would come wake me up. I have a picture somewhere of DGS#3 napping on a floor pallet, with Honey lying right beside him, with his head on the pillow, too.

We got Lacey a couple of years later to keep him company. She was a year old, but so sweet and loving. She wasn't easy to train, and I suspect she had a case of canine ADHD. However, whatever Honey did, she would do, also. When I periodically put him on his leash and went through his training routine with him, she would follow right along. She was the one who would get them into "trouble"...like managing to knock the Thanksgiving turkey leftovers off the stove, or stealing a loaf of bread from the countertop.

She and Honey followed me every step I took, and they vied for the position of "footwarmer" whenever I sat at my desk. I ended up giving each one of them one of my feet to lie on. Problem solved!

I really, really miss them.

Larry, I've decided that I want a snauzer. A shih tzu is just a bit smaller dog than what I want...too easy to trip over, plus the breathing problems that I've heard about.

Sleeping under the crib, my grandfather had a dog that would do that...

He'd sleep under my father's crib. One night grandpa came home late and the dog ran up to attack him because he thought grandpa was an intruder. The only thing that saved him was his saying, LOUDLY, the dog's name.

Sorry, he had so many dog stories...

Awwwww....I love puppy breath, there is almost nothing better!

I currently have a powderpuff chinese crested, i keep her hair short. They are a non-shedding dog, the powderpuffs are so cute, and they are an extremely spirited and fun dog.
She is my baby!!!! And no smushed in nose.

OK then fur then?

I'm not a big puppy breath fan, either. Mom loves it, poor thing.

As much as I loved my fur babies, I did NOT want to be "kissed" by them or licked on the face, cuz I know what they were probably licking not 5 minutes before!

LC


Snauzers are fantastic dogs. My X has one. That said, if "my dog too" is in the yard when I drive by or stop, she literally screams at me to be petted. Ever heard a dog scream before? This one does. If she hears my voice on the phone, starts up the same way. she has excellent hearing.

"My dog too" misses me. And I do her. They are high maintenance dogs though, need lots of loving. They like to play baby. And some of them get really, really excited and do a bit of submissive tinkle on the shoes bit. Gotta watch 'em.

Uh oh, how did I manage to wander into Scotties thread?

Larry

Larry-Ummmmm I think you got lost or sumtin. I'm just saying. HAHAHAHA.

So, no puppy yet.

On the Mom front, I loaned her SAA and she started reading it. She looked at me and said, "I see you and WH in this." HAHAHAHA I said, "Umm, do you see yourself too?" She just kept reading. She left it at my sister's house though because she doesn't want her"thing" to know. At least she is reading it. What she does with the info is up to her.

Also, DS9 was excited to be done his suspension. He gets to go back to school tomorrow. How happy is he? Well, he keeps saying he is BORED. I keep saying, "Okay. Read." I taught him how to play Yahtzee. He loved it. Plan Aing the boys is still number 1.

If you want to trick them into reading, get them an RPG if they have a DS or even a GBA. Many good RPGs are on both and a few (Fire Emblem for example) are quite heavy in the story, and hence, in the writing!