Tag Archives: Precious Newfs

Annie's second chance

Adopt or shop, just do it responsibly

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It’s happened again, a story about Newfoundlands living in deplorable conditions, used strictly for breeding for profit and finally being surrendered due to the owners declining health. These poor dogs lived outside in extreme heat, never received any veterinary care and didn’t even have names.  They were filthy, matted and in poor health. They are all in fair condition but thankfully are under the care of a Newfoundland rescue group. They have been bathed and groomed, probably for the first time in their lives and will be nurtured back to health before being adopted to loving families.

I understand people wanting to buy a puppy for their family. Maybe there is a specific breed they have an affinity for, they don’t want to bring a dog with “baggage” into their family, or any other reason that makes sense for their family.  I don’t take a strict adopt-don’t-shop stance, just shop responsibly with care and thought.

I love the Newfoundland breed. Their size, their looks, their loyalty, their need to work and their gentle, sweet personalities.  I have had two Newfies that have come directly from breeders and two Newfies that have come from rescue groups.  Our very first dog came from a huge Chicago shelter.  He was a scraggly terrier mix who still holds a very special place in our hearts.  I think there is room for these different preferences, but the caveat to that is that no dog should be used for breeding without care for their well-being.

If you want a pure bred puppy, do your research on breeders and research more than one.

The first step is to go to the national website of the breed you have chosen. They will have a list of approved, reputable breeders. They will probably also have puppy information page with contact information for someone to answer your questions.

A reputable breeder will want to meet you to determine if your family is the right placement for one of their puppies.  They will want to get to know you and form a relationship that can carry on through the life of the dog. They will most likely choose which puppy they will place with your family based on your family dynamic and the puppy’s personality.

After you have found a breeder that you like, you will probably have to wait a while for your puppy. You might get turned down, don’t be offended, the breeder just wants the best for their puppies and wants to make the best placement possible. They will always want the dog returned to them if circumstances change and you can no longer care for the dog.  They will make every effort with their breeding to ensure a healthy litter.  They will also provide appropriate vaccinations and health screenings before sending them to their new homes. A reputable breeder has nothing to hide and will want you to come to their property to meet their dogs and puppies.  IF YOU CAN’T MEET THE MAMA , DON’T BUY THE PUPPY! A reputable breeder WILL NOT sell to pet stores or on-line because they will want to know where their puppies are going.

Red flags:

1. releasing a puppy prior to 8-10 weeks of age (this varies by breed and recommendations stated by the national breed group should be followed).

2. advertising “rare” colors that don’t comply with breed standard. Colors that don’t comply with breed standard are mismarks and with ethical breeding shouldn’t happen. Dogs that are a rare color often times have genetic health issues that affect their quality of life. (Ex. for Newfoundlands: beige, fawn or champagne.) Deliberately creating rare colors is careless and is generally done for profit only.

3. offering to meet you half way when you are picking up your puppy so that you don’t see the breeder’s property.

Don’t buy a puppy from a pet store or on-line. They may advertise their puppies as AKC but receiving AKC registration papers does not mean that puppy has been carefully and ethically bred, it just means they are a specific breed. It doesn’t guarantee they come from healthy, carefully screened parents. Genetic health issues are frequently passed on litter to litter because the main objective of the breeder is to make money without regard to genetics.

Ethically bred puppies rarely end up in rescue or in shelters. For the NCA rescue region that handled Annie’s group,  1% of Newfoundlands come from reputable breeders and 4% are strays. The remaining majority come from backyard and commercial breeders (these breeders sell online and to pet stores).

If there is a breed you love and you want a puppy or dog right now, Petfinder is a good resource.  I found Annie and Charlie on Pefinder by searching for Newfoundlands.  Many, but not all, rescue groups and shelters will post animals that are ready for adoption.  You can also contact the specific breed rescue group in your area.  You will need to fill out an application, have a conversation with the person who is fostering or caring for the dog and will probably have to have a home visit before you are approved. These dogs have already come from a circumstance that wasn’t good for them. The people who have taken them in will want to make every effort to ensure that they are going to a good home, they don’t want them to end up in another inappropriate situation.

