Wanna guess what kind of puppy I've got?

[Eloriel]

I'm interested in all your educated guesses. She's absolutely adorable and deserves a loving home, and it's so much easier to find a great home for these rescued dogs if you can advertise what they are, even if a mix. I've started a thread in the Pets Group and would love additional input. (I think you'll enjoy seeing her pix.)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=243x8099

[Dover]

1. What a sweetie pie!

My initial impression was St. Bernard mix (size, shape and coloring). If that's the case, I hope whoever adopts her has a BIG yard.

[FreedomAngel82]

2. AWWW!!!!!

She's SO cute!!!! She seems very friendly and playful too and has good energy. I would love to take her but alas my parents don't want anymore pets.

[DemExpat]

3. Cute as can be!

I would also guess that there is some large Mountain breed in your puppy's mix.

DemEx

[smirkymonkey]

4. Awwww! She is the CUTEST dog ever!

She looks like a possible Labrador/Collie/Bernese Mtn Dog mix, or even some German Shephered (instead of collie or lab.)

Hard to tell for sure, but she is absolutely beautiful! I imagine she will be snapped up in no time!

[Dover]

5. I had never seen a Bernese Mt. dog so I googled it....wow, it DOES

look so much like Eloriel's puppy!

[Digit]

6. Awww, too cute! eom

[smirkymonkey]

11. Beautiful! They are such great dogs!

Very cute pic too! I just saw a German Shepherd puppy in the Union Square dog run that looked a lot like Eloriel's so I now think her puppy must be part German Shepherd and part Bernese.

[Eloriel]

16. I think you're right.

That sounds like a terrific combo to me. And I think she's prettier as a result than most of the photos I saw, but that's just my funky taste.

[Mandate My Ass]

7. What a beauty!

She looks to me from the color of her coat to have some shepherd, but the head shape and ears are definitely not shepherd. I love her white paws, too. So cute! Do you think her coat will be long?

I wish I could take her, but my yard probably isn't big enough for a dog that size. Ever since my Shepherd/mix Jessie died in January, my other doggie(beagle) seems like a lost soul. And she follows me everywhere, and I mean everywhere.

I have been entertaining the idea of adopting another, and I always adopt from rescues. Keep us posted.

[hippiechick]

8. I adopted another doggie today !

HippieDog Hank is getting a brother !
Taylor is a 6 year old beagle who was abandoned at a campground in Tennessee and somehow made his way to Indiana, where he ended up at the Humane Society.
He's a shy, retiring fellow who - due to his age - wasn't among the 'most wanted' in the adoption set. :(

I spent 30 seconds with him and knew he had to be part of our family.


O8)

[Mandate My Ass]

9. Aw. Their loss, your gain!

My beagle's mother got dumped in the woods. Evidently this is common practice in this part of NJ where hunting is very popular. The rescue picked her up and because she was young she was adopted right away. However, the new owner found out she was pregnant and tried to bring her back.

They convinced her to let them take care of her during pregnancy and they'd put the litter up for adoption and spay her if the woman would agree to take her back.

When I went it was just her and her sister left. She was/is so lovable! Not the brightest doggie in the world but definitely affectionate. We called back the next day because we were going to take her sister too but she was already adopted.

I put an $80 deposit on her which was refundable upon proof of spaying but after I got her spayed I told them to keep it. It's a no kill shelter and they could use it.

Good luck with your new member of the family. O8)

[TankLV]

13. We lost a beagle when I was a kid - I didn't take care of him so my

Dad gave him to one of his hunting work buddies - the idiot immediately took him "hunting" and turned him loose in the woods where he promptly kept on running and running - away. He was never found. This was a house pet since he was a puppy, and we had him for over a year. Some people shouldn't be allowed to have pets, let alone children.

I've never forgotten that - we have had a bunch of wonderful Golden Retrievers - all rescues, with the occacional rescued mix and surrendered pet after divorce, etc., for almost 9 years now.

I couldn't think of living without my children!

[FreedomAngel82]

20. Aww!!

I'm happy for you to have the dog and I'm sure the dog is happy too! I remember when I got my dog he was in a litter with his brothers and sisters and none of them seemed to be getting adopted and I was just so drawn to him and had to have him. My brother wanted another dog but I was getting him for my birthday. I'll have to scan a photo of him for y'all later. He died several years ago though. :( But I have the sense he'll be back later. I remember about a year or two ago I had this strange sense he was calling out to me and was in a cat body and he was at a local pound and wanted me to come get him but my parents don't want any more pets sadly. :(

[Eloriel]

10. Boy, you guys are GOOD -- I think she is part Bernese Mtn Dog

which I'd never heard of either. Not only do some of her parts fit that perfectly (if you look at some of the photos), but the temperament discussions I've read fit her perfectly. She is gentle as a lamb, I absolutely KNOW she'll be wonderful with children, affectionate, eager to please (I've told her "NO!" sternly a couple of times and she never went back to do that particular whatever, like digging in my compost pile), and about as sweet as you'd ever want a dog to be. Very cuddly, too, with all that hair. REALLY wonderful little dog.

