Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Getting new dog(s)

After about 1.5 years since the passing of our great friend & dog, K.C., we are leaving momentarily to go and get two new dogs.

These dogs are a few months old and were strays that a lady was eventually able to coax into coming to her. They are two males & brothers, and might be the only two left from a litter that got abandoned. They probably know how to live off the land. There are with a foster lady/agent now.

We were only looking for one. When I was talking to the agent lady, she said "would you want both" and I found some alter ego of mine answering "yeah, it wouldn't be right to break these two up."

Talk about a life decision for the next 15 years.

Will post pics later.

Congratulations Sunil. And do post photos please.

On and I agree, not breaking up the brothers is the right thing to do and both you and the dogs will probably be happier.

How about Jake and Elwood for names?

One of ours was found in the woods at 4 mths starving. Good decision !

Any idea what breed? 2 aren't much more work than 1, although the meds are doubled (as is food and clean-up!).

I'm down to one from 4 and really need to get another pup so this one can help train it.

Touches home for me, we had a pair, brother and sister, that we found abandoned and took them in, great dogs and as close as I have ever seen before, seldom saw one without the other.

They both died of poison a week apart. The better half was deeply affected, both dogs were with her every one of her outdoor steps.

She made two hasty decisions, replace them quickly and have a lot, preventing getting close. Not one to argue with faulty logic I wisely , a rare exception, kept my tongue. She went to the area where we found the original pair, looking for another dog that might have lived from their litter. Clever dude there said he had an offspring that he would part with, six bucks later we had a dog who's closest resemblance was that it had 4 legs and a tail, the next day she went to the local temple, locals drop off dogs at the temple knowing the monks can't turn them away, and picked up two more, three aren't much more difficult than one, where is the problem?

Less than a week later she calls home asking me to bring flashlights to a spot just down the road, two more, a pair of brothers, 4 weeks old pups who had been just been abandoned. If 3 aren't a problem why would 5 be?

Two weeks ago, a three week old puppy was found on the road in front of the garage, three weeks is way to early to be weaned and probably wouldn't make it, but we took it in, it is surviving. It has captured everyone's heart, including the other dogs.

Dog 7, a Jack Russel Terrier look alike, was the straw that broke the camel's back. I found the owner and took it back, I also found the owner of the 3 week old, but nobody, including the owner wanted it to go back. I kind of liked the Jack Russel.

Moral of the story is that two dogs are at a minimum, twice as much trouble as one and after that it is even more exponential if not synergistic.

I moved to Indiana when the "pups" were 12 weeks old. I had 2 adults (Mom and another ESS) plus the 2 pups. One day I took the pups for a walk in the woods and they weren't listening very well to me telling them to stay close. So, when they took off I just let them go. I kept them in sight so they couldn't get in much trouble, but I was very careful to keep at least one large tree between them and me. After a while I can see from their body language they both thought "Uh oh, where did the dude with 2 legs go?" They started searching and I started hiding. This went on for about 10 minutes then I let them find me, and then I didn't pay much attention to them. They stuck like glue the rest of the walk. The Male 12 years later still comes back and checks in every 5 minutes or less when he's back by the pond and I'm out of sight near the house. He'll just stand there looking at me and when I tell him O.K. Back with a hand signal towards the pond he's off and running to the water. That's the reason why I need to get a pup this Summer. There is so much it'll learn from the Male that training will go SO much easier.

Good for you Sunil. I'm looking forward to the pictures.

Nice looking dog Eric. I love big dogs!

It is good news, ain't it? I hope you get the pair so they both get a GREAT home. (will they have access to my shed?)

I doubt that we will ever do it again. One the last 2 that we have had, the end wasn't what I want to go through again.

Our most recent was a half Pomeranian and 100% lousy dog. It hated men and Kids. But it liked women and it became a part of my Wife's life. It growled and snapped at the Grandkids and actually bit me once. Funny thing; when one Granddaughter "grew up" it started getting along with her. Don't ask because I don't know. If it got free, I had to spend hours hunting for it. And yet, at the end, after I had spent 5 or 6 thousand bucks at the vet, it hurt to put it down.

I now get my dog fix by boarding my Grandsons half Shepard and half fence jumper when they go out of town. When they return, I kinda miss Good Old Bear being around.

These are the two dogs currently referred to as "Red" and "Blondie."



These are the dogs with my daughter and niece:



Red is about 99% a spitting image of my old dog, K.C., except Red is bigger.

These dogs are mixes of what I would guess to be Lab, Shepherd, Dane, Hound, etc, etc.

Yesterday during the day was like a dream. We brought them home and let them check out their new digs. I let them off the leashes within minutes of being home, and they never ran away. They were great with all the kids and family. Man did they smell!

We gave them a bath.

They never even barked.

Blondie is on an antibiotic and had real bad poos. Two minutes after we picked the dogs up, Red laid down to sleep in the car, but Blonide wouldn't settle. We pulled over at a rest stop and Blondie made a huge & nasty dump. I was grateful that he let us know he had to go. After that, they both fell asleep in the car for the whole ride home.

Now, last night is a different story. We always have deer, turkey, ground hogs, rabbits, and other wildlife cruising through our yard.

I took them out on the leash and there was a deer in the next lot. They started low barking and huffing. The deer, that was 100 yards away, charged at them for about 10' then took off into the woods.

