Meet Nigredo!

Hi, everyone. As some of you may know, I've been going through a lot lately... and it totally had me down. I lost my baby boy Brownie to cancer in Feb and then I lost Jadey girl, a 9-10 year old GSD I adopted from a VERY bad dog owner, who is unfortunately my mother... because of untamed/random aggression toward family members.

As horrible as both experiences were, I won't let it get me down! I visited many shelters and humane societies yesterday and finally found a puppy that I think is perfect! I adopted him right away and took him home I'm rather sad that I couldn't find one that seemed suitable at one of the kill shelters though

Meet Nigredo! (Nih-Gray-Doh)





He is a three month old black Labrador Retriever/Border Collie/Akita Inu/Rhodesian Ridgeback/Great Dane/some other mutt mix.

He gets his first REAL vet exam on Friday, but he's a healthy, vibrant fellow as far as the shelter vets and everyone who sees him knows. He's micro chipped, neutered, registered, and has his first set of shots. He's going to be an indoor dog of course and I'm already beginning his house training. I'm thinking of maybe getting him into a CGC class or so. We'll see!

He has some weird distinctifying traits... he has a ridge down his back of thick fur... way thicker than all his other fur.. it's not raised hackles, I assure you. He also has a long, (very) gay tail...



But the oddest thing of all are his back feet...



Where he has DOUBLE rear dewclaws on both back paws. We're going to the vet on Friday of course... but as dog owners, do you think the rear dewclaws will be a serious problem for him? They haven't caught on anything, but I see them flapping about when he runs and it makes me kinda nervous.

Also, they just told us he was a super mutt that was likely going to be between 70-90 pounds full grown, but do you have any guesses that might refine his breed(s) down from like 10 different breeds? Lol.

(Admins, if this is in the wrong area, please move it... I wasn't sure where to place it)

Hiya, congratulations on your new puppy. He looks lovely. I'd leave his back claws...unless they become to be an issue. I'd get him insured though...I would anyway but if he does damage his claws it would be good to be covered.

I think a puppy classes are essential really. Do you have an APDT one in your area? And if you could get yours parents to go along too that would be fantastic and hopefully they could learn a bit about dog behaviour, new kind methods of training and how to raise a happy balanced dog.

Sorry if I've missed this info before....but what happened to Jade? Was she PTS or is she outdoors still?

Oh, and as for breeds....I'd say that's impossible really. Just a lot of evrything thrown in together making one very cute pup.

Lovely puppy hope he brings you lots of enjoyment.

What happened to Jade ????

I took what everyone said VERY seriously and told my mother. She is reluctant to do it and we're still talking it out. Right now Jade is being brought in at night and in inclement weather to the garage as she used to.

We are not going to let her interact with Nigredo, we're going to take him to see more balanced dogs. I'm really trying to let her handle it, but at the same time I'm trying to do what's best for Jade. I REALLY want to leave all that stuff behind... but I'll try and post an update.

Right, if you remember.. Jade bit my mother and had to be removed from the house. We have her in an outdoor enclosure in the backyard right now and she's brought into the garage at night and if it's rainy etc.

Though legally, her housing is sufficient... I'm struggling with my mom about the decision to leave her there. She spent most of her life there under my mother's care and I didn't really do a lot for her as I had Brownie and he was very old and getting sick and I couldn't really take care of two dogs, neither financially or mentally.

Many people heard of her situation and said it's better to put her down at this point. I'm not sure what's going to happen as we don't want to put her down, but at the same time... it's kind of mean to keep her out there, even though we do go back there daily to feed her and pet her etc.

Ultimately, my mother makes this decision.. but I'm trying to help her make the right one and move on with my life and Nigredo.

Ok, I just wondered if I missed an update somewhere. Thanks for the info.

Oh Myra - Nigredo is gorgeous!

I hope he brings you all the happiness you and he both deserve, and that your mother does not cause any problems with either of you.

Please keep us updated about poor Jade

(((hugs))) xx

He is a little darling.

Thank you for the compliment on him! I'll do my best to post an update... I'm trying to put all this behind me and start anew with Nigredo, but it's not as easy as it sounds.