1) How many dogs do you have? - Three!
2) What is your dogs name? - Rowan, Riff, and Stitch
3) How old are they? - 10, 5, and 1.5, respectively
4) Do you have plans to add another dog to the family? - Distant future plans, yeah. Not for a couple of years.
5) Do you or have you ever had a heart dog? - My childhood dog, Lucky, was a heart dog. So is Rowan. I’ve loved all of my dogs, but those two are just... something else. Special in a way that only someone who has experienced a heart dog can understand.
6) Did you grow up with dogs? - I did. I’ve never gone a day in my life, literally, without at least one dog. My family had a dog they got a couple of years before I was born, and we’ve added from there.
7) What was your first dogs name? - Oliver was the dog who predated me. I believe he was 3 when I was born. The first dog that was MINE was Lucky.
8) Do you have any "saved" names for future dogs? - Let me tell you a story. I had a list of 50+ names when I got Stitch. You know what name wasn’t on the list? Stitch. So I don’t pretend to know if I’ll ever actually use a name now. I do have a couple I REALLY like... but who knows?
9) Your favorite breed? - I don’t know. tbh. I thought it was Brittanys. But now that I’ve spent more time with Brittanys, I’ve found they don’t have the traits that make Rowan so special. Turns out Rowan is my favorite, not Brittanys as a whole. Silkens are fabulous, and I’d recommend them to anyone who I think would enjoy them, but I don’t think they’re my favorite. I’m hoping that my next breed might turn out to be “the one.”
10) Your least favorite breed? - Wheatens. WHEATENS. No offense to any Dogblrs that have Wheatens, but they are the one breed I universally cannot stand. Daycare, boarding, veterinary, training, grooming - they are god awful in every setting.
11) A breed you love, but can never see yourself having? - That’s tough... most breeds I love because they suit me so well, so they’re almost all breeds I would own. I guess I’ll go with Dobermans. I really like the ones I’ve known, but the state of their health is atrocious. I could never go there.
12) A breed you used to hate, but now love? - I honestly can’t think of any that I made that big of a turn around on. I guess I’ll go with Shih Tzus - I never actively disliked them, but I never imagined I’d like them as much as I do now (although I’m really picky about them.)
13) A breed you used to love, but now hate? - Well, I used to think Wheatens sounded nice on paper, until I experienced them :P I’d have to say Bernese Mountain Dogs - same as above, not that drastic, but they used to be my dream breed, and now I have no interest whatsoever in owning one. I don’t hate them (although I do hate grooming them) but they’re SO not the type I’ve found that I enjoy. I loved them because they were so sweet and lovey, but they’re also kind of slow and dopey, and I’ve found I’m a sporter/herder person... slow and dopey isn’t my type.
14) Your favorite breed group? - If I could mesh my favorite traits of sporting and herding... that would be perfect. I’m inclined to say herding, but I don’t know. There are some sporters I like more than some herders, and vice versa.
15) Your least favorite breed group? - Terrier. Sorry terrier folks!
16) Do your dogs compete in any sports? - Rowan does lure coursing, has dabbled in Barn Hunt, and will start rally next year. We’ve done some agility foundations but he’s getting older and his structure isn’t great. :/ Stitch shows in conformation, and I want to get him involved in lure coursing and racing. I’d like to try out dock diving with Riff.
17) Do your dogs compete in conformation? - Stitch does! We’ve only done one show so far (financial/time issues) but we’ll start showing more next year. As much as we can, anyway, since there are only a few UKC shows per year in the state.
18) Your favorite trick your dog knows? - Riff is REALLY good at Sit Pretty. Stitch likes Touch, and Rowan... Rowan knows a ton, but I don’t know what my favorite is. I do like that when he wants something but doesn’t know what to do, he defaults to Spin, so maybe that? It’s cute watching a dog eagerly spin to try and earn whatever it is he wants.
19) A trick you'd love to teach your dog? - I want to get a solid rebound out of Rowan! He can do it with me sitting very upright, but he hasn’t been able to generalize to me standing up yet.
20) What's the first trick that you taught your dog? - Rowan already knew sit, so probably shake. The others were sit... then shake for Riff, and touch for Stitch.
21) A useless trick that you love? - All of them! lol. Spin, shake, speak.
22) In your opinion, what's the most important thing to teach your dog? A solid recall. I only really have one on Rowan... but I can recognize that it’s by far the most important.
23) What do you usually teach first? - Basics. Sit, stay.
24) What's your dogs favorite toy? - Rowan LOVES the rubber West Paw toys, Riff loves all toys but can only have really tough ones (Kong, Nylabones, West Paw), and Stitch thinks that soft squeaky toys are the best.
25) Does your dog have a toy that they hate? - Rowan could not possibly care less about tennis balls. Stitch and Riff are pretty easy to please.
