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Post by the light works on Mar 4, 2014 14:57:58 GMT
At least they try to assign the animal some kind of identity beyond "it". They may be wrong, but at least it says something about their willingness to personalize the creature instead of declaring him/her an inanimate object that doesn't really matter. Here in Denmark, even when you can see the udder, a cow is named "it" instead of "her" or "she". It's blatantly obvious that the animal is female, but people insist on that "it", robbing the animal of any form of identity beyond just being "a cow". This often results in children not seeing the animal as a living creature, which seems to make it easier for them to mistreat or harm the animal for fun. Kids who learn early on that a cow is a female and whose parents refer to her as "she" seem to have a higher likelihood of treating the animal with dignity and respect. I've observed this at so many petting zoos, open farm days, pet stores and zoos that I'm fairly sure there's a correlation. there is also the phenomenon that Americans also show a tendency to assign gender to machines... if nothing else, being aware of the gender of your animals prevents certain awkwardnesses. like suddenly having ten rabbits instead of two. |
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Post by c64 on Jun 15, 2014 13:06:11 GMT
I haven't walked the pet of my nice often but I was asked twice what kind of dog it is... V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V Attachment Deleted |
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Post by the light works on Jun 15, 2014 13:40:28 GMT
that must be one of those 1/4 horses...  |
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Post by GTCGreg on Jun 15, 2014 14:32:58 GMT
that must be one of those 1/4 horses... No, Here's a quarter horse  |
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Post by c64 on Jun 15, 2014 16:03:14 GMT
that must be one of those 1/4 horses... More like 1/8 one. My mom's horse had stepped on her foot 50 years ago and she still suffers from this. I couldn't count how often my nice's horse had stepped on my feet and nothing bad had happened at all. It always steps on ones feet right before it probes your pockets with its cheeks. If there is something in your pockets, it presses harder on your foot and slips its tongue into your pocket. Really annoying! |
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Post by the light works on Jun 15, 2014 22:49:07 GMT
that must be one of those 1/4 horses... More like 1/8 one. My mom's horse had stepped on her foot 50 years ago and she still suffers from this. I couldn't count how often my nice's horse had stepped on my feet and nothing bad had happened at all. It always steps on ones feet right before it probes your pockets with its cheeks. If there is something in your pockets, it presses harder on your foot and slips its tongue into your pocket. Really annoying! no wonder people mistake it for a dog. |
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Post by rick4070 on Jun 16, 2014 21:50:06 GMT
Our highly intelligent Dalmatian Murphy: i195.photobucket.com/albums/z222/rick4070/dog005_zps28f3309e.jpgActually, he is really smart!!! The red collar is a GPS collar, that they use at the Doggy Day Camp we sometimes send him to, it is out in the country, the people have 80 acres, and have a whole bunch of dogs they exercise, and also get the dogs used to being around other dogs. I've never known them to "lose" a dog, or even have to track one down, still pretty good insurance, though... The Day Camp has really socialized Murphy, and he is great around other dogs, large or small. |
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Post by c64 on Jun 17, 2014 11:27:55 GMT
On the internet, you find a lot of amazing dog tricks. This one is real, the owner and his dog were even on TV:
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Post by OziRiS on Jun 18, 2014 19:29:16 GMT
Our highly intelligent Dalmatian Murphy: i195.photobucket.com/albums/z222/rick4070/dog005_zps28f3309e.jpgActually, he is really smart!!! The red collar is a GPS collar, that they use at the Doggy Day Camp we sometimes send him to, it is out in the country, the people have 80 acres, and have a whole bunch of dogs they exercise, and also get the dogs used to being around other dogs. I've never known them to "lose" a dog, or even have to track one down, still pretty good insurance, though... The Day Camp has really socialized Murphy, and he is great around other dogs, large or small. He looks like a fun guy  I bet those 80 acres are like heaven to him! I like the idea of the Doggy Day Camp that exercises and socializes dogs. I think that would be something for Bobby. He was attacked and nearly mauled by an out of control rottweiler about 5 years ago and he hasn't been the same around other dogs ever since. I never pressed any charges over the attack, since his injuries were more mental than physical and it was apparant when it happened that it wasn't the dog's fault. We were coming around a corner and could hear someone shouting. Turned out it was the owner of the rottweiler who was shouting at her dog, threatening her with a shovel and when Bobby came around the corner, she was startled and reacted instinctively. I know the rottweiler was a female because I'd actually come across her before at the dog park when she was with her male owner. There were never any problems with her when she was with him. Calm and quiet dog with a friendly nature about her, curious about the other dogs, but would rather play with her owner. That infernal woman pushed all the wrong buttons and made her jumpy and my little fuzzball was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. As soon as he started howling, it seemed like the rottweiler realized this was wrong and backed off again. She never got her teeth into him. Just knocked him over and growled fiercely, but that was enough to turn my little guy completely off other dogs, which is really sad because he used to love going to the dog park and have a couple of labs or retreivers chase him, then do a 90 degree turn when they got too close, brake and turn around to watch them continue in a straight line. Now he just cowers at my feet when we're at the park. |
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Post by rick4070 on Jun 19, 2014 15:40:19 GMT
Yes, the Doggy Day Camp is great, they even pick the dogs up in a bus, one of the short ones, each dog gets secured on their own seat.
