Almost three months ago now, we decided that the one dog we had, Millie (a non-descript mutt of no discernable breeding who doesn't like me worth a damn - she's timid and I am the one who does the wormer and flea treatments ergo I'm the bad guy) wasn't worth a damn as a watch dog. About the only thing Millie will bark at is deer, possums, coons, and buzzards. Since none of those are much oaf a threat to either steal us blind or cause us bodily harm, we needed some dogs that would actually BARK.
As usual, it's my job. Tommy doesn't make the decisions around here, I do. It's not that he's henpecked-he wants it that way. The few times he has made the decision - well, results have generally not been so good. He doesn't think along those lines-he's more of the analyst type. I'm the planner.
So how to find DOGS. Well, for me, going to a shelter is out of the question for the simple reason that I'd bring all of them home. That's definitely a counter-productive move from the get-go. Do not want to go to the pet store as that supports the puppy mills and I truly detest the breeding practices of 99.9% of the purebred owners. (Cat, horse, bird, reptile-any animal that is kept as a pet-there should be very, very strict laws about reproduction.)
Craigslist - not the greatest place, but it beats Petfinder. (Why? Because Petfinder almost invariably refers you to a shelter that has some ungodly requirement that you're going to fail as a pet parent. I've tried three times to adopt cats through there. I failed one time because I let my cats out of the house (I live on 27 acres out in the country, for God's sake!), the second time because I had had a cat die of unknown causes (does everyone have God-like powers of knowledge???), and one time because of the litter I use. Give me a break! Either you want the animals to have homes or you don't! You don't even come out to see what I've got here. ) If you've never looked at craigslist.com, you need to. It is a classified ad section on steriods.
People who have pit bulls NEED to spay and neuter those dogs. They can't GIVE those puppies away. Just because YOU like them, folks, doesn't mean other people are going to take them. I think they're fine, but I'm not going to get one either. Just not my taste in dogs.
There are other dogs in there--some of the toy breeds (the prices on those itty bitty things!!) and some really big dogs (good sized prices there, too!). I keep looking-and finally come up with some beagles up in Summerville (which falls through) and dachshunds in College Park. I've always been a sucker for the hound breeds and dachies are the smallest of the hounds. We had a dachie mix one time - Ginger - and she was a great dog.
I come back with two-male and female. She's a tan and will be a "Tweener". Her name is Bonnie and she is a pistol. She bosses everybody. She doesn't beg, she tells. He is a red or copper and may be a large Tweener or a small regular dachie. Name's Clyde, of course, and he's a laid back sweetie. You do get the sad puppy eyes from Clyde.
And, yeah, they bark. Mission accomplished.
