The Story of James

[ironbjorn]

I don't think I've spoken about what led up to James becoming part of the family on 2-15-23.

 

Prior to him, we have a bad 3 weeks in January. We decided that a dog would complete our little household: me, my fiance, our cat, our rabbit, and now our dog, plus my kids every other weekend. 

 

At first we tried to do the ethical thing and adopt from a shelter. We did a lot of research and found what we thought was a great dog at a shelter 2 hours away. He was a Blue Heeler and Australian Shepherd mix. He was absolutely amazing during the meet and greet and walked well with us on the property. We took him home and within an hour he bit my fiance. Then he started to snap at us for any little thing. On top of that, he wouldn't leave the rabbit alone in her pen and was freaking her out. For that part I cannot blame him. I knew it would be a transition, if it was even possible. Prey drive and all. But aggression towards humans is something I will never tolerate out of an animal. He went back to the shelter the next day. I didn't trust him around my fiance let alone my kids when I have them.

 

Several days of more research goes by and we find a beautiful Black Lab at a shelter 35 minutes away who, from the description, would be perfect. She was 1 year old. We get her home and she's great with my fiance and myself, good with the cat, and indifferent towards the rabbit. We had her for a little over 2 weeks. She became a nightmare. She busted every window blind she could reach in the house because she was trying to get out to attack other people and dogs. On walks she would become a savage beast trying to hurt other people and their dogs. I had a hard time controlling her. My fiance couldn't walk her. She had to go. We can't have a dog hurting people or animals, and I absolutely would not trust her with my kids who are irregular members of the household. She went back to the shelter.

 

So we had a long conversation. Is a dog really for us. Yes, we wanted one badly. I had a family dog when I was still married, and my fiance had always had dogs. I'm like, we have to be done with shelters. We're not being reimbursed, it's a waste of money and they're all so bad (not to say literally all shelter dogs are bad, but we were striking out). Nobody truly knows what they've been through.

 

So we did research. The perfect dog to be around cats, rabbits, kids, people, other dogs, who is pleasant around the house. The consensus was a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. The only problem, they're very expensive. We sacrificed a lot and scraped everything we had together to buy him from a breeder. He's been absolutely perfect. He rejects us for my kids while they're here, which is beautiful to me. He loves them. Everyone he meets is his friend, and he wants every random dog to be his brother or sister. He's amazing around the house. He's great with the cat, but doesn't understand why the cat isn't the most fond of him.

 

But where he melts my heart, other than his affection with the kids, is with the rabbit. He LOVES her. He likes to spend time with her even though he makes her fearful because of his hyperactivity and size. When we vacuum out her pen, he barks at and bites the vacuum. Today we had to put her in a pet carrier to take her to get her nails cut. We placed her in the carrier in the living room while we cooled down the car. We found him laying next to her carrier CRYING because he didn't understand. I decided to stay home while my fiance took her to get her nails done and he sat in her room crying and pacing until she returned home.

 

James is a blessing.

 

[steve carpenter]

James is a winner for all concerned?

[gim]

I’m a dog person and James sounds like a dog that I would get along with.

[Bird]

Big dog lover here.

Glad you finally found the perfect addition to the family....... beautiful dog.

[roadwarrior]

 

 

                                               

[ironbjorn]

55 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I’m a dog person and James sounds like a dog that I would get along with.

Oh for sure you would. He's a freak of nature too. A CKCS is supposed to be 13-18 lbs but he weighs in at 35 lbs and is not obese. Vet says he's a perfect size but a big boy. Did a DNA to prove his breed and he was 100% Cav. He's absolutely elite. Super athletic too. He's almost such a good boy that's it's scary because it makes him oblivious.

[Darth-Baiter]

i love dogs with Human names.  

[TnRiver46]

Can we call him Jimmy or Yimmy? 

[GreenPig]

Sounds like a fine pup. The rabbit is part of James's pack so his concern is understandable.  

[J Francho]

My grandmother had a GSD and a mini lop that were best friends. It's cool you get to have that too. 

[Eric 26]

I’m not sure what happened at those shelters but that’s a shame ☹️ We had a similar situation with a shelter dog who came from Kentucky and was supposed to be house trained…needless to say when he decided to relieve himself while pirouetting in front of my wife that sealed his return after 36 hours. It worked out in the end as our favorite rescue organization gave us Steve?