Hank,youlubdabus

[Accordion]

Tracy, your dogs must be well behaved. My dogs would jump over that fence.

Lorna, great stories of your past pets.

Since the dog stories are appreciated here, I will tell you some more.

My first dog was half Coyote/half Collie. I named her Styx. I found her at a gas station where she had been dropped off. She was SO pretty that I could not resist her. She ended up going to NYC with an ex girlfriend. She lived to be 15 years old.

Styx was the MOST amazing dog that I have ever known. I had trained her to walk on the sidewalks and STOP at the street corners and wait for me to cross the street on my signal.

She was a little crazy though. She tore up the interiors of two cars. She would hit the windows with her teeth when I was driving. She was totally nuts about when her food was put in a bowl. You could NOT get near that bowl then.

I was living in a campground in my first bus. One of the other campers thought that he could take the bowl away from her. I told him NOT to try. She bit him.

I used to play music at clubs. When I was loading the equipment back into the car, a stranger thought that he would open the door of the the car and steal some equipment. She bit him.

I was walking Styx late at night at a park. A very big German Shepard dog charged Styx. (Styx weighed 35 lbs.) She just stood her ground and when the German Shepard dog was five feet from her, Styx opened her mouth and let out a screech that sounded like a siren. The German Shepard stopped dead in it's tracks and turned around and ran away quickly.

Here is a pic of my most beautiful dog, Styx.





Then came Abby. I got her from the dog pound. She was really retarded. She was low maintenance. She slept 23 hours a day. She made two trips with me across the country with me.

The funniest thing I ever saw her do was one time when I was visiting someone who had a built in swimming pool. Abby just walked over to the edge of the pool and kept on walking as if she thought it was just a continuation of the concrete. She fell in the pool and cried out loud while she attempted to swim. I laughed heartily. I had to pull her out by her front legs.She lived to be 14. At the end, I had to put her down. She had become blind, deaf, and incontinent. I cried on the way back from the vets. I buried her, as well as three other dogs I had, on a friend's property. He had also buried two of his dogs there.

Here are two pics of Abby. One is of her and a friend's dog. Abby is on the right. That is a youthful me in the pic. It was almost 30 years ago. By the way, The collar that my present dog, Emma, is wearing is the same collar that Abby wore all her life.



Here is another one of when she was close to the end of her days.





This next dog is a neighbor's. I do not know what kind of dog he is. What a beauty though.







As you know, both of my current dogs are getting old. When they go, I will cry again. They are good protection and would die for me. It is amazing how they work as a team to ward off miscreants. I watched them nearly shred a very large dog who had no business coming around my bus. They also hate cats, but I will not tell you of those incidents.

Thanks for the invitation to tell dog stories.

I would get a mini Dachshund if I did not have these two dogs that I have. They are really not much for protection, but they are good foot warmers under the blankets.

[Hawkcreek]

This has turned out to be a really fun thread to read. I love dogs and I love converted buses (even though I haven't started working on mine yet). I work in the oil fields on the North Slope of Alaska on a two week on, two week off schedule, so I can't have a dog of my own right now. But I will retire soon and intend to start working on the bus with a as-yet unknown cannine friend.
The work on your bus is looking great. Keep it up.

[lornaschinske]

Has anyone run into the fact that to rescue a dog from the animal shelters it costs a lot (Socorro was over $100). Abuquerque wants to do a "home inspection" to make sure you have a fenced in yard for the dog. In other words, if you live in an RV in a campground, you are not adopting one of their dogs!!! It's driving my daughter nuts. Back home (NC/TN) it wasn't like that. Granted SC demanded that you pick up females from the vet as they had to be spayed BEFORE you took them home (Smart I thought). But that wasn't a big deal since the females and the males got fixed by us anyway. Has anyone else run in this? Artesia (town right below Roswell) has LOTS of abandoned pets they adopt out quite readily. I don't know what it costs, but no home inspection form what we can tell. Stacey will probably be over when she has time to get a furkid of her own. I will have to go with her to make sure she doesn't bring back all the dogs there. That's kinda dangerous for me.... we may end up with a new furkid.

[RavensOracle]

We currently have a menagerie. 11 dogs, Yes Eleven! But they are all loved and well looked after. They stay outside but are allowed in the house occasionally. Of course never all at once. They even have their own house in a way. I converted a shed into a well insulated oversized dog house. The place is as big as my own bedroom. Even has Heat and AC.

