Hmm - well we currently have a total of 6 dogs. They all have unique stories and here they are!
3 actually belong to our daughters, but when they "flew the coop", they weren't in positions to take them.
Actually, our youngest daughter(Sierra) took Chicka with her when she moved out - only to have to bring her home as she was UNHAPPY when left alone when Sierra was at work and it was a major problem. She barked, whined, scratched at the walls and tore up the floor in the entry way by the door. So, Chicka came back and then later our daughter also came back. Chicka was a stray that literally followed Sierra (well, Sierra was in the habit of walking to a friends home about 5 miles away before getting her driving license) to Gail's place, hung out while Gail and Sierra worked horses - preparing for going on the road for barrel racing and then Gail drove Sierra around looking to find where Chicka had come from. They hit every road around us - never did find where she might have come from. So Chicka became our family member around 2008/2009 (would have to do some digging to find actual date).
Monkey belongs to our middle daughter. She had been on the road -showing dogs with another acquaintance in UKC and a handful of AKC events. Then, she was offered a puppy in partnership with a judge/breeder of "Finkys" (Finish Spitz). Monkey is related to several Finky's over the last few years that have made it to the BIG dog show over Thanksgiving at the Madison Square Garden (I can never remember the name of it? Westminster Dog Show, I think). I agreed that we could do that and she got her pup for only $1! He came home in Feb 2007 from Georgia - his dam and litter mates had traveled to the show from Florida. He was whelped on December 26th, 2006. He was to remain a dog that our daughter would show. He did a roadtrip with us to TX in April 2007 - sometimes riding with me in front,sometimes riding sprawled out on our daughter's body like she was his bed. Then tragedy struck - turns out Monkey was a digger (a lot of Finkys are). He dug out of our chain link fenced yard and disappeared, then 24 hours later showed back up on our front porch. He was not his usual, talkative self at all - Finky's have quite the language/way of expressing themselves with clicks, chittering, whistles, whines, little grunt barks, a wide vocal range of barks. Very "depressed" and stoic. BUT no blood, no obvious sign of injury. He allowed us to manipulate him in several ways... But he obviously had something wrong so off to the vet we went. I thought I knew what was wrong but this was a new vet for us. I tried to iterate that we had a very limited budget to work with. I wanted to do some specific exrays - really thought maybe he had a dislocated hip (could have been a somewhat "easy" fix). But they seemed to have a protocol - that included me not being in with him (I now understand most vet hospitals work that way, but... I was used to being very involved with our previous farm vet not taking dogs to the vet hospital). They did a $200 blood workup on him (everything normal), an IV drip, and a bunch of other stuff (it was all on the bill) before they even attempted to do xrays of his hip(s). If they'd just done the exrays, I'd have been able to easily get his bill covered - we struggled for a long time to cover that bill of over $1,000. It was a dislocated hip (pretty severe). It was decided that he was probably "tagged" by a car. Several months later and healing way to slow/painfully - it was determined (by the vets, again) that he'd probably never make a show dog since they truly didn't think he'd ever fully heal, so the decision to neuter him was made.
If I had only known then what we know now!! It was a long road, and staying with that vet hospital may have been a mistake. Every step of the way, they said he'd never fully heal and come all the way back. Well, a couple years later - Monkey proved them wrong. He did FINALLY heal and start fully moving sound and once he hit that point - his hip was never an issue again. Well maybe now, as a 10 - 1/2 yr old dog that doesn't move enough, LOL.
About 2 weeks after coming home with Madira. He used to like riding with her when he was still small enough to fit in the pack. Pic attached at end of post.
8 yrs after coming to us as a puppy
Goblin was brought home by Skye - right around Christmas but named for Halloween, not sure the year (want to say 2008-the 3 daughters' dogs came home w/i a 2 year timeframe, I believe). He was a rescue from one of our neighbors - whom I helped to re-home around 30 puppies for them over a 2 yr period (they kept their unfixed females chained outside - any loose male dog could get to them). Goblin is a BIG (matured to around 77 lbs currently) goof - part Pit, part Dalmatian, several parts ??. I do have puppy pics of him, but not easily accessed right now (not on line or on this laptop). Attached one big pic below. and here is a pic of Larry and Gobs here.
Then we have our 3 dogs. Didy (Sir Didamus - from the movie Labyrinth) is a purebred male pomeranian. We did have papers on him, but never sent them in simply because we knew he'd be neutered. He is Larry's dog - and properly drives him right CRAZY. I'm not sure what we'd do if something ever happened to this little dog! Unlike me, Larry fixates on only one. It may very well kill him if something ever happened this little guy. He's fun to have around and he sometimes gets to go into town with us - separate from his trips to vet or groomers.
