longfeathers
02-04-2010, 04:13 PM
Hi All,
I thought the Tractor Supply Co location was a great venue, along with being next to the burger joint, which by the way was witnessed treating us very, very nicely (There’s a plug for them, and their burgers were great)
It was a weekend full of highs and lows for my girls, Pearl and I. As many of you who were there know, our 1st jump in the 1st heat, proved to be a painful one, lol. For those who weren’t there, I was leaned over after throwing the wubba, looking in that direction, waiting for Pearl to pass by into my view. In her excitement, Pearl ran too close to me, launched too soon, and crashed into the side of my head. Yowch! Things went a bit black, but I was able to regain my composure, get down to collar up Pearl , and continue on.
Jumping ahead, to that night, I am luckily friends with a Nurse and she came over and checked me out. Suspected a slight concussion and agreed to be on standby if the girls would check on me through the night. I did go to my Doctor on Monday who confirmed it, along with some inner ear injuries, but luckily, nothing serious.
We went on Saturday to achieve a personal best of 18’. On Sunday, we continued our progress, including 2 more personal bests, ending up at 20’. We had a lot of fun!
Unfortunately, Sunday was also the start of another unexpected downer. The girls have wanted their own dogs now for quite a while and definitely wanted to become involved in dock jumping with them. I have held off until I felt that they were responsible enough to really care for them. We had discussed it on the way up that morning, and I had told them that I felt they had shown me that they were both ready. We discussed that it had to be the “right” pup, and not the 1st one that came along. In fact, someone had brought a puppy on Saturday that we had checked, but the connection wasn’t there.
Sunday morning, a couple brought a little black and white American Pitbull puppy that they said they were trying to find a home for on behalf of a rescue organization. My oldest wants to try and find a Catahoula, but my youngest (T) wanted to check it out. She had expressed wanting something like a little Staffy, so I didn’t really think it would go anywhere. However when she met this puppy, there was an instant connection. In fact, I recall later in the day, the lady that had brought her had taken her to acclimate her to the ramp and the water. We were across the pool on the other side and T said something to me and immediately, the pup looked up at her and her tail started wagging.
Early on in the day, the lady had let her take the puppy, and was nice enough to spend some time explaining her training techniques that she had been using on the pup. T hung on every word and worked with the pup the entire day. I had a friend later tell me how impressed they were because they had never seen a 12 yr old stay so focused for so long. They were truly a pair, and before the day was through, she had chosen the name “Onyx”.
That same friend of ours was also very interested in this puppy, but said that after seeing T and the pup together, wanted T to have the pup. We were informed by the lady that she would need to take the puppy back with her, and that the rescue org. would be contacting me to proceed with the adoption. T took her own money into TSC and bought a crate in anticipation of her new puppy. All through the next couple of days, she told everyone about Onyx and showed them pictures that her sister had taken of them together. Yesterday, I came home to find that she had taken the pictures and pinned them all over her bedroom walls, with her name written on paper below each one.
On Sunday night, I received an email from the lady who had brought the pup (L), copied to the rescue org. rep (M), introducing us to each other. In a short while, I received an email from M thanking me for the interest, but understandably expressing a concern regarding my experience, accommodations, and ability to properly care for this particular breed. On Monday morning I replied with all of the information she asked, and a description of my extensive experience with this breed particularly. I also contacted a friend who knows both L and M and could vouch for myself and the kind of care the puppy would receive. She agreed to contact M and stated that she had seen T and the pup together on Sunday, and was elated when she learned we were going to adopt her. In her words, there was not a better family for this pup to be included in.
On Tuesday morning, I received a disturbing email from M. While she thanked me and agreed that I was offering a “wonderful home”, she informed me that L (and the gentleman that was with her on Sunday) had decided that she might be a good sporting prospect, and that they might want to keep her themselves. I was informed that they have preference because they are a foster family for this particular org.
This was never mentioned during the entire day on Sunday. In fact we had been given the impression that the only thing between then and adopting the puppy, was the org paperwork. If this was indeed the case, that should have been disclosed, so that T knew it was a possibility. This potentially is going to absolutely break T’s heart. This is way more than a “potential sporting prospect”, this is a 1st puppy for a little girl who was allowed to fall in love with it, thinking that it was going to be hers. I am not looking forward to the tears, and have not told her, as it is not final yet.
This is my very 1st dealing with a rescue org, as I have always had my reservations, and this certainly strengthens my concerns and even distrust. If this is how they operate, I will continue to look in other places for further family additions. Please send positive thoughts and hopes our way. Hopefully this will all turn out ok.