The first we got 5 years ago as a pup. A young male Rat Terrier named Lad. My wife got him as a companion for me when my health started going. He's the only dog I have had that wasn't a rescue. I had another Rat Terrier as a kid that never left my side for 6 years. She wanted me to have another friend. She never understood my like for rat terriers as she considered them just another "little yapper." The funny thing is that from day one he claimed her as "His Person" He was suppose to sleep in his own bed at the foot of ours but he always seemed to end up snuggled with my wife by the morning.

The next dog we got was TJ. He is a mut my wife found tied up in a trash bag alongside a road in Wichita, KS. She saw the car that dropped him off but she never got a tag or anything. He is the girls "big baby." The vet thinks he is part Rottweiler, Boxer, Mastiff, and possibly Dane. We were all surprised when he stopped growing at 130#'s. The size of his paws and the rate he was growing made the vet think he was going to easily hit 150 plus. People that see him are scared that he will attack them. He can look so mean at times. But unless you are going after the girls the only thing you have to worry about is being licked by his huge tongue. He is the girls' bodyguard. They can do whatever they want to that dog and he just lets them. My youngest even uses him as a step stool. She trained the dog to lift her up herself. The only time I've ever seen him get aggressive was when a neighbor decided to pick up a heavy branch the size of a baseball bat and threaten my wife with it. He never bit the guy but everyone that witnessed it swears that if that guy would have swung the club, he would not have walked off the property.

The next dog we rescued was another Rat Terrier. This one is Lady. I think she has split personalities. At times she wants to act all proper and demure, a perfect little lady. Other times she acts like a crazy little whirlwind. She doesn't tear stuff up but she gets very demanding for attention and playtime. We didn't want to get any females because we were planning on breeding Lad with a couple of females that friends had. We didn't want to deal with the puppies. But we found Lady by a craigslist add. The lady that owned her had gotten her as a small puppy and thought she would make a good little purse dog. She didn't know anything about rat terriers. She said if the dog wasn't picked up that day, then Lady would be put down. We were told that Lady had already been fixed and gotten her shots. Come to find out both were lies. Less than a month after we got her she was pregnant. That's were all the others came from. She had a big litter.

The pups are about a year old now and it looks like I'm stuck with them all. I tried to adopt them out shortly after they were weaned but the couple that did leave were brought back. One family came into hard times and couldn't afford the new puppy anymore. The other we rescued back. The young couple we gave the puppy to seemed to be a good choice. But they didn't tell us that the reason they were looking for another dog was that their previous dog had been eaten by a brothers pitbull. When we found that out we went to check up on the puppy and found him in the back yard. He already had a couple of wounds from entanglements with the pit. We didn't even ask. We just walked into the back yard an took the dog back. Luckily none of the injuries were serious and we quickly nursed the puppy back to health. At this point we might adopt one out if we find a good family but I am resigned to having the "Herd" as I call them. It's hard to tell a wife and three girl's that we have to get rid of them.

Lorna- I will admit that I am leery of dogs I get from a Humane society shelter anymore. Several years ago we adopted a Aussie from the Humane society that was having a drive outside a Petco. My wife had Aussies as a kid and loves the breed. The dog was well behaved for the first week or so we had him. Then the dog started showing signs of severe mental trauma. Mozart started going to the bathroom in his dogbed and rolling in it. He wouldn't let me near him. Only my wife could get within 5 feet of him. He started growling at nothing. One day he just lost it and went after my wife and oldest daughter, who was only a toddler at the time. When I took him to the shelter we found out he was one of three from a litter that had been rescued from a very abusive man. All three dogs had been returned because of crazy behavior. Apparently the volunteers that took care of all the dogs at the shelter kept the animals drugged. As long as the dogs were drugged they passed all the tests the state required for an animal to be adopted. The bad thing is that no one told any of the new owners that the dogs had been kept drugged. So as soon as the drugs wore off each family had a severly abused and traumatized dog on their hands. Unfortunatley the whole ordeal ended with all three dogs having to be put down.

[Accordion]

Raven, that is some crazy stuff that you speak of about that dog who went psycho.
I have a friend who's cat did the same thing. The cat had to be put down.

Fortunately, all the dogs that I rescued are of even temperament.

