I just had to let everyone know my daughter called me this afternoon. She said she had a min pin for me that someone no longer wanted. Our daughter said she is black and tan, and a female, her name is Summer, she is a year old.

The people did not like how big she was or the dog noses (prints) she left on windows. I love that kind of thing it doesn't bother me in the least. I still have not washed Snookie's off the window of my car. My heart was wildly racing I have always loved the black and tan min pin.

Clair and I went rushing like crazy to go see her. She is a beautiful girl, and she is so friendly. When we got there the first thing she did was come running and gave me kisses. Well I was hooked right then, any who gives strangers kisses has to be good.

We brought her home and there were no fights between her, Schnitzel and Gypsy Rose. She did not bother the kitties Amber or Cinny. So far she has not bothered Clair's parrot Chico. So all seems to be well.

Clair said he believes God had it all planned and it will help to ease the sorrow of Chili Bean's passing that falls on the 11th. I just feel so excited although she will in no way take the place of my precious Snookie or Chili Bean. But we will love the little girl and give her the best life we can.
Ann

Here is another picture of my new girl Summer. Both pictures were taken as soon as we got in the door and so was the one of my husband and Summer.
Ann

I'm SO happy for you Ann.

She is a real little darling. A beauty girl, no less. And what a lucky girl too. She's just about to learn that she's just become a member of what must be one of the most loving and fun-loving homes for furbabies in the whole of the USA!

Lucky girl. It's a beautiful name, too. Summer ... it suits her so well.

with love
jilly

Dear Ann and Clair,

Congratulations on the newest member of your family. Summer is so beautiful and so lucky too!!!!

Lynn

Dear Ann,

What a beautiful girl! I am so happy that you have found a new love. It makes life wonderful to know that even amidst the sorrow of death there can be joy in new life. She is quite the lucky girl to have such a loving family to take care of her forever.

We too are bringing a new family member into our home. We have found a 6-month old spaniel mix named Lucy (picture below) that we are going to adopt. When I look into her eyes I truly believe that my Allie has sent me an angel from heaven. Like you said, our girls could never be replaced, but I know our new girls will make wonderful additions to our homes.

Congrats!!!
Jenny

Ann and Clair,

I am SO happy for you both! What a beautiful little girl
Who in the world would ever want to just give up on such a precious furdog?!
Clair must be right. It was all planned!!!!

Cheri

Ann,
She's beautiful!! I love her name! I'm so happy for you. I wish you lots of luck and love!!
Audrey

Dear Ann,

Summer is beautiful and I'm sure Snookie and Chili Bean are looking down from that Rainbow Bridge and giggling knowing what a wonderful home Summer is getting.

How doe's someone not like nose prints? We have nose prints all over our windows from our 3 cats and I think their adorable.

I want to thank you for the comforting words during my grieving of my furbaby Ayla's passing. We have 3 other furbabies and if I hadn't had them to come home to, I don't know how I would have survived. Ayla was 9 when we started adopting more babies and she was not fond of them at all. I think she felt I betrayed her by bringing these kids in but they needed homes so bad. I'll never forget the look on her face when she found me playing with Kiwi in the bedroom, the first of the 3 we adopted. I still feel guilty when I think back on that, but we always tried to make her feel special. I just hope she loves me for the things I did right and forgives me for the things I did wrong. I'm glad your other babies have accepted Summer.

I would love to have a dog someday....

My thoughts are with you,
Kimi

Clair and I thank you all so much for welcoming our new girl into our lives. We think Summer is going to work out just fine. I think I will add a middle name for her and call her Summer Breeze! I think that sounds so cute for a little min pin. Jenny your new baby is a real doll. I loved the thought that Snookie and Chili Bean are looking down giggling. They know I will give her the best of care and love.

I cannot believe how wild this little girl is. She refuses to go potty outside no matter how many times we take her out and just does it in the house. She doesn't even seem to know her name she doesn't even look up when we call her.