Shelters all over the country are overflowing with animals looking for good homes.  Puppies get adopted pretty quickly and might not be available, but there are so many rewards to bringing in a dog that is a little older (two bonuses of an older dog are easy house training and no chewing). Many shelter dogs are mixed breed and will live very healthy lives because they haven’t been improperly bred by an unethical breeder. Our first dog Bogart lived to be almost 15 and didn’t have any major health issues. They are all looking for love and often times you will find your perfect pet by paying them a visit and looking into their eyes. Many people who have found their beloved pets at a shelter say they knew immediately which one would be the one. Adopting from a shelter is one of the many steps to eliminating the breeding abuse of animals.  If the demand isn’t there, puppy mills and unethical breeders will go out of business!

Pets change our lives and bring so much to our families. They are forgiving and loyal and will love you unconditionally forever.  All they want in return is love and kindness. They are a big responsibility and the decision to get a pet should not be made lightly.  Annie was the most challenging dog I’ve ever dealt with.  She had lived her whole life producing puppies with little to no human interaction.  She had never learned to trust because she had been so neglected and had no reason to believe that she could be cared for in a loving manner. She is now my constant companion and craves as much attention as possible. I can’t imagine my life without her. Shelter, health care, food and water are the obvious needs to be provided but attention, affection, and engagement will guarantee the best friend you’ve ever had, for life.

A few of the dogs from Annie’s rescue group (taken from the Newfoundland Club of America rescue site).

Sugar
Read Sugar’s Story
Hope
Meet Hope
Tatoo
Say Hello to Tattoo
Silvia
Meet Sylvia
Tank
This is Tank
Debra
Read Debra’s Story
Autumn
Say Hello to Autumn
Sugar
Here is Lance
Precious

A Life Saved

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Annie's second chance, Maisie

Becoming sisters

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Recently someone asked me what the major differences were between Maisie and Annie. It took me a minute to gather my thoughts and figure out where to begin.

When we brought Annie home, the contrast between the two dogs was shocking. We’ve had Maisie from the time that she was a puppy. She has always been treated with love and affection. In her mind, everyone is her friend. She loves meeting people and other dogs. She loves to play. She has baskets of toys, and plays with her toys on her own and when she needs to burn some energy. She is a bundle of joy and fun. She is always excited about every new adventure and has nothing to fear.

Annie was the complete opposite. Prior to her rescue she didn’t know that people weren’t to fear. She was trying to figure out if she was safe in our house. She wouldn’t even take treats from our hands. Protecting herself was her top priority and it took her a while to learn to trust our kind overtures. She showed no interest in toys and she did not want to play with Maisie.   Maisie is very good about reading human cues, but not so good at understanding dog cues. I was not surprised when I heard a scuffle on Annie’s third day with us. Annie came skittering around the corner and went straight into her crate. She was hanging her head and when I approached her to let her know she wasn’t in trouble, she had a big tuft of brown fur sticking out of her mouth. I chuckled to myself, Maisie was fine, they were just setting boundaries with each other, and it might take a couple hints for Maisie to understand the boundaries. I gave Annie a few pats, took the fur out of her mouth and watched her expressionless eyes as she pulled herself into her protective barrier and settled into her bed. It broke my heart that she was so guarded, but I just knew that I could get her to relax by giving her time and patience.

It took several days, but Annie started to understand that this was her house as well as Maisie’s. Annie tried to keep her distance with Maisie, and Maisie continued to try to get close and get her to play. Even though Annie seemed annoyed by this, she never gave Maisie another “correction.” Over time she started to warm up to Maisie and she would come out of her crate and lay on the floor when Maisie was doing the same thing. In the beginning, she would lie far from Maisie, but slowly they started lying more close together. It’s taken a while, but now they are always in the same room with each other and they lie very close together when they sleep. They also follow each other around the house, and Annie takes great comfort in having Maisie with her when we leave the house so I know they have bonded.

