Lurker no more

Good_Karma · 08-02-2010, 04:26 PM

I've been reading this site for over a year now, about as long as I have been a dog owner. After all this time, I finally feel that I have enough experience to make a contribution to this community.

My husband and I live in upstate NY, on 56 acres of mostly woods. We adopted Rosa (GSD/border collie mix) from Big Dogs Big Hearts a year ago because we had given up on finding a breeder who could produce a purebred GSD.

As luck would have it, the breeder we had been working with did have a litter of two males, and since we'd already put down a deposit, we said (foolishly) "What the heck, twice the fun right?"

Trial by fire. Neither my husband or I had ever owned a dog. But we'd wanted one for several years, and read about a dozen books. We learned enough to see that no one agrees on a proper training method. But we used our best judgement and I think we've raised two pretty well-adjusted dogs. But I'm biased.

I want to thank this community of people for being there to help those of us who ask questions. I've learned tons just browsing, and been able to search specific topics for much helpful information. Some of you go to great lengths to help people, and it's quite a service you provide.

I'd love to post pictures, but I'm somewhat computer illiterate. The best I can do is point people to an old thread with some pics of Rosa. I promise to try to get pics up as soon as I figure it out.

Let me introduce you to my leetle friends...

Thanks again!

**MaggieRoseLee** · 08-02-2010, 11:25 PM

Congrats on going from Lurker to Poster!!!!

Just post your photos on something like photobucket and the directions for putting them here are on

How to post pictures on this site

elisabeth_00117 · 08-02-2010, 11:34 PM

Rosa is here!

Rocco's leetle sister?! I am so excited!

Welcome!

sagelfn · 08-02-2010, 11:50 PM

Rosa's family is here!?!?!?!

She has many fans

How is she doing? Last I heard from JeanKBBMMMAAN on the other board she had hip surgery.

Good_Karma · 08-03-2010, 06:30 AM

Thank MRL for the info. I'm working under the restrictions of a data plan for internet usage so once I can determine the size of the photos I'd like to post, I will get them up.

Yes we have Little Rosa. She's doing fantastic after her hip surgery. She has to have a longer recovery since her bone mass is small compared to the implant. But at eight weeks post-op, the implant was seated nicely. That was a month ago and we figure that we will finally let her play Niko in about three weeks. He's twice her size so we were concerned with things getting too rough.

Elisabeth, I have been watching Stark grow up because he's Niko's age, and their coloring is very similar. I think they are even the same size, Niko is about 87 pounds and somewhere around 27" tall at the shoulders.

Rosa is an absolute joy in our lives. She's amazingly determined, at all times, to get what she wants. Niko can literally never have a toy without it being stolen by her. But I suspect he enjoys it most of the time since he'll lay down with a Nylabone RIGHT next to her. Then drop it.

Happiness is defined by Rosa. She wakes up on cloud nine, and goes up from there. She teaches me (who is NOT a morning person) to lighten up and enjoy life a bit more. And of course you cannot resist the ear floofies.

Look forward to sharing our lives with you trading stories. As a dog owner, you haven't lived until you've had to pluck cat poo out of the back of your dog's mouth, or stripped down to your underpants to soap up a skunk-sprayed dog in your front yard. Life sure gets interesting with dogs around.

bianca · 08-03-2010, 07:01 AM

Welcome and your Rosa is such a sweetie pie by the pic's

I love the last couple of sentences in your above post!!!! Too true!

**JeanKBBMMMAAN** · 08-03-2010, 09:57 PM

Awww, well, that made my day/week/month/year!

Rosa is a very special little girl-dog (she always reminded me of a real little girl, complete with exasperated expressions when other dogs were bad, or I did something too slowly) and I am so happy that she has her forever home with an equally special family.

PS - Rocco says hey! and #($!%) at Niko because he has other dog issues...

elisabeth_00117 · 08-03-2010, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Good_Karma

Yes we have Little Rosa. She's doing fantastic after her hip surgery. She has to have a longer recovery since her bone mass is small compared to the implant. But at eight weeks post-op, the implant was seated nicely. That was a month ago and we figure that we will finally let her play Niko in about three weeks. He's twice her size so we were concerned with things getting too rough.

