Disciple
Boxer Pal
... here at BW, just a little about us. My wife and I are retired and have gotten out of the rat race in metro-Atlanta, GA, where we grew up and lived until late 2000. At that time we moved to the N. Ga Mtns. and built our retirement, read that last, home. We are a blended family with 5 good grown daughters between us, and 8 grandchildren. I have lurked in the shadows here at BW for a little while, and finally decided to register and join. But enough about us, I know you had rather hear about our babies (past and present).
We got our first Boxer, Tyler, in 1989. Neither of us were previous Boxer parents, but my wife had worked for a pet store chain and through her purchasing experience became interested in the breed. To say that I became incurably hooked on Boxers would be a big understatement. Tyler gave us 11 years of joy and fun, but in early 2000 heart problems lead to having him put to sleep
. That was one of the hardest things we had ever had to decide, he had gotten to the point of not being able to walk, and many tears were shed for a few days after that. Elaine and I decided to wait until we could get into the new house before getting another Boxer, but what with the moving and settling in that decision was put off until this past summer when Obiwan came to live with us.
Obi's presence in our life was very brief, he was very under nourished and his mom was not in the best of health to be having pups. He came to us at 6 weeks of age, I know way too soon but I don't think he would have lasted to 8 weeks, severely infested with worms. Well be beat the worms, only to have mange pop up next, mom had it but it was in the early stages and we did not recognize it. The crushing blow came the day Obi got his second puppy shot, On the way home he started foaming at the mouth, and chewing as if he were eating. At home things only got worse, as he started having seizures which became more frequent and closer together. Back to the vet where the preliminary diagnosis was distemper, but since he had just gotten his second shot a blood test was out so he remained over night. The next day the worst was confirmed and we had to decide whether to have him put to sleep. Elaine wanted to see him before making the final decision, and to be there since we were his parents and did not want him the be alone. Needless to say after seeing him we did decide to let him go, and again may tears were shed. But he did accomplish one very good thing. Before Obi Elaine was talking about different dog breeds for our next baby. However after 3 months Elaine started talking about and looking for Boxer puppy ads. Which brings me/us to Levi.
At the end of October Elaine started scouring the pet ads, in the online newspapers for North and middle Ga. We had narrowed the choices to 2, one being a breeder close to where we had lived and the other was close (so we thought) to where we currently live. We finally settled on the one closer to where we currently live, and on Friday Nov. 7 went to see the pups and parents. The drive took us close to Tennessee but was well worth it, the parents (and a big brother) looked great, as the puppies were some of the prettiest we had seen. So we brought a pup home which we have named Levi. Having gone through the ordeal of Obi, I can honestly say I am very paranoid about pretty much everything. Probably to the point of being an over protective parent. Levi is now a typical 9 week old; into everything, getting me up at all hours to go out, and yes causing Elaine some grief with accidents on the carpet. But we would not have it any other way, because we know just how much love and fun we have in store for us.
I thank each and everyone of you that made it through this rambling, I just hope it made a little sense and gave you some insight to who we are and about our newest baby. I am looking forward to sharing our experiences and learning to be better parents to our Boxer baby.
We got our first Boxer, Tyler, in 1989. Neither of us were previous Boxer parents, but my wife had worked for a pet store chain and through her purchasing experience became interested in the breed. To say that I became incurably hooked on Boxers would be a big understatement. Tyler gave us 11 years of joy and fun, but in early 2000 heart problems lead to having him put to sleep
. That was one of the hardest things we had ever had to decide, he had gotten to the point of not being able to walk, and many tears were shed for a few days after that. Elaine and I decided to wait until we could get into the new house before getting another Boxer, but what with the moving and settling in that decision was put off until this past summer when Obiwan came to live with us.Obi's presence in our life was very brief, he was very under nourished and his mom was not in the best of health to be having pups. He came to us at 6 weeks of age, I know way too soon but I don't think he would have lasted to 8 weeks, severely infested with worms. Well be beat the worms, only to have mange pop up next, mom had it but it was in the early stages and we did not recognize it. The crushing blow came the day Obi got his second puppy shot, On the way home he started foaming at the mouth, and chewing as if he were eating. At home things only got worse, as he started having seizures which became more frequent and closer together. Back to the vet where the preliminary diagnosis was distemper, but since he had just gotten his second shot a blood test was out so he remained over night. The next day the worst was confirmed and we had to decide whether to have him put to sleep. Elaine wanted to see him before making the final decision, and to be there since we were his parents and did not want him the be alone. Needless to say after seeing him we did decide to let him go
, and again may tears were shed. But he did accomplish one very good thing. Before Obi Elaine was talking about different dog breeds for our next baby. However after 3 months Elaine started talking about and looking for Boxer puppy ads. Which brings me/us to Levi.At the end of October Elaine started scouring the pet ads, in the online newspapers for North and middle Ga. We had narrowed the choices to 2, one being a breeder close to where we had lived and the other was close (so we thought) to where we currently live. We finally settled on the one closer to where we currently live, and on Friday Nov. 7 went to see the pups and parents. The drive took us close to Tennessee but was well worth it, the parents (and a big brother) looked great, as the puppies were some of the prettiest we had seen. So we brought a pup home which we have named Levi. Having gone through the ordeal of Obi, I can honestly say I am very paranoid about pretty much everything. Probably to the point of being an over protective parent. Levi is now a typical 9 week old; into everything, getting me up at all hours to go out, and yes causing Elaine some grief with accidents on the carpet. But we would not have it any other way, because we know just how much love and fun we have in store for us.
I thank each and everyone of you that made it through this rambling, I just hope it made a little sense and gave you some insight to who we are and about our newest baby. I am looking forward to sharing our experiences and learning to be better parents to our Boxer baby.
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