Makes people do double takes when they see a bus pass by with a bunch of dog heads sticking out.
There is a creek to play in, old grown over logging roads, logged clear areas, and woods to play in.
Sorry about your traumatised dog, perhaps a good trainer might be able to help with the problem.
The Dalmatian we had before this one had a real problem with people getting to close mto whatever vehicle he was in, at first, he just would give a small woof if someone passed by close, just to let them know that he was on the job watching the car or truck.
He'd even do this with people he knew, people that he was really frienldy with when he was out of the car.
But, several different times, people would tease him, just to get him to bark more.
A couple of those times, I caught people doing that, and after a few choice words, they would leave.
We were in a restaurant one time, dog was in the truck, I saw a guy walk up to the truck and start teasing the dog, I bailed out of the restaraunt and confronted him, saying that if he wanted to see the dog close up, I'd be happy to open the truck door. (actually, if I had, the dog would have walked up to the guy and want to be petted, he only acted that way when he was in a vehicle.)
I also offered to give the guy a good butt whippin' but he ran to his car, got in, and peeled out of the parking lot.
I made the same offer to three teenaged boys that I caught teasing the dog, they didn't want me to open the truck door either, and didn't want to take me up on the offer of a butt whippin' either..
Our dog, after a few teasings like that, would bark a lot at people passing by until he was real old.
He lived 14 years, which is pretty old for a dog his size.
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Post by OziRiS on Jun 19, 2014 18:03:19 GMT
We've completely stopped taking Bobby to our son's school because of kids who think it's fun to provoke him while he's tied to a fence post. After repeatedly having told one kid in particular to stop it, I cut him loose one day and let him chase after the little turd. He wouldn't have done anything to him, which is the only reason I dared let him loose, but the kid didn't know that. You should've seen him run! It was SOOO funny!  |
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Post by alabastersandman on Dec 1, 2014 8:21:36 GMT
Attachment DeletedAttachment DeletedOh, "share your dog" never-mind, I was thinking this should be in "Recipes" Actually I am now dogless after over 14 years of having at least one. My Boxer mix got extremely sick and had to be put to sleep this last summer. Then about a month and a half later my German Shepard/Yellow Lab mix up and left, that's the dog that was over 14 years old. I was fiddling around with my lawn tractor in the lower garage (faces backyard), I looked out by the woods and she was just wandering across the backyard as she has done thousands of times before. About 10 minutes later I was closing things up, when I called for her she was just gone. I don't know if she saw something and wandered off after it (she never did before), or was she just old and senile and got lost, or did she go off to die? Apparently I will never know. I walked all through the woods and fields behind my house and never saw any sign of her. If it was aliens I hope they aren't probing her, she's old and a bit fragile. Although it might be better than being lost in the woods, there's a lot of them around here. If anyone has a better guess than "Boxer Mix" for the "Bronze" dog I'm open to hearing them. The vet asked me what kind of dog she was and that is the first thing that came to mind, so that is what he wrote down in her records.
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Post by watcher56 on Dec 1, 2014 19:07:13 GMT
We lost our 13 year old Shih Tzu "Mysti" to cancer last July. She was the sweetest little girl you could imagine, and fought the lung cancer for 2 years. We tried living without a dog, but that just wasn't who we were, so we adapted a Shih Tzu puppy, "Cassiopeia - Cassi", born 2 days after we lost the last one. She's a real sweetheart too.
