This is why I came back

Y’all, this is Jujube (not her actual name, of course). By the time this post is published, said fruity snack will be here in our home.

Le Moo left us the first week of January. I had real reservations about getting another dog because after Butthead (OMG I read back through my posts about when she arrived and the stress and strain and etc) I wasn’t sure I could go through all that again. I’m old, I’ve turned 50, do I want to have to house train another dog and clean up after it and get acquainted and integrate with Butthead and our lives. And everything changes…schedules, habits, normal life. Ugh. So I really had to give it thought…

But the truth is, part of my purpose here is to love dogs that need love. To take care of dogs who don’t have other options. To save an animal that needs saving. Sure that sounds dramatic, and to that animal it is. So with trepidation, I started looking at petfinder and adoptadog, and I went to the rescues we’ve had success with before and put in applications…and I went to a few breed rescues that are affiliated with certain breeds. I’d love another newfoundland, particularly the landseer (like Butthead), and like her, I have no issues with getting a mixed breed. All of our dogs have been mixed breed dogs and I love them no matter what. The other breed we enjoy are Great Pyrenees, of which Le Moo was a mix. I’m soooo interested in Leonbergers and I signed up for their rescue but, uh, they don’t really get dogs who need rescuing. Leonbergers are pretty rare and their owners are a pretty tight group. And it’s damn hard to even get a purebred Leonberger even if you were willing to pay for a puppy…so I knew a rescue was not likely to happen. The last breed I have wanted for many years is a Bernese Mountain dog. Sweet Pea with a Berner mix, and I’ve always wanted another. Bernese are also relatively rare (in comparison to like, a labrador) and rescues are also rare. One of the most involved Bernese rescues basically says they get 50 dogs for rescue per year…and THOUSANDS of applications a year. UGH. I wasn’t even finding that many Berner mixes (and of course you never know if they guess right on the breed, unless they see momma/poppa dog). I was seeing that most of the Bernese rescues were coming from backyard or puppymill breeders. They use up the poor momma then dump her on the street or in a shelter, and then the breed rescues scoop them up and save them and place them in good, patient homes.

But the idea of looking into a breeder who might be retiring a dog led me down a different path. Very accidentally I found a breeder who was looking to rehome their 2 1/2 year old female because she has birthed 2 litters that both all died. They didn’t want to bother breeding her again because they felt there was something wrong with her. I got in touch with them and while investigating the idea of rescuing a retired or “rejected” breeding dog, I found out this place was a “Doodler”. They basically just breed different breed females with their Poodle studs. They call them “designer dogs”, but in reality they are mixed breed dogs. The person I spoke to at this doodle ranch seemed nice enough, but when I asked about vet records and getting a health certificate (which is required by federal law for crossing state lines so as not to spread disease), the person lied and said it wasn’t necessary. Which sort of told me the dog probably never had actual veterinary care. I already knew they were not a good breeder, and I couldn’t risk moving a dog cross many state lines illegally…and what if she was sick and brought something into my house and infected Butthead? Or Cray Cray Lab? So I told them we had changed our mind and I went back to the search via petfinder, etc.

There are SO MANY DOGS who need homes. Puppies for days. It’s incredibly sad to spend weeks or months looking at websites where you start to recognize pictures. It hurt my heart. I was feeling depressed and full of heartache. I would stop looking for a day or so, but then I would go back because I had major FOMO. I was so worried that the “right” dog would come and I would miss her.

I found a listing by a family looking to rehome their Bernese because they were moving and couldn’t take her. And they were almost local, so I got very excited. I emailed back and forth with them for a week or two, but they were always slow to respond and they were noncommittal. I finally gave up on them and again went back to petfinder and adoptadog. I also joined a local facebook group for the Bernese breed and I asked around about anyone knowing of a dog who needed rescue or rehoming. I had a couple of people respond and one who said she had a dog for me. So I contacted her and we talked via facebook for a day or so. I asked tons of questions about the dog–who was retired and about 4 years old–and Hub and I got very excited. So the breeder said she would send me a questionnaire to make sure we were appropriate for her girl. I got the email, opened it, and found that the woman wanted to sell us her dog for several thousand dollars. I could have spent less and gotten a puppy from a legit breeder…I thought I was rescuing a retired dog who needed her own family to spoil her and love her. The breeder thought we were desperate for a dog so she was willing to consider letting one of hers go. I could see she was trying to be kind, but it wasn’t the situation I wanted. So I said as much, that I wanted a dog who needed us, and her dog had someone to love her.

But the idea of a retired breeding dog was still in the back of my head. I looked around to see if there were any breeders in our state, but oddly there weren’t many for Bernese. On the other hand, Pennsylvania is generally filled with breeders, often in the Amish communities. And generally not the best breeders, though I am sure there are many good ones.

Anyway, I found a breeder who actually was looking to rehome a rejected breeding dog, due to bad joints and bloodwork showing she carried a hereditary disease (but didn’t actually have the disease). I just stumbled onto her site and saw the almost brand-new post about rehoming her dog. I contacted the breeder and we talked in email for quite some time. The dog has some issues–being that she lives in a kennel (and often outdoors), is not house trained, not socialized to people other than the people on the farm, and hasn’t had any training or really any attention. I asked for videos of the dog…she’s a chonky monkey, which is exactly the way Hub and I like our dogs. She’s adorable and seems very happy, even though she has no training and little socialization. So Hub and my brother, B3, are picking her up this weekend (the day before this posting), because I still can’t be in the car for extended periods. And this is a multi-hour trip, one way. We’ve already talked to a trainer to get some suggestions and insight into helping a dog like this, since we’ve not really dealt with an outside and unsocialized dog before.

I hope to blog through this experience like I did with Butthead (and somewhat with Le Moo), so that one day I can come back and see that we managed to live through it. Beforehand it seems so overwhelming and like it’s going to be hell on earth. And probably sometimes during it does feel that way, but looking back I know we were able to manage. And we were able to give this dog–who is basically a stray “feral” dog who had regular access to food, water, and shelter–an amazing life. Like those who came before her. And I’ll be reminded that part of my purposes is just that…to give an animal an amazing life with us. Saving one at a time.

This time, it’s a chonky almost 3 year old Bernese Mountain dog.