# Adopting a Dog



## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

so my sister has been begging me for a dog for the past month. I finally caved under the pressure of her and my dad.

We went and looked today at our local humane society. We were torn between a 10 month old puppy named Chaos because she was "too rambunctious and did not take well to being disciplined with a shock collar" and a 4 year old cattle dog mix named Silver who was dropped off since her owners were moving.

We took Chaos out into the meeting area and she ran around a bit and was completely disinterested in us. I didn't like that since she had been in that area before and we were the new ones. The shelter also wasn't sure how she was around other cats, dogs, or kids (All of which is a requirement where we live). When the kennel assistant brought her back to her kennel, I wasn't too keen on how she reacted to the other dogs by getting all nosy with them while they were barking.

We took out Silver next. She immediately did her business, did a quick sweep, and then paid us a bit of attention before getting into the kiddie pool they have (It was about 110 out so no foul there). She was very independent but very sweet. When she was taken back to her kennel she didn't even look to the other barking dogs, which I liked a lot. The kennel paper for her said she was good with dogs, but they didn't know with cats. When we inquired up front the lady said she actually brought Silver on an even with her and she did wonderfully with dogs, cats, and kids.

We asked our landlord after deciding and he gave us the go ahead. this is the dog we'll be bringing home tomorrow and giving a two week grace period. If she has irreconcilable differences with any of our existing pets, she'll unfortunately be unable to stay with us, but we'll probably try to adopt her out through my sister's work u=instead of the humane society.


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## Bettanewbie60 (Jun 26, 2012)

Omgosh...I love her! Great for all of you...I'm so glad to hear of you adopting, and love that you know so much about animals to make such a wise choice! Wishing you all the best with her...she is very lucky.


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## Romad (Jun 28, 2009)

Awwwwww.... Silver looks like a sweetie. I'll bet she fits in well with you and your other fur pets. Crossing my fingers for you.

Keep us posted


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## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

I'm just hoping she'll be good with the cats since one of ours, Panini, is unable to really jump or run to get away since she's got hip dysplasia.

She seems really smart though, so I think she'll get that the cats are friends not toys rule down pat very quick. We want to reinforce basic commands first and then move onto more complex things with her since her breed is a very smart one. Also gonna teach her hand signals like I did with my parents' puppy. I'll just have to find out what her motivator is.


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## Romad (Jun 28, 2009)

Motivator?? Isn't it always food


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## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

I recently trained a puppy who just wanted anything you could give her.

Food is always one of the top ones, but this puppy was equal on anything. Food, toys, wrestle, attention, anything. She just wants to please.

Pretty sure Silver will be good with food or toy though.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Haha if she has cattle dog in her prepared for lots of walks and mental stimulation. They are pretty full on but I find cattle dogs, kelpies, border collies etc. are very good partners and really love 'their' person/people. 

Nice to see you giving this girl a chance. It makes me sad when I think of how many dogs end up going through shelters through no fault of their own. 

Hopefully she does alright with your cat. There's a trainer Ian Dunbar, who did a good bit on teaching dogs to respect plush toys that look like animals so as to then go on and teach them to respect and play gently with actual animals or small children. I found it the other day searching on Youtube.


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## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

Yeah. We've got some experience with a border collie mix. Raised her from a puppy, she was a bit food aggressive, nervous around other dogs, and had a bad tendency to nip and herd no matter what we tried. She unfortunately passed away in 2011 due to an unexpected and uncommon immuno disorder where her white blood cells destroyed her red ones. We caught it too late and she bled out unfortunately.

I've also raised and trained a catahoula puppy and she's very respectful of cats, dogs and people. She adores kids, but she's a little nervous with other dogs but not aggressive.

We plan on taking her hiking and trailing with us since we do enjoy doing that very much. We plan on being very strict with her.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

That's sad about your collie cross. It is horrible to lose a pet when it is unexpected like that and you always kick yourself about it later. 

Will look forward to seeing more pictures of her if she stays on. Our GS girl loves going for big long walks around the hundred or so hectare park right near my house so I'm sure Silver will be thrilled with hiking and trailing haha. 

It's always a double-edged sword though. The fitter they are the harder they are to tire out! Our girl has been forced to stay at home these past four weeks due to pneumonia and it is killing her.


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## teeneythebetta (Apr 29, 2012)

She is very pretty! Thank you so much for adopting, its always refreshing to see people giving adult dogs second chances rather than supporting back yard breeders and buying their pups. Good for you 

Crossing my fingers, I hope it's meant to be!


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## Destinystar (May 26, 2012)

She is a beauty and cattle dogs are very smart ! I adopted from my local shelter a Corgi and cattle dog mix and he loves walks and is so much fun and gets along with dogs and cats he loves everybody !