So happy to hear that Leetle Rosa is on the mend and almost able to play with her big brother. What a journey it has been for yous!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Good_Karma

Elisabeth, I have been watching Stark grow up because he's Niko's age, and their coloring is very similar. I think they are even the same size, Niko is about 87 pounds and somewhere around 27" tall at the shoulders.

I would love to see photo's of Niko! Stark is almost 16 months old (Aug 10 he will be 16 weeks) and is about 25.5' at the withers and about 85lbs. He is very lanky and LONG.. lol.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Good_Karma

Rosa is an absolute joy in our lives. She's amazingly determined, at all times, to get what she wants. Niko can literally never have a toy without it being stolen by her. But I suspect he enjoys it most of the time since he'll lay down with a Nylabone RIGHT next to her. Then drop it.

Haha.. She sounds like my kinda girl! Haha... Sounds like Rosa and Niko have a great relationship!

sagelfn · 08-03-2010, 11:22 PM

Very happy to hear Rosa is recovering nicely!! She is a lucky girl to have such a loving and caring mom and dad.

precious Let me introduce you to my leetle friends...

Good_Karma · 08-04-2010, 06:39 AM

I had no idea that puppies were so similar to children. The way that Rosa and Niko interact is so similar to the way my brother and I used to play together.

Jean, do you think Rocco would still remember Rosa? It's been a few months. If I could think of a way to have then reunite without Niko to stir things up... In all honesty Niko is not a fan of other dogs. He'd rather not have to meet them, and if they get to close they get a serious barking. This is despite three rounds of classes and doggy day care. Maybe if you rubbed Rocco down real good with a cat before you came...

The THR on Rosa was actually not too hard on any of us. She had a reaction to the Rimadyl so she was without pain meds and still did not act like she was in any discomfort. I'm telling you, you just can't put a damper on this dog's spirit. She walked from day one post-op, and was jumping up on us (never been able to change this behavior) within the week.

Rosa has an uncanny ability to stick her tongue in your mouth. If you get your face near enough, she'll dart forward and like a frog after a fly, out comes that little pink tongue and you better hope your mouth is closed. This from the dog that will try to snack on every poop she finds. She's probably greatly strengthened my immune system this way!

08-02-2010, 04:26 PM	#1 (permalink)
Good_Karma Crowned Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Upstate, NY Posts: 4,103	Lurker no more I've been reading this site for over a year now, about as long as I have been a dog owner. After all this time, I finally feel that I have enough experience to make a contribution to this community. My husband and I live in upstate NY, on 56 acres of mostly woods. We adopted Rosa (GSD/border collie mix) from Big Dogs Big Hearts a year ago because we had given up on finding a breeder who could produce a purebred GSD. As luck would have it, the breeder we had been working with did have a litter of two males, and since we'd already put down a deposit, we said (foolishly) "What the heck, twice the fun right?" Trial by fire. Neither my husband or I had ever owned a dog. But we'd wanted one for several years, and read about a dozen books. We learned enough to see that no one agrees on a proper training method. But we used our best judgement and I think we've raised two pretty well-adjusted dogs. But I'm biased. I want to thank this community of people for being there to help those of us who ask questions. I've learned tons just browsing, and been able to search specific topics for much helpful information. Some of you go to great lengths to help people, and it's quite a service you provide. I'd love to post pictures, but I'm somewhat computer illiterate. The best I can do is point people to an old thread with some pics of Rosa. I promise to try to get pics up as soon as I figure it out. Let me introduce you to my leetle friends... Thanks again!

08-02-2010, 11:25 PM	#2 (permalink)
MaggieRoseLee The Agility Rocks! Moderator Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Bushkill, PA (The Poconos!) Posts: 22,215	Congrats on going from Lurker to Poster!!!! Just post your photos on something like photobucket and the directions for putting them here are on How to post pictures on this site __________________ MACH2 Bretta Lee Wildhaus CGC TC TQX Glory B Wildhaus NA, NJ, NF + LOL (still) "*Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much." - Oscar Wilde*

08-02-2010, 11:34 PM	#3 (permalink)
elisabeth_00117 Crowned Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Waterloo, Ontario Posts: 7,251	Rosa is here! Rocco's leetle sister?! I am so excited! Welcome! __________________ Battleborn Hundesport Wild Winds Archangel Raphael "Stark", HIC (2009-04-10) Wild Winds Zephyr "Zefra" (2011-04-15) *Beau* 03/08/97 to 06/07/10