Annie is now so comfortable in the house that she spends very little time in her crate. She prefers to be on the cool tile or spread out on the floor. She is always close by and very often is a tripping hazard. I love that she wants to be close to us and that she will come searching for me if I’ve left the room.

Their body types are as different as their personalities. Maisie is slightly undersized and is very light-footed. I call her Tiptoe because of the way she walks. She holds her head high and puffs her chest out when she prances around, looking more like a pony than a dog. Annie is very stocky and long. She’s shorter than Maisie but she has very broad shoulders and hips which give her a bigger appearance. Her head is a little small for her body and she holds it low, between her shoulders. She has huge flat feet and they point inward when she walks which causes her shoulders to roll along with her hips. She truly has the look of a black bear when she’s walking around the yard.

Maisie likes to push on Annie to get her to play and she’ll wrap her neck over Annie’s. Annie will usually try to change directions to get away from Maisie but recently, she’s learned she can give a good shoulder check to get her to move. Annie will also use her strength to push Maisie away when she is getting attention from me. Annie now wants as much attention as possible and she just shoves her way in so she can be closest. Every now and then she’ll give Maisie a check out of the blue, which Maisie interprets as an invitation to play. I can’t tell if Annie is trying to play, or is being a pushy big sister but it’s fun to see them engage more frequently with each other, and Maisie not being the only one to initiate an interaction.

Annie still doesn’t show any interest in toys but she did do a funny thing one day. Around 8:00 every night, Maisie has her crazy time. She will grab one of her favorite, noisiest toys and start running circles in the house while squeaking the toy as much as possible. She usually does this when we’ve settled in to watch TV, so the volume gets turned up, Maisie races around, skidding out, changing direction and being very distracting for 5-10 minutes. Annie usually is starting her after-dinner snooze so when this starts she typically gets up and goes to her crate to get out of the way. One morning, green dragon was lying by Annie’s crate after it had been discarded the night before. Annie stood over it, then pounced and grabbed it and took it to the back of her crate. It’s the only time she has pounced much less grabbed a toy and it made me smile because she was showing a hint of mischief by stealing Maisie’s favorite toy. Maybe she was trying to hide it in order to have a more peaceful evening that night, but I really think she was trying to show Maisie who’s the boss.

 

Annie's second chance, Family life, Maisie

Newfapoolooza

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Every Newfie party needs a Lab to keep the games going!

It’s official; I’ve crossed to the other side. Some of my friends are concerned; some just shake their head and wonder what has happened. It used to be easy to find common ground because it’s perfectly normal to have 2 kids, no matter their age. Now as I embrace the passing of time and each of the kids discovering their own exciting direction, it’s a little more difficult to find common ground since it is not very common to have two dogs the size of young adults.

For years, my primary source of preoccupation had been my kids. I drove carpools, volunteered in classrooms, organized team activities and celebrations and basically sacrificed the bulk of my free time to taking care of their needs. Those days are over! My children have both graduated high school and are well on their way of discovering the different paths of their future. It’s exciting, rewarding and a little bit sad to embrace the changes in our family dynamic but I can’t run away from the fact that my kids are out of the house for more months of the year than they are at home. Of course I still worry, a lot, but I can no longer fix their biggest concerns with a hug or kiss.  I’m here for them when they need me, but they are now in charge of their own happiness.  There has been a lot of stress and worry this year for each of them, but they have both managed it beautifully and I am so proud of them.

Last January, after Thomas returned to college we adopted Annie. She needed a lot of attention and it took a tremendous amount of time and patience to gain her trust. She had come from a terrible situation and before her rescue she didn’t have any reason to know that she could have a positive experience with her owner. I dedicated all of my extra time to her and I found patience that I never knew I had. Slowly, she began to trust me and we began to form the type of bond that I think she craved all of her life. The fact that she needed so much of my time easily allowed me to refocus my attention from my kids to her rehabilitation. Once again, I was able to fix a concern with a hug and kiss and she has changed so much. I have filled my need to nurture by helping this sweet dog. So that leads to the change in my priorities. Of course my kids are still the most important people in my life, but they aren’t here every day and it is appropriate for all of us to embrace the change in our relationship. So now, I focus a lot of my attention on my dogs and I love it!

