Why did you get your dog?

There are many reasons why we all have our dogs and it would be great to hear how our dogs came to be in our lives

Dennis's story.......

After our two Labs had died my dad said no to anymore dogs. This was because we were all so heartbroken when they left us and it was very sad watching them get old. We would still pester him all of the time for a new addition but we knew the answer would always be no.

Then, one day my mum and myself were at the local pet shop when we saw an advert saying 'Labrador puppies for sale' and only in the next town. We rang my dad straight away but of course the answer was.....no. However! a couple of minutes later I received a text saying 'go on then!'

That afternoon we went to see the puppies along with their mother and the family and of course there was no saying no when we saw our gorgeous Dennis

11 years later and he is still our baby

Awwww that's lovely!

I originally got Roxy with my ex partner, at the time we had a Jug(Jack Russell X Pug) and we wanted a second dog for a companion for her.

We talked about it for weeks and then he found out that someone he was working with had a litter of Jack Russells at home. More deliberation, then we decided to go for it. We went to see and little Roxy was the last one of the litter, the man brought her into work a few days later for us to pick her up.
My partner asked me 'is she okay?'..I replied 'she's perfect'
Then off we went (on the bus because neither of us could drive at that point, haha) and she's stayed with me since
Unfortunately I couldn't keep the Jug..and neither could he, but she's now with someone I know and both myself and Roxy see her sometimes so that's something ..I remember the first time the new owner brought her over to my house..I saw her and started crying like a baby!
Anyway back to Rox, 7 and a half years later and she is still perfect and she's the best thing that's ever happened to me

Why Murphy?
Well since we married 37 years ago its been rescue dogs basically anyone who needed a home if we could help we did so we have had a mis of dogs and a mix of unique and special personalities through our home, we adjusted to each one as we went. The last of my special boys to pass away was Benny, a grumpy autistic beagle. Bought as a lap dog and beaten and chucked in a canal when he failed to live up to the owners wishes.

But now we are the ones with special needs apart from having a parrot to consider so sighthounds and many terriers just would not be an option we had to consider our age and OH's failing health. He couldnt adjust so we needed a dog who would grow with us and learn to adapt to us as we changed. Many advised against us getting another dog because they said it would be too much for OH to cope with , that the risk of him being emotionally detatched or unaccepting of the new dog was too great but in the end it was him who came to me one day and said please find another dog.
We both agreed that life without a dog wasnt really living.

So I looked around at a breed that would be medium sized, loving, loyal ,gentle, playful but not too mad (I didnt want to risk being too old to satisfy a BC or too weak to hold or lift a dobbermann) a stabij seemed to fit all the things on our list and so the search begun. I rejected several breeders because their location is a hot spot for BYB and some I knew were just puppy mills. Then I found Kea and her dog Bijke who had just had pups. A house lived in by much loved dogs a blanket on the sofa and hair on the carpet. She talked to us for about an hour we drank coffee and talked dogs past and present showed each other photos of those dogs and one pup just decided he wasnt going to let us leave without a fight only 4 weeks old but he hauled himself out of the box and came waddeling across to us begging to be picked up .. So it was that Murphy picked us.

He is mad engergetic crazy antisocial nut job but we love him and he makes life ALIVE... we have adventures everyday because of and with him and we wouldnt change that for the world.

I needed a Psych therapy dog cause my meds werent working. it was to expensive to get a proper one so i decided to get a puppy and train my own. worst decision of my life. Bax came from a glorified puppy mill and was terrified of EVERYTHING including me. he HATED people. hid, would snap at you if you came close. chewed EVERYTHING including a blanket that was older than i was, and wasn't potty trained for 3+ YEARS.

he hated me. he didnt want to be touched. BUT. but when i was getting super paranoid at night and i was lying there sweating and shaking and terrified? He tots would crawl up the bed to snuggle next to me. i couldnt touch him! but HE could cuddle ME if he wanted. and there was not a single night that i was scared that he didnt coem and cuddle me, even though he was terrifed of me any other time.

thankfully i got meds that work and i no longer need his services so he got demoted from therapy dog to quasi okay house pet. but hey he likes people and hes house trained now!

I was given a Border Terrier pup for my 8th birthday by my grandfather. He told me to look after him and treat him right and he would be the best friend I could ever wish for,and he was right. I've had Border Terriers ever since.
Some may think I was too young at 8 years old,but I was brought up living with lurchers and terriers. My dad had them and my grandfather had them too. They were important members of the family who helped to put food on the table. So from day one I was surrounded by dogs,I just can't imagine life without dogs now.

