Mutt the sequel - it's nearly time. Or is it?

chris_n_tj

As you know we lost our beautiful TJ last June. To say i was in bits was/is an understatement. BUT and it was a big but, the house was too quiet, too clean (no dogy prints on the floor type of thing). I had spoken to a stranger in our town who had a Bichon with her, she told me she had lost her girl and got another straight away to help her cope.

Well I phoned TJ's groomer/breeder and asked if and when she might have puppies. Well things just sort of dropped into place, puppies were due to leave mum, wait for it. ON my beautiful TJ's birthday, I felt like my boy was telling me it was ok, so we now have Oliver.

He isnt/couldn and wouldnt ever be a replacement to Teeg, he is a new furkid, and although they are the same breed thats where it ends. I wouldnt have wanted a clone for my Teeg, he was one on his own thats for sure. Of course I still miss him, but one day I hope we will meet again.

TJ liked to be cold and slpt on the cold floor, where as Olie likes to hog the fireside and sleeps in a nest of blankets in his crate.

TJ is always talked about, his collar and lead still hang in the kitchen. This one might not suit many but his ashes are sat on a shelf on my PC, so he is by me. That is my way of coping.

But we love Olie, he is a smashing little fellow. Our home is once again untidy with toys and leaves and muddy pawprints.

I cant wait to hear the news of your new furkid, I hope you find him/her soon. Camera charged and ready of course xx

zaksmum

Yessssssss! What did I tell you, elsien? I knew you would need another little doggy friend! So pleased you've made this decision.

My last dog meant everything to me and I felt like my heart had been ripped out when I lost him. I was beyond gutted. I'd had him nearly 13 years and took him everywhere.

I thought I could never love another dog like I loved him.

But I NEEDED a dog around after I lost him. Like others have said, the house was too quiet and too free of dog hair! And when dog walking time came round I didn't know what to do with myself.

Anyway I heard of some puppies of the same breed mix, whippet/labrador cross. Travelled hours to see them and one of them was the image of the old fella, down to the one white toe on the back foot.

Took him home and though he's a completely different personality to my old dog, I love him to bits and I'm so happy he's my dog. He'll be 5 soon and I can't imagine life without him.

You go for it elsien.

krlyr

My previous GSD, Prue, was my Mutt. After wanting a puppy for years, my parents agreed to get me one for my 16th birthday. I spent ages researching breeders, then days before we were due to visit a litter, a relative got wind we were puppyhunting and knew of someone in the family (a few siblings/partners down the chain) needing to rehome their GSD pup as it wasn't getting along with the existing household dogs. So they popped her over for a trial, and the minute we set eyes on her she became a keeper!

She was quite a challenging dog, with a mix of health and behavioural issues, but I suppose it was character building and certainly made her a much more memorable dog! Not to mention she was there during my parent's separation - taking her out for peaceful walks was a crutch for both me and my mum. My stepdad still lovingly (or not :rotfl:) recalls how he could spend ages trying to call her in from the garden with her circling around him as if to taunt him, then I simply had to tap the glass on my window and she'd trot in, good as gold! Or there was the time she decided she would just plonk her bum down halfway around a walk and not go anywhere. She was about 35kg so no way could I have carried her or forced her to go anywhere. I had to call my mum who drove out to the entrance to the public footpath we were on and walked down - fortunately, as I'd hoped would happen, once Prue saw her she darted towards her to greet her and we managed to walk home after that!

So when she had to be euthanised aged 4 because of the state of her hips, she left a gaping hole. We kind of knew it would reach that stage eventually but we didn't think it would be within 2 years of finding out her hips were bad, so it was an especially sad thing to have to go through.

It took a few months before we really missed having a dog in the house - I'd never, ever not lived with a dog, my parents had always had dogs when we were growing up, usually two at a time so there was always a bit of an overlap when we lost one to old age. But we looked at the usual places, e.g. the local rescue, the big rescues online, and none really clicked. I have a preference to longhaired GSDs but they all looked too similar to Prue, so we looked at totally different breeds but nothing was clicking.

And then I was browsing online, I think I'd just Googled GSD for rehoming or something and came across a freead, but just for pets. Searched for GSD and scrolled through the results, and Kiki's face popped up. She didn't look much like a GSD, being a GSD x Rottie, but something about her face appealed. Her temperament sounded good - good with kids, dogs, fine being left, etc. so I went and showed the photos to my mum and stepdad - they liked the look of her too (I think my stepdad was a bit put off GSDs after his experience with Prue anyway!). I exchanged a few emails with the owner, and she arranged for us to meet Kiki that weekend - it was a 2 hour drive but we decided we would just go and meet her and see if we felt that click in person. Well, we got there, the owner drove us to the local part so we could have a bit of a play with her, definately clicked! And we ended up going back to her house to pick up all Kiki's things, bed, etc. and she came home with us that same day.

