Well, I think I told you - Teagan has now ignored (well, ok, she was staring at them, but she didn't REACT) dogs a couple of times on walks without me giving a single command! WHOO!

I didn't know that about the tattoos. I thought that was something PB's from responsible breeders pretty well always got. Shows what I know!

Jenni, chipping makes sense. It's so much more instantly traceable. Will the chips be registered to the owners or will they trace to you? (Luc's ID traces to the rescue, not me, because he got it while in foster, so if he ever gets lost I'll have to bug 'em)

I haven't decided yet...part of me says it should go to the owner, but the psycho control freak in me says I want it to go to me, and then I can contact the owner. In the unlikely event that the dog was lost due to negligence or abandonment instead of accident, I can guarantee they come back to me.

Our rescue microchips have two contacts. We keep one (the rescue) and the other goes to the owners.

The reason for this is that if the dog is ever (God forbid) owner surrendered to a shelter, or gets given away or stolen or whatnot and we lose contact with it, there is a chance we could get it back.

I am sure many brands of microchips support two contact numbers. If they don't, they should.

OK I'm gonna go look at the pics now...

Okay. they both look like GSDs to me. The only thing is that Luc's rear end is so darn high, and he is rather fine boned. It seems like his back legs are a bit longer than his front legs, which is common in dogs like Border Collies and field-bred Labs, but you hardly EVER see in GSDs - it's usually the opposite, their back slopes downward and their legs are all crouchy.

Do you know at what age he was neutered? If he was neutered as a wee pup (before 16 weeks) that would definitely affect his bone structure and actually, his long bone growth. (I have first hand knowledge of this!)

Teagan is straight-backed too, but I'd say purebred. She has the exact colouring of my neighbour's GSD (an intact male, bitch stripe and all) and a lady I trained with two GSDs. (both intact females). Although the dogs I mentioned are all short coated.

Teagan and Luc have very similar facial structures. They almost look like twins in that respect!!!

They do have several contacts. I am such a control freak that I even put my cousin's dog's microchip in my name b/c I didn't trust her to be reachable in an emergency. If they are in my name, the company contacts me before changing the info, say for example, if a dog were sold or rehomed. My contract will clearly state neither should happen w/out my knowledge and opportunity to take the dog/buy the dog back, but they could slip one past me if their name was first on the chip info.

Angela, when I adopted Teagan, I looked at her back and thought 'great! Straight back! She won't be some deformed showline dog!' and then 6 weeks later she got dx'd with hip dysplasia. So much for my straight back=more structurally sound theory!

They do look a lot alike.

Alright, I will continue to call both full GSDs

Hmmm, maybe I am a contact on Luc's chip. I think I placed all the info 'somewhere safe'.

Luc was in a shelter from a relatively young age, but I think 6-9 mos old was when he was placed there. No idea when he was actually neutered though. I honestly don't notice his back end being higher at home but all the pics have it!

I bet they got to him right away. You do know, testicals are the root of all evil and must be disposed of as soon as they appear, regardless of any health concerns it may present to a growing, large breed dog.

That poor dog. How could he be there so long? He is so lucky you found him.

Probably! Off with the testicles!

Yeah, in some cases, no-kill is cruel.

They didn't even walk the dogs! Him being in foster care was his first exposure to walks/being on leash. They let them out in runs (guess who's muzzle was covered in bite marks when I got him, no wonder he has been nervous around strange dogs).

There were apparently 200 dogs at the facility when he was pulled by the rescue (I didn't adopt him directly from the shelter, he was in a foster home with the rescue for 6 weeks and then I adopted him). I guess with that many dogs how could he really shine? And while he's a loveable loveable goof, I highly doubt he would show well in a shelter environment.

Actually, his name @ the shelter was Lucky (ummm, ya). B/c I was NOT being the person calling 'Lucky' after their dog I shortened it to Luc (French spelling, but he did come from Quebec).

I've actually been in touch with the shelter to let them know how he is doing and they were THRILLED, so that was really nice. And I follow the shelter on FB. I'm going to send them the links to our August backpacking trips - it must be nice for the long-term volunteers to know how a dog that they must've gotten to know relatively well is doing.

Edit: the rescue (that is in Ontario) which pulled him normally pulls from kill/sell for research shelters but b/c of the high volume of dogs they helped this shelter out even though it was no-kill, no sell for research.

My equally perfect dog was adopted from a private no-kill (that actually went "kill" when the shelter's owner passed away and they had to close). Somehow she was there for a YEAR or more. They had like 30 pens and 80 dogs. And like about a zillion cats all in one room. You literally could not walk, that's how many cats there were.

People see that it's a no-kill shelter, so they go save a dog from a kill shelter thinking the no-kill ones are "safe". (heck, on my dog search I thought the same thing). Now with my rescue I foster urgents... so I get it.

Still, it's sad. And THAT's why vets, rescues and such push spaying and neutering. People just aren't responsible enough not to let their pets breed. Some are, most aren't. Probably most of the dogs in shelters are from planned BYB litters whose first owners get rid of the dogs once they are no longer cute puppies. (And why it is 100% possible that Teagan and Luc are purebreds).

Yeah, I can't even imagine 3 years. Which is why a lot of the time, even though, sure, Luc's a bit of a dumb goof, but he was there 3 years from a puppy....how could his mind develop? How could he be exposed and learn things about the world and life?

Kill, no-kill, it does all go back to the overpopulation problem. I haven't neutered Neb and would like to wait to 2 years or not do it at all (he is 15 months now) but I also feel confident he won't be siring any litters.