26) What's your dogs favorite game to play inside? - Running around like crazy dogs.
27) What's your dogs favorite game to play outside? - Running around like crazy dogs. :P Riff LOVES fetch.
28) Something your dog did recently that made you smile? - Stitch: got really excited and had the zoomies around the store I work at. Riff: got super excited when I got home from work. Rowan: existed, tbh. He makes me smile constantly for no particular reason.
29) What's your dogs favorite treat? - Riff will eagerly eat anything, Rowan will eagerly eat anything other than vegetables, and Stitch likes meat and meaty treats. Rowan went nuts for some Ziwi Peak today... not technically a treat, but who can afford it as anything BUT a treat? :P
30) What's your dogs least favorite treat? - Oh, I kind of answered above. Rowan doesn’t like vegetables and doesn’t appreciate when I try to feed them to him. Stitch is really unpredictable about what he’ll like or dislike so I can’t think of anything specific. Riff doesn’t have a least favorite. He’ll eat anything,
31) Is your dog really food motivated, play motivated, praise motivated, or something else? - Rowan is EXTREMELY food motivated... I laugh when people say they want a dog as food motivated as possible, because no, you don’t, lol. He gets so excited about any and all food that his brain stops working and he gets overstimulated really quickly. Riff is very food and play motivated, and somewhat praise motivated. Stitch is a little bit of all three.
32) Where does your dog usually sleep at night? - They all sleep in my bed.
33) If your dog sleeps in your bed, where do they usually prefer to sleep at in your bed? - Rowan sleeps at the top, next to my head. Riff is the next one down, next to my torso. Stitch is at the bottom, next to my legs/feet.
34) What's your favorite coat color? - Liver/chocolate/brown/whatever your chosen breed calls it! I also love orange in Brittanys and Tollers, not so much in some other breeds though.
35) What's your least favorite coat color? - Solid white is kind of boring.
36) What's your favorite coat pattern? - I like Irish white, especially with ticking.
37) What's your least favorite coat pattern? - Merle. Certain merle. I like dark/muddy merles. Not such a big fan of lighter merle/smaller spots.
38) What's your favorite ear style? - I like all varieties, honestly. I guess I like floppy the most, tied with semi-floppy (think Border Collies.)
39) What's your dogs favorite thing to chew on? - They love antlers, although I worry about fractures, so they get them sparingly.
40) What's the worst thing your dog has ever eaten? - That would be the time I accidentally left Rowan in the car with a large iced coffee with a TON of chocolate syrup in in. Chocolate and caffeine, the best way to kill your dog! He was fine with some quick induced vomiting. A close second would be the time Riff ate a bag of uncooked quinoa and it came out looking an awful lot like cooked quinoa.
41) Nail clippers, Dremels, files, or something else? - Dremel! Dremel for everyone!
42) How often do you give your dogs a bath? - Rowan gets one once a week, the downside of being owned by someone who works in a grooming salon. He doesn’t really get dirty and never gets smelly on his own (without getting into something smelly), but we cuddle a lot and I like for him to be soft and smell nice, and I make sure he doesn’t get dried out. The others are every few weeks, probably.
43) How often (if necessary) do you brush your dogs fur? - I don’t, really. Stitch gets brushed when he gets bathed. I guess I do brush Riff weekly to deshed him, but none of them tangle or mat, so they don’t need it for those purposes.
44) What's your preferred brush? - A regular slicker for Stitch, a comb for Rowan because he gets tiny knots in his “pants” after a bath, and a shed blade (the steel loop type) for Riff.
45) Do you brush your dogs teeth? - I need to be better about it. :/ I’ve been using dental spray, but we need to start a regular brushing regimen.
46) How often does your dog visit the groomer? - Well... that’s me, lol. So same as above: once a week for Rowan, every few weeks for the other two.
47) Does your dog have any bad habits? - Oh lord, yes. Rowan is a fantastic dog until there’s food involved, and then his training seems to go out the window. Stitch pees inside at work (not at home, only at work... ???) and Riff... well... where do I start? I’ll go with the barking and the thieving for him.
48) Boys or girls? - I’ve only ever had boys but I’d like to have a girl eventually.
49) What's your doggy dream team? - A Rowan type (serious, very trainable/biddable/intelligent with plenty of sass), a Stitch type (silly, goofy, friendly, very sweet), and then any other combination of dogs in addition.