After she was in the house for a while when I brought her home yesterday she started barking at the cats all the time. They hiss at her and make a growing sound, if they get in the floor she chases them. She is making our little poodle Gypsy Rose so unhappy.

Schnitzel seems to be real zealous everytime she comes to see me. Summer wont stay out of the trash and gets into everything. I don't know if all min pins are like this or not. She jumped on my face and body off and on during the night. I got even less sleep than I have been getting.

Summer took one of the ham bones and became real aggressive and tried to bite my husband. I used the broom handle to try to move it away from her and she bit it so hard she left teeth marks.

I just don't know how it is going to work out. I never thought there would be so much trouble bringing a full grown dog into the house. I don't know if I want to deal with this.
Ann

Oh Ann, I just read this!!!!! I know Min Pins are very hyper dogs, and some animals just dont have that pleasant disposition that we are used to with our own babies we have raised. And who knows what kind of history she has had...abused babies are affected for life fur and human....
Sounds like she is going to be some work. I hope everything works out....maybe she has been to damaged to be part of a large fur family still insecure and alone. A home with possibly one person may be better? Gosh I hope this works out. Love Pamela

Hi Ann,

I really hope it works out with Summer. She's such a pretty little girl.

Here's a little info I found on the breed. I'm guessing she can be broken of the bad habits, but it's gonna take some time and effort.



Here's the link to the site where I found this: Miniature Pinscher Information

We had a couple Min Pin's when I was a kid, and they're really very fun to have around when they're taught how to behave.

Tim

Jenny,

Lucy is beautiful!!! So happy you have her to love and that she has you (and Norah, too ).


Ann,

I hope it works out with Summer..... especially since you have other furkids and your human grandkids around. Sounds like you'll have to find a good trainer. I'd worry since you said she tried to bite Clair. Heidi, my German shepherd lets me take anything out of her mouth, including food of any kind. That's the way it should be for safety's sake. Food aggression (or any aggressive behavior) needs to be dealt with by a professional. Hopefully, she can be retrained. I just worry with your other pets and grandchildren around. If anyone can help her, it will be you or at least you'll give it a good try. That certainly is alot for you to handle after losing your sweet girls. Pamela may be right, too about Summer doing well in a one-person home. Well, hang in there.

Lynn

I'm sorry to hear about Summer, Ann.
Perhaps you should crate train her for now? That will help with the housebreaking and also at night. She needs to learn some manners. I'm also guessing she's confused (who knows what she's been through) and is testing her boundaries. Perhaps once the boundaries are set and she learns that you and Clair are the Alphas in the pack, she'll back off. For now I'd stay away from giving her bones, etc. until she calms down. Sounds like all in all you have to go back to sqare one. I'd definitely crate her as you would a puppy.
I wish you lots of patience and luck!

Ann,
Summer sounds like a handful, but I'm sure she's not had much love and attention. Plus, she's a teenager at one year old. And we all know how teenagers act!! Jake was pretty wild when I got him and he also was not housetrained. I think the people who had him just locked him in a room or a garage and left him there for hours on end. He had no manners.

I'll second what Audrey said about crate training. I have crate trained both of my dogs and it worked great. In fact, Jake still stays in a very large crate when I leave the house.

As for the aggressiveness with toys, you've got to nip that right now. Sadie went through 3 obedience classes...not that you could tell, but she did!! In those classes, the instructor taught us that every piece of property, toy, bone, etc..is yours. Nothing is owned by the dog and you must teach the dog that. That was one of the best lessons I learned in obedience classes! Sadie tried to be possessive, but I worked and worked on that until she relented. I also held her down on the floor or on the couch until she would stop wiggling. It took a long time, but she finally learned that I was the boss. I sincerely believe those were some of the main reasons why both my Dals were nice.

