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14868. Frankster - 5/8/2005 3:51:30 PM
Happy Mother's Day, y'all!
...My condolences, Arky. I remember Diva. 14870. PelleNilsson - 5/8/2005 5:55:20 PM Sorry for missing your birthday, Judith and belated congrats. I was away, at the cottage, brief report to appear in Escapes.
Arky, that is bad news. In empathize. We had to put our dog away when we left Yemen. The amount of emotion that went into that was ridiculous, but real. 14871. wabbit - 5/8/2005 5:58:43 PM Hey mags et al!
Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there! 14872. arkymalarky - 5/8/2005 6:49:48 PM Thank you so much, everyone. You're right, Pelle, it is so real--a loyal daily companion is so hard to part with, especially when she's at the peak of life.
Happy Mother's Day to all you moms! Mose is on her way down to spend the day with me. We already had my Mother's Day dinner out Thursday evening to try to cheer me up when Diva was missing, so I'm glad Mose is coming over today. We've hardly gotten to see her this school year, it seems. 14873. Magoseph - 5/9/2005 3:46:13 AM I deleted #14869 (my post) because it gave more information than I intended to give. 14874. Ulgine Barrows - 5/9/2005 6:41:51 AM never trusT the moon
wheN your'e about to trusT
his
kiss
He knows
aLL THE LINES
ONLY TRUST YOUR HEART
14875. Macnas - 5/9/2005 8:38:37 AM Dogs eh?, and the way we come to depend on them?
I've been lucky enough to work with some great dogs. Pure bred gun dogs rarely live beyond 10 years, maybe less depending on how hard they work, so I've broken my heart many times over these last few decades.
A few in particular always twang a heartstring when I remember them. Damn it all, I liked those dogs a whole lot better than I do a lot of people I know.
Chin up Arky, don't stand on grieving and get yourselves a pup as soon as is practicable. 14876. alistairconnor - 5/9/2005 9:04:05 AM I've never been a dog person. That's what I tell myself; but in reality, I like my friends' dogs very well, particularly the way they function as an extension of their personality.
In fact, I think it's mostly cowardice, I am afraid of the potential for attachment, dependence and loss. There are also a host of practical constraints of course.
It's tough losing a friend, Arky. Good luck with finding the right pup. 14877. Magoseph - 5/9/2005 1:17:45 PM 
I never saw roses presented this way.
14878. thoughtful - 5/9/2005 1:34:36 PM Oh Arky, I was so hoping Diva would make her way home safe and sound. I'm terribly sorry to hear the news. Dog or not, they are still members of our family and our hearts break when they leave us. My deepest sympathy. 14879. Magoseph - 5/9/2005 2:15:12 PM Just dropping in to let y'all know both my candidates won today...in landslides. I guess positive campaigning DOES count for something.
Landslides--Can you give us some figures on that, Judith?
You and Keoni must be overjoyed--I'm so glad for you. 14880. arkymalarky - 5/9/2005 2:16:36 PM Thanks so much, Mac, Alistair and Thoughtful. She tried to get home, and was within 30 minutes of being here. That's the hardest part about it, I think. It really means so much how good everyone has been about Diva. Even the lady at the paper when I called and cancelled the "lost dog" ad was sincerely sympathetic. Our friends here and irl have been wonderful.
You're right, Alistair, it's a big emotional risk, especially if you let them run free much in the country, but we will take it again and with the same breed. The two dachshunds we've had just loved living out here and their lives were very full. They're great for people who need indoor/outdoor companions. I'll try to get to the point of dog shopping fairly soon, because Mojo is very down and needy since Diva's been gone, and I need this free time I've got right now to devote full attention to training a puppy. If I wait until school starts back I won't be able to do it like I would like. I also could use the distraction, since I'm home right now while everyone else is gone or at work. A puppy starts as a project that hopefully ends as a wonderful compantion, so I would not be simply trying to fill an unfillable hole with another dog.
I do want to make sure I'm emotionally ready to not expect any puppy I get to become another Diva, but I don't think that will be a problem. I started to inquire at the same place I got her whether they would be expecting another litter any time soon, and decided against it for that reason. She's irreplaceable, and it wouldn't be fair to any other dog to be expected to be like her.
I will try some different precautions, but not to the point of keeping a dog from getting to live a dog's life out here--all the freedom of the rural outdoors with all the amenities of an indoor, climate-controlled environment. It's a great setup, really. For five years Diva always had such a dependable personality and routine that her straying miles from home wasn't even on our radar.