I'd often wanted a dog, but as I have fibomyalgia and OH wasn't really keen on the idea, I didn't think it would happen. But when DS2 was in 6th form he had social/generalised anxiety problems and he thought a dog might help. He said he was 80% sure he would take all the responsibility, and I said I'd take up the remaining 20%. That seemed doable with a lurcher, as someone told me they just needed a couple of 20-minute walks a day...

We looked at rescues, but as we have a cat, and cat-friendly lurchers that had the look we wanted (I know.... ) were thin on the ground, we decided to get a puppy, and pups in rescue tend to have unknown parentage... So Jasper turned up, turned out to be a completely wild toothy monster, DS2 couldn't face going out with him as people would TALK to him and he was anxious about everything that could go wrong (and with Jasper that was a big everything!). Long story short, I walked Jasper, as we walked further my health improved more than I thought possible, DS2 had counselling and sorted his head out, we worked out ways of managing Jasper's issues... and we all lived happily ever after

After our 15 years old beloved collie cross passed away we said no more dogs. We lasted a very long 10 months. We saw some beautiful Jack Russell pups for sale and so Roxy came home with us. The breeder said oh thank god i’ll be glad to see the back of her, saw my face then said laughingly, I’m only joking. She wasn’t. Roxy was a nightmare. She was like she was on speed, everything was done at double speed. Even biting. I didn’t believe in crates but when I woke up in the night with my hand tight around her muzzle (she had been biting me in my sleep) I knew I had to get one to keep her and me safe. I slept downstairs on the sofa with the crate on the armchair in front of me, so she could still see me. It worked and she loved her crate. But she was the worst pup I have ever had. The first outing at 13 weeks I carried her across a busy road where there were 2 huge rottwielers and she growled at them, not a quiver of fear in her. She’s fiesty, demanding, bossy and naughty but we all love her to bits.

I've wanted a dog for many many years but both my partner and I worked stupid hours. If we'd had a dog it wouldn't have seen much of us nor would we have had the energy to want to spend time walking and playing with one when we were home.

Having quit the corporate rat race and becoming self employed I was going to be at home. The OH was not keen still - didn't want the tie etc etc. Anyway he'd had a glass of wine too many when we were round at a friend's one night and conceded that he "might think about it"..... The fact that their temporary foster dog was cuddled up to him might have had a bearing on that!

Well as far as I was concerned that was my green light. I did consider adoption but I was set on a Welsh terrier again and they don't come up very often and I'd waited long enough already. We also had a cat and a terrier rescue and cats is not always a happy match. I found a suitable litter, took a friend with me to visit the breeder and came home and told him I'd bought a puppy!

Rhythmpig said:

I was given a Border Terrier pup for my 8th birthday by my grandfather. He told me to look after him and treat him right and he would be the best friend I could ever wish for,and he was right. I've had Border Terriers ever since.
Some may think I was too young at 8 years old,but I was brought up living with lurchers and terriers. My dad had them and my grandfather had them too. They were important members of the family who helped to put food on the table. So from day one I was surrounded by dogs,I just can't imagine life without dogs now.

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That’s a lovely story

We have always had a dog, or more often dogs. Shelties where our main breed and we always had at least one. When we knew my wife was terminal we had a Sheltie. Fortunately with help from a close friend I managed to keep her, then as I was coming up to retirement and as she was very elderly, (18 yrs), I knew I wanted to get another dog. But in my mind Shelties were associated with my wife and so although I still think they are wonderful dogs I couldn't consider getting another. So thinking back to the various other dogs we have had I remembered Clive, now Clive was a Whippet and he was very close to death through starvation when he came to us. It took quite some time for him to recover enough to show his personality but when he did he was a lovely dog to live with. So I started looking round at Whippet breeders and was fortunate to be accepted to have a pup from a litter that was due. And yes I met both the Sire and the Dam. When they were 4 weeks old I visited, taking a 'doggy' friend with me. All the litter were lovely, but one, although she accepted my friend fussing her whenever she was free she came to me and I totally fell for her. So at 8 weeks of age she came to me I called her Folly and she has been a wonderful friend and companion ever since. One strange thing a few people had told me that Gypsy the Sheltie would be with me for as long as I needed her and she gave up and died two days after Folly came home, nothing to do with a pup wearing her out as apart from sniffing noses etc Folly was very respectful of Gypsy.

