[web1894]

Welcome...glad you could join us.
Delilah is beautiful. She will be a good companion for you labs are very loving dogs. My daughter has a lab and she is very loveable.

I am a transplant from Missouri in Idaho. Love it here , love the air and the mountains. It can be cold, but it is beautiful. I have been to Arkansas and you have some pretty places also around Springdale and also around Rogers.

I have heard a lot of good things about labs! So far she is a strong pup and a survivor! We have no children (yet) so Delilah is our "child" I guess you would say! :) Missouri is gorgeous I have visited a few times since its close by! I have never been to Idaho. But MAN does it get hot here!! I think it was around 93 today and humid.. That's the only thing I don't like here is the humidity. If I could choose to just up and move anywhere it would be Colorado! Amazing summers there lol

[web1894]

Web, welcome to the lounge and AMHD. Feel free to ramble. It can be one of our favorite pastimes. Rambling leads to so many interesting places. :)

Delilah is beautiful. I hope you have many happy years together. :)

Thank you so much! :) so far everyone has been so nice on this site I have been very surprised! Thank You for the welcome :)

[web1894]

Welcome Web! Delilah is gorgeous and I am glad she is on the road to recovery! Have you seen our pet threads with all of our pics of our animals?

Thank you Aurora! And no I haven't yet I'm still trying to figure all this stuff out lol

[web1894]

Glad you found the chat area Web. We usually have one or more going, so stick around, chat, gripe, vent, tell us the good, bad, and whatever else.

You've stumbled into a group of animal lovers, so you're in the right place. :)

I live in Canada, Alberta to be exact. I'm married, a lot older than 22 (sigh), have two kids, 2 dogs, 4 rabbits, a bird, and two fish (free to a good home). Seriously, I'll deliver the fish. The tank and all the accessories are included. Why has no one taken me up on this yet? ;)

Thank You for the invite Alty! :) I have really enjoyed our chats and hearing about your little one too! Lots of babies!! My sister and I had a rabbit when we were young.. Unfortunately poor little Thumper got a hold of a Polaroid picture and passed away.. Which was pretty traumatizing for us girls! Loved that rabbit poor guy :/ Anyway I'm excited to be a part of your chat! Thank you again! :)

[Alty]

OMG! One of my bunnies is named Thumper! We have Thumper, Cotton, Oreo, and Kilala, those are the bunnies. Chewy and Rascal are the pups, Marty is the bird, and Goldie and Fang are the fish (yes, we named the fish. Sigh).

[Alty]

TMI Alert !!!!!

Eh, at this point I think I've pretty much posted everything but my social insurance number and banking info on this site. I think it's a bit late for TMI now. ;)

[web1894]

OMG! One of my bunnies is named Thumper! We have Thumper, Cotton, Oreo, and Kilala, those are the bunnies. Chewy and Rascal are the pups, Marty is the bird, and Goldie and Fang are the fish (yes, we named the fish. Sigh).

Aw I would love to see pics of all your babies! What kind of bird? I had parakeets when I was younger 1 named purple dude another named buttercup! We had to give them away due to my asthma though :/ Broke my heart.. I also has a hamster growing up named Destiny! :) I have had a few dogs too before Delilah (in my childhood) :)

[Alty]

Twist my rubber arm! Just want everyone else to know, she asked for the pictures! I didn't volunteer! You can't be mad! ;)

We have a cockatiel. We actually took her in for the same reason you had to re-home your parakeets. Her original owner adored her, but his son has extreme allergies. She's a great bird, very tame, and such a sweetie.

Okay, here are the pictures. I may need to post two posts to get them all in. I think the limit is 5 pictures per post.











The dark grey rabbit is Thumper, the black and white one is Oreo, the one being held is Cotton, and the one with the funky hairdo is Kilala. All but Cotton are rescues. :)

Then of course there's Marty the bird.

[Alty]

Here are Rascal and Chewy. Rascal is the fuzz ball, and Chewy is the beagle boy.

The fish are too hard to capture on film. ;)

[web1894]

Here are Rascal and Chewy. Rascal is the fuzz ball, and Chewy is the beagle boy.