[lornaschinske]

Originally Posted by Accordion

Raven, that is some crazy stuff that you speak of about that dog who went psycho.

KC's brother had cage rage. The shelter in SC would not even consider letting us adopt him since we had kids. they had pretty well decided that he would have to be put down. They only kept him alive while they waited to get KC adopted out. They had been picked up them both up, half dead, at a dumpster. Having her brother with her keep KC calm. If it had not been for the girls, I would have tried to salvage him. But I'm not sure I could have. The SC shelter was the only "kill" shelter we got a pet from. The shelter we got the others from (except Sasha) was supposed to put them down after a certain time. but the volunteers would take the ones due to be put down home for a couple of months. If they had someone looking for a specific breed or type the dog, cat (or horse), the people looking would be told to "come back tomorrow" and miraculously, there would be the type of critter they were looking for. Our antique cat had been at the shelter for 5 years. They estimated that she was at least 3 yo when they got her. They tried to talk us out of getting her but she was whom the girls fell in love with (they were 3 yo). I just told them that she would have a wonderful life, however long she had left. The vet estimated her to be 10 or more. The last time she went to have her regular vet visit (shots & check up) the vet (TN) estimated her to be "25 if she's a day". Possibly as old as 30 yo. Both vets she saw (TN & NC depending on where we were when the furkids needed shots) were always amazed at how well she was doing, given her age. The vet in NC had been seeing her since we got her. We have had very good experiences with getting pets from the shelters.

[RavensOracle]

I understand that most people's experiences with shelters are good. Most of the time you will find good animals. We were just unlucky enough to encounter a group of volunteers that cared more about "not killing any animal" than the ramifications of putting a truly dangerous animal in a home with children. There was actually a criminal investigation into the practices of the shelter because the dogs were not suppose to be drugged during testing.

I tell the story to others, not to scare them away from shelters, but to help show others that you need to put the shelter under same type of scrutiny that the shelter has for you.

[Newfiedogs]

Wow,
Great stories all, Lorna it is a very common thing for the need of a fenced yard with many rescue organizations. We do rescue work within our breed and others as well. The requirements are sometimes unreasonable but one has to understand that most rescue organizations are looking not to have to rehome the dog again. Sometimes that happens and sadly its not the dogs fault but then there are those that just can't be saved for whatever reason.
Accordion, You have shared your life with some great dogs and many to come I am sure. We all have that first "heart dog" that just pops up at the right time at the right moment and chokes you up thinking about when they left you...There is a reason for the way they can do that to you and not be there, I hope the is no answer for it just the memory. That neighbors dog looks to have some Newf in it , has it dragged any kids from the lake yet?
RavensOracle, Terriers are bred for their fight...man it takes very patient people to own them. I once met a guy that owned and American Bull Terrier, Patton dog. He was explaining to me that his terrier was "just full of hell", just as he said that the dog bounced up and smacked his owner in the face with it's head. Thus making his nose start to bleed, then he says with his nose bleeding "see I told you he was full of hell". This I guess was just ok for him to have to put up with, that to me explains the patience needed for the breed.
Tracy

[sdwarf36]

Reka was a resuce from a kill shelter in Tn. The ride up to Ct+everything else cost $450. Strange thing-she gained like 15 lbs on the ride. In correspondence she was claimed to be 85lbs -weighed at the vet while getting caught up on shots + fixed. (also claimed to "never get on furniture-never get on the bed-stayed right with you-behaved" She must not have read her bio. ) I had a raised eyebrow looking at pics-but when she got out of her trailer i knew it.Our vet weighed her-100lb. The people must have been good at placing dogs (or selling cars!)
We got "inspected" from afar. The dog agent was talking to my unsuspecting wife "so is that a stream in your yard?' Huh? what? They checked us out on Google earth!
BTW-shes in on the bed right now......

[lornaschinske]

Originally Posted by sdwarf36

... BTW-shes in on the bed right now......

That's where all the furkids sleep isn't it?

[Accordion]

Originally Posted by lornaschinske

That's where all the furkids sleep isn't it?

HA HA. My dogs are too hairy. They do NOT sleep on my bed. They each have their own. If I had a little weiner dog, I would let her sleep in my bed.

When Buddy was young, I let him sleep with me. That stopped when I found myself being pushed off the bed with his outstretched legs. The final straw was when he chewed part of my handmade afghan.

