# Keeping my mind off of Thunder



## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Cause I'm baby sitting daughter #1s two dogs.

Chi dog and, I think Chi X terrier. Vegas and Louie

Her chi dog is an intact male as is my GSD Trooper.

Seems Trooper isn't threatened at all because he keeps trying to bat the snarly little Chi dog on top the head with his paw.

Can't help but laugh at them but I don't leave them unsupervised so the little Chi dog doesn't kill Trooper.

A good friend has a 5lb Poodle and it killed a coyote.

Yep! That coyote choked to death trying to swallow the poodle whole. BAAAAAADUMP,BUMP!:roll: :grin:

Also giving Trooper lots more one on one time with me.


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## leslie cassian (Jun 3, 2007)

I used to be totally anti-small dog, had no use for them, or desire to have one, and then I met the most charming Pomeranian. She was a lovely, friendly, funny, sweet little dog, and so I softened in my small dog stance, and sometimes even think about getting one. Small dog owners reassure me that they are, in fact, real dogs, though I am not entirely convinced. 

I keep intending to scale down in dog size, but sadly, if you buy a Mal or Dutch Shepherd puppy, they don't stay that size, and you end up with another big dog. Wanted a petite female mal, ended up with a 70 lb male. Hoping for a petite female Dutchie, she topped out at 65 lbs, a little closer to my ideal than the breeder prediction of 75. 

There is going to be a small dog one day, just haven't decided on breed. Needs to be tough enough to survive the herders, but cute enough to still be my foo-foo dog. 

Glad you have some one on one time with Trooper. How is he coping with the loss of his companion?


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## Matt Vandart (Nov 28, 2012)

Leslie, you need a Paterdale :evil:


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

I think Leslie needs a Border Terrier. :twisted:


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## leslie cassian (Jun 3, 2007)

Matt Vandart said:


> Leslie, you need a Paterdale :evil:


Not foo foo enough. Next dog needs to be an easy one. (I say, every time I get a new dog). High prey drive killing machines in compact little terrier bodies are out. 8)


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## leslie cassian (Jun 3, 2007)

Connie Sutherland said:


> I think Leslie needs a Border Terrier. :twisted:


Closer... :grin:


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## Howard Knauf (May 10, 2008)

We've always had Cockers because my wife loves them. After the 5th one she couldn't do it anymore. We've had Chi's for the last 12 years or so. One is like 15 now.


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## Meg O'Donovan (Aug 20, 2012)

Leslie: Schipperke. Think small, smart Belgians with good noses and lots of pep, but more portable.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

I've owned a number of different terriers.

IF I got another terrier it would be a Border (had two), possibly a Patterdale (dug to a number of them) or even another Jrt.

Many Border terriers will look like Benji if their coats aren't stripped or trimmed. 

LOVE the evil little bassids!


Trooper seems a little mellow right now but since we let Thunder go Tuesday we've had two days of 99 F and on 98 F.

I still haven't got all his winter coat brushed out. 

Really hard to tell how Trooper is doing but he does seem to enjoy all the extra attention.

When I had both I could pet Trooper and Thunder would walk over to get a scratch on the head and he was cool with that.

Pet Thunder and Trooper would start squealing like a little girl and running around us. ](*,):lol: 

I have Trooper's Pedigree but I think there was a happy go lucky Golden retrieve hiding in the woodpile when his mom was bred. :-o :grin: :wink:


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## Robin Van Hecke (Sep 7, 2009)

Haven't been here for some time but on logging in the first thing that drew my eye was this thread. I've got to put my Malinois of almost 12 years down this afternoon, I'm incredibly sad and upset. He's got lung cancer and he's so damn stoic about it!. I wish I had just half of his spirit.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Robin Van Hecke said:


> Haven't been here for some time but on logging in the first thing that drew my eye was this thread. I've got to put my Malinois of almost 12 years down this afternoon, I'm incredibly sad and upset. He's got lung cancer and he's so damn stoic about it!. I wish I had just half of his spirit.



So very sorry Robin. 

I've been through it so many times over the yrs and it never gets easier.