I didn't tell how we found her. If you remember, GA got a LOT of rain between the tropical storm that blew thru here and Denise, I think it was. Well, my DH came home one morning (was on his way to work), woke me and said, "You have to come help me, I brought home a kitten but I couldn't get the other one. You have to help me." So we fed the new little rescue kitten (a spunky but scrawny as the dickens 6-wk old female, black with blacker tiger stripes). So we got my brother too, and off we went. Could NOT get the other kitten. It just wouldn't come out. BUT, as we passed a fire hydrant, my had seen something that looked like a dog. We went back, and sure enough, sitting behind the fire hydrant was a little dog of some sort. You couldn't tell much about her -- in fact, she looked like a possum to me because of the way her nose looked with all the mud -- she was just covered with mud. Her tail was literally DRIPPING mud. So she was our 2nd rescue of the day. Poor thing was just literally sitting there, BEHIND the fire hydrant, not even reacting to our passing car or anything. When I reached out for her, she came to me only reluctantly. It was as if she was in shock or something.

Anyway, thanks, ya'll. It's very helpful to have all this validation on what flavor she is. And I rather enjoyed all the oohs and ahs, too.

[Desertrose]

12. one more round of ooohs & awwws here....

what a sweetie pie....so Eloriel, are you REALLY gonna be able to give her up when the time comes????
:hug:
DR

[Eloriel]

15. I have no choice

She's just one of two dozen that I've fallen in love with -- and always feel SO good about their new homes when they get them. What happens, tho, is that they carve out a little place in my heart for always. So they're never ever truly "gone," if ya know what I mean.

But yeah, with my own dogs and cat and the need to keep everbody separate from everybody else, it's enough of a drain on my time and energy with these rescued dogs that there's more than just a bit of relief when they're gone too. (Translation: I'm getting too old for this shit. LOL.)

I think this one is the sweetest dog we've had, and we've had some very sweet ones. And boy is she cuddly.

[NMDemDist2]

14. i have always wanted a Bernese, not in my future here in AZ and I

am "downsizing" my dogs (they get smaller every time I get one LOL)

but this pup is a beauty for sure

[Eloriel]

17. Wish I could share her with you

She really is a doll, and I'm just know she'll be great in the house.

I'm not a small dog person, tho there is one type I saw once that captured my heart -- a teensy little Maltese I saw at a vet's office once. I think if I were ever going to have a house dog, that'd probably be the direction I'd go in. And I could grab her up and use her as a dust rag too on occasion. (Just kidding, of course.)

[FreedomAngel82]

21. Aww poor puppy

I'm glad you guys found her. I remember once at my great-grandma's about a year or so before she died there was a beagle who was strayed and just dropped off and came up to my great-grandma's house. She lived, literally, in the middle of nowhere on this huge farm. The dog was really shy and nervous. One of my cousin's was playing with the little dog and at first was shy and scared of him but after a while got used to him and they played together and my grandma (she was living with my great-grandma at this time) gave the dog some food and all that. I believe later my grandma took the little dog to the local pound. She thought someone just dropped him off. He was so sweet! My cousin wanted to take him home but my uncle wouldn't let him. :(

[juajen]

18. She's precious

We just rescued two lab mixes who had been abandoned. I'm sorry we have a housefull, cause I would love her.

[Eloriel]

19. Oh, good for you ---

and bless you.

As it turns out, we placed her yesterday, with a family which lost a St. Bernard for unknown reasons at the young age of 5. So they're VERY happy to have her.

Did I mention that "Precious" is actually what we named her?

[davsand]

22. For some reason I thought you were in Indiana.

I wish you were because I'd probably take that pup in a heartbeat. I have been checking out the various rescue sites for likely dogs because we actually are just about ready to add a "dawg" to our family. She sounds like a wonderful animal that would make the perfect addition to our household.

Final judgement, however, has to be reserved until the entire family (excluding the cat who votes NO without exception) meets any candidate. :)

I've been seriously looking at the idea of a hound of some sort because they tend to be mellow dogs overall. We need a dog who will do well running off steam in our backyard with the resident daughter and a few more neighborhood kids. Our backyard looks over the school yard and I'd like to find a dog that will not flip out when kids are around.

Additionally, I take my dogs everywhere with us and I look for a dog that is able to meet and greet without feeling freaked out. Something tells me your puppy will be social enough that she'd be able to be at her best even at the softball park or the playground.

Good luck finding her a happy home!


Laura

[Eloriel]

23. How dogs do well with children and strangers depends a lot on

how well they're "socialized." Not entirely, because some dogs are by nature more social (or less) than others. But socialization can go a very long way to help them be really good pets and family companions.

Whatever dog you decide on, be sure to get some really competent obedience training if you're not thoroughly comfortable with training them yourself. It makes all the difference AND it makes a happier, more confident dog. In my observation, the smarter the dog the more important the training is, especially if they have a dominant or alpha streak (and all the smart dogs I've known and loved certainly did).

I made the mistake of letting that oh-so-cute Redbone Hound pupy we kept as one of our own for nearly 2 years get away with no training and way too little discipline, and once he reached maturity he was -- well, we got him trained because we had to re-home him. We had to rehome him primarily because of the competition with my other 2 male dogs (he WAS going to take over as alpha dog or die trying), but we had to get him obedience trained in order to be ABLE to rehome him. I hope to never make that mistake again (not training enough given the temperament requirements of the dog). He was real darn cute, until he wasn't any more.

Good luck! There are so many wonderful breeds out there. I'm really partial to the mixes because they tend to be healthier, less high strung dogs (it's been my observation). LOL, and cheaper too!