A relative found him wandering around his farmhouse one day, and knowing we were thinking of getting a puppy someday, he asked us if we wanted to keep him. We fell in love with his sweet face, and because he looked like a German Sheperd, we named him Rinny, after the famous Rin Tin Tin. We found out later that his mother, a Golden Retriever, belonged to a neighbor and she had mated with a German Sheperd.
We hoped he would grow up to be a terrific watchdog, companion, and friend. He is definitely a great companion and friend. But since he has the personality of a Golden Retriever, a watchdog he is not. At least not a fierce one. He is large, and that is intimidating to strangers. He will also bark and growl, and that helps too. But he has a heart of gold and we couldn't have a better dog for our son to grow up with. No matter how rough in his childish enthusiasm Caleb got, Rinny didn't mind. When Caleb was smaller, he even let him ride on his back.
When Rinny was 3 years old, we found out the hard way that he had epilepsy. One summer day we witnessed a seizure, then another, and another. It was very frightening, then and each time he has had any since. We spent many hours at the vet for tests to rule out other causes of seizures. When those were ruled out, it was determined that it was epilepsy. We also found out that both German Sheperds and Golden Retrievers can have a genetic tendency to have epilepsy. I guess Rinny got a double dose of those genes. At one point we thought we were going to lose him because we could not get the seizures under control with the medication he was then on. At that point we were referred to the local university teaching hospital. They were able to get his siezures to stop and kept him a few days to make sure. They also prescribed another medicine in addition to his phenobarbitol. It is a controlled substance called potasium bromide. We had to sign release forms and read the long list of do's and don'ts. The difference it made was incredible. The first time he went back for a checkup after being on both medications, the vet decided that the few seizures he had in that time period was too many and increased the dosage. Rinny has now been seizure-free for over a year. We hope that this will continue to be the case for many years to come.
We
aren't really sure what breed Shiner is. We think she has some terrier
in her, but beyond that, we haven't a clue. She used to belong to a great
aunt. She told us that Shiner had been abused by a man as a young dog,
to the point of being shot. Therefore, she absolutely hated men. Boys were
fine, girls were fine, women were great, but not men. When we would visit,
Gerald had to sit perfectly still or Shiner would growl and bark at him.
Over about 2 months, she finally tolerated his presence. In spite of that,
we promised that if something happened, we would keep Shiner. When someone
contacted us that the great-aunt had died, we found that Shiner had been
left in the house alone, with no food. Gerald immediately drove over (an
hour's drive one-way) late at night to get Shiner. The poor dog was terrified
and very confused. Gerald managed to coax her out from under the bed and
brought her home. For several days after, she cried whenever Gerald left
the room. Since then, she has become attached to me and follows me wherever
I go.
She is a very loving dog, preferring to sit and cuddle rather than play most of the time. Her next favorite activity is to go for walks, where she can smell the grass, chase grasshoppers in the summer, and enjoy stretching her legs. She is a great watchdog, barking at any outside noise that is unusual, or any inside noise that sounds like an unusual outside noise. Caleb gets a big kick out of ringing the doorbell just to hear her bark.
Shiner is still wary of men (except Gerald). She is better than she used to be. If she feels secure and we introduce her, she'll make friends with most of our guests. We found she loves babies, especially our 1 year-old niece. When my sister and her family come to visit, Shiner gets excited, and licks the baby all over. The baby loves Shiner right back, babbling and patting with a big grin.
When we first got Shiner, it was a little strange getting used to a small, inside dog when all we had was a big, outside dog. But now we can't imagine our household without her.