The fish are too hard to capture on film. ;)

How precious! They are all adorable! Lil Rascal is a cute little fur ball I just want to cuddle him! And chewy looks as sweet as can be! I hope you keep me updated on Rascal I would love to see how he looks full grown! I'm thinking a border collie might be what we will look for next.. I loved saving a pup from the shelter and I think I prob will again.. But I have had such mixed emotions being how hard it was with Delilah! The 1st week we had her she had Kennel cough (which is common in pound pups I know) and I dealt with that just fine but the 2nd week she had parvo. I just feel that our local humane society should take a little more responsibility to try to give shots to pups! Its so important!! My sister adopted a pup the same day a Chihuahua/ Schnauzer mix 6 weeks old and they told her not to give her shots until 9 weeks!! I couldn't believe that! Our vet was so unhappy! The same day I took Delilah in for her booster (1st with me) They told me to watch her because they had a confirmed case of distemper from the shelter too! It just is heartbreaking adopting a puppy and to find out it has an illness especially one where it might not survive!! I'm all for adoption! But its hard to think about after my traumatic experience.. Although we do have 2 shelters in town maybe I'll try the other one next time.. I know its no guarantee if your pup is completely healthy and they can't help that because you never know where they come from but it doesn't make it comforting by any means! Sorry I'm going to step down from my soap box! I didn't even mean to go in that direction! It's just frustrating that I'm trying to be responsible for Delilah and she's better now! But I almost lost her and it would have broken my heart so much that I don't know if I would have adopted another pup any time soon. Ok I'm done now :)

[Synnen]

Alty... next time you get a rabbit, you need to name it MacBeth for me, in honor of my lovely Liz, who also had rabbits. MacBeth was her last bunny.

[Alty]

How precious! They are all adorable! Lil Rascal is a cute lil fur ball I just wanna cuddle him! And chewy looks as sweet as can be! I hope you keep me updated on Rascal I would love to see how he looks full grown! I'm thinking a border collie might be what we will look for next.. I loved saving a pup from the shelter and I think I prob will again.. But I have had such mixed emotions being how hard it was with Delilah! The 1st week we had her she had Kennel cough (which is common in pound pups I know) and I dealt with that just fine but the 2nd week she had parvo. I just feel that our local humane society should take a lil more responsibility to try to give shots to pups! Its so important!!!! My sister adopted a pup the same day a Chihuahua/ Schnauzer mix 6 weeks old and they told her not to give her shots until 9 weeks!!!!!!! I couldn't believe that! Our vet was so unhappy! The same day I took Delilah in for her booster (1st with me) They told me to watch her because they had a confirmed case of distemper from the shelter too! It just is heartbreaking adopting a puppy and to find out it has an illness especially one where it might not survive!!! I'm all for adoption! But its hard to think about after my traumatic experience.. Although we do have 2 shelters in town maybe I'll try the other one next time.. I know its no guarantee if your pup is completely healthy and they can't help that bc you never know where they come from but it doesn't make it comforting by any means! Sorry I'm going to step down from my soap box! I didn't even mean to go in that direction! It's just frustrating that I'm trying to be responsible for Delilah and shes better now! But I almost lost her and it would have broken my heart so much that idk if I would have adopted another pup any time soon. Ok I'm done now :)

I have to say, our shelter is great. It's run by the SPCA though, and they take animal health seriously.

Sadly, if there is a case of parvo, the only thing that any shelter can really do is euthanize all the dogs in the facility, thoroughly clean it, and wait a few weeks before accepting new dogs. They simply don't have the funds to treat parvo, and if one dog has it, all the dogs that aren't immunized, will get it. Even those that are immunized have to be put to sleep because they could carry the disease out of the shelter.

Thankfully that's never happened in our shelter with the dogs, but a few years back there was something going around in the cat section. I don't remember what disease it was, but it was as bad as parvo, highly contagious, and they did have to euthanize all the cats in their care, and didn't accept new cats for months after. It was heartbreaking.

When we rescued Jasper (our border collie cross that just passed away 2 weeks ago :() he had kennel cough, but it was easily treated. Other than that, and the fact that he came from an abusive home, and was terrified of humans, he was physically fine.

I have to post a picture of my Jasper, and Indy too, who passed away 5 months before Jasper at the ripe old age of 16 years. Indy was a border collie cross too, but looked more like a black lab, even though his dad was purebred border collie, and mom was a lab/bc/ you name it mix found in a dumpster when she was only a few weeks old. Indy was from an accidental litter. In fact, he was from a litter that never should have happened. His dad was neutered, but apparently he had an extra testicle (or something like that, don't really know 100% all the details), so our friend figured he was safe, that there wouldn't be unwanted puppies. Well, there were, and we know for a fact that Bingo was the daddy, witnessed the conception ;). But thank Dog it happened, otherwise we wouldn't have had our Indy.

So, my Jasper and Indy, R.I.P. My lovely boys.





Jasper is on the blue carpet, and he's still pretty young in that picture. He was 10 1/2 when he passed away.

Indy is the old man, with the grey beard. :)

[Alty]

Alty....next time you get a rabbit, you need to name it MacBeth for me, in honor of my lovely Liz, who also had rabbits. MacBeth was her last bunny.

