Early Christmas Present from Fiance!

[Lisaara]

I've been dying for a dog since I had to leave Sasha back in Florida with my mom and dad. Told me fiance all I'd want for christmas is a dog.

Sure enough, he's been searching high and low. Pet stores, ASPCA, etc.

Pet stores were so freakin expensive! Like they wanted $2000 for a Shiba Inu pup. WTF! D: Basset Hound pup was $1800. Chihuahua and Jack-Ratts were $1400. The pups were all very healthy but still it was just....WTF.

ASPCA had some lovely dogs but unfortunately....most were Pit Bulls. Don't get me wrong, I love me some pitties. Our apartment complex says no to 'vicious breeds'(I like to retort that any breed of dog can be vicious). They had a pittie named Daisy that was just the sweetest baby girl. She had a jumping problem but with training she'd be fine. We also needed a dog good with kids. Most there....were not good at all or only good with kids 10+. My niece is 2 and my nephew is almost 1.

As of yesterday, we found the perfect one for our apartment.

The name she was given by the rescue shelter is Clarice(They were giving all the new arrivals christmasy names.) however we can't take that name seriously. XD Silence of the Lambs kinda ruined that name. So we're renaming her to Alley. She's a beagle, pure bred. They think she's about 4 yrs old. She passed all her behavior assessments. One of the workers even demonstrated what they do to imitate child stuff and Alley just loved it and didn't seem to care if her ears got tugged on or anything. Alley was super friendly and just eager to be around us. However, she still needed to get spayed so today shes getting that done and then coming home! I'm so excited!!!

[Lisaara]

She's home! Poor baby is in a bit of pain but she'll be okay.

[Chimera]

Who's that on the floor with her?

[Lisaara]

Who's that on the floor with her?

My fiance. :3

[Chimera]

i kid you not, he looks absolutely identical to my bf XD it was so weird to see i was like omggg XD he looks like an absolute sweetheart, grats on your christmas gift!

[Lisaara]

i kid you not, he looks absolutely identical to my bf XD it was so weird to see i was like omggg XD he looks like an absolute sweetheart, grats on your christmas gift!

LOL! Oh god if theres two of him, we should be very scared....XD But he is, despite it all. He'll drive to my work to get me lunch or to bring me medicine if I'm not feeling well.

Thanks!



See? she went right under the tree. XD

[Chimera]

Awe <3 Thats what bf's should do! Hee Alley looks so grumpy right now but i bet she'll be zipping around like lighning encased in a ball of fur soon enough xD

[Lisaara]

Yeah. But you'd be grumpy too if you were drugged, cut open, then glued together(dissovable stitches). x3 I got her a lil chew rope and a christmas jingle collar. But my fiance commented she's already got the best gift she could ever want - a loving home.

[Chimera]

Awe, best comment ever and so true im sure

[Lisaara]

Very true. Just gave her more meds and had her lay down to sleep.

[Lupis]

First off, YAY SHELTER DOG!!!
I love it when people get a shelter dog. Saving a life, and some of them are amazing dogs. Alley looks super sweet, I love the spots on her muzzle.

[Lisaara]

First off, YAY SHELTER DOG!!!
I love it when people get a shelter dog. Saving a life, and some of them are amazing dogs. Alley looks super sweet, I love the spots on her muzzle.

Hehe. Yay indeed!

Alley is amazing. I do too. She's also got just one random big spot on her left hind leg and we dubbed it a cutie mark. XD

[meepitco]

First and fore most, I'm glad it's a shelter dog. I've always had a fondness for shelter dogs.
Second, Jess, your fiance looks like a person in my Visual Arts class...

[Lisaara]

First and fore most, I'm glad it's a shelter dog. I've always had a fondness for shelter dogs.
Second, Jess, your fiance looks like a person in my Visual Arts class...

Lol! Apparently everyone has seen my fiance somewhere somehow. XD

[Lisaara]

Just wondering....anyone here familiar with Beagles?

[Miraga]

I've worked with a few beagles over my 5 year career in a veterinary hospital. Something wrong with your pup??

[Lisaara]

I've worked with a few beagles over my 5 year career in a veterinary hospital. Something wrong with your pup??

Well healthy wise? Other than we found she had a minor ear infection, naw. Just my fiance and I havent raised beagles before. He's raised an American Eskimo and I've raised 2 boxers and a boxer/chihuahua mixbreed. Beagles, from what I'm being told, are VERY different from that.

She seems to have separation anxiety...mostly when it comes to my fiance. Like when he walks out the door to go anywhere, she starts whining, scratching at the door then barks like crazy. We're not sure how to get her to not do that. But she's been a stray and probably abandoned in her early life so I fear this may be irreversible.

[Miraga]

Poor baby. Do you comfort her when she displays these anxieties? If so, stop. Don't encourage any sort of behavior she displays when he's about to leave. Also, don't make a fuss about leaving and fawning over her. She needs to learn that him leaving isn't the end of the world. When he gets back from wherever he went, don't give her any attention! Ignore her until she's calmed down and then you can give her some love. It's also pretty early since she's first settled in with you guys so maybe she doesn't have a routine down yet. Dogs really need some structure in their lives, imo. Get some feeding and walking times down and do them the same every day. This might help her know what's going on and when it's going to happen. That way you can maybe include him leaving into this schedule (like take a nice long walk before he leaves).

Something else that can help is lots of exercise. Take her on several walks per day and just let her get her crazies out. Built up energy can add to her anxiety problem. You can also try some basic tricks to get her mind working and have some fun.

You can also find her favorite toy or treat and only give her those when your fiance is about to leave. That why she's associating him leaving with this super awesome toy (try a Kong with some peanut butter or something... dogs love that stuff! lol). It can also keep her busy for a bit while he's gone. An old shirt of his may help her also because it will have his scent all over it.

Finally, you can try crate training. If done properly, crate training is a very effective tool and can save you a lot of headaches. What you're trying to do with crate training is getting your dog to think of the crate as a safe "den" area. It's not something you would use as a punishment (then good luck getting her in there and being quiet!).

Good luck! Separation anxiety can be stressful (and annoying, lol) for owners and dogs.

[Lisaara]

She doesnt seem to care for toys much. She does like the chew bones though.

I will say she's gotten a lot better. I didn't coddle her when Edmund left in the morning. I was firm in telling her to quiet down.

Though we ran into another problem. Her barking. She ALWAYS barked when both of us left the apartment. Unfortunately nothing we tried seemed to get her to stop and we got an email from our apartment complex saying we had gotten complaints about her constant barking. So we were forced to get the shock collar. It's worked wonderfully.

[Siliverin]

grats on the pup she is a cutie so glad she is a shelter dog.

on the seperation, i have found to always work as well as other, never make a big deal when you come home or leave if they have SA, it only makes it worse. you can also look into, there is a spray which is like a defuser which it has hormones and helps keep them calm, they also have a plug in that has it kinda looks like those air fresheners you plug into a wall.