I know what you are talking about. My Yorkie is also a barker type-of-dog. It is annoying at times to deal with such a dog.
Chipper's mother was a little white Poodle. She had a very, very short tail, and was also totally chubby, so she actually looked like a miniature sheep with her round little body and short little legs. She was one of the smartest dogs ever (probably where Chipper gets his intelligence from), and Peaches would actually try to talk with me If I was in the computer room, she would come and sit at the doorway. If I didn't notice her, then she would take one delicate little white paw, and scrape the side of the doorway to get my attention. When I finally looked at her and asked her what she wanted, she would look at me and kind of make a wailing sound, that came out sounding like "waaa-waaa". I usually asked her 2-3 times what she wanted and she would keep telling me. She would cock her little head sideways and give me the most frustrated look, like she was saying "can't humans even understand plain English ? What is wrong with that woman anyway ?" Finally, I would say, "Oh, Peaches, you want a drink of water ?" Then she would jump up, spin around, her little ears flying, and she was ever so glad that I finally undlerstood what it was that she wanted.
Currently, a HalfMoon Beta, called "Blu" in a 5 gallon tank w/two Ghost Shrimp and two Zebra Snails. Later, a Shih Tzu pup. I'm retired so it will have a playmate!
We have two rescue dogs, Bug and Gunner, four cats, Oreo, Inky, Walnut and our newest arrival, Hobo. We also have 4 finches, and a crazy cockatiel named Spiffy; He bites us every chance he gets, won't bathe and hangs out in his cage all day, whistling the Andy Griffith theme song. LOL We never turn away a stray.
I couldn't have pets when I was a young 'un however, I had one adopt me. I was 10 when we moved from a farm and into the house dad built in town. Our house was built on a one block long street. The west end of the street ended at an old baseball park, complete with roofed wooden bleachers and a board fence around the whole park. Beyond the park were corn fields and pastures. So, we were in town but only a short walk to the country. Across the dirt street was a slough, the end of which was in front of our house. At one time long ago, this slough was connected to the Mississippi river on both ends, making all the land between a true island. It's still connected to the river on the other end. The land between is famous for it's watermelons. Someone abandoned a dog in the neighborhood. He was a shorthaired pointer called "Brownie". He was friendly and lived on handouts. One day he just showed up on our front stoop, looking in our screen door as we ate dinner. I gave him a few scraps and he was mine forever after. Not that I wanted him. He lived under a junk car up the street beside a barn. From there, he could see all the way down the street. Every time I went out the front door, Brownie would come running, ears flopping in the wind. I couldn't get out of the house without Brownie tagging along. I used to go fishing in the slough. Whenever I made a cast, Brownie went in after my bobber, thinking this was a game. If I walked down past the corn field and through the pasture, There he was, off chasing the cows. When they turned on him, he ran back to me for protection. Then, I discovered how to get away without him. He was gun shy. If I left the house with my BB gun, Brownie was gone. No doubt that was why he was dumped. One day we were walking down the alley behind our house. As we passed a house further down, a little black ankle biter dog came running out, yipping it's head off. Brownie tolerated the little mutt until it nipped at his heels. Quick as a flash, Brownie turned, grabbed the mutt, shook it a few times and spat it out. Mutt ran back to it's house, yipping and whining all the way. Later the police came by, asking about my dog. A neighbor up the street built Brownie a straw bale house to shelter him through the winter. Brownie made the rounds every day for food handouts. He lived in our neighborhood for several years until one day, he just wasn't around anymore.
Not any more do I have any pets. Where we live now we are not allowed any pets, so we just don't have any right now. When I was growing up we had dogs, cats and a yellow canary. I like cats the best because they are very independent and do things on their own. I go to youtube.com and see other people's pets on videos and they are so darling!
Growing up I wasn't permitted to have any pets (except one goldfish... don't even comment about that!), because my grandmother lived with us and she was allergic to pet fur. I loved animals, but it wasn't meant to be. But, as an adult I've been blessed to have many animals in my life. Currently, I have two Chihuahuas. Both were rescues. Chico is ten and I was fortunate to rescue him from a puppy mill when he was five weeks young -- he weighed 1.2 pounds. Tiny and mighty! Coco was given to me by a friend who knew a lady with four kids who was being foreclosed upon and had to move to a shelter that did not allow animals. He was about 1.5 years old, at the time and he's now nine. They both weigh a lot, but are not fat... just larger Chihuahuas. Eight and nine pounds. This picture was taken on a bitter cold night -- I call it my two dog night picture:
This is my friend Izzy, and although people think he is heavier than he looks, he only weighs 8 pounds He is all hair, but at least he doesn't shead. He goes almost everywhere with me. He is now a registered service dog. He keeps me company, and he will scratch my arm if he feels I'm going to have a seizure.
It's just sad that whenever we would go on vacation without our dogs, something is happening. When we were in Vietnam, Barbie got sick of amoebiasis. Short of being dehydrated, I asked the doctor to come to our house to check on our sick dog. The problem lasted for almost a week and fortunately Barbie got well without any side effect. This weekend we were in Singapore and we arrived home yesterday to find that Tisoy, our oldest dog at 8 years old, is limping. We still don't know what's bugging him, still waiting for the vet to check on him. His right rear foot seemed to have a slight swelling. I hope it's not serious. Here is Tisoy this morning in the front yard.
I have a mini Dachshund named Pickles. I also wasn't allowed to have pets growing up, my mom didn't like them in the house. So when my son came home once with a baby kitten asking if we could keep him, I said "yes" and that was the start of a long line of cats. At that time I was more a Cat person, didn't really like dogs. Then a few years ago, while I was visiting my sister in Colorado, my son in Law called and told me he got me a Datsun....that's what it sounded like and I thought ok, not my favorite make but a car is a car. Then I realized he said Dachshund. They were at the elementary school's silent auction that is held to raise money for something extra for the school. And he bid $500 on the puppy even though my daughter said NO, she gas enough to do with work and 2 boys and nobody is at home all day, etc. So, that is how I got Pickles!
What a great story, @Chrissy Page ! ! One time, when I was raising Shorkies, and our church was having one of the auctions to help raise money for the youth group , I donated one of Chippers little puppies to the auction. Everyone just loved that little pup as I walked him around for people to see, plus I also had Chipper there on his dog leash and that way they could see how small the puppy would be when he grew up. I don't remember exactly how much he sold for; but it was several hundred dollars also, and the people who got him just loved that little puppy ! Some times I really miss raising puppies; it was always just so wonderful seeing the happy people going home with their new puppy snuggled under their chin and giving them "puppy kisses". Often times, they would send me pictures as their puppies grew up, and tell me about what they were doing, and how much they loved their little dog. I just love my little Chipper SO much; so it is easy for me to see how much that the people who got the puppies also loved their little Fuzzy Kids.
I couldn't get Pickles because he was still too young but did get to go see him, along with his mother and siblings. Think it was about a month til I got to take him home. The mother belonged to Mr Dodd, a teacher at the school and he's the one that donated Pickles. They had a nice display set up for the auction though and lots of useful things came with Pickles, like a bed, food, toys, cute little bags for picking up poop, and some other things that I have forgotten. Mr Dodd also kept one of Pickles's brothers, a long haired dachshund named Zeus. He must have gotten him trained as a service dog or something because my grandson had Mr Dodd as a teacher and Zeus was allowed in the classroom every day.