08-02-2010, 11:50 PM	#4 (permalink)
sagelfn Crowned Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Illinois Posts: 3,748	Rosa's family is here!?!?!?! She has many fans How is she doing? Last I heard from JeanKBBMMMAAN on the other board she had hip surgery. __________________ -Brandi Sage 6-5-09 Facebook

08-03-2010, 07:01 AM	#6 (permalink)
bianca Knighted Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Australia Posts: 3,328	Welcome and your Rosa is such a sweetie pie by the pic's I love the last couple of sentences in your above post!!!! Too true! __________________ Miss Molly Moo (aka The Piranha/The four legged Mouth) GSD 31/10 Raennik Hassan (Cooper) GSD 19/10/11 Paris Tabby Cat 15 years Texas Tabby Cat 15 years

08-03-2010, 06:30 AM	#5 (permalink)
Good_Karma Crowned Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Upstate, NY Posts: 4,103	Thank MRL for the info. I'm working under the restrictions of a data plan for internet usage so once I can determine the size of the photos I'd like to post, I will get them up. Yes we have Little Rosa. She's doing fantastic after her hip surgery. She has to have a longer recovery since her bone mass is small compared to the implant. But at eight weeks post-op, the implant was seated nicely. That was a month ago and we figure that we will finally let her play Niko in about three weeks. He's twice her size so we were concerned with things getting too rough. Elisabeth, I have been watching Stark grow up because he's Niko's age, and their coloring is very similar. I think they are even the same size, Niko is about 87 pounds and somewhere around 27" tall at the shoulders. Rosa is an absolute joy in our lives. She's amazingly determined, at all times, to get what she wants. Niko can literally never have a toy without it being stolen by her. But I suspect he enjoys it most of the time since he'll lay down with a Nylabone RIGHT next to her. Then drop it. Happiness is defined by Rosa. She wakes up on cloud nine, and goes up from there. She teaches me (who is NOT a morning person) to lighten up and enjoy life a bit more. And of course you cannot resist the ear floofies. Look forward to sharing our lives with you trading stories. As a dog owner, you haven't lived until you've had to pluck cat poo out of the back of your dog's mouth, or stripped down to your underpants to soap up a skunk-sprayed dog in your front yard. Life sure gets interesting with dogs around.

08-03-2010, 09:57 PM	#7 (permalink)
JeanKBBMMMAAN The Rescues Rule Administrator Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 20,697	Awww, well, that made my day/week/month/year! Rosa is a very special little girl-dog (she always reminded me of a real little girl, complete with exasperated expressions when other dogs were bad, or I did something too slowly) and I am so happy that she has her forever home with an equally special family. PS - Rocco says hey! and #($!%) at Niko because he has other dog issues... __________________ Help IMOM help Pets www.imom.org You can help Anna help IMOM help people help pets help people win...

08-03-2010, 11:22 PM	#9 (permalink)
sagelfn Crowned Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Illinois Posts: 3,748	Very happy to hear Rosa is recovering nicely!! She is a lucky girl to have such a loving and caring mom and dad. precious Let me introduce you to my leetle friends... __________________ -Brandi Sage 6-5-09 Facebook

08-04-2010, 06:39 AM	#10 (permalink)
Good_Karma Crowned Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Upstate, NY Posts: 4,103	I had no idea that puppies were so similar to children. The way that Rosa and Niko interact is so similar to the way my brother and I used to play together. Jean, do you think Rocco would still remember Rosa? It's been a few months. If I could think of a way to have then reunite without Niko to stir things up... In all honesty Niko is not a fan of other dogs. He'd rather not have to meet them, and if they get to close they get a serious barking. This is despite three rounds of classes and doggy day care. Maybe if you rubbed Rocco down real good with a cat before you came... The THR on Rosa was actually not too hard on any of us. She had a reaction to the Rimadyl so she was without pain meds and still did not act like she was in any discomfort. I'm telling you, you just can't put a damper on this dog's spirit. She walked from day one post-op, and was jumping up on us (never been able to change this behavior) within the week. Rosa has an uncanny ability to stick her tongue in your mouth. If you get your face near enough, she'll dart forward and like a frog after a fly, out comes that little pink tongue and you better hope your mouth is closed. This from the dog that will try to snack on every poop she finds. She's probably greatly strengthened my immune system this way!

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