Despite that initial click, though, something was 'off' for a while. She didn't have the typical GSD temperament, I can only assume (especially after having fostered a purebred Rottie now too) that they're generally Rottweiler-ish traits. So that was a different experience, and it took a little getting used to. But there were some really lovely moments too - the first time we all went out and let her off-lead, and saw her looning around, was fantastic. With Prue's hips, it'd been a while since she'd been allowed to go off-lead and run about like that, we'd not realised how compromised her life had been until we had a "normal" dog - we all said how lovely it was to watch Kiki run around and act like a dog should.

I ended up moving out of the family house a little while after Kiki's arrival, it was just time to fly the nest. I moved locally so would often come over for dinner and take Kiki out for a walk, but I think our bond lacked that "oomph" for quite a while though. It was only a year or two later, when my mum and stepdad decided to buy a smaller place together now all of us kids had grown up, that I realised the bond - they were discussing what was best for Kiki, and my brothers and I suggested that we all move back into the family home (my current houseshare coming to an end in a few months, my brother just about to graduate Uni so leave his houseshare, my little brother still living with my mum and stepdad but not wanting to move out of the area) and I suggested that Kiki stayed. The family house had the bigger garden, the better walking routes, and Kiki wouldn't have the upheaval of moving. Once I moved back I realised that that proper bond must have formed without me realising it - I definately considered her "my" dog at that point.

I think the time had helped heal the hurt of Prue too, because although I loved Kiki, I did find myself missing those GSD traits in a dog, and started browsing around GSD rescues just out of interest. I figured with the change in hours people would be around the house (my stepdad and mum's hours meant someone was always home), she could do with company for those few hours she might be left home alone. I stumbled across Casper's photo and thought he was cute. But it wasn't the right time, so I didn't do anything about it. A couple of weeks later I looked again and his thread had been updated with new photos - and I got that instant click Within 24 hours I'd enquired, arranged a homecheck and was on tenterhooks about how it would pan out, because I'd just felt this bond with his personality just over the photos and knew I'd be gutted to miss out on him, as none of the other dogs they had seemed to appeal to me either. But it did work out, and the day I picked him up, we got home, he found his bed, did that GSD huffing and puffing and a biiiig sigh, and I was smitten :smileyhea

I wouldn't say I preferred Casper to Kiki - I've grown to love them both, and I'd say I've become quite fond of Kiki's funny traits now and could be tempted by a Rottweiler (OH and I loved our foster Rottie and she could have easily stayed, but sadly she wasn't good with Casper and Kiki so we couldn't keep her). But Casper has definately mended the hole that Prue left behind, moreso that Kiki I think.

You'll get there. Even if you don't feel it right away, they have their ways of worming in!

catkins

Fosterdog wrote: »

My in laws lost their 14 year old dog over a year ago and were sure they could never replace their boy. They were heartbroken when he went.

They have a new dog, he is almost 1 and they've had him from 15 weeks. They love him to bits but he is not a replacement for their old dog. they still have photos of their old boy up, and they have kept his collar/tags, lead and fave ever toy

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Ohhhh Elsien (((hugs))) so pleased to hear that your circs have changed and you may be able to get a new dog soon .... I know how hard it is to have "empty house syndrome"

Ben was .... and still is and always will be ... my one - I miss him just as much today as the day I lost him and TBH I don't think that will ever go away ... and I really don't think I'd want it to:(

As you know, Maisie has arrived and she is adorable AND she makes me smile & laugh every day

BUT it was a difficult journey, especially at the start - don't know if I felt guilty inside about having another dog or if it's because we had a few issues to resolve but it took a long time for us to really bond (we plodded on but the "click" took a while).

chris_n_tj wrote: »

As you know we lost our beautiful TJ last June. To say i was in bits was/is an understatement. BUT and it was a big but, the house was too quiet, too clean (no dogy prints on the floor type of thing). I had spoken to a stranger in our town who had a Bichon with her, she told me she had lost her girl and got another straight away to help her cope.

He isnt/couldn and wouldnt ever be a replacement to Teeg, he is a new furkid, and although they are the same breed thats where it ends. I wouldnt have wanted a clone for my Teeg, he was one on his own thats for sure. Of course I still miss him, but one day I hope we will meet again.

TJ is always talked about, his collar and lead still hang in the kitchen. This one might not suit many but his ashes are sat on a shelf on my PC, so he is by me. That is my way of coping.

But we love Olie, he is a smashing little fellow. Our home is once again untidy with toys and leaves and muddy pawprint

So much of the above rings true with me. Me and OH lost our boy last July. We were both distraught. I have never seen OH cry so much. Although we had had dogs before, they had been older rescue dogs, we got him as a puppy and rarely spent time away from him. We lived abroad for the first few years of his life and he went everywhere with us. Husband worked all over the country and me and the dog went with him. We stayed in customer's houses, hotels, B&B's etc, we took him to restaurants with us. When we came back to England and I had to work part time on the days I worked he went to work with OH. We took him out at weekends for the whole day. We were upset when our other dogs died but this was different. I cried for weeks and weeks.