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## Robin Van Hecke (Sep 7, 2009)

Bob Scott said:


> So very sorry Robin.
> 
> I've been through it so many times over the yrs and it never gets easier.


Thank you.


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## Brian McQuain (Oct 21, 2009)

Howard Knauf said:


> We've always had Cockers because my wife loves them. After the 5th one she couldn't do it anymore. We've had Chi's for the last 12 years or so. One is like 15 now.



My first dog bite (real bite) was from a cocker, and was hooked...but not on the breed. Been getting bit for fun ever since. I was in diapers with that worthless Cocker and I still remember. I thought I actually met a Cocker I liked when I was young and working at a kennel, until she locked onto my nipple. I stood up and she hung on, until I convinced her my nipple isn't worth it.


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## Brian McQuain (Oct 21, 2009)

Bob Scott said:


> So very sorry Robin.
> 
> I've been through it so many times over the yrs and it never gets easier.


I tend to say "I'm never getting another dog again" after each dog dies. Ive never been without at least two dogs my entire life. Ill always have them. Sorry Robin.


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## Matt Vandart (Nov 28, 2012)

Aw sorry to hear that Robin, it sucks


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

I'm so sorry, Robin. It just never gets any easier.


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## Robin Van Hecke (Sep 7, 2009)

Thanks for the kind thoughts. My daughter and I console ourselves with the good memories.

After 30 years in the herding breeds, mostly Mals and some Bouviers and Shepherds, we're getting a Staffordshire Bull puppy in from working lines. We'll get her in November, our first house dog


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

Robin Van Hecke said:


> Haven't been here for some time but on logging in the first thing that drew my eye was this thread. I've got to put my Malinois of almost 12 years down this afternoon, I'm incredibly sad and upset. He's got lung cancer and he's so damn stoic about it!. I wish I had just half of his spirit.



I'm sorry to hear that Robin. Keep us posted on your new puppy. Separately, I've always had a hard time understanding lung cancer on dogs. I don't know why. Maybe because I associate it with a human condition.


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## Robin Van Hecke (Sep 7, 2009)

Nicole Stark said:


> I'm sorry to hear that Robin. Keep us posted on your new puppy. Separately, I've always had a hard time understanding lung cancer on dogs. I don't know why. Maybe because I associate it with a human condition.


Thanks, he'd had the cancer for some time apparently. The tumours were large but I had seen no sign other than him slowing down some which I thought was just him getting old. Only two months before we surprised some deer on my property and I lost control of him and didn't dee him again for two hours when he came up the drive way dragging a fawn along. Not something I'm proud of btw.

Here are the parents of the pup.


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

Good looking dogs. What led you in this direction and what kind of work are they used for?


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## Robin Van Hecke (Sep 7, 2009)

Nicole Stark said:


> Good looking dogs. What led you in this direction and what kind of work are they used for?


I just want a smaller house dog now but with enough drive to for me dabble around doing some training. We also live in a very rural area with an abundance of wildlife like deer, bear, racoon and big cats, we have the highest density cougar population in North America I believe. It just doesn't feel right without a dog if you know what I mean. The breed is also known to be very good with kids and people in general, I don't want or need a dog that is a liability around people, been there and done that for a long time.
The Staffordshire is not worked in what is was originally bred for of course, nowadays there are breeders that try maintain the gameness and athleticism by competing in "games" that bring out the qualities of the breed.


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## Matt Vandart (Nov 28, 2012)

Robin Van Hecke said:


> Thanks for the kind thoughts. My daughter and I console ourselves with the good memories.
> 
> After 30 years in the herding breeds, mostly Mals and some Bouviers and Shepherds, we're getting a Staffordshire Bull puppy in from working lines. We'll get her in November, our first house dog



Oh Bouviers! I have been looking for someone that can tell me about Bouviers 
What are they like? is it true they have awesome memories?


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

Robin, I do know what you mean. Good choice I think.

Matt, that's interesting about the Bouvier. The memory thing I mean. I've never heard that about another breed except the DDB. In what context was that said?


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Interesting!

I've owned numerous different breeds over the years. 

Numerous different terrier breeds, St. Bernard, Collie, Wiemaraner, many mix breeds, GSDs, Australian Shep, etc.

