Godspeed Teddy

[AiryFairy]

[QUOTE=Laurierace;4306667]
See that’s just it, I don’t know if I just like that color or if I am trying to accomplish something that is impossible. When Calvin died we waited almost three months before getting another dog, the Pom we have now. I wasn’t really ready for another dog but rushed it because my lab was pining away so much. I even called the vet asking how long she would grieve and he said about two weeks. We were at the two month point when I called!

So we went to this farm that had shelties and poms both as those were the two breeds that I had it narrowed down to. I was holding a sable sheltie female that I had sort of picked out of the litter and a man that was also there shopping asked to hold her. I let him and two minutes later he bought her! So I was ready to leave without anything when our Pom emerged from nowhere and wiggled her butt and waved her paws. I picked her up and she licked my face like crazy. So we took her home as sort of the consolation prize. She is a wonderful dog and a great representative of the breed but I resented her at first for not being Calvin. That is long gone and I am happy to have her. The real ironic thing is the lab hated her for about a month. I guess she resented her as well.

That whole experience makes me think maybe its just too soon for any dog right now even though I was nowhere near as bonded with the lab as Calvin. He was a twice in a lifetime dog…yes I was lucky enough to have a heart dog as a kid as well.[/QUOTE]

Trying to replace a dog with a like-color dog is a big mistake - you can’t recreate that. Just go meet the dogs -if one of them touches your heart, take them home. There is always another special soul waiting for you, maybe not in a familiar package, and definitely not the same as the one you lost, but someone altogether new who needs to be wanted.

[pj1]

Originally Posted by wendy
well, you know, I think this is the worst way possible to pick a dog, and is a major reason why so many dogs end up in shelters- people randomly pick up “cute” dogs without considering the more important aspects to matching dogs to people. It’s very important to match a dog’s needs/characteristics to the family’s lifestyle or both will be miserable. Go to the shelter and pick out a cutey pie border collie mix your heart “lets you know you need” who needs 6+ hours of exercise a day when you can barely manage a 20 minute walk? not going to work. Pick out a snappy wild little hunting terrier your “heart” says you need when you have a cat who is going to suffer horribly from your choice? not going to work.
Research breeds carefully and DON’T pick the cute one in the corner just because it’s cute, make sure it’s personality and breed(s) match your lifestyle.
Most reputable breeders won’t let you “pick” your pup out of the litter, either, they interview you in detail and select the pup for you. I’d be thinking “bad breeder” if they invited me to come pick, esp. if they had more than one litter on the ground at the same time.

While I agree with a lot that was said here (cat part, breed) I would never take a pup that was selected for me by breeder or anyone if I’m looking for that “soul mate” closeness…
All of my heart dogs have been chosen by me and I haven’t let myself down yet. My heart dogs and I just seem to know each other at once.
:lol: Letting a breeder pick for me would be like hiring a marriage broker to me.
Don’t think so.

[avezan]

[QUOTE=pj;4310143]

While I agree with a lot that was said here (cat part, breed) I would never take a pup that was selected for me by breeder or anyone if I’m looking for that “soul mate” closeness…
All of my heart dogs have been chosen by me and I haven’t let myself down yet. My heart dogs and I just seem to know each other at once.
:lol: Letting a breeder pick for me would be like hiring a marriage broker to me.
Don’t think so.[/QUOTE]

PJ, I agree with your totally. Laurie, I was in this situation this spring. I lost my dog of 16 year and was desperate for another. I didn’t want a dog that looked just like the one I lost because I was afraid it would never live up to her. BUT, I did end up driving 2 hours to see a dog on petfinder whose face looked so much like the dog I lost, I couldn’t stand it. I met the dog, knew it would work, and took him home. It turns out he was not the same breed (petfinder was wrong) and his personality is different, and in person (in dog?) he doesn’t look as much like her. But he is beautiful. His beauty, while different than hers, reminds me of her. I love him. A few months later I did get a puppy of the same breed, but different color. She is closer in personality to the dog I lost, but not in looks. I love them both. I did look at puppies and found that I needed that connection to the puppy. I could never buy on bloodlines alone (an arranged marriage, for sure!)

So, Laurierace, go look at the sable sheltie and see if you feel a connection to him. I totally understand “the look” aspect. I am drawn to the same coloring as my old dog. My old dog was a very traditional black and white border collie. The first dog is a very non-traditional (for the breed) black and white aussie that looks a lot like a border collie. My new puppy is a tri-colored border collie. She still looks a lot like the others, but a little different. I had a sable sheltie as a child. I am very attracted to the traditional “collie” markings. But personality wins me over in the end. Go meet him and let us know what you think!