I think this is the day he came home with us from the feed store (most of our dogs were rescues or free - he was PRICEY). I thought he was a bit younger when he came home - like Monkey, he was born on December 26th - but guess not.
While we were in the process of moving from our previous leased "farmette" (8+ acres) to our new purchased "farmette" (21+ acres), I had a call to set an appointment for a mini Aussie at the Spay/Neuter clinic. I'd always wanted a mini Aussie. Got to talking to her owner and found out she'd just rescued her herself from some type of puppy mill. I asked if I could keep her number and talk to her again and when I did I arranged to go see the dog (she wasn't doing well in the home situation - the rescuers two children scared her to death. She's always been in a cage/crate and raised multiple litters of mini aussie pups). "LOVE at first sight" and "Zuma" went home with me. It wasn't an easy transition... she was most definitely scared to death of a lot of things. She'd run and hide and to this day, when our grand kids or any other children come over, she hides. She can/will ride in the truck though. AND once, while the kids were sick and asleep on the couch, she DID join them - like she was guarding them (until they woke up). She was approximately 7 yrs old when I got her and we've had her for 2-1/2 yrs. I don't appear to have any pictures of her standing up - all are either laying down or sitting. She's about 35#s of still pretty active little dog!
Edited to add pics of "ZuZu" -
Then there is our latest dog. Again, a female rescue that came in thru the Spay/Neuter Vet clinic. I'd spent the last couple of years setting appointments up for the Rescue group that brought her in. One of our Techs took her home, thinking they'd adopt her but it was a miserable night for them and she brought her right back to the clinic the next morning. No one from the Rescue Group could pick her up, so I let the head person know that I'd take her on as a Foster. Wellllll.... we are closing in on 2 years of me fostering her. And I asked about the papers the other day to just make her ours (Larry doesn't know...). Didn't think I'd ever take on a Pit or Pit mix. She's a bit of a strange one - still very puppy-ish in actions. But not a problem with our cats, she's scared of the ponies. Still doesn't ever seem to know where her feet/claws are (god forbid, she launches while her feet on top of your bare feet - it HURTS). She really LIKEs/LOVES Larry and will follow him around the house - occasionally scratching his legs with her front feet (then he gets all kinds of upset - he hates that, LOL). She came with the name of Lady, but also responds to "Snuffiluffigus" and "Froggy Face"...
Not long after coming home with me -
Right now, we have our hands full. 6 is the most dogs we've ever had at one time and once they start departing, we may not replace them. But you never know what will happen in our family... The dogs will not stay out in the 7 acre area fenced for the ponies (did for a short time - it was great!). Then they discovered they could (& did) dig out under that fence too. SIGH. At least now, they more or less stick around here. I can even, on occasion, just let them out of the house in singles or 2's and they will come back in about 10-15 minutes... Eventually, I'd like it to always be like that - it drives me crazy having them in the back yard in a small fenced area made from 4 10' long dog kennels pieced together. Lady and Goblin, together have often been the killers of our chickens since we've been here (I believe it hasn't been on purpose). I think Lady truly thinks of chickens as her toys - she'll grab/hold one and 1 second it's alive/squawking and the next it's neck is broke and she's got this true dumbfounded/apologetic look on her face as she belly crawls to me and sets it at my feet. Would be funny, but it's not really. I have no idea how to train her to stop "chasing/grabbing" them - maybe a true bird dog trainer could? But most that I've talked with won't even try with a pitX... She's come along well in other areas. Monkey & Goblin have both been to puppy classes and completed through levels 2 & 3 of Obedience and good canine classes, but both are TERRIBLE at recall and will run the opposite direction when their names are called. I may be able to train the ponies, but it seems that I pretty much suck at it with the dogs, LOL. They do all sit, will go to the door (most of the time) to be either put out in the back yard OR to go out on a line in the front yard (only 2 @ a time) when they have to go potty (but we are noticing that Monkey is more and more not going to the door - UGH). 3 are fed in kennels (Didy, Zuzu & Lady) and in a pinch, we have kennels outside that we could bring in for Gobbles and Monkey. Chicka has her food bowl in our daughter's room but on weekends, we often move to bowl out by us where we are sitting so that she will actually eat. Otherwise she... "pines" and refuses to eat.
I've always liked this picture - usually Didy doesn't go out back for long. He has a tendency to get too cold or too hot. Lady is between me and the other dogs, before they have fully accepted her after I brought her home.