Need some dog-lover perspective

MrsC0409

@catahoulatte OMG I grew up with a Catahoulla mix! BEST dog of my life. I still miss him.

catahoulatte

MrsC0409 said:

@catahoulatte OMG I grew up with a Catahoulla mix! BEST dog of my life. I still miss him.

Seriously. They are amazing!! There are plenty of Catahoula rescues out there...

MrsC0409

catahoulatte said:

MrsC0409 said:

@catahoulatte OMG I grew up with a Catahoulla mix! BEST dog of my life. I still miss him.

Seriously. They are amazing!! There are plenty of Catahoula rescues out there...

I always wondered if your sn was because you were from LA or because you had the dog!... or both!

catahoulatte

MrsC0409 said:

catahoulatte said:

MrsC0409 said:

@catahoulatte OMG I grew up with a Catahoulla mix! BEST dog of my life. I still miss him.

Seriously. They are amazing!! There are plenty of Catahoula rescues out there...

I always wondered if your sn was because you were from LA or because you had the dog!... or both!

the latte part is just random. I did grow up in Northern CA, coincidentally, but nope. My SN was CatahoulaMom as kind of a joke, then I tried to change it to take the mom out but still be recognizable.

intensivepurposes

mtsue said:

This is not the answer that the impulsive-dog-lover in me wants to hear

I'm totally going to enable you. We lost our beloved lab three years ago to stupid cancer and I made it exactly two months until I was picking out a puppy. I get it. My home is not complete without a dog - and a big slobbery energetic one at that. My vote is for getting your dog now and working on training while it's just the two of you. Puppy kindergarten has to be easier to commit to without already having a kid! It'll give you something to take your mind of impending parenthood. That's good, right? This is my first time so maybe don't listen to me. Can I give you any more advice that would convince you? I'd post a picture of our big guy with pleading eyes but I'm in mobile and I suck.

#Newbestfriend

LadyAnnibal

We're getting a puppy/dog before the baby comes. Our excuse/reason is because H is going into the military soon and we need someone to protect our house. Not only will I be a balloon, but I'm very petite so if anything happens he wants me to have someone to protect us.

usermovedon

elandwyn said:

mtsue said:

This is not the answer that the impulsive-dog-lover in me wants to hear

I'm totally going to enable you. We lost our beloved lab three years ago to stupid cancer and I made it exactly two months until I was picking out a puppy. I get it. My home is not complete without a dog - and a big slobbery energetic one at that. My vote is for getting your dog now and working on training while it's just the two of you. Puppy kindergarten has to be easier to commit to without already having a kid! It'll give you something to take your mind of impending parenthood. That's good, right? This is my first time so maybe don't listen to me. Can I give you any more advice that would convince you? I'd post a picture of our big guy with pleading eyes but I'm in mobile and I suck.

#Newbestfriend

intensivepurposes

After talking it through with my mom and my shrink (two different people!) and of course my husband we think we're going to go against popular advice and have the pup first because we are REBELS.  Here are my reasons:

-I'll be taking a few months off of work and can be home training pup and going to classes/inviting trainer to our house if necessary.  There will be no other time in my life that I will have that kind of free time to devote to training a puppy.  Yeah I'll be taking care of a baby, too, but I'm not somebody who gets stressed out about dogs, even old sick needy dogs.  Quite the opposite.

-I'm not a kid person.  I'm not saying I'm not going to love the hell out of this baby, but my home is empty without a dog.  This is something for me, so that I have unconditional love and support during a difficult time.

-Aggression in a home-raised puppy is rare and controllable.  I'm much more worried about an adult dog.

-I'll have help from my SIL, who is a relatively new parent and also an avid dog lover, so she'll be my backup.  She can take the dog in a pinch, or the baby!

So, pup a month or two before baby.  Hopefully we'll have crate trained and potty trained by the time this nugget arrives, but if not, I really don't think it'll be that bad. And if I've made a poor decision I will let each and every one of you scold me

usermovedon

Yay for a puppy! It's always good to go with your gut. Your reasoning seems totally sound to me, but of course I was on the puppywagon. Do you know what you're going to get? Shelter pup or from a breeder? 