[Zu_Zu]

You will know when you find her/him

I believe ~ you will know for sure when you see the “right” dog regardless of breed! You will keep going back to look at it ~ time and time again and then like Magic you will KNOW !!! Get the dog you want ! really want ! the one that looks good to your eyes and heart !!!~~~Good-Luck & enjoy your search and when you are about to give up because you can not decide - your dog will appear !!! Keep us updated and send pictures when you bring your new friend home ! AO ~ Always Optimistic ~Jingles for your new dog !!!

[dawglover]

:no::(

I’d just like to find that puppy miller and break his “paws” and leave them untreated.

Laurierace, I say go sit down with both of those shelties and see which one chooses you!

[Laurierace]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I think I am at the stage where if you aren’t sure what to do, don’t do anything. I just can’t bring myself to make a committment to any of them yet. I do like that sheltie pup but as ashamed as I am to say this I am worried about those broken legs. My lab was lame almost her entire life and taking her pain away was a focus for almost 11 years. I know they say this dog is ok now but who knows how long that will last.
I am feeling like a heartless jerk already because I took my 21 year old TB to the vet today and had about a gallon of fluid (not literally but it seemed like it) drained from his hocks. Up until last week he hadn’t shown the slightest bit of lameness but after what I saw today he had to have been hurting. I just don’t want to start out with a known problem in a dog too.

[bdj]

Hey Laurie -
A friend I saw at the Talbot dog show yesterday told me that Sheltie rescue (someone in Annapolis) just got in a whole litter of Sheltie pups (6-8 week olds, I think she said) and is expecting 15 more puppies in the next week or so!
Would you like contact info? I don’t have it right now, but should have it tomorrow morning…

(And I completely understand your reluctance regarding the pup with the broken legs - she’s adorable, but it’s a bit like a new horse - problems that arise after you’ve had the critter are one thing, but it’s very tough to walk in with full knowledge of something that major, and potentially heartbreaking. No matter how guilty that might make you feel at the moment, you are NOT a heartless jerk! A heartless jerk wouldn’t feel bad about it at all - YOU are good people!)

[Laurierace]

[QUOTE=bdj;4312644]
Hey Laurie -
A friend I saw at the Talbot dog show yesterday told me that Sheltie rescue (someone in Annapolis) just got in a whole litter of Sheltie pups (6-8 week olds, I think she said) and is expecting 15 more puppies in the next week or so!
Would you like contact info? I don’t have it right now, but should have it tomorrow morning…

(And I completely understand your reluctance regarding the pup with the broken legs - she’s adorable, but it’s a bit like a new horse - problems that arise after you’ve had the critter are one thing, but it’s very tough to walk in with full knowledge of something that major, and potentially heartbreaking. No matter how guilty that might make you feel at the moment, you are NOT a heartless jerk! A heartless jerk wouldn’t feel bad about it at all - YOU are good people!)[/QUOTE]

OMG would I! You might be my new best friend! Thanks so much for all the kind words, I truly needed that.

[bdj]

OK - friend is getting contact info for the rescue lady tonight, and she’ll pass it on to me tomorrow morning, so I’ll post here as soon as I get it (suspect that’ll be around 10ish) - not having internet access at home is STINKY!

(I’d tell you to just look up Sheltie Rescue in MD, but there are FOUR listed, and I don’t know which this person is attached to - my friend heard all this via a Sheltie person at her agility club, so I’m playing middleman, bigtime!)

And hey, just because you’re good people, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be reminded of that sometimes!

[Laurierace]

I have been looking at the rescues in MD. Some say they don’t have any right now, another says it has several but they are all fostered either in WV or PA and so on. Another says it has more dogs than are on the site and they might get placed without ever being on the site. Its been very confusing. I have been putting applications in all over the place. They all say to put one in just in case they get something in you are interested in. My poor vet, he has been getting lots of calls!

[Laurierace]

Ok we have major progress I think! I just got a brief image of me posting new puppy pics here for all to see. It came and went so fast that I didn’t get a chance to see what kind of puppy it was but maybe that means my heart really is starting to warm to the idea. Oh the power of the COTH enabler’s!

[camohn]

[QUOTE=Laurierace;4306667]
See that’s just it, I don’t know if I just like that color or if I am trying to accomplish something that is impossible. When Calvin died we waited almost three months before getting another dog, the Pom we have now. I wasn’t really ready for another dog but rushed it because my lab was pining away so much. I even called the vet asking how long she would grieve and he said about two weeks. We were at the two month point when I called!