I've never really heard any referred to as having good memories.

I would think some more quickly understand a behavior possibly but I don't recall any that forgot what the learned.

Once they've been taught something they can repeat it after months, even yrs without issues.

Most every terrier I've owned would still remember the very first bush, tree, hole where they ever kicked up a bunny, etc even yrs after they made that first find but I never looked at that as unusual or different from the other dogs or breeds I've had.


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## Robin Van Hecke (Sep 7, 2009)

Bob Scott said:


> Interesting!
> 
> I've owned numerous different breeds over the years.
> 
> ...


I think the Bouvier is not as robotic as the Malinois or the GSD (not as good a working dog) and mistakes made with a Bouv are not as quickly forgotten.
That's only a general statement though, there used to be dogs out of lines that were much more resilient but then those dogs tended to be a bit much for the average working dog handler. There are still some but dwindling fast.


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## Matt Vandart (Nov 28, 2012)

Nicole Stark said:


> Robin, I do know what you mean. Good choice I think.
> 
> Matt, that's interesting about the Bouvier. The memory thing I mean. I've never heard that about another breed except the DDB. In what context was that said?


An interview with Jans Tinnemans of the Perle De Tourbiere Kennel:

This is a quote from an interview of Jans Tinnemans of The Kennel Perle de tourbiere. I have a malinois (Sali) who's mother is an F1 outcross from a Perle de tourbiere dog and you can see his bloodline very well in my bitch both physically and temperamentally, which is why I am interested in finding out about Bouviers. 
" But nobody brought a bitch to be mated by that dog, because of his appearance, so in the end I went looking for a bitch myself. And I naturally took appearance into consideration. The dog was a cross Bouvier-Alsation-Malinois. In my early days as a breeder I was really taken by the jet black Malinois. So I started breeding them and kept one of each litter of Malinois, trained it and used it for breeding. I soon noticed that the qualities of the Malinois, with that touch of Alsation and Bouvier, was the ideal dog to train. Take the nose and stamina of an Alsation, add the fact that a Bouvier never forgets anything it has learned, and combine that with the characteristics of the Malinois, and you get the perfect working dog. One of the pups I bred from these combinations actually went on with Mart Bos to Den Bosch and took a podium position there."


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## Meg O'Donovan (Aug 20, 2012)

leslie cassian said:


> I used to be totally anti-small dog, had no use for them, or desire to have one, and then I met the most charming Pomeranian. She was a lovely, friendly, funny, sweet little dog, and so I softened in my small dog stance, and sometimes even think about getting one. Small dog owners reassure me that they are, in fact, real dogs, though I am not entirely convinced.
> 
> I keep intending to scale down in dog size, but sadly, if you buy a Mal or Dutch Shepherd puppy, they don't stay that size, and you end up with another big dog. Wanted a petite female mal, ended up with a 70 lb male. Hoping for a petite female Dutchie, she topped out at 65 lbs, a little closer to my ideal than the breeder prediction of 75.
> 
> ...


Schipperke might be the dog for you. Even looks like a mini-Belgian. Research your lines though because some have epilepsy. I had a very nice Canadian-bred male. Sire was Marpeg kennel and Trekhond bitch. He was a smart & sturdy dog. He just didn't live long enough (age 9).


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## shelle fenton (Sep 24, 2015)

Sorry Rob. Ive done this a fair few times, and it sucks just as bad, every time.

And i totally hear you about being without a dog, is just plain wrong!

What's the point of having left over food?
What's the point in walking in the woods?
What's the point of camping?
What's the point of coming home to an empty house?

Ive been dogless, for a few months, when im in my "never again" pain zone. But my OH is great at finding me GSD litters when i get too down. And off i go again


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## Robin Van Hecke (Sep 7, 2009)

shelle fenton said:


> Sorry Rob. Ive done this a fair few times, and it sucks just as bad, every time.
> 
> And i totally hear you about being without a dog, is just plain wrong!
> 
> ...


Thanks. I probably should have started a new thread regarding my dog but there doesn't seem to much if anything going on here. Sorry.


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