4 Paw Dog Drive Fleet running report

[Mito Man]

We got our second BF from a woman like the above, said she only bred them because dogs and shows were her life and she sold off the pups which were unsuitable. But anyway she was well know in BF circles and one of the few trusted people who sold genuine ones. I think most of these sorts of people are crazy and insane from my experience.

We didn’t want to start off with a puppy again as we were all too busy to spend time training and cleaning up after it and she had an 18 month old ex show dog who picked up a habit of taking a dump mid show (hence ex show dog, and he still waits until he sees a crowd before taking a dump!) In her kitchen she had a wall going from floor to ceiling with 10 or so crates, all filled with dogs. She claimed she only put them in there overnight or when she had visitors like us. Except a few them were wearing diapers which made me question that.

She brought out our dog and his parents, he checked out fine and we could definitely give him a better life at our home, so we essentially rescued him from that shit hole.

A few things I noticed from our new BF’s behaviour made me question the insane lady. Our dog had no stamina, could only walk a few hundred metres before being out of breath. Clearly had never been on a long walk. He was scared of grass and only walked on pavements. He was scared of all other dogs and people. He would shiver in fear whenever he saw a broom.

I think the whore beat her dogs with a broom and never exercised them, just let them out in her paved garden - which was covered in shit.

As for the crazy lady we found out she got MS and had to sell all her dogs - which I think it’s the only time I’ve genuinely heard someone I know to get an illness and be grateful about it.

[scotta]

Rich - Yes and No. When she first new they were on the way she said we'd be 'first in line'. The reality hasn't quite panned out like that though..

Thing is we've been looking for a year and none of these pups are 'bad' so whichever we end up with will be a good'un. Plus they're all health-checked and from a strong line, so less likely to have some of the things that CKCS can suffer from.

Scott - She's said she isn't doing this to sell them, just for herself, so that's how the chips fall I suppose.

Fair enough - if your happy with the dogs and they are healthy then you never need to see her again once you get the pup. She sounds batshit crazy.

[Simon]

My neighbour (who referred us to her) did say she was 'peculiar'.

I think Mito's first paragraph sums it up perfectly TBH. We were only there for 30 minutes but she was pulling out books and photos of all her old dogs. All the Crufts class winners, news paper cuttings that sort of thing.

At least the pups looked happy and healthy, and it's kind of nice that she's not doing it for the money. We just wanted someone that we trusted and who put the welfare of the dogs as a priority. She seems this, even if we aren't getting 'our pick'. I'm sure we'll love whichever we get all the same.

[mik]

Mrs mik somehow managed to agree to dogsit her brothers 1yr old Beagle (which I suspect has some Jack Russell in her too). Which they got 5 days ago. Is their first ever dug. And it’s spent all its life at the SSPCA shelter, so is 100% non house-trained.

We’re about 9hrs in now and things have finally calmed. She’s a friendly sort but has the energy levels of your average power station.

Let’s do this again. Said mik. Never.

Cute wee jobbie though....

[IanF]

When you go to buy a dog: take a bottle of your wife’s nail varnish with you and put some on the pad of the pup you chose. Saves any worries/arguments later on.

[mik]

Unless they come out later in life, and you feel somehow responsible.

[IanF]

Tbf all dogs lick and hump each other; have you ever had a dog that’s fussy!?

Zed will be on soon to explain which category they fall into.

[Mito Man]

Sounds like a typical day working for Weinstein.

[mik]

So the whining and crying started at 6:30am. Happy holidays.

Followed by getting guestdog to successfully both pee and poo outside. Result.

Followed by 15mins of continued mentalness and highly energetic playfighting - initiated by our guest - which our two were getting tired of.

Followed by Luna (our 32kg rescue lab/German Shepherd (we think) cross) having a proper hold-down and chew on the head of our guest. Had to pull them apart. Blissful peace since then. Dogpolitics.

[JLv3.0]

So basically you can achieve in one morning with dogs what you often can't achieve in a lifetime with cats

[scotta]

So basically you can achieve in one morning with dogs what you often can't achieve in a lifetime with cats

That’s cos cats are all wankers.