When I got the dogs back inside, they kept acting like they heard animals outside.

These dogs don't seem to know how to go up and down stairs.

We had two cages set up inside our craft room which is adjacent to our bedroom on the second floor.

At least three times during the night, I had to carry them down the stairs to take them out, and then back up the stairs.

Blondie puked in our bedroom twice and pissed in our bedroom once. Earlier in the evening, I saw him start squating in the living room. I was like Flash and scooped him up and hauled him out back to the tree line where he proceeded to take a nasty dumpy. We are living in a house that we just built and the house is about 5 months old, brand new.

Today, again, is just like heaven with these dogs.

We've created a "Voodoo Zone" back in the woods where they are supposed to take their dumps. Starting to see some understanding there as I've been relocating their land mines to the the V-Zone. This worked great with our old dog. I can't stand dumps in the yard!

Part of my mind is saying "what were we thinking?" This is the part of myself that I know very well. Another part is saying "put the time in now as an investment for the next 15 years or so," which again is a part of myself that I know.

I haven't heard from the part of me that said "yeah, it wouldn't be right to break these two up." I might shoot that part if I see him again.

Guess I'll tell my version...
We've had a pair of housecats for 15 years. One died off little over a year ago. I took great delight in telling the one left he was the "last of the Mohicans", no more housecats. Been preaching it to my wife for over a year now, no more, no more. Joe died a month ago from heart disease. Wife started emailing me pics of kittens a week later...

My yellow lab scared the bejeezus out of me this morning. She is 13, hard of hearing and worse at seeing. I was trying to give her meds before I left for work. She looked to be sleeping, I spoke to her, nothing. I nudged the dog bed with my foot, nothing. Oh %$#@! I reached down to touch her, she yawned, struggled up, and looked at me like I was nuts. That day is just around the corner and I am not ready.


Jeff-

These dogs are LAZY!

I can't get them to do anything. I want to start some command and leash training and all they want to do is lay around.

A couple months ago my beloved German Shepherd/Lab passed away, she was 16 years old and went quiet in her sleep. I got that dog when I was in first grade. She was loyal, loving, protective and smart. Never disliked anyone, didn't care too much for other dogs, but that didn't bother us too much. Everyone in the house shed a tear or few when she left us.

Now we have a stray Pomeranian... WORST DOG EVER. Dumb as a rock, poops on the cement instead of the yard, barks at everything. My mom kept it because she fell in love with its fur and catlike behavior, I think its an abomination to all dogs. But since it is so anniying and dumb everyone in the house, including my mom, has the sentimet of "Well at least we wont cry when this one passes"

Good looking dogs Sunil... I wish I could get my dog to do more laying around and less bouncing off the walls, but that's what you get with a 1 year old lab. Keep us updated on your progress.

Mikeyboy,

Since the dog is a stray unfortunately you don't know it's background. As far as it poohing on cement it may have had a kennel with a cement floor, although it's hard to believe someone would put that breed in a kennel but it takes all kinds. And hard to believe but there are people out there that are too lazy to take their dogs out as frequently as they should and let them soil a basement floor. You dog may be used to this.

On a funny note my previous dog was a very dominant female and very territorial. Not long after we took in my nephew due to a broken home she took a dump in his room right in front of us. Never did that before and never did it again. I must say we were shocked but I think she was trying to tell my nephew something.

Sunil,

Can I suggest when you take your dogs to do their business to say, "Get busy" when they do their thing? It won't take long and they will associate that with number 1 and number 2 and will go on command. Every dog I have had learns this and some were not the brightest.

As far as lazy didn't I see that breed on Hee Haw on the front porch? Sorry couldn't resist. Oh and they will bark. Rest assured when they feel part of your pack they will bark at every precieved threat. It may take a couple of weeks though.

My breed (Akita) that is not supposed to hardly ever bark, barks all the time now!

Thanks Cecil.

Night number 2 (no pun intended) went better. We located the pups to the garage with their individual dog cages.

Got up at 2:30 AM to take them out to "get busy." One pee-ed and the other ended up dumping but not in the right place.

My wife went down and spent some more time with them, and they were fine.

It's all your fault Sunil. Naming them Red and Blondie. I mean come on. No self respecting boy dog wants to be called Blondie. Red, yea I can see that, Red Buttons, Red Skelton, that works, but Blondie?

You screwed up big time. Should have gone with Jake and Elwood. I tried to tell you but NOOOOO, you wouldn't listen.

Coop me up in the house and call me Blondie and I'd pee on your rug too.

We haven't named them yet.

Yep, I vote for Jake and Elwood.

Either that or Pete and Repeat.

It might be Boone (Blondie) and Rex or 'Wrecks' (Red), but we'll see.

My daughter seems to like calling Blondie, "Bob."

The daughter is pretty strong-willed. Must get that from her mother....

I would recommend that no matter what names you pick, make sure you choose names that are very different from each other. Makes it easier for the dogs to recognize their names. My dog is sleeping at my feet as I type this. No good American family should be without a dog IMHO!

Good looking dogs.

Jake and Elwood have my vote.

They look about as energectic as my dog. We check him for a pulse daily.

Good looking new family members Sunil.

Hmmmmmm.....Me and RexCramer may need to have a talk with you!