Most people on here know how I got Dudley.
My grandaughter begged me to buy this little cross breed puppy for her. As I can't resist my grandchildren I did
Unfortunately her partner died unexpectedly and we had Dudley on and off. For a couple of days at a time.
It got so I missed him so much every time he went back my husband agreed I could have a dog.Although he was very anti dog
Initially looked at rescue dogs then puppies. The day after we put a deposit on a 4 week old puppy, my grandaughter asked if we would have Dudley permanently.
I said yes and the husband agreed.
At 22 weeks he came to us.
We both adore him and he, quite honestly has changed our lives. He has always been quite easy. We did worry about being elderly.
Freya still gets to see him as does my daughter and the other grandchildren.

I had always had dog's from being a little girl and got another when my two boys were old enough. I always worked full time at the major hospital in my area . My mum lived just across the road and came to take him out to walk when I was at work . When she died my dog died six weeks after. I always knew that when I retired the first thing I would do is get a dog. He has been the making of me since I gave up work we have so much fun we do doggy delight stuff all day. I am fitter and more happy than I ever remember the best decision i ever made .

A lovely lady who lives opposite me lost her hubby a few months ago and decided she needed a puppy for company, now this lady is 86 , suffers badly from arthritis and has brought a Border collie she really couldn’t have picked a more unsuitable breed it’s now 5 months old and a proper handful , I’ve just taken it for a walk and it has no training, met another dog and it went loopy ! Only gets out for 5 mins once a day so no wonder it’s out of control, feel so sad for the puppy as it’s now needing a new home as the lady can’t cope

Yes this is something you must consider when you get a dog in later life. You may be fit and healthy now but you must think what would happen if this was not always the case. I was seventy when I retired and decided that an older dog rather than a puppy would be the best option. That would mean when the dog was 15 i would be in my early eighties. As it happens my son and daughter in law live in the same village and have fallen for Buster hook line and sinker, they also take him for really long walks. So now I have the security of knowing that if anything happens to me he would have a home for life with them.

I have really loved the stories how people got their dogs. Also how they fit together. The right dog with the right person. Like Free Spirit I was 70 when I got Dudley. My daughter and grandchildren live close by so he will never be without someone to love and care for him

As an adult I always wanted a dog but time was never right. My then partner and I then did the worst thing ever and bought a puppy through the free ads having done no research at all. Buffy was a little blue and white bundle of Beardie fluff. She was a total terror and although I loved her til she passed through heart failure aged 9, she put me off having another puppy - ever. In our ignorance we got another slightly older Beardie boy to try to "calm" her down. Angus was adorable. I was his person but he was also undersocialised and had next to no training. He stayed with me when my partner and I split. He got old and wobbly but never really behaved in his whole life! When I lost him to cancer I swore I would never get another dog because I was heart broken.
I started volunteering at my local shelter and walking the dogs. I missed being around dogs. One day I went in and there he was. A poor scared wee Beardie cross, Jock. He had been taken in over the weekend and I knew he was coming home with me.
Jock had a few little odd behaviours but generally he was perfect from the start. He loved everyone, loved other dogs, wasn't interested in chasing livestock, had near perfect recall and walked beautifully on lead. I lost him earlier this year and it almost broke me. He had been my rock and best friend.
Of course I wasn't going to get another dog. I couldn't go through all that pain again. Didn't stop me looking longingly at every rescue website I could find. Now I have found my boy Billy, a 4 year old border collie who was handed over to the SSPCA because he had become reactive to livestock after saving his owner had been pinned by a bull and Billy had chased him off. He has been with me not quite a month and to say he is running rings around me in an understatement. He is as sharp as a pin but so loving so you forgive him his little issues. It will be a steep learning curve for us both, but I know he is worth it.

I got my first dog just after I changed jobs and could get home at lunch time. I got her from an RSPCA shelter, the main reason I got her was because she was already speyed and had only been in for a few days as her previous owner had died. She was three years old and I was told she was a small Collie cross.

She was great, quiet, house trained and did not mind being left alone. I tried everything to make her walk to heal as she would choke rather than give in. In the end we compromised, and I let her walk in front as long as she didn't pull.

When I moved, she travelled with me on the train from Yorkshire to Sussex, with a taxi ride from King's Cross to Green Park for exercise and a wee, before we caught a train at Victoria.

malwhit said:

I got my first dog just after I changed jobs and could get home at lunch time. I got her from an RSPCA shelter, the main reason I got her was because she was already speyed and had only been in for a few days as her previous owner had died. She was three years old and I was told she was a small Collie cross.

She was great, quiet, house trained and did not mind being left alone. I tried everything to make her walk to heal as she would choke rather than give in. In the end we compromised, and I let her walk in front as long as she didn't pull.

When I moved, she travelled with me on the train from Yorkshire to Sussex, with a taxi ride from King's Cross to Green Park for exercise and a wee, before we caught a train at Victoria.

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She sounds smashing!