4 dogs

Starting around 2000 or so my wife and I decided we wanted to have at least one dog so our youngest daughter could learn taking responsibility for a dog, for someone or something else. This was a good idea at the time. So, we both decided we would look for the right dog to adopt for our daughter who was then about 4 or 5 years of age. The problem was we both found the dog we wanted to get the same day (different dogs) so we decided to keep both dogs. My pick I found at Blockbuster (when DVD's and before that VHS's were a thing still in 2000. Outside the SPCA had set up cages with adoptable dogs. I found him  there(a long hair German Shepard- Australian shepard mix. He was about 70 pounds already and about 2 years old and the smarted dog I have ever known. When I got him home he seemed to want to compete with me and didn't defer to me as the leader. For a time I thought maybe he was too much dog for me to control and to have around the house with my wife and daughter. But, finally an opportunity came to change all this. He Stole a whole pizza off the counter top and then I had to scare him pretty bad. And then I was the Alpha in the house and he deferred to me every since. The other dog was Maggie Mae who was 1/2 Corgi and 1/2 Jack Russell Terrier. But, to me, she was more Jack Russel Terrier than Corgi and because of this looked more like a jack Russell than a corgi. But, she got into a fight with a raccoon one night when our baby sitter forgot to bring her in at night and she lasted about a month at the vet before her kidneys gave out and we had to have her put to sleep around 2004 I believe. After that, our daughter (because this was her dog) was very upset and so we got a baby girl corgi to replace the corgi jack Russell. I think our youngest daughter was about 8 then and her older sister was 7 years older. Her older sister had been around animals like Horses her whole life so she was really good with kids and animals as a result. She had had her first horse at age 4, a Palomino shetland pony. She was in a parade where a unicorn golden horn was placed on the horse and my older daughter wore a flower fairy outfit when she was 4. This is pretty much what my younger daughter's Pembroke Corgi looked like before she passed away a few months ago now. She lived with us for 15 1/2 years before she passed away. We had a special ramp into the back yard from our deck so she could go into the back yard the last year or so of her life. Because she couldn't walk down steps anymore. Also, 3 or 4 years ago my Australian Shepard-Long hair German shepard got old and passed away too. Then we got a rescue dog, a yellow lab who was about 8? years old or older? that our female corgi chose as our next dog. They passed away within 3 months of each other. I guess when she died he didn't see living any longer either as useful. He likely was between 13 and 15 years old too. It's hard to say with rescue dogs. all we really knew was his owner (a man) had died and he had had a rough time since then because he was 95 pounds and the man's wife and sister couldn't handle the yellow lab. But he was okay with me because he preferred bonding with men and chasing balls mostly. So, that's 4 dogs and now they are all gone and their ashes are on the mantle in the library with all the books in containers. It's likely time to put their ashes somewhere nice.

MY wife might need to get another corgi soon and eventually I might need to get another German shepard or Australian Shepard dog or something like that. I think I don't want to raise another dog from a puppy. That's a lot of work, especially with our corgi. the first couple of years with a corgi puppy were rough. But, over time she won me over and was a love and was an amazing female dog and was helpful to everyone in our family and everyone who visited our house. I checked to try to find pictures of an Australian Shepard- Long Hair German Shepard mix but only could find pictures of either German Shepards or Australian Shepards  but not the right mix that my  dog was.

But, dogs can be really a help to have around especially after your kids grow up and go off to college. Dogs are sort of like your children too, they often become a part of your family. These two, the Australian Shepard and the Long Hair German Shepard if you mix them together was what my dog looked like. IF you combine a jack russell below with a corgi you get my daughter's first dog in 2000.