With this post I’m going to start the saga of:
My Dogs: Those that Work and Those that Don’t
Real Dog Stories
At some point I noticed that a working dog is almost always a happy dog.
Like many dog owners, I was not always aware of the different ways my own dog could work with me.
As this was revealed over time, I was able to see that your relationship with your dog changed in amazing ways when you added a working aspect to your dog’s life.
At this time of my life I have four dogs and some other animals.
Two of my dogs are hard workers. One should be working but has issues. The last doesn’t work as she is unsuitable, but would like to.
Each of our dogs is a family member and has their own unique story.
Gentle reader, if you’d like to find out about their real dog stories, I would be honored to tell them the best that I can. I invite you to read on and invite all comments!
What Kind of Breed is this Pup? or
Bringing New Puppy Home.
Kuma, puppy
Kuma (pronounced Kouma)
Kuma was born somewhere in southwestern Colorado.
As a not quite eight week old puppy he was surrendered to a “Rescue Waggin”.
They must have been very full, for Kuma was quickly taken to the Humane society in Boulder, CO., hundreds of miles away.
Notice how young Kuma was. He should’ve had more time with his mother and litter mates.
At any rate he was given his puppy shots, dewormed, and even neutered at that young age.
He was described as a “Border Collie, Blue Heeler mix” and predicted to be a smaller dog.
If you have enough contact with dog rescues and humane societies, you will find out that many of these “descriptions” are sheer guess work.
Since the staff or volunteers often don’t know, and puppies often look quite different when grown, these “descriptions” are often far off the mark.
As far as puppy predictions go, I wouldn’t be surprised if some were made a bit tongue in cheek!
At any rate, when my wife and daughter brought Kuma home I was totally surprised. Why would they do this?
We lived in a condo, already had a small dog, and I was a long term invalid. Even the size Kuma was predicted to be would be considerably larger than our 16 lb Toto.
I was beginning to understand…. Our adult son had passed away just a few weeks before and they were trying to fill the emptiness of that loss.
At the humane society they had seen Kuma and it seemed that they were relating to him and he to them.
However they continued to look at other pups. Something urged them to get back to Kuma, but when they tried they couldn’t find him. They sought out a staff member for help.
It was discovered that the reason they couldn’t find Kuma was that he was hiding under his bed. After this they knew he was the one.
So, much to my surprise, Kuma came home with them and became part of the family.
Puppy Kuma
Hi Ken,
Great site dedicated to man’s best friends!
For so long now, dogs have been living together with humans from all walks of life. They have been our loyal allies and companions for ages and together we have made our lives better.
Thanks for the helpful tips on how to give proper care and nutrition to these wonderful creatures.
Hey Rule 2020, yes our relationships with our dogs are a wonderfully unique situation, and that’s what I’m exploring here due to some fortunate circumstances. Thanks for stopping by and come again!
Hi Ken! Great job setting up your website! There were just a couple of things I would like to comment on that I noticed while browsing/reading the different pages. I was just a little uncertain what “My Dog Pack” was referencing. I know what it means of course, but I my immediate thought was that it was a product of some type and I looked all over the site thinking there would be something more to tie in with the title of the website–or at least a brief description. The only other thing is to do a spell check. Nothing major–I’ve done it myself. Other than that—cool page and beautiful dogs! Susan
Hi Susan, thanks for your comments and stopping by! I appreciate your observations. I had wondered how someone might handle “Dog Pack” as a social structure for canines and “dog pack” a type of equipment I have used… Open to suggestions for clarification… No products yet but I bet dogs packs will show up! The theme of my message is more “a way to be with your dogs”. This will be developing gradually thru the Real Dog Stories I’ll be posting. (I hope not too gradually lol) I’d like to offer folks some pretty unique ways of interacting with their dogs that I had to stumble into. I posted the next segment late today. Perhaps you can return to keep up with the continuing story….Thanks again!
Ken
Hi there,
That is a very cute story about Kuma. I am so glad he made it to a home that cares so much about him and loves him. I am even more happy your wife and daughter went to the local shelter to get him.
There are so many dogs and cats at the shelters and so over crowded with too many being put to sleep because of this. It’s really sad! Thank you for sharing this awesome journey of Kuma.
Hi Tanya,
Thanks for the comment and stopping by! My Real Dog Story keeps building in weekly installments so stop by again if you might be interested. All but one of our dogs and cats has been a rescue from a shelter. These dogs have tremendous potential.
Best
Ken
Wow, Ken…I just love your site.
I am a very strong advocate of eating more clean and always looking keeping my eyes open for solutions for my precious dogs. As the human poplulation in the United States continues to suffer with cancer and heart disease, so do our animals. I believe at the end of the day its all in the food we eat.
I read something alarming this week, that 73% of corn and 90% of soy is genetically modified. Now that’s just not right! No wonder our wonderful ‘pack of dogs’ are also suffering. I only buy organci dog and cat food for this reason.