I just recently watched a program on PBS about dog training. The instructor said that when you're training a dog, you always start with the commands, Sit and Stay. You put a leash on the dog and work on the Sit position and tell him to Stay over and over again. Then you gradually put something down in front of the dog and when he goes to get it, you pull up on the leash and say No....then Sit and Stay.

I wish I remembered the instructor's name because he has a video tape out. He was very good.

Maybe you could call your vet or a local vet and ask if they know of a good obedience class that is offered near your home. I'm sure Summer Breeze will be a good dog if she's trained properly. She's learned some bad manners and just needs a little instruction on how to be a good dog.

Take care!
Carol

P.S. I have nose prints all over my doors and windows and I don't mind them!! Heck, I tell people they're the trademark of a dog lover!!

Jenny,
Lucy is darling!! I'm so happy for you!!

Dear Ann,

Summer is adorable! I love seeing all the pictures of you and Clair and Summer.

It makes my heart happy when I see an animal that's been rejected by someone, adopted by such a wonderful loving family. I think if you give her a little time, hopefully things will work out.

Love,
Kathleen

PS - Jenny, Lucy is so cute! She has such deep caring eyes.

Thank you all for your advice. Maybe it will just take some time to adjust to our home. Summer did not try to bite us when we got close to her food. So hopefully it was only the ham bone made her try to bite and when she put teeth marks in the broom handle it scared me and Clair. I liked the web site Tim thanks. My main worry is the safety of my 6 grand children and with the new baby coming I worry a lot. I guess it would be good to get her in a class. Maybe that would help a lot it is worth a try.

The woman we got her from said she was caged for 9 hours a day while she was at work. She said she was then let out of the cage and taken out to go potty. Maybe she really is not housebroken, and I let her have freedom to fast since I felt sorry that they caged her like that. I hope she does get the hang of going outside to go potty.

I will have to work on that and on the trash issues and the barking at the kitties. At least she is coming and sitting with me more than she did yesterday. So maybe she will be able to learn how to love. I just wanted to rescue her and have her love me and be loved.
Ann

Ann,

I used to foster dogs for my local Humane Society and I know what it's like to bring an 'adult' dog into your home. Your experience with Summer over the last few days reminds me of some of the little ones I cared for. I had a Doberman (full size) for almost two months living with Kasha, LeStat and my Border Collie, Macie. He was a lovely dog, named Clyde, but he was a HANDFUL! He was almost 2 years old when he came to stay with us and had not had a very nice life up to that point. He didn't know his name, didn't know any commands (sit, stay....) and didn't even seem to know the meaning of the word NO. He had very bad house manners, chased the cats, fought with Macie (soooo scary, he was twice Macie's size and she was VERY protective of me), pooped on the livingroom carpet daily, and defended his food and toys with growls and bared teeth. I didn't have any kids at that time (and didn't have to worry about any little fingers being snapped at) so I decided to keep him with us for awhile to see if he would settle in.

It took almost 5 weeks for him to relax and feel like part of the family but it DID happen. By the end of his time with us he was housebroken, knew his name (although didn't always choose to listen when I called him:), had stopped chasing the cats, and had lost much of the aggression about his belongings.

Having many dogs in my home over the years, especially adult dogs, I found that the most important thing I had to do was establish myself as leader of the pack with each of them. Summer just needs to know that you and Clair rank above her in the chain of command (so to speak) and then your rules will become the law to her. I was trained to 'break' the dogs that came to me (most were aggressive) by gently physically restraining them for short periods. Once establishing a friendship with the dog after a week or so I would sit on the floor with them and GENTLY hold their muzzle....most dogs do NOT like this at all because it takes away their best method of defence for a minute (biting) and they do whine and complain quite a bit. The trick is to do this GENTLY but without letting go and then you just have to wait until they stop whining and lay still (usually about 3 minutes). It the equivilent of two dogs showing their strength and attempting to overpower the other to become leader of the pack (but with no aggression). Once the dog realized that I was bigger and stronger than they were I was accepted as the alpha dog and whatever I said went. I was able to take food from Clyde's mouth after holding his muzzle three times (mind you this was not an easy feat when your pupil almost outweighs you...he was a BIG doggie).

