Service Dog advice - Page 3

kind of seems like some obfuscated, passive-aggressive super spoofing is going on here to try and ensnare echomeadows in mindgames. (echomeadow's quality breeding speaks for itself). how come a certain relatively new name always seems to appear as cover for these type time-wasting/soft abuses?. these games aren't worth a response. more byproduct of twisted mind(s) at work?

DDR, you sound very jaded and that's a shame. I'm sorry that you don't view charitable work as an opportunity and rather see it as wetting your pants. Sometimes, as I think you yourself said you have to do the right thing just for the sake of doing the right thing without expecting anything in return. I think even the little guys need to give back something. I would consider it an opportunity because the dog world and specifically German Shepherds have given me a lifetime of joy and pleasure and I'm sure made my children better people growing up around them. I would see it as paying something back to both the breed because the dog would be another example of the kind of great things GSD's are capable of and also the community in general for allowing us fanatics our quirks and idiosyncrasies with our dogs. I'm sorry you can't see that. It's not all about the money. You, as others, I'm sure expect large corporations and the very wealthy to contribute to society's needs. They give on a big scale. That doesn't mean that if I don't have a billion dollars to give away like Bill Gates does, that I shouldn't give anything back at all. If you can't understand that concept then I'm just wasting my time trying to explain it to you.

Preston, was that directed at me?????

Oh, I agree with everything you say! I was up front and center to do good works for a long time. But, people do use you, and they take you for granted, and I am no Mother Theresa type, that I can just give forever and get no feedback or help at all, and just carry on with it. For one thing, there is this little nuisance called, "money". I never had much interest in the stuff, myself, except that without it, I could not pay the utility company to waste time on my computer; Nor could I feed my dogs and vet them and so forth so that I could produce any pups or be involved in the dogs, at all. I was NEVER a person about money, and passed up more chances to make good amounts of it, so I could just follow my dreams. Now, sadder but wiser, I regret that I was not more down-to-earth. I squandered approximately $20,000 supporting two BLM mustangs for many years, and the memories are nice. I hope the horses got something out of it, too! But gosh I wonder what my life would be like if I had invested that money in Microsoft stock, or maybe Bershire-Hathaway B! I suppose that if I had, I might be on a goodly parcel of land, in a nice house, looking out on several BLM horses in my pasture. Trust me, I have seen a lot, and done a lot, too. I did quite a few good deeds in my time and never expected anything for it, but at the same time, if I needed help, very often I looked around and there was nobody there. That's eye-opening, to say the least. If everyone helped someone a little bit every day, what a better world this would be. But around these parts, lately, it seems that someone can even be lying in the road, and people just keep driving on by. There are not many helpful people, anymore, like there used to be. Everyone is just face-forward, foot-on-the-accelerator, rushing onwards in pursuit of their personal goals. Tunnel vision. That's what it is, I think.

But you have just proven my point, OldNewGuyMC! You have completely ignored MY contributions. So, you did make my "nobody notices" confirmation, here. I have stated that I DID try to "give back" to society through the dogs, and I not only tried, I did it! I got a swift kick in the ass for my trouble! I spent really huge amounts of money towards my goals to do MORE in my retirement, and years from my life, and it really went nowhere. For one thing, the police and military import their dogs in volume from Europe now, usually through brokers, and this is a big business and has been for many years. They generally do not want to mess with small breeders and their dogs.

OldNewGuy, If I misunderstood you, Then I appologize. and seems I must have misunderstood that you were saying I was full of it and that you were saying that my breeding program was a bunch of hooey too. So if that is not infact what you were implying then I do sincerely appologize for misunderstanding your post. Please forgive. inconsistency's I don't understand, I have always tried to be helpful when I could on this board, I too have come here seeking advice and have been so fortunate to have those questions or quests replied to politely and with a wealth of information provided to me at no cost, provided at the expense of the persons time to type in the information that I was seeking. so in turn I have tried to do the same where I could. I felt as though I was doing the same in this situation, I appreciate VomBrunhaus confidence in me but I don't have the connections this lady is in need of. Hoping that others do and will be willing to help her, I don't have any doubts that she will find the information she is seeking. Most on this board are helpful and insightful, and they do it willinginly and with truth in they're hearts. :-)

DDR, Wow that is so sad, I am so sorry that your efforts have gone so unrecognized. However you have the peace of mind, knowing you tried, and knowing you have done the best you can. Noone can ask you for anything, and certainly noone could ask more of you than you have already sacrificed. If it's any consolation, I applaud you for your efforts, in this world of cruel hearts these days there are Hero's and there are Zero's. You certainly have made the Hero book, in my OP. I would consider it an honor to shake your hand any day. :-)

DDr, keep your chin up when you get kicked in the arse. You will live with yourself longer than you will live with anyone else in this world. I understand about money, believe me, but when you're in your death bed you won't care about answering to anybody but yourself (and a supreme being if you believe). It doesn't matter what other people do to you. Be righteous and don't let the bastards get the better of you. If you have done good works it's because you believe that's the right thing to do. If you stop because of what others have done, then THEY'VE changed you for the worse, and who in the hell wants to live with that, right? Echo, I don't know anything about your program, why would I say it's s***? All I can go by is what you say on this board. You disappointed a lot of people by taking such a , umm, let's say hardheaded stance on the reporting to HSUS thing that people are naturally going to look harder at your statements and call you to task if you sound like you are contradicting yourself. As I said, if you don't have a dog, you don't have a dog. End of story, no harm, no foul.

Hexe, Unfortunately our neighbor had help picking those two by somebody that supposedly knew what was needed in a service dog. Sadly a wrong assumption on her part. And as somebody on a very limited income, she cannot afford to buy a trained dog, but gets help from some local groups to train her own. This last time somebody actually gave her a nice young black lab that is doing well. It's her third dog we know of. Also, you missed part of what I said: "You get what you pay for.... I am not saying if somebody can swing a good deal for you the dog won't be good, but the place you're working with gave you good advice." No you don't have to spend a fortune for a good service dog, or any dog. But don't count on picking up just any rescue dog either. You need to find a reputable rescue place that isn't just trying to place any and all dogs. And unfortunately there are some of those out there. A friend of ours does GSD rescue. I would trust her picking one as she does screen carefully. And that was great advice you gave her on the GSD rescue place in N.E. I hope they listen and can truely help her out.

Thanks to OldNewGuyMC and Echomeadows for encouraging comments. It means a lot just to know that someone cares, you know? When I thought about it, afterwards, I remembered one police officer that got one of my donated dogs, and this poor guy thanked me so profusely and repeatedly when he met me personally, that I was a bit embarrassed. He had been fixed up with an import donation that bit him on an almost daily basis. He was a rookie handler and was full of loathing to come to work everyday, knowing that he would probably be bitten again. So, that dog went back where it came from and he went forward with a dog from us, which he truly had a great relationship with. His dog was named, "Dux", aka "Duke". He eventually went blind and had to be retired, but he was about eight at the time. This was all many years ago, now. There were three dogs in that litter than went to the police.. Dux, Drigon, and Doyle. They all had different call names, so they would not be so easy to recognize to anyone who did not know, but the call name of the last dog was a matching first name to a famous movie cop, so that is a clue for you. And he became very well known for his K9 work.