Bite your tongue! If I bring another rabbit home Rod may be coming to live with you! ;)

[web1894]

I have to say, our shelter is great. It's run by the SPCA though, and they take animal health seriously.

Sadly, if there is a case of parvo, the only thing that any shelter can really do is euthanize all the dogs in the facility, thoroughly clean it, and wait a few weeks before accepting new dogs. They simply don't have the funds to treat parvo, and if one dog has it, all the dogs that aren't immunized, will get it. Even those that are immunized have to be put to sleep because they could carry the disease out of the shelter.

Thankfully that's never happened in our shelter with the dogs, but a few years back there was something going around in the cat section. I don't remember what disease it was, but it was as bad as parvo, highly contagious, and they did have to euthanize all the cats in their care, and didn't accept new cats for months after. It was heartbreaking.

When we rescued Jasper (our border collie cross that just passed away 2 weeks ago :() he had kennel cough, but it was easily treated. Other than that, and the fact that he came from an abusive home, and was terrified of humans, he was physically fine.

I have to post a picture of my Jasper, and Indy too, who passed away 5 months before Jasper at the ripe old age of 16 years. Indy was a border collie cross too, but looked more like a black lab, even though his dad was purebred border collie, and mom was a lab/bc/ you name it mix found in a dumpster when she was only a few weeks old. Indy was from an accidental litter. In fact, he was from a litter that never should have happened. His dad was neutered, but apparently he had an extra testicle (or something like that, don't really know 100% all the details), so our friend figured he was safe, that there wouldn't be unwanted puppies. Well, there were, and we know for a fact that Bingo was the daddy, witnessed the conception ;). But thank Dog it happened, otherwise we wouldn't have had our Indy.

So, my Jasper and Indy, R.I.P. My lovely boys.





Jasper is on the blue carpet, and he's still pretty young in that picture. He was 10 1/2 when he passed away.

Indy is the old man, with the grey beard. :)

Beautiful Boys! I can't believe that about Indy! How crazy! Yes they do that here too (euthanizing).. When the vet found out she had to call them and let them know :/ breaks my heart but you just don't know! Delilah looked perfectly healthy but she had parvo its so sad. BUT they should never have told my sister to wait until 9 weeks to get her pup Ginger her shots! I really just don't think they care. There was a place further away that I almost adopted from but you had to pretty much pass a background check to adopt! It was just too much of a hassle especially being an hour away. But there adoption fees were 150 versus Delilahs 50.. That being because they had shots! I would have paid for the immunizations I had no problem with that but 10 weeks old and 0 shots (that could be confirmed that is) is scary! No wonder there was a case of Distemper too. Its sad.. Especially for the person who adopts and loses or has to put there dog to sleep.. :(

[Alty]

I have to say, Rascal was 8 weeks old when we got him, and since he was from a farm, he didn't have his first set of shots. He does now, but he was free to a good home, I really didn't expect him to have his shots. But I've found that farm dogs are usually the most healthy, and very evenly tempered.

I would have rescued again, but we were looking for a border collie, or border collie mix. They had a few at our shelter but they were older, and my husband didn't want to get an older dog (by older I'm talking 1 - 5 years of age). He likes the puppy stage because, and I have to agree somewhat, they bond to you easier. Also, with kids, I can't just get any dog, especially one with issues. In fact, our shelter has restrictions on most of their older pets.

I'm so very glad that Delilah made it. Parvo is deadly, there's a very small survival rate, and she's one of the lucky ones. I'd guess that that is mainly because of you, and your husband. You obviously love her a lot, and I'm so very very happy that she found her furever (spelled it wrong on purpose ;)) home. :)

Just have to add, to get a puppy at our shelter will cost over $200, but they have not only their first set of shots, but they're spayed or neutered before they're adopted. Where I live a neuter will cost you around $300, so $200 is a good deal.

[web1894]

I have to say, Rascal was 8 weeks old when we got him, and since he was from a farm, he didn't have his first set of shots. He does now, but he was free to a good home, I really didn't expect him to have his shots. But I've found that farm dogs are usually the most healthy, and very evenly tempered.

I would have rescued again, but we were looking for a border collie, or border collie mix. They had a few at our shelter but they were older, and my husband didn't want to get an older dog (by older I'm talking 1 - 5 years of age). He likes the puppy stage because, and I have to agree somewhat, they bond to you easier. Also, with kids, I can't just get any dog, especially one with issues. In fact, our shelter has restrictions on most of their older pets.