Some people don't agree with this style of training but it worked so well for me and my little borders. The dogs were never hurt....well, their pride suffered a bit the first time but they quickly got over it. I only bring it up because it sounds to me like Summer hasn't figured out who the boss is yet. Maybe talking to a local trainer or your wonderful vet might help. They might have some good ideas on how to establish yourself as alpha in other ways if the above method is just not for you.

Best of luck with Summer Ann. She's probably just confused right now BUT do be careful. Some dogs just have a strong personality and a grumpy disposition....if you don't think it will work out don't feel badly about placing her in a home without other furbabies and children.....

Take care,
Kristie

Dear Ann & Jenny,

YAAAAAAAAAHOOOO TO YOU TWOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Your new little ones are both GORGEOUS! I just want to grab the both of them and nibble right on the bridge of their little noses!!! LOL!!!

I couldn't possibly be happier for the both of you, as this is just what your hearts need. Your angel babies did a fantastic job of picking out just the right new additions for you!!!!

SNOOPY DANCE!!!!!!!!

Hugs,

Pat

Thanks all. I had the grand children over and Summer loved them all. She romped and played with them for hours, never tried to hurt any of them. I removed all the bones from the house and any of the chew bones.

Tim thanks for the new sites you e-mailed me. I appreciate all the info I can get. The more I know about this breed the better I can train her. They sure are high energy for sure.

Thanks for the wonderful advise Kristie. I will try it it sounds good to me. I told my husband I feel a bit guilty I did not cry for Snookie and Chili Bean today.

He said he thinks the girls did send Summer to me to help me heal. I do hope she works our for us. I will give her some time to get used to us and give her some training.
Love, Ann

Oh Ann, that is a beautiful picture of her!
Her coat is so shiny and her colors are gorgeous. I really hope she works out for you. I think she just needs to learn the "pecking order" around the house! Some time and training will probably make a world of difference in her behavior. It doesn't sound like she was given much training at all before she came to you.

PLEASE don't feel guilty for not crying about Snookie or Chili Bean!!! You don't have to cry to show you miss them. You don't betray them by getting through the day without tears. They will ALWAYS be in your heart, and that's what matters.

Summer Breeze (so pretty!) is going to keep you busy, and I think that's wonderful. Brandy has kept me busy since she came to our house in December. I have NEVER gone a day without thinking about Rachael, but I don't cry every day anymore. It's a nice peaceful place to reach Ann. I hope you allow yourself to get there too without feeling SO guilty.

Hugs,
Cheri

Dear Ann,

She really is just a beautiful girl! I know it will take awhile before she settles in but I think she will turn out to be a great dog in a few weeks time. We were just about ready to give Norah up (not really, but we wanted to) because she was an escape artist, always trying to run out the door and also the house training, etc. and then Allie died and we were so thankful to have Norah to help us through it. Now she has turned out to be a wonderful companion who loves to sit in our laps, and she won't run away anymore because now she knows she is finally home. It sounds like you've gotten some great advice here. I will probably need to refer to it after we go get Lucy this weekend!

Thank you all for your sweet comments about Lucy. I can't wait to get her and I will post more pictures soon.

Jenny

Jenny, you reminded me of my experience with our lab boy, Danny. He was taken from his mother too young when we adopted him, and had some serious seperation issues! He would go crazy when we left the house and chew everything he could get his mouth on. He chewed up the linoleum floor in my kitchen, he chewed up the legs and chair legs of my kitchen table, etc... He would cling to us and be under our feet when we were home. Although he didn't show aggression, like Summer is doing, he was a real handful! He would run away from our yard all the time too. We finally had to break down and install a fence in our back yard. We live in the country, so we never worried about a fence before. My Rachael never ran off.

