At the beginning we wanted to have a purebred dog, but once we visited a shelter and saw many wonderful cats and dogs, and how they looked like in the kennels; bored, sad or looking at you with their special looks, we decided to get a dog from the pound. Soon Puppy Pound Rescue had a litter of pit/lab puppies — 3 males and 4 females.
Bim was the biggest puppy of the litter, most playful. Later actions revealed the secret that he was definitely ‘Alpha puppy’ of the litter – first to play, first to eat, always in the middle of the action. This did not change much – he still has energy like a small power plant, curious, ready for adventure, outgoing and friendly.
Breed: Mutt Place of Birth: Somewhere around Lake Tahoe. DOB: Probably beginning of December 2007 Nickname: Bemoleh, Bambushka Likes: Explore new places, play “catch me – if you can” games with other dogs or people, chase rabbits and deer. Pet-Peeves: When Bim is in the crate and the cat teases him with her fluffy tail walking slowly around the crate Quirky Tid-bit: Loves fruits: peaches, watermelons, plums, and overall is pretty much everything. Our Similarities: I think Bim has more similarities with my teenage son, than with me: they both like junk food, both love to play with their friends despite it being not a right time or right place, both need strong, firm discipline. Trivia: Mutts or mixed breeds are combinations of different breeds — one-of-a-kind dogs with unique looks and characteristics. Mixed dogs are, as their name suggests, a cross between two pure breeds, and it has often been observed that the crossed dog often times acquires the best characteristics from its parents. Mutt’s lineage of course, is much further from purebreds, however they are less likely to get sick and they have less health problems than many purebreds do.
Dobby is named after the bat-eared, sock-loving, pillowcase-wearing, house-elf in the Harry Potter books. House-elves are servants in J.K. Rowling’s words, but in our world, we, the humans (muggles), are really his servants, and we’ve been serving him faithfully since 2005.
Dobby is what we call a Velcro dog, and a mama’s boy especially. If he can’t be attached to me, he would at least have to be close to me. If he can’t be close enough to me, at least he would need to be able to see me. If he can’t see me, well then he would just wait by wherever he last saw me. On the couch, Dobby is my mobile armrest, and if I try to move him away, he slides right back as if I had embedded magnet in my thigh. I knew there was a reason we got an armless couch. Who needs armrests when you’ve got a Frenchie?
Before Dobby came to our life, Cookie the Boston Terrier was our only furkid. We toyed with the idea of getting her a little brother to keep company, but it wasn’t until Cookie turned three that Dobby waddled into our world with a silly grin on his face. As it turned out, we couldn’t have found a better match. Dobby plays with Cookie wonderfully and lets her be the boss; he doesn’t mind getting swatted by her iron paw every now and then and still always wants to snuggle up with her. Looking back, I don’t think Cookie was all that thrilled when Dobby first came home, but now I’m pretty certain she at least thinks he makes a very nice pillow
Dobby has brought us so much happiness and makes us appreciate all the simple joys in life. He entertains with those silly antics and showers us with love in his own special way. I never knew I would find it soothing to have a dog snore right into my ear at night, or how amused I get when he sniffs my face with such enthusiasm that a nice wet “nose spray” inevitably follows, and I just love it.
To us, Dobby is something very special, and we are truly blessed to have him in our life.
Breed: French Bulldog Place of Birth: Arkansas DOB: June 20, 2005 Nickname: BB (for Bon Bons), The Fat One, Monkey Boy Likes: Food Pet-Peeves: Not enough food Quirky Tid-bit: Sleeps with one arm bent backwards.
Sits with legs sticking out from behind.
Our Similarities: Easily amused, dance when happy, and we both love to eat!
Trivia: French Bulldogs are also affectionately called Frog Dogs. The exact origin seems to be a topic of debate, but when I first saw Dobby lying like this, the answer became quite clear. Just look at those little frog legs
I like to say that Scout and I chose each other — he was the first born of a litter of 8 boys and one little girl, and when I saw that very first picture of him as a newborn, I said that he was the one for me. However, many people wanted him just as I did, but the breeder could see, as he grew, that he had chosen me too!
The litter was named the BoysNBerry litter, with the little girl being named Berry. All of the boys have Boy in their name, and Scout is Javahill’s Boy Scout. I showed Scout in AKC conformation, and we just finished his Championship, so he is now CH Javahill’s Boy Scout.
I am learning a new training system called S.A.T.S., which uses a bridge and target technique for communication.
Scout is a great sport with my training experiments. What is most important is that we have a great time together.
Breed: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever Place of Birth: Pleasanton, California DOB: December 26, 2005 Nickname: Scout or Scouty Likes: Scout is very friendly, and he loves people, especially children and babies. He also loves meeting other friendly dogs, especially tiny ones and young puppies. Pet-Peeves: Scout is fed a raw meaty bone diet, and his biggest pet peeve is when the meal is not what he was expecting. When this happens, I get a pathetic look of disappointment that asks “Is that my dinner?” Quirky Tid-bit: Scout loves his many fluffy toys, and he keeps them in a toy basket. He still has the very first fluff toy that I gave him when I brought him home at 9 weeks. After his dinner he takes several of his toys outside, and there he settles down with his favorite — White Rabbit.
(This litter had to be weaned at 10 days of age because their mother got sick. I think that might be why almost all of the puppies from this litter like to suck on their toys or blankies when they want to relax.)
Trivia: The Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever (N.S.D.T.R.) was first referenced as Little River Duck Dog in the 17th c. in Nova Scotia, Canada. The little red dogs were unique dogs who helped the hunter by luring the ducks close to shore. They did this by playing on shore, retrieving a stick thrown by the hunter who was hiding in a blind. The dog would repeatedly run out, and then disappear, making the ducks curious. The ducks would swim in closer to shore, to take a look, and then the hunter would appear. This behavior of the dog is called “tolling”. The dog would then do a land or water retrieve of the shot duck.
This dog became recognized by the Canadian CKC in the early 1980’s, and by the AKC in early 2000. Modern breeders have valued keeping the hunting instinct and drive strong in the “tollers” that they breed; and at the same time breeding dogs that are very loving and loyal.
