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OddDuckNash99
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13 Aug 2012, 8:39 am

My cats are my life. I have always loved animals, especially cats. I do think cats bond with me more than with other people.


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alecazam3567
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13 Aug 2012, 8:57 am

While my dog bites and scratches other people, she comes over to me, plops down on the ground, and waits to be petted. My family is convinced that I'm the Dog Whisperer.



Mummy_of_Peanut
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13 Aug 2012, 10:49 am

We're a family of animal lovers. But, my husband has always insisted that we shouldn't get a pet: too much responsibility, etc. Then on Saturday, he suddenly said that maybe it was time for us to get a dog. To say I was astounded is an understatement. He's obviously been silently mulling the idea over. So we've been to the local dog rescue centre and fell in love with a 2 yr old lurcher. He was one of very few that was suitable for a family with young children. We were told to read as much as we could about the breed, before being sure about it, which we've done. I've been in two minds about it. Deciding yes, then no, then yes again. It's a huge decision, especially as he's very different from other dogs I've met. He's not the typical hyper, jumping up and down, excitable, barking dog. He's sedate, walks nicely on the lead, doean't jump up on people and appears to be very well trained. However, he's a lurcher, which means he likes to run and very possibly catch prey. So he's going to be on the lead, most of the time, and possibly muzzled, when off it. As he's a rescue dog, it's unclear what he's been exposed to, so it's going to be a huge learning curve. But, we've decided to take on the challenge and do our very best to give this dog the loving home he deserves. It's not what we expected, but the fun starts on Saturday, so long as our house/garden passes the inspection on Thursday.


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LtlPinkCoupe
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13 Aug 2012, 11:19 am

Dogs really seem to like me...when I was travelling abroad for a month this summer and was staying with a host family, their two dogs really bonded with me. They had this big rescue dog who would run right over to me and jump up on me (which was pretty interesting, since she was as tall as I was when she stood on her hind legs) whenever I came thru the door. Their other dog, a shih tzu, would come running over to me, too. Even their cat seemed to like me, and cats are usually pretty indifferent to me.


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ElvishAspie
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13 Aug 2012, 11:31 am

nrau I'm so sorry...that story made me sad. <3



Nymeria8
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13 Aug 2012, 4:56 pm

I think animals and aspies have a special connection. I think animals respond to us because we are in so many ways hyper aware of our bodies and the environment. Its almost like our senses are tuned up and so we are almosy as aware of the environment as animals. I find this is especially so with cats. But thats just my opinion.


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Rascal77s
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13 Aug 2012, 5:39 pm

Mummy_of_Peanut wrote:
We're a family of animal lovers. But, my husband has always insisted that we shouldn't get a pet: too much responsibility, etc. Then on Saturday, he suddenly said that maybe it was time for us to get a dog. To say I was astounded is an understatement. He's obviously been silently mulling the idea over. So we've been to the local dog rescue centre and fell in love with a 2 yr old lurcher. He was one of very few that was suitable for a family with young children. We were told to read as much as we could about the breed, before being sure about it, which we've done. I've been in two minds about it. Deciding yes, then no, then yes again. It's a huge decision, especially as he's very different from other dogs I've met. He's not the typical hyper, jumping up and down, excitable, barking dog. He's sedate, walks nicely on the lead, doean't jump up on people and appears to be very well trained. However, he's a lurcher, which means he likes to run and very possibly catch prey. So he's going to be on the lead, most of the time, and possibly muzzled, when off it. As he's a rescue dog, it's unclear what he's been exposed to, so it's going to be a huge learning curve. But, we've decided to take on the challenge and do our very best to give this dog the loving home he deserves. It's not what we expected, but the fun starts on Saturday, so long as our house/garden passes the inspection on Thursday.


