And By Popular Demand Of One Person... The Dogs! · 2:38am Aug 3rd, 2017
So here's the new dog. Her name is Luna and she's settling in nicely.
She's a yellow lab, or rather, she's allegedly a yellow lab. However, she's tiny. She's about sixteen inches at the shoulder, and she's six months old. Labs should be roughly their adult height by eight months, so she's either going to have a hell of a growth spurt, or she's going to be very, very small.
This could be due to one of two things: She was either severely malnourished, or she's actually a mini lab. Both of these things are bad. I'm guessing malnourished, given her terrible former owners and how totally insane she is when it's feeding time, but there was a mini labrador craze a bit ago. However, mini labs are only supposed to be a few inches shorter than a regular one, and she's like half the size.
And here's my older bandog mastiff looking happy and tired.
Star, my mastiff, is totally into this puppy situation. She's digging having another dog to play with. However, it's worrisome because Star has bad legs. All of this playing is hard on her, and both dogs have no off switch. I have to shut down their play a lot, and I hate doing that because they are having a great time. My wife and I are teaching them things to do that don't involve wrestling, and we are forbidding any level of rough play in the house. So far, we've had some success switching them tyo tug-of-war and keep away. That's less stressful on my dog's poor legs, but she's still limping a lot. Unfortunately, I think this will end up shortening my older dog's life because it will accelerate her arthritis, but there's not much I can do about it unless someone around here wants to adopt. Luna's had a pretty tough life, so far, and I wouldn't give her to anyone who didn't meet a really specific profile. Much more likely that she'll be here for the long haul. I just wish that it wasn't at the expense of my precious mastiff.
I want to pet their faces.
When we first moved to a real house, my wife wanted to get a dog. For the children, she said. Something they can play with.
We're from Kansas. I was expecting something with 'miniature' in the name, so it would be able to stay in the house, be petted, curl up on laps, things like that.
She got a Brittney. (For those of you who don't know, a Brittney is one of those big reddish and white bird dogs. They have a metabolism like a cappuccino addict, the only time they don't move is when they're unconscious, and if one curls up on your lap, it will claw you to death getting comfortable.)
Fifteen years later, it passed away. We mourned. Before we could go about the search for another dog, the daughter's boyfriend got her a Black Labrador. We got it neutered, shots, tags, all the fun stuff to the tune of a couple hundred bucks. Then they broke up. He wanted the dog back. I wanted to give it to him. The wife and daughter overrode me. We have a Black Lab now. And the wife got a terrier. And the daughter, who lives outside of the house now, has a white mini poodle and a white and black... mini something who visit several times a week for dogsitting.
I don't have a dog. Everybody else in the house, they have dogs.
Is that the face of someone who would make the night last forever? Yes it is! Yes it is!
Urge to pet rising.
4622201
Luna would love it. Star would probably love it, but it would depend on the vibe that she gets from you. You can't be apprehensive at all around Star. She picks up on the fear and reacts to it.
4622244
Even when you don't have a dog, if it's in the house, you kinda have a dog. I had a roommate once who had a basset hound. Very soon afterward, I also had a basset hound. They just kind of worm their way into your life.
4622762
As a cat person, I'm usually a little nervous around dogs, so I'd be a little nervous.
I'd also smell like five cats.
4622730
Luna cannot get enough pets. If you have some, please box them up and ship them over! We are running out!
4622767
They'd give you a severe sniffing. I can guarantee that.
Doggos!
4622380
She's making my nights last forever. I feel like I've gotten like three hours of sleep a night since Luna arrived. She just doesn't seem to need sleep. Puppies that are her age are supposed to sleep sixteen hours a day. Luna maybe sleeps for six.
4622774
Well, one's a pupper. She's a doggo in training.
4622772
Eep :O
4622380 By her will (and barking) the moon rises and is encouraged on its path across the sky....
4622244 My family has bred Brittanys for generations. (I remember when they were called Brittany Spaniels). Loving dogs, but they need tons of walking. Did you ever use yours to hunt pheasant?
4623060 Had a friend with a Brittany back in high school, and we hunted pheasants with her. Well, we hunted pheasants. She chased rabbits. Once one of those cotton-tails popped out of a tuft of grass, she was across the field and gone. I hate to admit it, but she had a few pieces of #8 shot in her rump after a few hunting sessions (not put there by me, but the owners). It *did* calm her down, though.
No, our inside-the-town Brittany was a back yard dog. Every day or so the kids would take her out for a drag. She didn't do walks. She liked to sprint to the end of the leash and *bang!* yank it right out of your hand so she could go running off in the neighborhood. I *tried* running with her, but she would either sprint ahead (*yank!*) or double back (*yank!*) and if you're running when that happens, you have a choice of crippling injuries or letting go of the leash. And yes, that was *with* the choke chain.
As I said, not the dog I would have picked for a house dog.
4623249 Ah, good times. Growing up we were lucky enough to live on the edge of streets where cars actually went, so we would take our Brittanies for 2 mile walks (off leash) daily, that wore them out. They mostly lived outside as well. I do remember having to chase one particularly dumb dog through a neighbors yard when he was running off, we got complaints about that.