Last week we went to our first Newfie party and had a wonderful time. I’ve connected with a group of Newfoundland owners in the Chicago area and they get together every now and then. On this day, a facility was reserved that had a pool for the dogs and a large play area. It was so fun to see all of these large dogs playing together and to be a part of a group of owners who don’t think I’m nuts for having these 2 huge dogs in my life. Everyone there loves the breed, isn’t fazed by flying drool or a smear on the leg after being nuzzled by a big head. I’m always so sensitive to the feelings of my friends when they come to my house and in this group there was no need to apologize for anything that some people might find to be a nuisance. It was such a relief to just enjoy the gorgeous dogs around me. I wasn’t worrying about anyone else and I had such a great time. I look forward to the next meet-up!

Annie's second chance, Family life

17. In the kitchen with Annie part 2

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I’m starting with a bold statement: all Newfies love the kitchen. It’s probably safe to state that all dogs love the kitchen. For years I have depended on doing lunges over my dogs as a primary form of exercise, so when Annie showed no interest in joining us in the kitchen I was completely dumbfounded. On one hand, it was nice to only have to navigate around one dog in the kitchen, but it just didn’t seem right that she would rather choose the safety of her crate over being in the general vicinity of random tidbits raining down from above.

It was a very slow process, but after several months, she was realizing that rewards were frequent when she was near the kitchen. She was now wandering freely into the kitchen whenever one of us was in there and was actually becoming a little pushy when she felt it was time for me to share something with her. I think she liked bulldozing her way through whatever was in her way whether it is human, Maisie or the kitchen stool. She was ready for a bite of whatever we were preparing, and she’d like it now please! Since we are still abiding by the rule of Annie gets whatever Annie wants, I usually am persuaded by her sweet face looking up at me but I am learning to say no when I need to.

On July 5th, we were all getting back into our normal routines after the long holiday weekend. In our house we start celebrating on the 3rd because that is my husband’s birthday and then it just carries into the 4th with more things on the grill, more cake, more fireworks, ect, ect. This year it was truly a long weekend because the 4th was on a Monday, so on Tuesday I was staggering through the kitchen in a bit of a blur when I stopped myself mid-stride. I had just lunged over Maisie on my way to the refrigerator and was in the middle of another lunge when I looked down and I was standing over Annie!

It was such a normal thing, I’ve been doing this for years, but this was the first time Annie had parked herself in the middle of the floor and forced me into a second lunge! I shrieked and my husband and daughter looked at me like I was insane. There I was standing over Annie yelling “Newfie lunge, Newfie lunge”! I know it sounds mad, but I wanted to note the day because this is the most normal dog behavior I know and Annie had finally figured it out. This was the day I’ve been waiting for and there were many times that I doubted this would ever happen. I now have 2 kitchen dogs and things are back to normal with my double Newfie lunge workout. No more excuses, surely now I can drop the extra pounds I’ve put on over the last several months…

 

Annie's second chance, Family life

Dear Annie,

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It’s been 6 months since you became a part of our family so to celebrate, I’ve created a Letterman style top 10 list of my favorite moments with you.

  1. The look on your face when you gave Maisie her first and only correction and that tuft of brown fur sticking out of your mouth.
  1. Those crazy old man noises you make, I still don’t know what they mean.
  1. The way you put your face across my laptop when you want my undivided attention.
  1. Finding my favorite pair of gloves in the back of your crate that you swiped off of the counter.
  1. When you finally decided to sit on command.
  1. It took weeks for you to take treats from my hand so when you came into the kitchen for the first time and licked the food off of my hands, my heart was glowing.
  1. The morning you woke me up by snuffling in my face. It was so out of character for you that it took me a good minute to realize it was you and not Maisie!
  1. When you finally forced me into a Newfie Lunge.
  1. The first time you greeted me at the back door.

And my #1 favorite moment with you is: When you give me a good morning howl!

Shared Journeys