Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Tagged! - The Stories of my Boys

Amanda at ManyMuddyPaws tagged me to tell the story of how my dogs came to live with me.

Ike

John and I got married in September of 2002 – we had been together for 3 years and having grown up in a multi-dog household, I really wanted a dog. My mum’s current dog was some kind of herding dog mix and I thought I wanted a Border Collie. The majority of John’s dogs had been Schnauzers. After we decided a Border Collie wasn’t a good fit at the moment as we would most likely be living in an apartment for a chunk of its life, John convinced me a Schnauzer would be the way to go. I went to the AMSC web page and started e-mailing local breeders.

We met Ike during a visit to meet Carmie. The breeder had explained that Carmen was 9 months old and wasn’t working out for the show ring – she was a hair too tall and her temperament wasn’t ideal for the ring. We got there and were greeted by a HERD of Schnauzers.

I had read online and bought some books on Schnauzers but had done none of the research I would do now if I were interested in a pup. Ike sat on my MIL’s head and that was it – we were hooked. The breeder convinced my in-laws to take Carmen home for the week and see what they thought….obviously she stayed!

Ike was born 10/5/02 – he came home with us on 1/25/03. We missed an important chunk of socialization and we have been making up for it ever since. The progress Ike has made with his fear and reactivity issues has been phenomenal. Without Ike I would NEVER have become so interested and involved in training. Ike also taught me how to listen to my dog. Ike’s idea of a good time is hiking or hanging with his loved ones – or just hanging out alone! He thinks trialing is stressful. Training, though, is lots of fun.

Bug

Bug came to live with me last May (’08). I was researching both Cardigan Welsh Corgi and Giant Schnauzer breeders (primarily focusing on GS at that time). I really wanted a dog that I could try herding with and continue to do agility with. My timeline was the end of ’08.

In April of ’08 I received a call from Katrin that the breeder of her CWC Monty (who both John and I adore) had a male she was looking to place in the right home. I spoke to Holly and decided we would like to have Bug come stay with us and see if he was the right dog for our house. We had many dogs in and out of our house the past couple of years, mostly for pet sitting although one for fostering, and it had become apparent how important it would be for the next dog to be the *right* dog for Ike’s sake.

We drove out to pick up Bug on Derby day. I swear we weren’t even home yet and I KNEW he was the right dog for us. He and Ike figured out their boundaries immediately and have been fast friends since. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for Bug – we have had a great first year and I hope it will only get better. As always I must thank Holly for trusting me with this wonderful boy. I can’t imagine my house without at least one Cardigan in it, I suspect there will eventually be more!

I will tag:

Tracy at K9 Crazy
Shaya at Paws and Reflect
Nancy and Stewie
Jenn at Connecting with the Dots
Katrin at By My Side
Blue at The Rainbow Doggess

1 comment:

Blue said...

This is a very cool game! I've been poking around everyone's blogs to read the stories.

Both of your boys are lucky. :)