Anyway, he was kept in the kitchen with a baby gate when we would leave the house until he was almost 2 years old! I thought he would NEVER get better and have the run of the house, like Rachael always did.

Well, we sent him to a K-9 Obedience school and the difference was amazing! He now has the whole house to run in and NEVER chews on anything he shouldn't. I can set a bowl of candy out on the living room coffee table and leave the house. He would never touch it. If you told me just a year ago that he would become such a GOOD boy, I would never have believed it. Just some love, ALOT of patience and proper training made him the best ever!!!!

I just can't resist the opportunity of posting a picture of my Danny as a baby. With a cute face like that, I could never have given up on him

Cheri

oh my hearts melts when I see Danny's pic's.

Ann, I just looked at your pic again and had to laugh at what your t-shirt says...STRESS!!!!!! with your later postings on this thread...I had to laugh Pamela

Well everyone I was a flop and a failure with Summer. She had a toy up on the bed and while I was asleep my leg touched her and she broke the skin on my leg. Talk about a painful rude awakening, I made her get off the bed but failed to shut the door.

Early this morning she was back on the bed but this time bit Schnitzel. My poor 8 month old baby had to have some stitches. Schnitzel wanted her toy that Summer took from her and Summer attacked her. My baby screamed and shook and I cried with her. Makes me know how very much I do love my little girl Schnitzel.

I gave Summer away to another woman who said her husband wanted her and thinks he can work with her. She was a beautiful doll but I am not prepared to have my baby hurt. She tried to get my husband's parrot and we didn't want that to happen either. Summer was just to aggressive for us to handle. If I ever get another I will make sure it is a puppy.
Love, Ann
Pamela stress was right for sure I guess I wore the right shirt when I went to get her. The shirt says my stress is bigger than your stress! Cheri, I love the picture of Danny. He is so beautiful I bet he knew he was handsome too. Jenny you keep posting your picture of sweet Lucy too.
Love, Ann

Yikes Ann! I"m so sorry to hear it didn't work out with Summer! Let me be clear about something though...you didn't fail her!! Whoever had her BEFORE you failed her!! Her life improved dramatically once you entered it!
I know this is a moot point but just for future reference: you should never let an aggressive and/or overly-dominant dog sleep on the bed! They see you as an equal and will react the way Summer did. I had minor issues with Jasmine when she was younger because she was very dominant. As she aged, she'd move over or off the bed if I told her to, but once in a while she'd let out a fake growl as she moved as if to say "Fine, I'll move but I'm not happy about it!" LOL Only when pecking order is firmly established should they sleep on the bed. Of course, Jasmine found other ways to get back at me. She would lay along side of me and stretch out her legs into my back...or this past winter, if her blanket came off her, she would sit over me in the dark in the middle of the night and one of 3 things would happen:
1) I would wake up and JUMP because I sensed something was staring at me. And then re-cover her.
2) She would hit me until I woke up to re-cover her.
3) She would lay down and body slam me on the way down to wake me and re-cover her.
I never got an un-interrupted night's sleep! Sometimes I was grateful when she chose to sleep by herself on the couch!
Of course, now, I'd take a 1000 sleepless nights to have her back with me...but that's another story. I'm not ready to talk much about her yet.
Anyway, I'm very glad you found her a loving home. If anything, perhaps she was sent to you to show you that you can love a new furbaby again!!!

Dear Ann,

Oh I am SO, SO sorry that it didn't work out with Summer. However, I certainly understand why you had to find her another home. I feel terrible that Summer attacked you and poor Schnitzel! She needs very specialized training and you can't risk the health of everyone in your home. You DID NOT fail her!!!! You found her another home where someone will have the time to work with her. That was the very best and loving thing you could do for her and your family.

I have NO doubt that another cute furbaby will find their way into your home soon!