As always, looking forward to the next event :)
I thought the Tractor Supply Co location was a great venue, along with being next to the burger joint, which by the way was witnessed treating us very, very nicely (There’s a plug for them, and their burgers were great)
It was a weekend full of highs and lows for my girls, Pearl and I. As many of you who were there know, our 1st jump in the 1st heat, proved to be a painful one, lol. For those who weren’t there, I was leaned over after throwing the wubba, looking in that direction, waiting for Pearl to pass by into my view. In her excitement, Pearl ran too close to me, launched too soon, and crashed into the side of my head. Yowch! Things went a bit black, but I was able to regain my composure, get down to collar up Pearl , and continue on.
Jumping ahead, to that night, I am luckily friends with a Nurse and she came over and checked me out. Suspected a slight concussion and agreed to be on standby if the girls would check on me through the night. I did go to my Doctor on Monday who confirmed it, along with some inner ear injuries, but luckily, nothing serious.
We went on Saturday to achieve a personal best of 18’. On Sunday, we continued our progress, including 2 more personal bests, ending up at 20’. We had a lot of fun!
Unfortunately, Sunday was also the start of another unexpected downer. The girls have wanted their own dogs now for quite a while and definitely wanted to become involved in dock jumping with them. I have held off until I felt that they were responsible enough to really care for them. We had discussed it on the way up that morning, and I had told them that I felt they had shown me that they were both ready. We discussed that it had to be the “right” pup, and not the 1st one that came along. In fact, someone had brought a puppy on Saturday that we had checked, but the connection wasn’t there.
Sunday morning, a couple brought a little black and white American Pitbull puppy that they said they were trying to find a home for on behalf of a rescue organization. My oldest wants to try and find a Catahoula, but my youngest (T) wanted to check it out. She had expressed wanting something like a little Staffy, so I didn’t really think it would go anywhere. However when she met this puppy, there was an instant connection. In fact, I recall later in the day, the lady that had brought her had taken her to acclimate her to the ramp and the water. We were across the pool on the other side and T said something to me and immediately, the pup looked up at her and her tail started wagging.
Early on in the day, the lady had let her take the puppy, and was nice enough to spend some time explaining her training techniques that she had been using on the pup. T hung on every word and worked with the pup the entire day. I had a friend later tell me how impressed they were because they had never seen a 12 yr old stay so focused for so long. They were truly a pair, and before the day was through, she had chosen the name “Onyx”.
That same friend of ours was also very interested in this puppy, but said that after seeing T and the pup together, wanted T to have the pup. We were informed by the lady that she would need to take the puppy back with her, and that the rescue org. would be contacting me to proceed with the adoption. T took her own money into TSC and bought a crate in anticipation of her new puppy. All through the next couple of days, she told everyone about Onyx and showed them pictures that her sister had taken of them together. Yesterday, I came home to find that she had taken the pictures and pinned them all over her bedroom walls, with her name written on paper below each one.
On Sunday night, I received an email from the lady who had brought the pup (L), copied to the rescue org. rep (M), introducing us to each other. In a short while, I received an email from M thanking me for the interest, but understandably expressing a concern regarding my experience, accommodations, and ability to properly care for this particular breed. On Monday morning I replied with all of the information she asked, and a description of my extensive experience with this breed particularly. I also contacted a friend who knows both L and M and could vouch for myself and the kind of care the puppy would receive. She agreed to contact M and stated that she had seen T and the pup together on Sunday, and was elated when she learned we were going to adopt her. In her words, there was not a better family for this pup to be included in.
On Tuesday morning, I received a disturbing email from M. While she thanked me and agreed that I was offering a “wonderful home”, she informed me that L (and the gentleman that was with her on Sunday) had decided that she might be a good sporting prospect, and that they might want to keep her themselves. I was informed that they have preference because they are a foster family for this particular org.
This was never mentioned during the entire day on Sunday. In fact we had been given the impression that the only thing between then and adopting the puppy, was the org paperwork. If this was indeed the case, that should have been disclosed, so that T knew it was a possibility. This potentially is going to absolutely break T’s heart. This is way more than a “potential sporting prospect”, this is a 1st puppy for a little girl who was allowed to fall in love with it, thinking that it was going to be hers. I am not looking forward to the tears, and have not told her, as it is not final yet.
This is my very 1st dealing with a rescue org, as I have always had my reservations, and this certainly strengthens my concerns and even distrust. If this is how they operate, I will continue to look in other places for further family additions. Please send positive thoughts and hopes our way. Hopefully this will all turn out ok.
As always, looking forward to the next event :)