[JLv3.0]

They are, that's why I get on with them so well.

[scotta]

They are, that's why I get on with them so well.

Fair point well made.

[JLv3.0]

I wasn't joking. Cats are entitled and self-important and don't give a shit about anyone else. For context, as a nipper - next to my sister in the car, she has a massive cold, I can only have been about 3:

Sister, coughing and wheezing : 'I can't breathe!'
Me, triumphantly : 'I can '

DO YOU SEE?

[240PP]

Cats have, as the youth say, swagger.

Or have the shortened it to ‘swag’ now?

[ShockDiamonds]

We’ve been talking about getting another pet. Cat is the easy decision, but if we’re honest we really want a dog.

Thing is, Mrs SD has just accepted the job of her dreams, kind of. Working with special needs kids, to hours she’s been able to set (mornings basically) and term time only.

I was always led to believe that leaving a dog on its own for extended periods of time isn’t really on. Had two as a child, but my mother was always at home. They’re pack animals and very sociable and benefit from having owners around. This is why we haven’t already got one, as the wife wasn’t sure what she was doing work wise.

There are loads of dog walkers around here, and dog owners at work use walkers who come in mid-morning. So the dog, once settled, is at home alone for 3 hours, then the walker comes, then the dog is alone for another 3 hours till the wife arrives home.

Anybody do this? Plan would be to get an older dog I think, although the wife seems to prefer a puppy. Either way, my thought is perhaps to use extended school holidays (Easter maybe, summer obviously) and settle the dog before it then starts spending time on its own, but also building up the time the dog spends on its own bit by bit.

Interested in knowing how the forum dog owners organise it.

[nuttinnew]

A Rottweiler, a Corgi and a Jack Russell died and are standing in front of God at the entrance to the kingdom of heaven.
God asks them all what they believe in.
The Rottweiler says: "I believe in discipline, training, and loyalty to my owner."
"Good," says God, "take a seat on my right side."
"Corgi, what do you believe in?" asked God.
The Corgi answers: "I believe in love and care from my owner as well as peace in the world."
"Ah," God said, "You can take a seat to my left side."
Then he looked at the Jack Russell : "And what do you believe in?"
The Jack Russell stood there, looked at him, and answered :
"I believe you're sitting in my seat."

[Simon]

Final pupdate:

So, got very tired of waiting for the old wench to sell us the puppy. Sent her a 'put up or shut-up' email at the start of the week as she was getting impossible to contact by phone, and she finally replied yesterday saying she was going to 'keep all 3 at the moment' as they're 'all good enough to show'. She said we could continue to wait until she made her mind up (fuch that) or 'here are some numbers of some other breeders'. Considering she offered us 'first refusal' at the start of all this we were feeling pretty pissed off. Consulted with the resident forum solicitor if we could force her to abide by our verbal agreement, but he said basically 'no'.

At the start of the week, whilst we sent that 'put up or shut up' email, we also found another great breeder in Farnborough on the Kennel Club website who'd had 2 litters from his Crufts winning dogs. Luckily he had one ruby boy left so we went down to see him this evening. The experience with this breeder and the other was chalk and cheese. Really open, friendly, keen for us to hold and play with the pup and show off the parents. Clearly a great family and a strong line of winning dogs. So, deposit placed. Meet 'puppy' (name yet to be chosen). He's 11 weeks old and here he is falling asleep in my hand. He melted our hearts.

final pupdate.png (216.94 KiB) Viewed 2795 times

Funnily enough, we told this breeder the story of the other. He asked what her name was, and of course the breeders/showers circle is obviously pretty small, because he knew her. Was keen to say how his dogs had beaten hers a few times too. None of that matters to us. We just want a pup to love and that will get on with Maya. This one has a great temperament. Didn't bark once, very cuddly, trusting; will make a great addition to our growing household.

[IanF]

Very nice Simon. I’m glad it has worked out in the end.

[nuttinnew]

He's 11 weeks old and here he is falling asleep in my hand.

Awww!

I'm glad things have worked out well in the end