Reading the other thread about dreams breeds .. Has anyone's dream breed turned in to a nightmare ..?
I guess for me mine did! Always wanted a GSD since I can remember and Zephyr, my first dog, is nervous aggressive and has been since pup. There were times when it was a nightmare, I was alone with him a lot in the beginning and he could be very testing, probably influenced by the fact that I was quite week and emotional at times, I was 670+ miles from home with no transport or friends! He was very intense when he was younger and nothing could break his focus when he was going mental at other people or dogs. I've always loved him more than anything though and no matter how hard he could be at times I would have lived on the streets with him rather than get rid of him! Anyway after being neutered, and much persistence, socialising and attempts at patience lol he has really come a long way and many people have commented on this Regardless of his 'issue' he has always been a fun, loving family dog (apart from those puppy/teenage devil gsd moments lol)!
Not quite breed, but the puppy of my dreams was a bit of a nightmare. Begged and begged all throughout my teens for a puppy, when I turned 16 and was part-time at college, with my mum working from home, my parents agreed to it. Started out with good intentions, researching local breeders (we kept an eye out on rescues but puppy GSDs didn't seem to crop up - this was my pre-dog forum days though), found one with great ethics and health testing results and an upcoming litter, booked in to view it...and then a relatiev got wind of our puppy search and told my mum of a young pup needing a home with the boyfriend of another relative as it wasn't getting on with the household dogs. We agreed to view it, then have a 2 week trial, and of course when it was an adorable bundle of fluff what are you going to do other than say yes?! Sadly her lineage was obviously a lot less perfect than the pup-that-nearly-was, having been bought for a few hundred quid by this guy from a Loot magazine :? Taken from mum too early, bad experience with other dogs in that vital socialisation stage, as a result of not being good with them she had to go out everywhere with the guy rather than be left home alone so she struggled with separation issues, had quite a highly strung temperament with compulsive behaviours, was dog reactive, hated going in the car, only listened to me and my mum (much to my stepdad's annoyance when he later came on the scene). Puppy classes were an embarrassment - my mum had to drive me but Prue absolutely hated it when my mum went to the stage to wait for us so we had to get this routine of my mum sneaking off at a certain point and hiding behind a curtain for the first 15 mins until Prue gave up looking for her, but if we didn't get it quite right it led to this shameful wailing puppy trying to drag me with all her strength over to my mum. For a puppy she was insanely strong - she dragged me all the way across the carpark one time we tried to be smart and send my mum in ahead of me, I had to grab hold of the corner of a wall to stop us! And then if that wasn't enough, she was diagnosed with very bad hip dysplasia at 2 years old, but her temperament meant treatments were limited (we struggled with the 2 minute drive to our vet and very quick examinations, we had no idea how a specialist would manage, how hydrotherapy would ever work, etc) and within 2 years she had got so bad that euthanasia was the kindest option. All in all, not the dream of a healthy, well-trained, agility buddy I was always hoping for all those years I waited for her! I still loved her though, even if she brought me to tears many a time. And I think the experience led me to learn more and do more research for the next dog, which led me to the few dog forums I'm on and I think I could deal with a dog like her so much better nowadays, so at least she did that!
A Basset was my dream breed but now I dount I will have another. Im sure people have read my threads about her. We are seeing a behaviourist on the 22nd so praying something can done to be help her. Shes so scared of everything :-(