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Post by the light works on Dec 1, 2014 19:19:10 GMT
Mrs TLW finally got to the point of demanding another dog, so now we have a border collie named Cricket added to the herd. and she is a bit of a spaz (in the behavioral sense of the word. we have her to the point she waits until you've poured the food into the bowl, and we have a special no gulp bowl that has stretched her feeding time from 3 seconds to thirty seconds.  but she isn't as much of a pest as the last spaz was - as I recall, she hasn't even put me in "make it go away" mode more than once or twice. - whereas the last one made it a normal part of his morning, and I couldn't just put him outside because he would dig. |
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Post by alabastersandman on Dec 2, 2014 4:09:49 GMT
We lost our 13 year old Shih Tzu "Mysti" to cancer last July. She was the sweetest little girl you could imagine, and fought the lung cancer for 2 years. We tried living without a dog, but that just wasn't who we were, so we adapted a Shih Tzu puppy, "Cassiopeia - Cassi", born 2 days after we lost the last one. She's a real sweetheart too. I am holding off on getting another dog until we get back from our trip, we will be gone overseas for six weeks and we don't want to take a puppy or any dog we are not totally familiar with traveling, much less traveling by air. |
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Post by alabastersandman on Dec 2, 2014 4:35:50 GMT
Mrs TLW finally got to the point of demanding another dog, so now we have a border collie named Cricket added to the herd. and she is a bit of a spaz (in the behavioral sense of the word. we have her to the point she waits until you've poured the food into the bowl, and we have a special no gulp bowl that has stretched her feeding time from 3 seconds to thirty seconds. but she isn't as much of a pest as the last spaz was - as I recall, she hasn't even put me in "make it go away" mode more than once or twice. - whereas the last one made it a normal part of his morning, and I couldn't just put him outside because he would dig. I'm not sure what kind of dog we will be getting. I kind of like the Australian Cattle Dog but they are probably a bit more high strung than my old butt wants to deal with. Something that doesn't shed would be nice too. If I found another Shepard/lab mix I'd probably get it in spite of all the shedding (didn't have particularly long hair but shed just the same), She was the best dog I've owned by a longshot. I never had to teach that dag anything, she was just good. She never jumped on anyone, she stayed off the furniture, even if you tried to get her on the couch. She was pottie trained when I got her and from there she just never did anything wrong. She wouldn't even bother me at the table until 7-8 years ago when my daughter started pushing food on the floor and then outright feeding her and eventually sugar at/from the table. After that she would sometimes look at us eating, however most often I could get het to go lay down with just a "look". She never in over 14 years pee's or crapped on my floor, even when she was routinely home by herself all day when I was doing pre-Christmas pool-table installations, often three tables a day. I was a little concerned about her rear hips given that she was part German Shepard but she never have even minor trouble with those until 13 1/5 years, I was about to buy her some shoes so that her legs wouldn't tend to slide out from under her on the laminate but then she started getting control back again. |
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Post by the light works on Dec 2, 2014 5:08:24 GMT
Mrs TLW finally got to the point of demanding another dog, so now we have a border collie named Cricket added to the herd. and she is a bit of a spaz (in the behavioral sense of the word. we have her to the point she waits until you've poured the food into the bowl, and we have a special no gulp bowl that has stretched her feeding time from 3 seconds to thirty seconds. but she isn't as much of a pest as the last spaz was - as I recall, she hasn't even put me in "make it go away" mode more than once or twice. - whereas the last one made it a normal part of his morning, and I couldn't just put him outside because he would dig. I'm not sure what kind of dog we will be getting. I kind of like the Australian Cattle Dog but they are probably a bit more high strung than my old butt wants to deal with. Something that doesn't shed would be nice too. If I found another Shepard/lab mix I'd probably get it in spite of all the shedding (didn't have particularly long hair but shed just the same), She was the best dog I've owned by a longshot. I never had to teach that dag anything, she was just good. She never jumped on anyone, she stayed off the furniture, even if you tried to get her on the couch. She was pottie trained when I got her and from there she just never did anything wrong. She wouldn't even bother me at the table until 7-8 years ago when my daughter started pushing food on the floor and then outright feeding her and eventually sugar at/from the table. After that she would sometimes look at us eating, however most often I could get het to go lay down with just a "look". She never in over 14 years pee's or crapped on my floor, even when she was routinely home by herself all day when I was doing pre-Christmas pool-table installations, often three tables a day. I was a little concerned about her rear hips given that she was part German Shepard but she never have even minor trouble with those until 13 1/5 years, I was about to buy her some shoes so that her legs wouldn't tend to slide out from under her on the laminate but then she started getting control back again. Bear was a shepherd mix, and he lost his hips at around 12 years. before then if he was stuck inside and had to go he would go in the bathtub. as far as shedding is concerned, you're looking at one of the three sizes of poodle, or at a Bichon - everything else sheds, and shorthaired dogs shed just as much as longhaired dogs. that's how it stays short. |
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Post by OziRiS on Dec 4, 2014 19:17:39 GMT
@watcher and Sandman:
Sorry to hear you lost your friends. That's always tough.
I'm starting to worry a little about Bobby these days. He'll be 9 on Dec 29th. He's been a little whiny the last couple of months and sometimes he doesn't want to go for walks. I can stand there and dangle his leash right in front of him and he barely glances at me. Other times he bounces around like a crazed puppy, so I can't really figure out what's going on with him. There doesn't seem to be anything physically out of the ordinary about him, so maybe he's just getting old...?