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## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

Yeah, our favorite trail is about 1.5 or 2 miles long and it's surrounded by our lake for the most part so there's swimming too. she hopped in the kiddie pool, so hopefully she'll enjoy swimming in the lake too.


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## bettafishfinnatic (Mar 18, 2012)

hope everything works out... dogs are mans best friend lol keep us posted


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## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

we'll be picking her up in less than 12 hours and we've already got her booked fora busy day.

It's picking her up, bringing her to Petsmart to get food, toys, collar and leash, and a bed.

Then to the dog park to wear her out before introducing to the kitties and my dog.

then teaching her the boundaries of the house.

Poor girl's gonna have her head spinning.


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## teeneythebetta (Apr 29, 2012)

Pataflafla said:


> we'll be picking her up in less than 12 hours and we've already got her booked fora busy day.
> 
> It's picking her up, bringing her to Petsmart to get food, toys, collar and leash, and a bed.
> 
> ...


What a lucky little girl! If only every dog could have what you're going to give to her. A good home.

Keep us updated... Pictures won't hurt LOL


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## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

Pictures for sure. Possibly some videos since we were told she likes to talk. I really do hope she works out since she seems like she's dying of boredom at the shelter. She's been there for 3 weeks now, so her time's running out.


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## teeneythebetta (Apr 29, 2012)

Pataflafla said:


> Pictures for sure. Possibly some videos since we were told she likes to talk. I really do hope she works out since she seems like she's dying of boredom at the shelter. She's been there for 3 weeks now, so her time's running out.


Aww poor baby. Just curious- does the shelter tell the previous owners when the dog is adopted? If for any reason I ever had to give up a dog, I would love to know that the dog got a home rather than being put down...


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## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

No, unfortunately they don't. the shelter was recently forced into the city's care as the original runners were found for malpractice with euthanasia and general care.

The police are responsible for bringing in stray dogs now instead of animal control as well.

I'm hoping the new management might change things for the better. It already seems to be doing much better and the change was just implemented.

I know the owners of my new cat Panini are in contact with my sister's work (Where we adopted her from since they run a very small rehoming operation) and ask about her occasionally. they recently requested our phone number but I refused since they were the ones that abused the cat and didn't do anything to work around her food allergies even though "they loved her so much." They only get to know that she has a home and is doing wonderfully.


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## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

Picked her up at 8:30 this morning.

She's fixating on the cats a bit, but they're very nervous about her. It's just gonna take some time, training, and a lot of exercise. she did splendidly with Anvil though and loved the car ride.

Might change her name since she doesn't respond to hers at all.


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## teeneythebetta (Apr 29, 2012)

Pataflafla said:


> Picked her up at 8:30 this morning.
> 
> She's fixating on the cats a bit, but they're very nervous about her. It's just gonna take some time, training, and a lot of exercise. she did splendidly with Anvil though and loved the car ride.
> 
> Might change her name since she doesn't respond to hers at all.


Aww. Unless she is full on "I'm trying to eat you kitty" I'm sure she will get used to them. My two dogs were ages 3 & 9 when we first brought cat's into the house... They did chase at first. Now they're good with them, the only time they bother them is when the cat's run, I guess it's just their natural prey drive... The cat's like to groom the dogs & chew their ears LOL


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## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

Well, she's learned her place with my sister's female cat. they had one staring contest and now Silver won't even look at her. but to be fair this was the same cat that was raised by a rottweiler and raised a rottweiler in turn. She doesn't take any crap.

She's a little worse with my sister's male cat because he panics and shows it.

Her worst is with Panini because she can't get up on anything so she's ground level. so she's going to learn the basics with Inky, then step up to Darko, and finally Panini.


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## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

Oh, and to answer what her motivator is: It's food. She's so food motivated it's crazy. we started with clicker training and got the clicker loaded up in under 10 clicks.

She's been taught sit, stay, and down at some point because she got all that when I was offering food as a reward. Now to just get her to respond to her name too.


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## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

Time for pictures!

She got a check up at the vet. She's got some sores on her feet from the wet concrete kennel and a funny sounding lung (Which is common to have deformities in deep chested breeds), possible kennel cough though early if she does get it, and a possibly bladder infection starting.

So she's gonna be kept clean and dry and stay inside to work on basics while she heals up. She's already figured out that we expect her to sit when we stop walking with the leash and it's only been 2 minutes.


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## teeneythebetta (Apr 29, 2012)

Awee she must be so excited to have a home. I bet she's adoring all the attention. 

Sorry to hear about her health state. I'm glad to hear you're taking it responsibly and treating her for it... I've heard of way too many people not properly vetting their dogs. Actually my dad is one of those people.