Diva never crossed the highway but once, and that was when she was a puppy and I had just run over my dog, Chili. She stayed gone three days and a neighbor took her in, having no idea whose dog she was until she heard from our friend--the same friend who found her dead this time. We live 1/4 a mile and out of sight from the highway and she was never one to wander out of our area, even when she was hunting. We've had a number of dogs here over 22 years (many weren't dear pets, but strays we took in), and only three have been killed by cars--two of them by Bob and me, respectively. 14881. Macnas - 5/9/2005 2:29:35 PM I don't know that you can ever get the "right pup", or that you will ever know until the pup is home with you for a while.
I do think that any pup can be a good fit, if you give it the attention it needs and know not to spoil it either.
It does help to get a clever dog. If you are picking a pup from a litter, you might (without actually going in among them) take, say, your car keys and give them a little jangle, just a shake to make a little noise.
The pup(s) who come over to investigate are more likely to be clever, curious and a bit braver than the rest. A clever dog is easier to train and more willing to work/please.
Whatever you do, I know the dog will be lucky to live with you and Bob. 14882. alistairconnor - 5/9/2005 2:45:51 PM especially if you let them run free much in the country
... that's the number two issue, for me. I couldn't stand to leave a dog tied up all the time, as many people do; and if you don't, it had better be well-trained to leave the livestock alone. A dog that gets a taste for chicken or duck will catch a bullet pretty quick. (In fact, any untied dog runs that risk, in season.)
The number one issue is training the dog in the first place. 14883. arkymalarky - 5/9/2005 2:52:49 PM How sweet, Mac!
I just know the breed I want (because of the indoor/outdoor, level of energy, I'm very familiar with their traits, etc) and some general traits I want in a puppy. You're right about not knowing. You can only use your best judgment at the time and work to train the dog properly for your particular needs. Ours--even strays--have worked out well. Some of our best dogs (including Mojo) just wandered into the yard one day.
We're pretty slack on the training because of our environment and we don't really need our dogs to do that much--stay off the furniture, don't jump on people, stay away from the driveway, cut it out, etc.
I learned from Diva and Chili that I don't want a dachshund that's too independent or overly-confident or aggressive--that can easily turn into defiance and that can get them killed. Chili was defiant and she would run off after anything. She knew how to mind, but she also knew how to judge distances, and if you couldn't get to her and she wanted to do something, she did it. Diva was very smart and intuitive, but very interested in pleasing us. Chili couldn't have cared less.
Dachshunds can be very stubborn, but what Diva did was so out of character that we wouldn't have been able to prepare for it, though we played the "what if" game a lot this weekend--a futile effort, but one that's hard to control. 14884. arkymalarky - 5/9/2005 2:57:25 PM it had better be well-trained to leave the livestock alone. A dog that gets a taste for chicken or duck will catch a bullet pretty quick.
OH YES!
Diva loved cows, and part of our trail is next to a cow pasture. She finally quit chasing them, but I was afraid she would get shot. And even if you know the neighbors out here, they'll just shoot your dog if it's a nuisance and likely never even let you know.
Fortunately in our yard it's not a problem and the dogs would have to go a considerable way on their own to bother neighbors' animals. I will have to figure out how to make sure the next dog comes in by dark. That's when we had our main problem with wandering and hunting. 14885. arkymalarky - 5/9/2005 2:58:02 PM Um, Diva did not catch and eat cows--she just loved to make them run. 14886. Macnas - 5/9/2005 3:10:38 PM Well, most dogs can be trained not to chase stock. The same situation applies here by the way, farming landowners have the right to shoot any dog they see on their land, whether it is bothering stock or not.
And as for coming in at dark? well, that is easily enough done too. A small meal or snack will of course, concentrate the animals mind as to it being a good idea to be around when it gets dark out. My dogs are always put to kennel at night. I don't care how good you think your dog is, or how clever or well trained it is.
At night, dogs change and if they can, forget about us for a while and will leave and go awandering. I remember one night, I was out fishing with my brother, and coming home through the fields we saw a black and white shape moving along the ditch across the way from us, moving parallel.
When we almost converged, we saw that it was one of our dogs, who had seemed to have managed to escape being put in for the night.
She saw us, recognised us, turned around and ran for home.
When we got there, she was stuck half-in and half-out of her kennel, trying desperatly to get inside before we had got back. 14887. arkymalarky - 5/9/2005 3:19:01 PM Hahaha! Sounds like a kid who climbed out the window trying to climb back in before his parents catch him!
That's excellent advice. Bob likes to hang around the yard at night, and I'll try getting him to keep a treat in his pocket to get the dog to stay with him and just come in when he comes in. Diva was not so adventurous until the last year or so, and coming in at dark wasn't an issue (it was with Chili) until fairly recently, and she'd always come in eventually because she doesn't like the cold. 14888. wonkers2 - 5/9/2005 4:05:32 PM I've always admired Brittany Spaniels. Had a Springer Spaniel when I was a kid. My wife prefers cats of which we've had several and currently have one that's 17-18 years old and still spry.
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