The Dog Thread: Our Furry Family and Friends

[cooleddie74]

This is a thread I wanted to start so we could share stories and pictures of the pet dogs in our life both past and present. Please feel free to share any personal stories and photographs of the dogs you and your family have owned during the course of your life.

What kind of personal emotional impact has owning a dog had on your life? How many do you own and what breeds are they? Do you prefer puppies or grown adults? So forth and so on....let's just talk about the happiness that our loving furry friends bring into our respective lives and the extra meaning that they give to our existence.

I haven't uploaded any photographs of my childhood dog Barnaby but plan to do so soon. She (yes, she....I know she had a male name but that was a result of my insistence that we name her after a character from the Disney Channel's Dumbo's Circus and I didn't care if he wasn't a girl) was a mixed breed that was my buddy from roughly my tenth birthday until a few months after my father's passing in late 1998. She lived roughly fifteen years and was one of the great loves of my family, bringing so much happiness to me as a boy with her sweet, tender and friendly nature and eagerness to play. Having to put her to sleep because of a worsening illness and having it happen just a few months after my dad died was a horrible blow and I can still recall crying like a baby the day she left us.

My current dog, K.J. the beagle, is like my child. I'm unmarried with no kids so she's like a kid to me, and her exceptional intelligence and sweetness never cease to bring a smile from everybody who encounters her. Raising her from a tiny, stumbling and awkward little puppy has been such an adventure in so many ways and I love coming home to find her jumping on my legs and lap for attention and affection. She's my little girl and in the wake of my mom's death she was a much-needed injection of happiness into my life at a time I sorely needed to smile.

The floor is yours, guys. Go hog wild with the pictures, videos and silly stories for all I care, but let's make sure we have fun!

[teacake]

But this is the internet. It belongs to cats.

[cooleddie74]

Be the first poster to create an LOLdog. Even doggies can haz cheezburger.

[SmoothieX]

I'm moving 2,000 miles from where I currently live by the end of the month. Hell, I never set foot in that state until I interviewed there last month. My dog will be the one constant through all of this.

I'm freaked out by sticking her on a plane, but the Upper Midwest is so much more dog friendly and wide open than the Northeast.

I also can't sleep when I travel if the pooch isn't there. I'm used to my 70 lb breathing teddy bear.

If photobucket wasn't acting up right now, I'd post pics of my black Lab.

Also, there are two types of people out there: people that like dogs, and assholes.

Edit: p'bucket worked for a minute, more later.

[Shazam!]

Pooches!

I'm a cat owner these days but we had a daft German Sheppard called Wellington when I was younger that we gave to my Grandad

[Rhubarbodendron]

present one (our German Shepherd #9 if I counted correctly), named very aptly Pasha:



SmoothieX, if your dog tends to get travel sick, mix a bit of ginger into her food. It works miracles.
Also, some flight companies allow well-trained dogs in the cabin. If yours doesn't, you could add to her comfort in the freight compartment by giving her an old shirt or blanket of yours. The scent might comfort her when she gets scared. In the worst case you could ask your vet for a mild sedative.
Also, maybe the flight personnel allows you to check on the dog during the flight if you ask nicely.

[cooleddie74]

Cute pics so far, guys!

[SmoothieX]

Rhubarbodendron wrote:

---

present one (our German Shepherd #9 if I counted correctly), named very aptly Pasha:



SmoothieX, if your dog tends to get travel sick, mix a bit of ginger into her food. It works miracles.
Also, some flight companies allow well-trained dogs in the cabin. If yours doesn't, you could add to her comfort in the freight compartment by giving her an old shirt or blanket of yours. The scent might comfort her when she gets scared. In the worst case you could ask your vet for a mild sedative.
Also, maybe the flight personnel allows you to check on the dog during the flight if you ask nicely.

Beautiful dog you got there. I had a GSD as a kid and he was just the best.

I'm confined by airlines given the fact I'm flying into a tiny airport. Most likely Delta as I would rather fly through Minneapolis than Chicago, and those are my only two options. No direct flights, sadly.

I will ask my vet about sedatives, but from what I've read it seems to be frowned upon due to health concerns. But my dog is very anxious, so we'll see. I'll speak with her about it and see what she thinks is best for the dog.

Good idea with the shirt and blanket. I'll give her the blanket she uses every night and wear the same undershirt for a couple days and toss it in with her.

I'll make it up to her with an adventure in the Plains (after an adventure on the plane) with her and five her all sorts of new smells and animals to experience. Just wait until a prarie dog town gets a load of her.

[Squiggy]

This is Buttercup, but I call her Butters because I have a penis.





I've won the thread. Close it down.

[B.J.]

^ Respectfully disagree!

This is our Zoe, who is a rescue dog and about 8 years old now. She's a mutt, but we think she's part German Shepherd and part Lab. She's absolutely wonderful with our 3 kids and 4 cats, but will bark at any strangers.

[cooleddie74]

Kneel before Zod.

[SmoothieX]

Squiggy wrote:

---

This is Buttercup, but I call her Butters because I have a penis.



I've won the thread. Close it down.

No worries, you have a toy dog, you already checked said penis at the door.

[SmoothieX]

My dog can fly.

[Rhubarbodendron]

Labradors are pretty water crazy Our big shepherd thinks it is horrible stuff. We took him to a swimming pond once. After watching his humans disappear in the horrible wet stuff he folded up his ears, shut his eyes tightly and braving death jumped into the water to rescue us. He also rescued everyone else, much to the amusement of the children who kept running back into the water behind his back.
We've never taken him to a pond again - it'd be too cruel.

Awesome dogs! Buttercup obviousely enjoys digging (her nose's colour is a giveaway).

I agree with you, B.J. - German Shepherd is definitely part of Zoe and I, too, would guess the other half to be Labrador. This makes her the perfect family dog: responsible, gentle and protective.

Is Zod male or female? He/she looks already quite advanced in years. But he/she is a beauty

[Ghost07]

I used to have a dog named Skipper; she was a Spitz and Collie, and the kindest creature you'd ever want to meet. She mothered the cat's kittens when the cat didn't have milk for them...actually, she mothered any baby creature she came upon.

No way I could care for a dog now, so if I was able to have a pet, it has to be limited to cats or birds; but I love both, so I want to see this thread too.

By the way, there already IS an LOL dogs...I've seen it...