I'm so very glad that Delilah made it. Parvo is deadly, there's a very small survival rate, and she's one of the lucky ones. I'd guess that that is mainly because of you, and your husband. You obviously love her a lot, and I'm so very very happy that she found her furever (spelled it wrong on purpose ;)) home. :)

Just have to add, to get a puppy at our shelter will cost over $200, but they have not only their first set of shots, but they're spayed or neutered before they're adopted. Where I live a neuter will cost you around $300, so $200 is a good deal.

I have to agree with you on that one.. I believe the puppy stage is very important with bonding and also obedience! I have never tried a farm pup although I would imagine them being healthy especially since farm owners usually take care of their animals. We love her a great deal (our lives revolve around her and her health) She is after all our first "child" (it really feels that way) I don't plan on adopting for at least 2 years.. I want Delilah to be older right now she's like a toddler! Delilah was spayed also that was the $50 fee.. The other pup was also spayed with all her up to date shots for $150. I'm not sure how much it for sure costs here.. I think the shelter gets a discount lol not sure though.. Delilah is my first dog on my own so its all new experiences!

[Alty]

Our shelter gets a discount on spays and neuters too. I only wish it was available to the public, it would make it a lot easier for people to spay and neuter their animals. I'm a bit of a contradiction. I don't believe in backyard breeding, or puppymills, I'll never get a dog from a pet store. I believe in rescue, or registered breeders, but I have no problem with mixed breeds (only Chewy, our beagle is purebred, and adopted from a registered breeder), and if it's an accidental litter I have no issues. It happens.

The farmer we got Rascal from is typical farmer. He's an older gentleman, loves his animals, takes care of his animals, but, if he spayed and neutered every animal he has, he'd be broke. He lives off the land, has 9 dogs (at least), none of them spayed or neutered, horses, sheep, cows, you name it (that's just from what I saw, there could be more that I didn't see). The thing is, Rascal was free (we gave the farmer $30 because we didn't feel right taking Rascal for free, knowing he spent money just so he could be born), he was 8 weeks old when the farmer put out an ad for his pups. He's not a backyard breeder. Far from it. And the part that made me really melt, as we left, Rascal in hand, he said "if you have any problems with him call me know, I'll take him back". That's what a breeder does. He's not a breeder, far from it. :)

Indy, our 16 year old that just passed away 5 months ago, was born while my husband and I were on our honeymoon. Like I said, accidental litter of a friend, and it's funny, because I'm actually the one that told him Nala (the mom) was pregnant. He didn't believe me because Bingo was neutered. Well, when we got home I called him, asked "so, how many puppies did she have". He said "Not funny! How did this happen? She had 8". LOL!

So we went to see them, fell in love. Actually, truth told, my husband had his eyes on another puppy, because it had a white bib on it's chest. I had my eyes on Indy, and I have the video to prove it!

But, I wanted hubby to be happy, so we agreed on the puppy with the white bib. We bought him a collar, named him Tango, and the week before we were meant to pick him up, he was stollen. Indy was still there, the only pup left. It was meant to be! :)

Right after we got married people started asking when were were going to have kids. Well, once we got Indy, my response was "We just got a dog. If we can keep him alive for a few years we'll have kids. If we can't keep the dog alive, we have no business having children".

Well, he lived to 16, which is very old for a large breed dog. So I guess having kids was a good call. :)

[web1894]

Our shelter gets a discount on spays and neuters too. I only wish it was available to the public, it would make it a lot easier for people to spay and neuter their animals. I'm a bit of a contradiction. I don't believe in backyard breeding, or puppymills, I'll never get a dog from a pet store. I believe in rescue, or registered breeders, but I have no problem with mixed breeds (only Chewy, our beagle is purebred, and adopted from a registered breeder), and if it's an accidental litter I have no issues. It happens.

The farmer we got Rascal from is typical farmer. He's an older gentleman, loves his animals, takes care of his animals, but, if he spayed and neutered every animal he has, he'd be broke. He lives off the land, has 9 dogs (at least), none of them spayed or neutered, horses, sheep, cows, you name it (that's just from what I saw, there could be more that I didn't see). The thing is, Rascal was free (we gave the farmer $30 because we didn't feel right taking Rascal for free, knowing he spent money just so he could be born), he was 8 weeks old when the farmer put out an ad for his pups. He's not a backyard breeder. Far from it. And the part that made me really melt, as we left, Rascal in hand, he said "if you have any problems with him call me know, I'll take him back". That's what a breeder does. He's not a breeder, far from it. :)

Indy, our 16 year old that just passed away 5 months ago, was born while my husband and I were on our honeymoon. Like I said, accidental litter of a friend, and it's funny, because I'm actually the one that told him Nala (the mom) was pregnant. He didn't believe me because Bingo was neutered. Well, when we got home I called him, asked "so, how many puppies did she have". He said "Not funny! How did this happen? She had 8". LOL!