He did get a back injury about two years ago. His hind legs slipped on the doorwell when he tried to jump into the car and he twisted his back. We were afraid it was a slipped disc, but it turned out two of his vertibrae had actually been fused together for a while and were cracked apart again during the twist. It hurt like hell, but the vet gave us some painkillers to give him over the course of about a week and he was fine again. Well, I say fine, but he hasn't been the same since. He doesn't want to play as much anymore and I have this sneaking suspicion that it still hurts when he gets cold, which might be why he doesn't want to go out as much this time of the year.
Also, he's getting a little fat from the lack of movement. He isn't eating any more than he used to. He's actually eating less. But the change from bouncy puppy to old dog has really done a number on him. When he finally does get that little spark of bounce about him, he seems to really want to be that kind of dog again, but he gets exhausted quickly and has to give up. Makes me sad...
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Post by alabastersandman on Dec 5, 2014 6:07:32 GMT
@watcher and Sandman: Sorry to hear you lost your friends. That's always tough. I'm starting to worry a little about Bobby these days. He'll be 9 on Dec 29th. He's been a little whiny the last couple of months and sometimes he doesn't want to go for walks. I can stand there and dangle his leash right in front of him and he barely glances at me. Other times he bounces around like a crazed puppy, so I can't really figure out what's going on with him. There doesn't seem to be anything physically out of the ordinary about him, so maybe he's just getting old...? He did get a back injury about two years ago. His hind legs slipped on the doorwell when he tried to jump into the car and he twisted his back. We were afraid it was a slipped disc, but it turned out two of his vertibrae had actually been fused together for a while and were cracked apart again during the twist. It hurt like hell, but the vet gave us some painkillers to give him over the course of about a week and he was fine again. Well, I say fine, but he hasn't been the same since. He doesn't want to play as much anymore and I have this sneaking suspicion that it still hurts when he gets cold, which might be why he doesn't want to go out as much this time of the year. Also, he's getting a little fat from the lack of movement. He isn't eating any more than he used to. He's actually eating less. But the change from bouncy puppy to old dog has really done a number on him. When he finally does get that little spark of bounce about him, he seems to really want to be that kind of dog again, but he gets exhausted quickly and has to give up. Makes me sad... Thanks, I definitely miss them, never expected to lose both of them in such a short span. When your dog no longer wants to go for walks, something is definitely going on. For a few weeks when my Shep/Lab mix was having problems keeping her feet under her on the laminate I put some of those interlocking foam pads (like the ones made for a kids play area, red blue & yellow) down where she had to step down from the kitchen to the hallway. Until I did that she didn't want to go out through there. She would however go out the front door where there are three steps, the difference is those steps are concrete and she was comfortable with the grip she had. |
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Post by alabastersandman on Dec 5, 2014 6:08:51 GMT
I'm not sure what kind of dog we will be getting. I kind of like the Australian Cattle Dog but they are probably a bit more high strung than my old butt wants to deal with. Something that doesn't shed would be nice too. If I found another Shepard/lab mix I'd probably get it in spite of all the shedding (didn't have particularly long hair but shed just the same), She was the best dog I've owned by a longshot. I never had to teach that dag anything, she was just good. She never jumped on anyone, she stayed off the furniture, even if you tried to get her on the couch. She was pottie trained when I got her and from there she just never did anything wrong. She wouldn't even bother me at the table until 7-8 years ago when my daughter started pushing food on the floor and then outright feeding her and eventually sugar at/from the table. After that she would sometimes look at us eating, however most often I could get het to go lay down with just a "look". She never in over 14 years pee's or crapped on my floor, even when she was routinely home by herself all day when I was doing pre-Christmas pool-table installations, often three tables a day. I was a little concerned about her rear hips given that she was part German Shepard but she never have even minor trouble with those until 13 1/5 years, I was about to buy her some shoes so that her legs wouldn't tend to slide out from under her on the laminate but then she started getting control back again. Bear was a shepherd mix, and he lost his hips at around 12 years. before then if he was stuck inside and had to go he would go in the bathtub. as far as shedding is concerned, you're looking at one of the three sizes of poodle, or at a Bichon - everything else sheds, and shorthaired dogs shed just as much as longhaired dogs. that's how it stays short. Full size Poodles have been rated as one of the top ten dogs to own. I forget for certain but I think it came in at #2. They are very loyal, good with kids, protective but not to a fault, they aren't known to bark excessively, and as you pointed out, they don't shed. The Poodle is definitely on the list. |
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I bet those 80 acres are like heaven to him!