I’m wondering, do you think an organic dog food will have the necessary magnesium they need for health, especially based on your comment that the soils are deficient?
Thanks for your good work in behalf of our four footed friends!
Linda
Hi Linda,
Thanks for stopping by! I don’t trust the GM foods either.
As far as magnesium, it’s a tricky subject. I would compare different organic feeds for magnesium content. If it’s not in the source soil it won’t be in the food unless they supplement. Will any supplement be absorbed? The only way I could tell effectiveness was my working dogs athletic ability. My other dogs have to take it on faith. Not much info on this topic.
Best
Ken
Hi Ken,
what a powerful site. I have 6 dogs all of which are rescues one way or another. They are the apple of my eye lol
I really like your take on dog breeds and how rescues don’t really know what breed a dog is. We rescued our 2nd youngest (but the 2nd biggest) Cezar from a pet store who only sold dogs from our local animal shelter. And he was clearly a pitbull/staffy mix but they had him up as a staffy x lab!
We have even inquired with our vet around trying to find out the breeds of our dogs because if we know what breeds they are then we are able to individualize their training program (for our lab we do things where he can retrieve etc). But this DNA breed identification costs up to $400 in NZ!
Great to know there is a site like yours sharing pack stories
thanks
Layne
Hi Layne,
Thanks for stopping bye! Life with our dogs is so rewarding, its great to be part of your pack!
I only get into the genetics so much, for me it’s more about relationship with your dog.
I’m not sure what to do with this site. If you want to see more of what’s happened after the last post in “Real Dog Stories” check out snowgooseskisled.com. I’d value your opinion on that site and subject, especially in NZ. I’m in Colorado, US, by the Rocky Mountains. We’re in spring snow season and just had 3-4 ft of snow in the mountains a few days ago. Are you having fall, or is winter coming on? Do you get snow? It’d be great to hear your point of view.
Best
Ken
Hi Ken and thanks for the first episode about how you got Kumo. Problem is, I was waiting for part 2 of this story as obviously that’s not the end.
This pup looks like he’s going to be a reasonable size going by those ‘plates of meat’ (feet). It may be how the camera is positioned but they look pretty big to me! Looks like he could have some pitbull in him which would be great. They’re lovely dogs.
I look forward to the continuation of this story. I’m a sucker for dog tales. Great post. Ches
Hi Ches, thanks so much for stopping bye and commenting! Yes there is a part 2 and many more parts after that! The story continues in the many successive blog posts usually titled “Real Dog Stories Continued” and that episodes description. I stopped posting at a particular goal point in the story which you will see. I’m not sure what to do with this blog at this point. Any more comments or ideas you would like to share would be great! This might be a potential book. The story continues today, there is a clue to another website in the last post, don’t want to spoil it for you now. Let me know if it’s too obscure. best, Ken
What a great post this is! I got to the end of the post and was disappointed that it ended. Now I see that there will be future posts to read. I’m so very sorry for the loss of your adult son. How difficult this must be for you and your family.
Kuma is absolutely adorable. How did Toto take to Kuma? My daughter got her dog from the local animal shelter. They said she was a stray and was approximately 3 years old. How wrong they were. She was actually more like a puppy under a year old. I’m sure was a pure guess on their part.
Will be reading more. Thank you
What a great post this is! I got to the end of the post and was disappointed that it ended. Now I see that there will be future posts to read. I’m so very sorry for the loss of your adult son. How difficult this must be for you and your family.
Kuma is absolutely adorable. How did Toto take to Kuma? My daughter got her dog from the local animal shelter. They said she was a stray and was approximately 3 years old. How wrong they were. She was actually more like a puppy under a year old. I’m sure was a pure guess on their part.
Will be reading more. Thank you
Thanks Marie, Toto and Kuma are fine! All the posts for this true story are already there for you to read. (I hope you do!) The story reaches a goal point as you will see, and the continuing story is happening right now. I hope to be able to tell more of the continuing story. Thank you again.
Ken
I love animals. But, I especially love dogs. You just cant go wrong have a K-9 companion. After all, dogs are man’s best friend.
To me, dogs just seem to have a special relationship/bond with humans. I would say it takes other animals time to get accustomed to being with humans, but with dogs, the relationship and bond seems to be instinctively.
This is why dogs are used as Service providers for so many things.
Well said Stanshar! The dogs have been working and living with us people for a long time. Thanks for stopping bye!
I loved reading the story about bringing Kuma, your puppy home! I think it’s great he’s from a rescue society. There are always so many dogs available and they deserve a loving home just as much as any other dog. Kuma has definitely turned out to be a beautiful dog!
Hi Elsa! I’ve had some great dogs as rescues and Kuma is one of the best. If you read more of the story you’ll see that Kuma has also developed into a very valuable dog. Thanks for stopping by!