Dog Wanted

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Roy C
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Dog Wanted

Post by Roy C »

Recently my White German Shepherd (Toby) passed away.
He was just a super dog and the best friend a man could have.

Now I am looking for a new puppy.

Anyone know where I might find a White German Shepherd puppy?

Would prefer SW Ohio area but am willing to travel some for the right one.

Thanks for any tips/leads.

Roy
TunnelRat
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Post by TunnelRat »

Dear Jess,

When I was a boy, we had two dogs: Rusty and Sport. We got both of them while I was still very young, maybe five to seven years old.

Sport caught distemper when he was a puppy. He should have died, but he survived and grew, though he never got any teeth. He was supposed to be a beagle, but instead he was some kind of blue tick hound. He was a loud, obnoxious, agressive, unpleasant dog.

Your Unca Bill brought Rusty home one night from a football game. He had caught a group of boys trying to hang the dog with a length of barbed wire. All the hair along the dog's throat was gone. Rusty was brown and white, very pretty, and very friendly. His tail turned up like a teacup handle and his ears were up and perky. These were the dogs I grew up with.

I don't remember when Sport died. I was a young man, travelling on my own. Perhaps it happened while I was in the army. We never spoke of it.

Rusty died while I was in Viet Nam. He was very old and gray -- he had to be more than 12 years old -- and in a lot of obvious pain. Your Grandfather told me that he had taken the dog to the vet to be put to sleep. He said, "He folded up like a paper bag with the air let out of it". There was a catch in Grandfather's voice as he said it, and I realized how much the dog's passing had affected him.

Your Mom and I have only had a few dogs: Lobo, Eowynn, and Tux. There were a couple stand-ins -- Beaubien and a few others that didn't make the cut. Now, of course, we still have Toby, Asher's friend Bill's dog. He has yet to win our hearts.

We got Lobo when we were young, just married, having our first baby, and learning how to follow the Lord. Lobo was the dog who accompanied all the years of your growing up. I think all you kids knew Lobo, except maybe Leah. She may have been too young to remember him.

There are dozens -- maybe hundreds -- of Lobo stories. He lived with us in Newark, Akron, Cleveland, Lakewood, and Detroit. He must have turned his odometer over at least twice.

Finally the day came when I realized that he was going to die. He was old and gray and very ill. He had some kind of tumor in his stomach and a heart murmur that kept him from being operated on. I took him to the vet to have him put to sleep. Sheila Kumar, Keith Jacobs' daughter, worked there, so I had a friend with me.

When the vet (actually Sheila)finally put the needle in the dog's leg, Lobo folded up like a paper bag with the air going out of it. I went to drive home, but I ended up sitting in my car in the parking lot for 45 minutes in tears. I was surprised by how hard Lobo's death hit me -- it was like a hammer -- and by how sharply it pierced my heart. He was just a dog, but he had been a good friend.

When Eowynn came to die, it was different. She, too, was a dozen years old. She was the dog that Zachar, Asher, and Leah had grown up with. Her time had come -- she was old, slow, and uncomfortable. She was quite ill and it was a mercy in the end. Asher found her one late one evening, lying stretched out in her dog box, and cool to the touch. Zach and Ash buried her in the back yard, wrapped in a blanket, and with her ball, just in case...

Eowynn's death did not catch me by surprise. I knew it was coming. Even so, I wept for her. She had been a good dog, fun to play with, and there are lots of Eowynn stories, too.

I wasn't ready for Tux. He was only nine and a half, in good health, happy, furry, and fast -- a wonderful Shepherd/Chow mix He only weighed 80 lbs., but he seemed a lot bigger. He had not lost a step. Even that day he had been playing with the boys. He was happy that I was home. So it was a shock to find him with his tongue in the dirt very late at night on Saturday, June 4th.

His tongue was dry and soft, very like a feather to the touch. I dipped some water onto it, but he did not respond even so much as to lick up the drops. He was breathing slowly and his eyes were open. He knew that I was there with him, but he was otherwise unable to respond. He died during the night. In the morning I had Asher help me wrap him in a clean blanket.

I have not yet wept for Tux. He was a funny dog -- big, beautiful, furry, fast, and strong. He always attracted attention when we went for walks -- everyone wanted to pet him. But he never seemed to be able to learn any tricks except maybe to sit or stand up when he wanted a treat. He wouldn't come went called, and he wouldn't sit unless he were bribed. He did not understand how to play. Only in his last few years did he begin to make the "play bow", but even then he didn't know how to play a game.

I kept him on a cable at my back door. I always felt free to leave that door unlocked, knowing that no one Tux did not approve of was going to reach that door. I always felt free to leave your Mom and you kids home alone, knowing that Tux was there. Now that he's gone, I begin once again to have some concerns for my perimeter security.

Sorry I have rattled on so long. I think this note is a kind of substitute, an attempt to make up for my lack of tears.

Love, pride, all that sort of thing,

Dad
TunnelRat

"Applying the standard that is well established in our case law, we hold that the Second Amendment right is fully applicable to the States." ~ McDonald v. Chicago

When your only tools are a hammer and sickle, every problem starts to look like too much freedom.
Petrovich
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Post by Petrovich »

I like sad doggie stories... :(

I've had a couple of good ones. I/we had a small, collie type mix named Sandy. She got heartworm and we had her treated for it. She never was right after that, and her kidneys finally failed and her heart was no doubt damaged from the worms.

She got sick and went into heart failure and filled up with fluid. I had the vet put her to sleep...you don't realize how much they mean to you until they die right in front of you then it hits you.

My last doggie was a doberman mix. I found her as a puppy half starved along the road and I brought the thing home with the intention of shooting it because it was so starved and sick. I couldn't do it, and we kept her and had her for 11 years. She turned out to be a pretty darn good dog. She had diabetes and her health finally went bad and I actually did end up shooting her. Again, you think yer gonna be ok but it hits you hard.

My doggie now is chopper. He's an Australian cattle dog Aka blue/red heeler. He's a pistol now let me tell you!'

I've never had a German Shepherd but I hear they make great dogs. Chopper puts me in mind of a smaller version of a GS.

Just a thought on yer old dog with distemper. It very likely had some brain damage from the illness. I was at the vet's one time and she had two kittens in her office and they were the wierdest cats you ever saw. They couldn't walk straight, they kinda 'danced' around and made funny noises....their coordination was severely impaired. I asked her what was wrong with them and she said part of their brain was gone.....ok......what kind of wierd experiments you doin' here doc???

She said the mother cat had distemper when she was pregnant for the kittens and it destroyed part of their brain (brain damage).
CurtInOhio
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Post by CurtInOhio »

I didn't need this thread today... To answer the question, I would get in contact with whatever local German Shepherd club is around and ask them; they're likely to be able to help you find breeder with whites... I knew a white GS that was a great frisbee dog... in fact, he could catch one over 9 feet in the air (we tested by putting one on a tree limb). Amazing to see.

I have a black lab that's going to be 14 in 2 months. He's still mentally in great shape, hears fine, sees pretty well (cataracts have started but aren't bad). We live in a 3 story house, and he's lately needed some help starting down our steps... he fell once, so it scared both of us, but he was fine. He's just an incredible personality to live with, and a very sweet dog. I hate even thinking of what's coming, but I thank God he's still healthy. I tear up even thinking about what will eventually come, and I pray that it's peaceful and not painful in any way.
Curt M
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