Part of me wanted another dog and part didn't. But the house was so so quiet and empty. I don't work now and everywhere I looked reminded me of him - where he used to lay in the summer in the garden, where he used to lay indoors etc. If I went out to take my mind off it I had to return to an empty house with no dog running to greet me. OH was keen to get another dog - we have had dogs almost all our married life and to help as he was very worried at just how upset I was and not seeming to get over it. I wasn't totally against another dog but wanted to wait longer than OH did.

I was reluctant but we looked online at breeders - we wanted the same breed but not same colouring and found a breeder with a litter. There aren't that many breeders of this particular breed in this country. Anyway we got a pup in September (I wanted to wait until the New Year). We had to buy new of everything as I wanted to keep all our old boy's toys, collars, leads etc with only him having used them. Even new food bowls.

I found it very difficult to start with. I loved the new boy but I felt guilty as though I had tried to replace my gorgeous old boy. When he was naughty as of course puppies are or messed in the house I felt angry inside although I never let it show to pup - I wanted my old dog back.

Eventually though the laughs and smiles at new pup started to outweigh the tears over my old boy. I still cry - I am crying while typing this and never ever will our new boy take his place. He is different - different personality - quicker to housetrain but longer to train things like recall etc.

I don't think I will ever forget my other boy - I miss all my past dogs but he has left a bigger hole in my heart and life. I know what Rising from the Ashes means about "clicking" with the new dog. I am not sure we have totally clicked or bonded but it's early days and we are getting there.

Fosterdog

I've always found with my fosters that every time they go to their forever home it's too difficult and I can't cope with letting them go anymore but I end up with another one within a few weeks.

Having another foster to focus my time and energy on helps me with coming to terms with the last one going.

Out of all of my fosters there were two that I never really had a bond with, I missed having them around when they were rehomed but it never cut me to the core not having them there anymore. There were two that absolutely broke my heart letting them go and even now a few years on I wish I had kept them. I knew I couldn't provide the home they needed and did what was best for them but it still hurts. One of the two has since lost a fight with cancer and I can't get over the fact I wasn't with her at the end even though she had an amazing family who loved her completely.

All of the other fosters were somewhere in between, I had a bond but not quite the same as the two that I really gelled with.

I have had a different bond with every single dog I've had through my door whether they've stayed for two weeks or almost two years. None of them will ever replace the others and while I pick out similar traits between them no two have ever been so alike that I can't bond with them in their own right.

I've given up fostering for a while because my boy came along and as soon as I saw his photo I knew he was my dog, I ummed and ahhed for a while before admitting he was more than a foster and it was a tough choice to make (I love fostering and hadn't planned to stop) but in the end I knew I had helped almost two dozen dogs go on to their forever home it was time I had my own forever dog.

Also talking about how you bond with them, our girl is without a doubt OHs girl. I love her and we've had her for three and a half years, I have a bond with her but the bigger bond is between her and OH. If we split up, as much as I would miss her she would go with OH, it's what's best for her. My boy is 100% my dog, again OH loves him but doesn't have the same bond as I do.

Dollardog

I've had dogs all my life - and I'm getting on a bit now lol - I've loved everyone of them although my Dollar was and always will be the love of my life she helped me through so much and even though she died in the 80's, I still miss her so much.
Each time you get a new dog, they never replace the dog that went before and I don't think for a minute that you would ever want them to. They are different and have their own personalities. I do think its always a bit of a shock though when you do get another dog. You and your old dog have grown with each other, you've got your own ways of doing things, you are used to each other and of each others ways. When a new dog comes into your life, its a total shock for quite a while and you wonder if you'll ever bond with this one that is so much different from your old one. If you have lost an old dog, you forget what its like having a younger one around.
I'm sure that when you get another one elsien, you will grow to love it just the same as you loved Mutt but in a different way and for different reasons. Good luck in finding one to suit.

Katiehound

Strange isn't it, I've been reading these posts and some folk call themselves after their best dog ever...same with me.

Katie was a beautiful trailhound, the loveliest dog I have ever had... and so special. The bond I built with her was amazing and because she had been such a huge part of my life when she had to be pts fairly suddenly my world fell apart. In case you think I am exaggerating you might like to read about her here:
http://trailhoundwelfare.org.uk/?page_id=276

I wasn't going to get another dog until I felt ready but my old boy Billy(now 14) started to pine and behave oddly so it was a bit of a rushed job! Shyla (another trailie) bounced into our lives. She may be the same breed but she is larger, a different colour and a totally different character. She loves Billy to bits and follows him everywhere.

More than three years on I still feel there's a gap where Katie used to be, but I know I can never replace her so I enjoy the dogs I've got and hope that they like the way their lives have turned out after being rehomed.
And if you want to see Billy & Shyla, they are here:
http://trailhoundwelfare.org.uk/?page_id=2030
Look how she is using him as a pillow/ mattress!

I can't imagine a dogless home

Wishing you lots of good times with your new canine buddy when you make that BIG step.