LEXIE

we adopted lexie (alias tallulah, alias ruthie) in may '07. what can i say? never say never. i said i will never get another dobie. (had two in my life, very loving but not easy going ones.) i got my 1st dobie in early 80's when i worked for a veterinarian. we had a client who had a young 6 month old dobie, her husband didn't like her and wasn't really nice to her. her name was mercedes, a petite (40 lbs her whole life), black & tan with her ears cropped, i took her. she was very attentive and had a lot of puppy in her still. i brought her to training, i didn't know what i was doing... you know, the old fashioned training classes with choke collars and heel, heel, heel. oh her antics: my mom wanted to shoot her when she ate the middle of the wall... nails sticking out of the sheetrock. oh she was looking very innocent except for her black nose coated in white sheetrock chalk! did you know that stuffed animals are stuffed under pressure? while i was at work she had fun with a lifesize stuffed animal which must have popped open under pressure, i actually thought she had opened my mattress! she looked so cute and (innocent) when i walked in and she was sitting on a mattress covered in 2 inches deep of white stuffing and had a mouth full of stuffing! she was not "easy" as i could not trust her off leash because she had to warn strangers that they were getting close to her territory, she loved us and was "velcro" and we loved her very much, even my mom, cedes was her favorite. we made it through her destructive stage now fast forward to 10 years after we had to put her down for cvi i was heart broken.

i had 2 other dogs, a little mix and a golden. i loved my other dogs but i missed the "velcro" manner of the dobie. i was now married and my husband and i decided to look for another dobie. my friend at the animal shelter contacted me when she got a small fawn dobie. she was given up to the shelter because her previous home had a dog that would fight with her... had vet bills to prove it. she had natural ears, beautiful. well, she was small because she was 4 months old. she grew (to 80 lbs!) we called her willow, she was loving but a handful her whole life, health-wise and trustworthy wise. i couldn't trust her with strangers until she touched them, then she loved them, would sit on their lap etc. but she was very protective of the house, yard, car, boat, tent, campsite.... she could never relax. her digestive system was very sensitive and she had other unusual health issues. she became unpredictable with nicki, i think this was related to something unusual going on with her healthwise because they loved each other would sleep on each other but willow would just suddenly turn and grab her and since nicki would never back down we had to break up fights between a 80 and a 10 lb dog, guess who was dangling off the canine teeth. we tried everything the vet and behaviorists suggested. then willow's health declined rapidly, skin, bones,....vets were puzzled.. we had to euthanize her at a young 9 and vowed never to get another dobie. even though willow was difficult her whole life but we were both bonded to her like no other. my husband and i both had a hard time getting over this loss.

we only had nicki left, our little 15 year old, 10 lb maltese poodle. she went through so much with willow, the rest of her life has to be peaceful and happy. we thought we wouldn't get any more after she passed away, she is a cool little dog, who always would lead the pack of our other big dogs. she's aging and nests a lot in my husband's closet, isn't she lonely??? well i am, i felt like i didn't have a dog cuz she is just not around us much anymore. i told my husband i just can't go without one, so my husband & i decided to adopt another dog, a companion for nicki, might make her youthful again...(yeah right, for NICKI ;). we applied to several rescue leagues & shelters (thought small dogs for nicki: little mixes or yorkie, maltese, havanese - nothing connected - some were perfect on paper but we didn't feel a connection when we went to meet them. then discovered greyhounds and decided to go that route and put in an application.)

my husband out of the blue asked if i wanted another dobie... an unexpected word came out of my mouth... YES!!! i just miss that connectivity you have with a dobie, BUT we wanted an easier one this time. how? maybe we had ones that had a bad history, or maybe i just don't know how to train, or maybe i didn't understand the dobies early on. whatever the reason that we had protective ones we decided to adopt an older one, trained already, one that takes cues from us instead of having to "taste" the strangers before agreeing that they are ok. we applied to DAR&E. had home visit interview with sarah, explained everything and she was wonderful, very supportive. we received the adoptables list via email, talked to several fosters but didn't connect. i was being picky because i was nervous to bring anymore stress for nicki. she dealt with a lot from willow and now her last years need to be peaceful and happy, no matter what, nicki is the priority. dale & i re-thought our decision and decided to try a greyhound this time. they are not as protective, they are couch potatoes... we called sarah and told her but the very next day the adoptables list came out and there was ruthie, alias tallulah, now and forever called lexie. she sounded wonderful. after talking to the foster mom over the phone, something told me go see this one! wow, what a great decision. she captured our hearts. we adopted lexie in may '07.

a 2 year old fawn dobie with natural ears... just like willow! (how weird is that, so few fawn dobies yet 2 cross my path while i wasn't looking!) she has a lot of the same mannerisms as willow (only the good ones!) .... her looks, her love for us, some quirks and her birthday was somewhere around July of '05.... we had put willow down in July of '05... so we think maybe reincarnation! lexie is loyal and i think she would be protective, but she takes her cues from us and she is very trustworthy with meeting people, no bad habits we can't live with, enjoys being with us, boating, swimming, walking, going to class, playing fetch, playdates with other big doggie friends and just hanging out. since she is so easy going with people we plan to take her training to higher levels than we've ever done before, like agility or something fun like that. she has made us so proud by earning her CGC at this years DAR&E BBQ. and she has graduated to the level 4 in her classes. she gets along fine with nicki, but she is definitely here for us!

i will always have dogs in my life, always have a mix of dogs but will always have a dobie in the mix. there's something special, unique and so so loving about the dobie.

brigitte, dale, nicki & lexie