View Single Post
  #74  
Old May 23rd 17, 01:26 AM posted to rec.photo.digital
PeterN[_7_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,161
Default Where I keep my spare cats.

On 5/22/2017 11:18 AM, PAS wrote:
On 5/19/2017 6:57 PM, PeterN wrote:
On 5/19/2017 2:19 PM, PAS wrote:
On 5/19/2017 1:29 PM, David B. wrote:
On 5/19/2017 6:13 PM, PAS wrote:
[....]
My wife and I have been, thankfully, spared the loss of a child. But
we have lost some dogs over the years. My wife was not always the
dog lover I am. We got our first dog when our youngest of two sons
was an infant so she had her priorities and it wasn't a new dog, that
was mine. Fast forward about 26 years and we got a dog after going
about five years without one. My wife named her Maya and she was an
awesome dog. She was a bear-coat Shar Pei which you don't see often

As a puppy: http://www.pete-the-greek.com/Pets/Maya/i-WNFH8Rd/A

Full-grown: http://www.pete-the-greek.com/Pets/Maya/i-fp8xSGf/A

Wow! :-) I've never seen such a dog! Thanks for sharing the
photographs.

Maya died two years ago at the age of 5 1/2. To say my wife was
devastated is an understatement. She was attached to that dog in a
way I had never seen. There are days where I still find her crying
over Maya.

I'm saddened to learn of your loss. I, too, have cried over the loss
of my pets over the years. They do, as you know, become a part of you.

They certainly do become part of us. We have two now, Bella and Bubba.
Bubba is from the same litter as Maya was. Bella is six months younger
from the same father but different mother. We haven't had Bubba since
he was a pup, we only had Maya at the time. Bella came six months
later. A family on Long Island not far from us bought Bubba. Three
years ago they decided they had to give him up. The couple who bought
him had a baby at the time and three years later had another one. Her
mother was going to care for the two children while the mother went back
to work but she was allergic to dogs so they gave him up. When you buy
a dog from the breeder we got them from, you agree that if you decide to
give up the dog for any reason then you must give the breeder first
opportunity to take the dog. The breeder is in North Carolina, quite a
distance from Long Island. The couple was being difficult and they were
adamant that they would give the breeder one week to come and get the
dog or else they would send him to a shelter. She was upset about this
because she couldn't get to Long Island within a week - she has a family
and a job and what-not to attend to. She asked us if we would take
Bubba until a suitable place was found for him. We agreed immediately
and after having him for a day, we decided we would keep him. He's a
timid dog but a good boy. I wonder what causes him to be so timid
because he avoids being pet most of the time, as if he is afraid. I
wonder how he was treated by his other family.


My guess is that he was never properly socialized, or that he is upset
over his change of pack leader. You cannot force him to do anything.
Talk softly to him at all times. Hopefully he won't become aggressive
out of fear. Try frequent hand feeding with treats. I assume he will
let you brush him. If so, give him treats while brushing, and every
so often substitute your hand for a brush.

I am sure he was not socialized, rarely taken out of the house. He's a
good boy, very timid but loving. He loves me to chase him around in the
yard. He dares me to chase him when I want him to come inside and he
just comes up to the door and backs away. In August it will be three
years that he's been with us. He acclimated fairly quickly but he did
come from a home with no other dogs. No doubt he was a confused dog
wondering why he was taken out of his home to a new one but he got along
with our dogs very well and that was a concern. If he was aggressive
towards our dogs then we wouldn't have kept him but he was the farthest
thing from that. He's pretty obedient too. Shar Peis require regular
ear cleanings and Maya and Bella fought it. Bubba just lies down and
lets me do it. He doesn't like but he doesn't fight it. We are very
happy with our decision to keep him.


That's nice to hear.

BTW When I saw your website, I had to look twice. If you recall, Pete
the Greek was Joey Gallo's bodyguard. as things turned out, he wasn't
very good at it.

--
PeterN