Mrs takes dogs for a walk....at least I think thats Snookie and Girl

[quote=MDinana]Here's my mutt. Sierra was supposed to be my hiking/camping buddy when I was single, but she can't go more than 1/2 mile on a good day, at a stretch.

ahhhhwwwwwwwwww! Poor puppy! What happened?

It breaks my heart to see and animal hurt.

I grew up with a "tripod" dog. I guess somebody forgot to tell him he was gimped. Had some GS in him, from the colour and the attitude. He could clear a page-wire fence as tall as he was, no problem, and loved it. Don't sell a tripod short: what they lack in paws, they make up for in heart.

Definitely true. People all over the neighborhood know her, but no one knows my wife or I. She is quite the snuggle dog, unless you're a kid, then she's not real great. In fact, she's had the hair go up a couple times on kids and I've had to pull her back before she snapped. I worry a LOT when the neighborhood kids try and flock her. She also nipped our next door neighbor kid once, though he was taking a toy out of her mouth. I pulled just in time that it was a light graze, and mom was surprisingly calm about it. (thank God).

She gets along pretty well - being the front leg, it's a bit more problematic than a back leg. The vet told us the front legs hold about 70% of the body weight, so you can imagine how difficult that gets, plus her head bobs up and down pretty good at low speed. She levels out nicely at about a trot. I also worry that she'll sprain that ankle (wrist?) and be SOL one day.

She had a chondrosarcoma in the left shoulder blade. By the time we got her to a vet it had taken up enough that they couldn't just take the tumor out. Since the shoulder blade had to come out, there was no where for the humerus or attached muscles to attach, hence the leg coming off.

"can you train your dog to ACTUALLY protect you adequately?"

Of course, but training a dog capable of protecting you is not a skill everyone has. Before he died, my last GSD would:
1) Step to the side of the trail, and "down" if a bike or jogger approached. Would thus notify me if I hadn't seen the person approaching... and would stay respectfully out of the way until told o.k.
2) Would attack, seriously, on command or without command (if I were struck, went down, and said nothing further). Would cease instantly on command.
3) Would "bluff" on verbal command or hand signal: he would stare at you, bark and slobber, and LOOKED like he wanted to eat you... but this was not an attack command.
4) Would carry his own food and water in a saddle bag on hikes.
5) Would "find some sticks" drag fire wood into camp all night if I let him.
6) Would track (found a lost child once, in a campgrounds) on command.
7) Would point a squirrel, retrieve a duck from the water, or follow a blood trail.

So YEP. I wish he were still with me. A better woods companion than any human I ever go out with.

Heres one of the better ones I have of my old dog, sadly no longer here.



Nothing like a good GSD for keeping your knees warm in a cold basher

I've had dogs all my life. I can't really imagine life without one. The only thing I regret is when they reach the end of their life.

Great pics and stories MD and K9,yup,tripods,how they compensate sure is amazing.