So we went to this farm that had shelties and poms both as those were the two breeds that I had it narrowed down to. I was holding a sable sheltie female that I had sort of picked out of the litter and a man that was also there shopping asked to hold her. I let him and two minutes later he bought her! So I was ready to leave without anything when our Pom emerged from nowhere and wiggled her butt and waved her paws. I picked her up and she licked my face like crazy. So we took her home as sort of the consolation prize. She is a wonderful dog and a great representative of the breed but I resented her at first for not being Calvin. That is long gone and I am happy to have her. The real ironic thing is the lab hated her for about a month. I guess she resented her as well.

That whole experience makes me think maybe its just too soon for any dog right now even though I was nowhere near as bonded with the lab as Calvin. He was a twice in a lifetime dog…yes I was lucky enough to have a heart dog as a kid as well.[/QUOTE]

Pick the dog that chooses you. That is how I picked the Setter pup we have now. Hubby kinda wanted the one male in the litter/the rest were females. I sat down…the rest of the litter was running around playing and the female I brought home is the one that ran over and hopped in my lap instead.

[gloriginger]

I say get a blue merle Sheltie–but that’s just because I think they are adorable!

[bdj]

Hi Laurie -
Haven’t heard from my friend yet - so I sent her an email - will post here as soon as I have the info!

[Lazy_Palomino_Hunter]

Call the people at the Shetland Sheepdog Club of Greater Baltimore! I adopted my sheltie (a mahogany sable- close to your tri!) from them 9 or 10 years ago- they’re wonderful to work with. Tell them what you’re looking for… I know they get a lot of rescues in and not all of them make it to their website.

I wanted a bigger sheltie, a young adult male, to do agility with. I emailed Rhonda Kidd on a Monday, and picked up Jack on Friday. He was the most WONDERFUL dog. He had a rough life before I got him (he was seized by animal control when they found his owners beating the living daylights out of him), but he was never anything but kind. He passed away in March at age 13. I miss him terribly. :sadsmile:

[pharmgirl]

Hi Laurie,
I just wanted to share our recent experience, and hope that it may help you in one way or another. My husband and I just lost our beloved 11 year old Samoyed Cali on June 11. She was a lifetime dog to us, for so many reasons. It has been very, very hard :(. We also have a 6 year old border collie rescue in our house that was so attached to her we knew it would be tough on her too. At first my husband didn’t want to get another dog right away, but then he realized that something was missing in the house (and like your lab, she just still wasn’t right a month or so later). We decided that we were going to get another Sammy because we love the breed- we knew we couldn’t replace Cali but hoped to get something that had some of the same Sammy qualities that we loved in her.

Unfortunately, Cali’s breeder is no longer breeding so we had to search for another one (we did think of rescue, but wanted something young and sammy puppies are very rare in rescue, at least around here). Since they are all pretty much white, they were all going to look like Cali in that sense :lol:. But, there are some slight variations in the looks different lines can have. I don’t think there is anything wrong with getting one with a certain look that you like. If there is a look (or color pattern) you prefer then I say go for that. One thing we did change up was that this time we got a male. Our border collie is a female, so we thought this time go with the male/female dynamic which might be easier from a pack standpoint, and easier from a comparison one.

We went to look at one and when I saw him I really didn’t know if I was ready. We had some issues to work out with the breeder, and b/c of that I thought “it wasn’t right”. But, then the breeder went out of her way to help us it made me think that this was the right time. I think it was just hard to get to that point to finally be excited. We just got a new little guy a few days ago, and I am so happy we did. He is not Cali, nor will he ever be, but we love him and are so glad to have another white fluffball in the house.

I think the fact that you are looking around means it’s a right time, and once you find one you want it will be exciting for you and you will know it’s right.

[wendy]

I would never take a pup that was selected for me by breeder or anyone if I’m looking for that “soul mate” closeness…

so the breeder who has spent a lifetime with the parents and grandparents and two months getting to know the pups, and hopefully has spent six months or more getting to know YOU is somehow going to choose less wisely than you would after viewing the pups once?

In my experience most people who choose dogs on impulse at the shelter regret it. And very few reputable breeders are going to let you “pick” your pup out of the litter, and people who buy pups from non-reputable breeders frequently regret doing so.

[bdj]

Crud - I just talked to the info-providing friend and she didn’t get the info last night! She’s going to try to make a phone call today to get it. If not, she’ll see folks in the know at her agility class on Thursday night and get the info for me then - I’ll see her on Friday (at a trial) and get the info and post as soon as I get to my hotel Friday night.

All of this waiting is killing me, and I’m not even looking for a puppy… I want to live vicariously through Laurie, though!

[Laurierace]

No problem, it will all work out exactly as it is supposed to. I guess my heart just needs a little more time. Thanks for your help!

[bdj]

Laurie - I’ve got some info, so please check your PMs!