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## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

Well, my sister works at a vet, so we made the appointment for her before we even adopted her. And she knows the doctors there since she works as kennel and tech.

We're just upset that she was vaccinated through a very shady and unreliable veterinarian. they don't clean the surgical equipment between spays/neuters.

We were also looking through her paperwork and very displeased to find that in the time she was there, she lost 8 pounds. Over 1 pound a week.


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## teeneythebetta (Apr 29, 2012)

Pataflafla said:


> Well, my sister works at a vet, so we made the appointment for her before we even adopted her. And she knows the doctors there since she works as kennel and tech.
> 
> We're just upset that she was vaccinated through a very shady and unreliable veterinarian. they don't clean the surgical equipment between spays/neuters.
> 
> We were also looking through her paperwork and very displeased to find that in the time she was there, she lost 8 pounds. Over 1 pound a week.


That's awful. I can't stand shelters like that. :roll:


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## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

That's why it's been handed over for the city to take care of. They were literally forced to give up the shelter to the city because they were doing so bad.

And surprisingly, this is actually improved from what it was.


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## teeneythebetta (Apr 29, 2012)

diane21 said:


> Hi All,
> I have got a new puppy from OneClick pet supplie.
> I want to train my puppy to do not pee inside my room? Anybody have any advice.
> Thanks!!
> ...


Is one click pet supplie a pet store/online pet store? You probably got a poorly bred puppy from a puppy mill. 

Is the puppy just peeing on the floor or is it peeing on specific items? Be sure to clean up the pee VERY good otherwise he may pee in the same spot repeatedly. How often do you take him outside?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

Well, she's on her last chance already. She's very intent on the cats.

Sunday we'll be taking her to wear her out until she can't go anymore and then try again with introducing the cats.

I hope she works out, but we can't have her losing it over getting to a cat. She's not trying to nip or bite, but as soon as she moves she's right on them and ignoring if she's getting swatted. The cats were here first, so it's either learn or she's done.


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## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

Silver has terrible recall. she escaped tonight when my sister, stupidly might I add) brought her outside without her leash and let go of her collar for just a second to open then door. she took off, squeezed through the fence and ran.

Took twenty minutes to run her down to the point where she was too tired to go anymore. Finally managed to corner her and grab her collar, but she was too tired to walk across the street. Luckily I had some more oomph left and carried her across to wait for my sister with the car.

She needs major recall work since she ignored us the entire time she was out. Didn't even look our way and darted anytime we got close.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Ooh our dogs did that the other week. They jumped out of our car to chase our cat and ran all around our neighbour's front yard (they have a 1/2 acre block). It wasn't until one got caught in some blackberries that the other one went and sat on our front doorstep.

I hate having a dog with no recall. It can be hard though if they aren't motivated by you, your idle threats, food, a squeaky toy etc. 

Wish you luck in training one into Silver. Lucky you were able to walk her down eventually. I think they absolutely do know what they are doing when they blast past you at a hundred miles an hour heading for the hills haha.


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## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

I'm just really glad she didn't run across the highway since she paid no heed to any car that passed. If she got passed and onto the BLM land, she would be gone forever or coyote bait since they're very bold and aggressive here. A few weeks ago the tore a 4 year old 60 pound lab mix to shreds after jumping a 6 foot wall. They've also been known to go inside doggy doors during the night to get little dogs and cats in people's houses.

Silver's only 40 pounds with no muscle mass and zero survival instincts.


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## teeneythebetta (Apr 29, 2012)

Pataflafla said:


> I'm just really glad she didn't run across the highway since she paid no heed to any car that passed. If she got passed and onto the BLM land, she would be gone forever or coyote bait since they're very bold and aggressive here. A few weeks ago the tore a 4 year old 60 pound lab mix to shreds after jumping a 6 foot wall. They've also been known to go inside doggy doors during the night to get little dogs and cats in people's houses.
> 
> Silver's only 40 pounds with no muscle mass and zero survival instincts.


Wow that is so scary 
Can you imagine Waking up in the middle of the night & going out to get a glass of water to find a coyote in your house? 

Once I was walking to school & saw a coyote come out of the woods by my house. I don't like in a big city but I'm no where near where you'd expect to see a coyote... It just crossed the street, looked over at me & ran away. 
They are afraid of people since were a lot bigger... Right? 

The shelter I volunteered at found a coyote wolf hybrid running down a busy road about a year ago. He's a very sweet little guy, very shy.


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## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

Coyotes here are very bold. Across the street from where I used to live, there are 4 of them that regularly corner a lady in her house or keep her out since they gather around her front door.

They're all over the place here no matter what time of day. I don't think there's been an attack on a person here for this year so far, but I wouldn't be surprised if it happens soon since so many people feed them. We've actually got a fine here for when people are caught feeding coyotes.


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