Corridor 9

Well… that’s a lie really. So I’m using this to both vent, maybe get some words of encouragement and some advice.

Here’s the plot: I want a dog. My wife and kiddos want a dog. We both want different types. They want a smaller dog that they can play with, but not have jumping all over them. I want a larger breed that I can have jumping all over me to play with and train, backpack with, and maybe a bit for home protection.

Here’s the back story: We’ve not had good luck with dogs so far. Our family adopted a Lab puppy shortly before moving into our new house last November. Unfortunately, it developed Corona (Like Parvo, only not as severe) and we were faced with 2 choices: return it to the shelter where it would have a 75% chance of survival from constant care, or try to nurse it back ourselves where it would only have a 40% chance of survival. Naturally we chose to give it a better life and let it go back. We then adopted another adult lab but that only lasted about a week. I believe it was beaten or mistreated because it was afraid of everything. When I was going to throw a ball or Frisbee it hid behind the car. It was also afraid of the leash for a while too. I wasn’t the only one that got the impression its previous owner beat it with the leash; the vet was also noticing the same traits. The straw that broke the camel’s back was when it jumped up and “nipped” at my wife’s face when I was at the fire dept one night. Being as how I have two kids (6 and 10) this is simply not acceptable, even if it was playful as I believe.

The play: So, this brings me to a place where I said our next dogs would be puppies, from breeders so we know how they were treated, and that we would train them up the way we wanted them. Now, we know a breeder who has a batch of beagle pups that have been very well cared for. My wife and kiddo already have their hearts set on one. However, I still want a bigger dog. I always have liked bigger dogs, and while a beagle is nice to play with, I want a larger dog too. Problem is, I don’t really have $500 - $1500 to purchase a German Shepherd or Lab (my 2 favorites) from a breeder. I thought about rescuing one from a shelter again, but I’d want to get one that I knew wasn’t abused. The only chance of that happening is to get a puppy. So yes… I’m scared. I don’t want to go through getting another pup with corona, the last one was hard enough. I guess from now on I’ll always have a bit of an unsettling feeling about shelters simply based on past experiences.