We're moving next month (FX we close Dec 19) and it's a good thing because our landlords and next door neighbors are planning on breeding their yellow lab bitch in the spring. And even if I don't agree with backyard breeding on basic principal I would totally end up with at least one puppy.

ngolimento

estamos_tomamos said:

Beachy730 said:

OctoberStars said:

estamos_tomamos said:

I've been asking myself this same question, only it's regarding 100 day-old chicks instead of a dog.  Will I really have the time and energy to run a brooder full of 100 little fuzzies?  Hmmm...

Yes! More chickens! I plan on brooding chicks in the spring too. What breed? I am getting more orpingtons.

We have 6 hens that should start laying anytime and I'm so excited! 2 of them are orpingtons (jubilee and lavender).
.

@peledreamsofrain, look! More chicken ladies!

@OctoberStars I have a mix of barred rocks, easter eggers and Rhode island reds right now. I will probably stick exclusively to barred rocks for the big brood, but I also found a lady who sells lavender araucana hatching eggs so I will probably order about 12 of those to do a hatch sometime soon. I haven't fired up my incubator in a long time!


***quote***

Yay chicken ladies! I am struggling over deciding to hatch spring fluffies too. I usually join a huge internet Easter hatch a long, but if I do that this year, 10 to 15 days later I have a kid to the watch too.

Oh the indecision!

intensivepurposes

Looks like we need a chicken ladies thread or two!! I want to learn from you guys in case I ever have room for chickies.  I've always wanted to raise chickens for eggs (and maybe dinner) but I've been stuck in cities for so long.

mtsue said:

Yay for a puppy! It's always good to go with your gut. Your reasoning seems totally sound to me, but of course I was on the puppywagon. Do you know what you're going to get? Shelter pup or from a breeder? 

We're moving next month (FX we close Dec 19) and it's a good thing because our landlords and next door neighbors are planning on breeding their yellow lab bitch in the spring. And even if I don't agree with backyard breeding on basic principal I would totally end up with at least one puppy.

I'm not sure! I've always been a staunch shelter supporter (they get whatever money is left in my paycheck each month), but it'll depend on what kind of pups they have when we're ready to adopt.  I'm looking for a lab/retriever mix.  I have no problem on principle of going with a breeder, but the enhanced risk for genetic disorders (hip dysplasia!) is definitely a drawback, so I'd prefer a mutt.

SO if anybody knows of a lab/retriever mix puppy being born in the pacific NW in the next six months gimme a holler

Ashbritenden

So here's my horror story. We lived with my parents after my first son was born. They/we had a dog that was about 5 or 6 years old (a mut, not huge but not small). Most loving dog in the world, wouldn't hurt a flea. When my son was 6 months old he was playing on the floor (right next to where my husband was sitting) playing with a little toy plush football. We hear a bark and my husband (who was watching our son) glances over to the dog who runs over and bites my sons face, less than an inch away from his eye. 7 stitches. I absolutely LOVED that dog, he was my baby before my baby, but from then on I could have nothing to do with him, although I told my dad not to get rid of him because we moved out right after (already planned). Karma did get him though.
My point: I personally would wait until after the baby is a little bigger.
We got our own dog when my youngest turned 1 and haven't had any problems (he's 5 now), but I'm terrified for after the baby in my tummy is born.

OctoberStars

Yay @estamos_tomamos, @peledreamsofrain, and @elandwyn!  I love fellow chicken lovers!  Everyone should have chickens because they are the easiest animals in the world.  Even easier than a goldfish.  Having living lawn ornaments is the best.

I have a couple of cochins (blue and black), mille fleurs, and chocolate orpingtons.  I would LOVE some araucanas and marans to have some egg variety.  Right now everyone is a bantam, but if there is a chicken genocide I may switch to standards.  Losing little chickens to hawks is so annoying.  Maybe we could do an egg swap this spring!  Or at least clue me in to your hatching egg sources