50) What's the silliest thing your dog has ever done? - I’m not sure about Stitch, but I have stories for Riff and Rowan. Riff is not very bright. He gets REALLY excited about stuff and will show off what he’s doing, even if it’s something he’s not supposed to be doing. One time he found an empty box of Teddy Grahams in my room. I was in the living room with my mom, and all of a sudden out trots Riff, carrying the box, looking for all the world like he was showing off the AWESOME thing that he found! Rowan’s story... Rowan is very selective about other dogs. Mostly he ignores them and wants to be ignored. His very favorite dog in the world is my old roommate’s cattle dog mix. One time we went over to their house (a couple years after we stopped living together) and Rowan was soooooo excited to see Kaylee. Normally he’s a somewhat serious, kind of dignified dog, but he was acting like such a fool to try and get her attention and initiate play. She was kind of uninterested and he ended up doing this really weird whine/howl thing incessantly at her, which we decided was him “serenading” her. She wasn’t too impressed. It was so out of character for him, lol.
51) What's something that you wanted to accomplish with your dog and did? - Getting titles on Rowan. We still only have lure coursing and Barn Hunt titles, but it’s such a great feeling, and we’re definitely going for more!
52) What are some goals you have for your dog? - More titles for Rowan, titles and more training for Stitch, and Riff... well, I just want him to be happy and comfortable in life.
53) Is your dog usually quiet or loud? - Stitch is pretty quiet unless he’s jazzed up, Rowan has a lot to say but doesn’t outright bark much unless there’s someone outside, and Riff is very, very loud.
54) What is/are your favorite dogblr(s)? - @kayathederp @hirvithewolfhound @bandizoi @impish-iggies
55) Who is your favorite dogblr dog? - ughhh I can’t pick one. Sorry!
56) Do you use dog cologne on your pup? - Sometimes. We have this blueberry spray at work that smells sooooo good.
57) Single coat or double coat? - Single and feathered, please!
58) Does your dog like car rides? - Yes, all three love them
59) Have you ever painted your dogs toenails? - I tried painting Rowan’s nails once, but one toe in I realized that he.. you know... walks on them, and I didn’t want nail polish all over my carpet :p and I haven’t felt like crating them while waiting for them to dry.
60) Do you dress your dog up for Halloween? - Sometimes. I’m a sucker for dog costumes. Two years ago (pre-Stitch) Rowan was Eeyore and Riff was Tigger.
61) What was the first night home with your dog like? - Rowan, I don’t remember the first night. I just remember everything was perfect. Stitch was tough because he was a puppy and I’ve never had a puppy before. Riff... well, Riff was a nightmare. So so so anxious.
62) Do you take your dog to the dog park? - Sometimes. Riff is unpredictably dog aggressive so he doesn’t get to go, but Rowan and Stitch like to stretch their legs. Luckily we have a really nice HUGE park that isn’t really your traditional “dog park.”
63) What's your favorite piece of dog gear you own? - I have a really nice custom utility leash that I absolutely love. Unfortunately they post a lot of extreme political things that I very much disagree with on their page, so on principle, I won’t buy any more. :( Riff also has a custom Karma Collar (from before they sold) that I LOVE. I wish they were still around.
64) Does you dog wear sweaters? - Rowan liked sweaters when he was younger, but not so much anymore. But if it’s super cold I will still put sweaters on him, and we’ll see this year how Stitch feels about them.
65) If they do, which is your favorite sweater you own? - Rowan has a really cute hooded silver and green sweatshirt.
66) Does your dog have a high or low (or something in between) prey drive? - Rowan’s is VERY high. Riff’s is lower than Rowan, but he has less self control so it seems about equal. Stitch’s is moderate, so far. It seems low in comparison to Rowan.
67) Would you describe your dog as high, low, or medium energy? - Riff is HIGH, Rowan is medium, and Stitch is low.
68) Does your dog have any weird habits? - They’re all just weird, lol. Stitch clacks his teeth when he’s really excited/playful (it’s earned him the nickname Snappers.) Rowan is extremely opinionated about everything and frequently holds “conversations” with people. Riff is so weird I can’t even begin to pinpoint anything in particular.
69) Does your dog like to play in the snow? - Stitch and Riff LOVE the snow! Rowan thinks that extreme cold is for suckers, plus he doesn’t like wet feet.
70) Does your dog like to swim? - Riff loves swimming and will swim until he drops. He’ll actually swim until he starts whining because he’s so tired and will KEEP swimming... I have to cut him off. Stitch loves playing in water but hasn’t gotten to full blown swimming yet. Rowan doesn’t care for being wet although in the past couple years he’s finally started wading in ponds and rivers! So proud of my boy.
71) Does your dog bark at TV doorbells? - Yes, Riff and Rowan will, and Stitch will bark when they bark.
72) Where's your favorite place to spend time with your dog? - The aforementioned dog park, probably.
73) Is there anything you look forward to doing everyday with your dog? - Cuddling. I love cuddling with the dogs.
74) Share the first picture you saw/took of your dog - I don’t know how to add pictures to text posts :/
75) Share your favorite picture of your dog - see above.
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