So we went to see them, fell in love. Actually, truth told, my husband had his eyes on another puppy, because it had a white bib on it's chest. I had my eyes on Indy, and I have the video to prove it!

But, I wanted hubby to be happy, so we agreed on the puppy with the white bib. We bought him a collar, named him Tango, and the week before we were meant to pick him up, he was stollen. Indy was still there, the only pup left. It was meant to be! :)

Right after we got married people started asking when were were going to have kids. Well, once we got Indy, my response was "We just got a dog. If we can keep him alive for a few years we'll have kids. If we can't keep the dog alive, we have no business having children".

Well, he lived to 16, which is very old for a large breed dog. So I guess having kids was a good call. :)

If there were more people like that farmer in the world who cared about their animals than they all would be better off! I understand that if you have that many animals and live off the land there's no way you could fix all of them! My great Uncle used to have cows and horses a few dogs too I believe. My Dads side of the family lived on about 25 acres of land that included my Great Grandparents, Grandparents, My Mom and Dad and one of my aunts for a short period. He kept his cows on that land. I loved it! I always have been an animal lover my allergies hold me back a lot :/ I wanted to be a veterinarian when I was growing up just because I loved animals that much! But allergies held me back again I'm glad I didn't though because after Delilah having Parvo I don't know if I could deal with that pressure. My heart would break if I lost an animal.
Your story of Indy just makes my heart melt! It was meant to be! And he looked like a very happy boy. I can see how much you love all your animals like your kids. I'm so happy to see more people like that. Most people love puppies and kittens but when they grow up their neglected because they aren't as cute and cuddly anymore. It's a shame. I found out today that someone I work with got a pup around the same time I did from a lady across the street giving away puppies. I was so disappointed to hear that it has fleas and no shots :/ I have had Delilah for almost 1 1/2 months and she has had so many trips to the vet. How could someone not give proper care for their animals. My vet is VERY reasonable $29 gets you 1 round of booster shots. If you can't afford $30 a month (until rabies shot) to vaccinate your dog why on earth do you have one??

[Alty]

I wish I could say my vet was reasonable price wise. They're a great clinic, and I trust them 100% with my pets, but just to walk in the door is $100. With Jasper we spent over $600, and still never knew what was wrong. They did tests, blood work, x-rays, and no diagnosis.

We couldn't get him to eat, he drank excessively but was still dehydrated. It got to the point where I was force feeding him chicken noodle soup ground up and put into a turkey baster, just so I could get something into his stomach. But he puked it up minutes later.

When we went back (this all happened within a week) he couldn't even lift his head anymore. The vet said she thought it was cancer. We were willing to sell our cars, do whatever it took to keep him alive, but even the vet said "if it were my dog, I'd end this. As is, just to keep him alive, he'll have to be in the animal hospital, on IV, most likely for months, and frankly, even with that, I don't he'll survive the night, and if he did, we can't fix this". So we decided to end his suffering.

The thing that struck me most was the staff. Not the vet, but the vet tech that came in to tell us what would happen, get the payment, etc. etc. She was the same tech we had when we had to euthanize Indy 5 months before Jasper. She remembered us, and as soon as she walked through the door, saw us, saw Jasper, she started crying. She apologized profusely said that she's usually more professional, but seeing us back with another of our beloved animals, it was too much for her. She hugged me, hugged my husband (who was crying buckets as well), and hugged Jasper. She kept apologizing. I told her that the fact that she was crying too, made me feel better. To me it showed that Jasper wasn't just another animal to them, he meant something to them, just like he meant something to us. Heck, he meant the world to us. It made me see that they're not just people doing a job, a job I couldn't do. They're people that care.

Darnit, I'm crying now. I really should stop putting myself through this. It's just still all too fresh. But we do have the fur ball, little Rascal. He's helped us heal a lot. We needed him as much as he needs us. :)

Okay, I'm totally bringing this place down, so I'm going to lighten the mood.

Two more days of work before the weekend, and the weekend is supposed to be absolutely summerish. I can't wait. I need to do yard work. After all, I have visitors (Bella and her little Miss E) coming this summer! :)

[Aurora_Bell]

I am so excited! My boss hasn't been in the office, BUT I can't see it being a problem for the dates I have chosen. Everyone else will have done their vacay. I am so excited. Alty, I have been having such a damn hard last few months I am stressed to the max, this little vacay is exactly what I need. I don't know if you read my status update on SK, but when it rains it bloody pours!