I do love my pets, though.

I can understand why you may not have or want a pet at this time. I must say that they bring joy to one's life.

If I did not have my dogs, I would like to keep a cat. They are SO sweet.

[mightybus]

Kazann the wolf dog. This is a year ago. She is bigger now. She is half Mckenzie Valley wolf and half Timber wolf. I also had a half coyote half mutt that jumped into my VW bus in 1976 at the Jack in the box. I gave him a French fry and he jumped into my bus. I had that dog 14 years too. I cried when he died. He just was walking along and keeled over.

[Accordion]

Great looking dog. I love the green color of the bus. Someday I may paint mine green.

[Bullwhacker007]

I used to have a wiener dog; DeDe.
She was a stray and it took five days before she would trust me enough to come near her.
She was a family member for over eight years and then she passed away.
Anyone who has had a short haired Dachshund knows they are the clowns of the dog world and a very hard headed dog as well; but their temperament can not be compared.
She is sorely missed..

[somewhereinusa]

I have raised and trained Border Collies for livestock work for over 30 years, and for 10 years did it for a living. Here are some pics of the last three. There are very few pictures of the earlier ones.

Nell and me doing a demonstration in CT. This was taken about 20 years ago.



Nell cooling off while sorting sheep on a hot day.



Nell rode in the truck for a while, but Kate has ridden since the age of 8wks.
This is here favorite place whenever we stopped. When I retired, she had ridden over a million miles.



Kate working ducks.



Kate cooling off



Kate is a great dog and the perfect truckin' dog, and she will work livestock, but isn't the greatest at it.
I missed having a good working dog, even though I no longer have any livestock, I often visit friends that do.
I no longer compete in field trials, but wanted a good usin' dog. Thus Molly came along. She rode with us in the truck for about
3 years, but she may be the best stock dog I've ever had, and I have had some really good ones.

Kate and Molly in the truck



Molly on snow at a truckstop in PA.



Molly and me moving a flock of sheep last summer.



Kate and Molly are now enjoying being retired with mumsywumsy and me, and soon as the bus is finished we'll be off on some new adventures.

I wish there were pictures of the older dogs, but there are very few, and none of them working.
I did find a picture of my very first Border Collie, Mac taken the night we brought him home.
It was not staged, little did we know how he would change our lives.



Dick

[putterspitt]

25 years ago I had about 30 Aussies in Texas, great working and companion dogs. Had a alot of show dogs also. Had alot of show dogs also. 25 Barbado sheep and 50 Indian Runner ducks... great to see the pics

[lornaschinske]

Isn't amazing how many of us have had dog that impacted our lives so much. I often hear folks say that "it not fair" to a dog to "coop them up" in an RV. My dogs have enjoyed traveling always. I suspect it's because dogs harken back to when humans were nomadic and the enjoy traveling as much as we do. New places, new smells, new adventures! While I know it's only a matter of time before we end up with another dog, I do kinda enjoy not being "pushed" out of my own bed because the dog "needs" more room.

[Newfiedogs]

These are all great pictures and cool stories. Thank you for sharing your fur kids.
It is cold and snowing in Ohio today, I have the day off work so into the bus.
I had to get some photos of how I framed in the side door in for those that wanted them. They are posted in the gallery. The toughest part of doing a door relocation is like Sporty Rick said. Cutting that big of a hole in the side. I had tacked in some temp support framing and also supported the inside with some truck load bars. Truck load bars are great for temp supports and they adjust to just about all that I have done so far. I have used 1 1/2 inch steel tube to frame in the door and windows also. The walls are 1 1/2 pink foam then I put furring strips on top of that and will add 3/4 inch foam. Then plywood will follow. The floor is the same 1 1/2 pink foam 3/4 deck plywood. The floor surface I found rolled rubber flooring like that on agility courses. The stuff is 1/2 inch thick and very comfy to walk on.
Tracy

[Newfiedogs]

Lorna,
Try sleeping with two Newfs in a cot. It is very nice and warm but if you have to move, they win...
Tracy

[lornaschinske]

Do they "grin" at you when they win?

KC learned to "smile" at us. She would bare her tiny bottom front teeth in what she decided was a "smile". I'm still trying to figure out if we make our pets strange of if we bring out what is naturally there. I suspect the later given the stories I have read.