Cheri

Ann,

I was going to reply to your post and tell you how beautiful Summer is then I paged down and discovered you no longer have her. I do think it's for the best, before something more tragic happened.

Poor little Schnitzel needing stitches and you, too with your leg being bitten Schnitzel is precious - even before her hair cut.

Hopefully, the man who took Summer will have the time and patience to train her and they'll have a happy life together. She really is a pretty dog and it sounds like her life before she came to you was not the best.

Cheri - Danny as a puppy...............so adorable!

After seeing these precious puppies, I had to (hope it's OK) post a pic of my girl, Heidi (now 3) when she was a pup
Lynn

Oh Lynn, such an adorable picture of Heidi!
I just love it!!!

Cheri

I sure am glad I found someone to take Summer and maybe they can work with her and help her to not be agressive. I was worried that some might think I didn't get her a long enough chance but I couldn't deal with a biting dog.

I guess I have enough babies anyway with my Schnitzel, and the toy poodle Gypsy Rose, and the kities Amber and Cinny that my daugher gave us, plus my husband's parrot. We also still babysit our other fur grand babies.

I guess I felt you could never have to many as long as you can provide all the medical care. Maybe I should just leave well enough alone and only keep the ones I have. No matter how many more I took in I would never find the kind of love I had with Snookie.

After Schnitzel got hurt and had her stitches I called her My Love for the first time. I had never called anyone but Snookie that before. I think maybe Snookie just might not mind me calling Schnitzel that now. Snookie knows I will always love her too but need more love in my life too.

Lynn, Heidi is a doll she is gorgeous. You and anyone else are always more than welcome to put pictures on any of my posts. I love looking at them.
Love, Ann

Ann,

I'm so sorry that things didn't work out with Summer. It sounds like there was a pretty severe lack of attention and training in her life before she came to live with you. It's sad that her previous owners didn't take the time to give her the love and teach her the lessons that she needed, but don't blame yourself....you did all you could. Summer is still so young that I'm sure, with a lot of patience, her new family will be able to help her understand the 'rules' and she will live a long, happy life with much less aggression. You did her a great service by taking her from her original home and placing her into a home where she will get the love and structure she needs!

She reminds me of one little one I tried to help once. He was a little fluffy American Eskie named Milo. He was a sweet boy but had been badly neglected by his family. Milo was very dominant and aggressive, especially about his toys and food, and attacked me more than once while I was trying to teach him to 'share'. The little bum was SO defiant that if I did manage to get a toy away from him without getting snarled at he would usually wait a moment or two, look me straight in the eyes, lift his leg, and pee all over my carpet...just to prove a point. He was a hard little nut that one! It took a lot of patience and hard work to get him to trust me and to understand where he stood in the pack. When his stay with me was completed he went on to live with an obedience trainer and I'm sure his life is much better now than it was before he came to stay with me....so it all works out in the end. It's never too late to start training...Summer will be just fine.

Give little Schnitzel a kiss from me....I'm sorry that she (and you) got bit and I wish her a speedy recovery.

Take care Ann, if nothing else, you probably saved Summer's life by helping her find the kind of home she needs.

Kristie

Oh poor Summer she is just an unruly girl that no one wants to keep. The people called my daughter and said they could not handle Summer, she kept tearing things up. I didn't know she did those things, I have nothing down to get into. They said she was agresssive and almost bit them. She got vicious with, and kept trying to attack their little chihuahua while she was at their house. Although their little dog did not need stitches or anything like that they did not want Summer to be given that chance.

So now another man has taken her and he said he does not care how she is. He said she just didn't need another animal around her. He thinks she will become a good dog with a lot of training.

Now it makes us wonder how long she will have a home with this new guy. It is too bad she is so agressive and hurts other animals. If I find out how it is going I will let everyone know.
Love, Ann

Thanks for the update Ann. It sounds like this guy is really understanding and that he doesn't have other animals so perhaps this is what she needs. We're all thinking positive thoughts for her.