A tale of how not to buy a dog!

Leo Walker

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4 years ago today I was toying with the idea of getting a whippet. A proper one, from a good breeder and had plans to start looking/getting on waiting lists in the New Year. And then I saw the advert for Dylan, on a free ad site on Facebook with about 20 members.

So obviously I rang in sick and went to see him. The first time I ever laid eyes on him he was rolling what I thought was a toy down the long hallway. Turns out it was a miniature Yorkshire terrier he was ragging about like a ball! Which was the reason they were getting rid of him.

He was supposed to be KC registered and his mum was and had won quite a few races. His papers never arrived and he is too tall and his arse is way to fat for a KC whippet, so god knows what daddy was! Hes clearly working bred through and through.
And thats how a working bred whippet ended up in a pet home with someone who had only ever had gun dogs. Setters and spaniels couldnt be any more different to Dylan!

For 6 months I cried at least once every single day at the horrific things he did! He once ate a bloody light bulb and that is soo not the worst of his crimes! Someone once asked me if I'd pissed off a small shape shifting demon, and I couldnt honestly say I hadnt! I would cheerfully have rehomed him, but I couldnt think of a single person I was prepared to inflict him on! Thanks to an incredibly patient and helpful friend who is a behaviourist I completely changed my life and the way I thought, and the way I managed him and things got better.

I can laugh now about the things he did, its a bit of a hollow laugh to be fair, but its long in the past. He is literally the best thing that has ever happened to me. I adore him beyond words. Hes the reason I learnt to walk again after my accident, and the thing that keeps me going, the reason that I dont just give up.

Hes a horribly spoilt princess dog, not that he knows it. He assumes that everyone and everything is nice and will love him and that having 2 human slaves is his right. I'm glad that he doesnt and wont ever know that there are bad people and bad homes out there. Hes currently asleep on the floor on a bed, with a duvet over him, that I've adjusted twice so its in just the right place. Hes making his orgasmic sex noises so we all know how comfortable he is, and thats how it should be.

Everyone should have a dog like Dylan at least once in their lives! Sometimes the difficult dogs are the ones that teach you and give you the most. Hes the best stupid decision I have ever made!

Obligatory pictures of the love of my life doing the things he loves most, running at 40mph and sleeping :lol: :

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Lovely story and lovely pictures, Dylan is very lucky to have found you and vice versa :) :)

I agree about the challenging ones being the most rewarding - I lost Talisker 7 years ago but he is still my 'dog of a lifetime' As a rescue he had obviously been appallingly treated, he was claustrophobic, couldn't play with other dogs or toys, you couldn't touch his feet at all (he needed a general anaesthetic to clip his claws) and he was a complete stress head who was painfully thin when I got him. He is the most rewarding dog I will ever own, and I miss him so much still......

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My OH didnt meet Dylan till he was 2.5yrs ish and thinks I make most of the bad behaviour up and pander to him far too much. But I suppose thats an indication of how far we have come :) Hes the dog of a lifetime like Talisker was for you, and I think until you have had one like that you cant really understand it. I can look at him and know how hes feeling, even if its just something silly like hes bored or not quite comfortable enough.

He will quite often walk up to me and stare right into my eyes and I swear I can either hear him thinking either that or hes using the force! :lol: He knows if I'm in more pain than usual or am upset. I came home from work the other day crippled with my back and really upset and passed out on the sofa. Dylan got up on the sofa and curled up against my back where it hurt with his face up near my head. He would never normally do that as he likes to sleep in the bed under the duvet in the day time. He cant abide being disturbed during nap time :lol:
 
what a lovely boy & a great story too!

20 years ago (where does the time go? :( ) i used my STUDENT LOAN to buy a labrador puppy from a guy who met me in a carpark with 3 pups in the boot of his car! I lived in a bedsit! My parents disowned me funnily enough!

He turned out to be my best buddy, saw me through the worst times in my life. My bedsit was near the beach, 5 mins from the uni so he was never left for long and had plenty of exercise in fact I used to take him on campus with me! I joined an obedience club with him, then agility. I blame him that 20 years on we have 5 dogs haha. He lived to just short of being 15. My best friend... how not to buy a dog!
 
I think the ones that you shouldn't have are the best! Dylan is solely responsible for me getting a call about a "whippet" bitch that was on death row at the pound. I would never had gotten that call if it wasnt for Dylan. It was not a sensible decision to jail break her either. I was about a month out of intensive care with a fractured spine and was in a full metal body brace. I couldnt leave her there to be PTS though, and thats how Flossie came home :) The intention was to get her out and then rehome her.

I did try and rehome her as she would be much happier in a single dog household as Dylan was too much for her to cope with. But when I did that after 6 weeks she lost the plot! And so she came home :) Shes not as happy as she would be living on her own, well thats what I think, but clearly the mad old bat thinks different! I've just looked over at her now and shes belly up on the sofa fast asleep, happy as you can be :)

And that is the condensed version of how I have Dylan and now Flossie, generally known as bitches as she is such a witch! Luckily Dylan is such a sunny natured dog he just ignores he outbursts and I'm pretty sure she loves him too, as when she thinks no one is looking she mothers him and licks his ears. Either way, shes very happy and has been given a lot more years than she would have :)
 
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