One of the most common things that cause problems for people who adopt dogs is the people worry about what the animal has gone through. Worrying about the animals past affects the persons behavior toward the animal. The animal picks up on this pity or worry and it reinforces troubled behavior in the animal because it it looking to the human for cues on how to behave. Don't feel sorry for him or worry about him. Just keep in mind that animals live in the present and not the past. Just be a good role model and he will be fine. Oh and most important thing- walk with your dog a lot, minimum 2 times per day. Use their migrating instinct to help you bond with him faster. And last but not least, use your hands to handle his food to associate you with food, one of every dogs great loves :lol:

Thank you for adopting a dog instead of buying one.



Taybot97
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13 Aug 2012, 8:45 pm

Over this summer I communicated more with my pets than people. Cute little furry pets or other animals > humans. No questions about the answer



Mummy_of_Peanut
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14 Aug 2012, 4:16 am

Rascal77s wrote:
Mummy_of_Peanut wrote:
We're a family of animal lovers. But, my husband has always insisted that we shouldn't get a pet: too much responsibility, etc. Then on Saturday, he suddenly said that maybe it was time for us to get a dog. To say I was astounded is an understatement. He's obviously been silently mulling the idea over. So we've been to the local dog rescue centre and fell in love with a 2 yr old lurcher. He was one of very few that was suitable for a family with young children. We were told to read as much as we could about the breed, before being sure about it, which we've done. I've been in two minds about it. Deciding yes, then no, then yes again. It's a huge decision, especially as he's very different from other dogs I've met. He's not the typical hyper, jumping up and down, excitable, barking dog. He's sedate, walks nicely on the lead, doean't jump up on people and appears to be very well trained. However, he's a lurcher, which means he likes to run and very possibly catch prey. So he's going to be on the lead, most of the time, and possibly muzzled, when off it. As he's a rescue dog, it's unclear what he's been exposed to, so it's going to be a huge learning curve. But, we've decided to take on the challenge and do our very best to give this dog the loving home he deserves. It's not what we expected, but the fun starts on Saturday, so long as our house/garden passes the inspection on Thursday.


One of the most common things that cause problems for people who adopt dogs is the people worry about what the animal has gone through. Worrying about the animals past affects the persons behavior toward the animal. The animal picks up on this pity or worry and it reinforces troubled behavior in the animal because it it looking to the human for cues on how to behave. Don't feel sorry for him or worry about him. Just keep in mind that animals live in the present and not the past. Just be a good role model and he will be fine. Oh and most important thing- walk with your dog a lot, minimum 2 times per day. Use their migrating instinct to help you bond with him faster. And last but not least, use your hands to handle his food to associate you with food, one of every dogs great loves :lol:

Thank you for adopting a dog instead of buying one.
Thanks, I'm quite relaxed about it now. This is going to be a fresh start for him (and us). I actually don't think he was abused in the past, as he seems to be very healthy and relaxed with people and the charity have not had any indication of that. It's sad that he's no longer with his family and he's getting stressed in the kennels. But my goal is to assure him that his new family are going to take care of him. I'm only concerned that he's been exposed to hunting and we have problems counter-acting that, as he speeds off after a fox or rabbit. Apart from anything else, hunting with dogs is illegal here. We'll just need to take it as it comes. As for walks, I intend doing that a lot - up and and down to school twice a day, with detours on the way home and lots of other walks. We stay on he cusp between suburbia and the countryside, so there's plenty of green about here.


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eric76
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07 Sep 2012, 5:29 am

I always get along with animals. When I'm out at a feedlot standing next to a pen, it takes everything I can do to not reach through and scratch the neck or forehead on the more curious cattle that aren't afraid of humans. And I can't resist scratching a horses neck if he'll let me.

Dogs and cats all get petted.

One problem is that I usually ignore signs by some animals that they don't feel too friendly toward me.

A couple of months ago, I was at someone's house when their dog jumped two fences, came around me from behind, and grabbed ahold of my cutoffs with its teeth. My reaction? I reached back to pat it on the head. That really confused it.

This past Tuesday I was at someone's house and they have a new dog that seemed okay as long as noone looked at it. It took any glance its way as a direct challenge. So it was barking wildly at me and I was trying to walk up to pet it. I finally stopped looking directly at it and it calmed down a bit walked up behind me and sniffed of my legs. It still wouldn't let me turn around and pet it, though.