|
|
Post by the light works on Dec 5, 2014 15:18:25 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... there could also be the memory of the results of the slip. |
|
|
|
Post by OziRiS on Dec 5, 2014 19:08:38 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... there could also be the memory of the results of the slip. There is. He used to jump into the car by himself, but after the slip I have to lift him in 9 times out of 10. That one out of ten times he jumps in himself, it's usually because he's heard the word "grampa" and can't wait to go. He loves his grampa  |
|
|
|
Post by OziRiS on Dec 5, 2014 19:10:17 GMT
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. If you do get a poodle, make sure you have the time to train with it, or it can get bored and start doing weird stuff. They're incredibly intelligent (the most intelligent of all breeds, if you're to believe the research) and need to be challenged on a regular basis. |
|
|
|
Post by kharnynb on Dec 6, 2014 21:14:27 GMT
I really like labradors as well, my father-in-law has a lovely gentle giant of one that we often babysit, but they are large dogs and they make a mess with their constant individual hairs shedding...
I love our keeshond, she's cute as a button, a good mid-sized dog and very good with strangers as well as most other dogs.
|
|
|
|
Post by the light works on Dec 7, 2014 0:18:14 GMT
I really like labradors as well, my father-in-law has a lovely gentle giant of one that we often babysit, but they are large dogs and they make a mess with their constant individual hairs shedding... I love our keeshond, she's cute as a button, a good mid-sized dog and very good with strangers as well as most other dogs. here, labs are what those rednecks who don't have pit bulls have. they are usually not aggressive, but they are typically rambunctious and overly friendly for my liking. |
|
|
|
Post by OziRiS on Dec 7, 2014 22:50:44 GMT
I really like labradors as well, my father-in-law has a lovely gentle giant of one that we often babysit, but they are large dogs and they make a mess with their constant individual hairs shedding... I love our keeshond, she's cute as a button, a good mid-sized dog and very good with strangers as well as most other dogs. here, labs are what those rednecks who don't have pit bulls have. they are usually not aggressive, but they are typically rambunctious and overly friendly for my liking. I'll take an overly friendly lab over an overly aggressive mini dog any day |
|
|
|
Post by the light works on Dec 7, 2014 23:07:27 GMT
here, labs are what those rednecks who don't have pit bulls have. they are usually not aggressive, but they are typically rambunctious and overly friendly for my liking. I'll take an overly friendly lab over an overly aggressive mini dog any day True, but I'll take a well behaved dog of another breed over both. |
|
|
|
Post by GTCGreg on Dec 8, 2014 4:19:34 GMT
I'll take an overly friendly lab over an overly aggressive mini dog any day I'll take almost anything over one of those yapper mini's. We've had quite a few dogs over my lifetime, all large, but my favorites were the three Husky's and the Akita that we had (not all at the same time). The first Husky we got about two years before my son was born. He died when my son was 9. My son and that dog had some kind of weird supernatural bonding that I will never even begin to understand. |
|
|
|
Post by the light works on Dec 8, 2014 4:37:03 GMT
I've met a few well behaved minis, but very few. my list of banned dogs includes Chew-uauas, shi*-tzus, pughs, all smaller terrors, labs & pits (on general principles) cockers (inbred to the point of being inherently defective) and miniature greyhounds.
|
|
|
|
Post by kharnynb on Dec 8, 2014 5:04:44 GMT
most small dogs seem to have either serious breeding defects, especially in the nose area, or behavioral issues.
Pits are all over the place, one of our neighbors has a staff. mix that is our dogs best friend, but the race attracts its (un)fair share of moron owners.
|
|
|
|
Post by the light works on Dec 8, 2014 5:08:25 GMT
most small dogs seem to have either serious breeding defects, especially in the nose area, or behavioral issues. Pits are all over the place, one of our neighbors has a staff. mix that is our dogs best friend, but the race attracts its (un)fair share of moron owners. and that is what the general principles are about. I've met some labs and pits I liked - but I'd prefer not to be categorized in with the kind of people that get in the news for their pits. |
|
|
|
Post by silverdragon on Dec 8, 2014 9:21:24 GMT
I am working on the car in the front of our house, the gates are locked, so the dog is running about out there chasing his own shadow.
By pure coincidence, I am talking to the wife, about my Friend, I say the name of my friends dog, who is our doge "Best mate"....
My dog runs up, wagging the tail furiously, and jumps in the back of the car, assuming the position of "We going somewhere".....
|
|
|
|
Post by silverdragon on Dec 8, 2014 9:37:25 GMT
On the subject of Pit Bulls and Staffordshire pits, there has been a fashion about these parts for them to be common dogs.
More than half the dogs you see are Pits of some kind or another...
I cant see why.
They aint the most good looking dog....
Sure some of them are pretty tame, but, the thinking behind "Hard Man want Hard Dog", many are bought up pretty nasty.
I do not like the breed.
On a visit to the local dogs home a few years back, the majority of larger dogs in there were pit-bull type dog.
I have a liking for Jack Russel terriers, ... "Trip hounds" as they are known around here...
They all have individual characters, and they are happy being a dog?...
But apart from that, I meet many small dogs, smaller than your average house cat, who have a problem being a dog, in that they want to attack everything.
Someone I know keeps Yorkshire terriers... one of them has to be locked away when I go, because it hates men.
It hates men of all kind.
I think its territorial....
Trouble is, its small yappy and annoying...
Keeping it locked up is for its own good.
The owner knows I dislike it after it tried to bite me one time, she is used to it.
I just want to kick some sense of respect into it?...
I am no threat to it, so why does it take the "I wanna fight" attitude to me?..
I am happy that she keeps ALL of her dogs locked in the kitchen when she has visitors.
For me, encouraging that kind of behaviour is a bad thing.
On that respect, I dislike in general all small yappy ankle biter kind of dogs.
In GENERAL... That is I do not say to all people I hate your dog because its small, I say that I personally would not choose to keep small dogs, because that is my choice when it comes to what dog I keep?...
And ANYTHING that gets put in a handbag?... thats just plain nasty, cruelty, let it be a dog and run around.
I prefer a dog that has a kind placid nature, one of size, one that cant hide behind a box of tissues and snap at your ankles.
For me, a Collie dog is about the right size, bigger is better.
|
|
|
|
Post by the light works on Dec 8, 2014 15:23:55 GMT
On the subject of Pit Bulls and Staffordshire pits, there has been a fashion about these parts for them to be common dogs. More than half the dogs you see are Pits of some kind or another... I cant see why. They aint the most good looking dog.... Sure some of them are pretty tame, but, the thinking behind "Hard Man want Hard Dog", many are bought up pretty nasty. I do not like the breed. On a visit to the local dogs home a few years back, the majority of larger dogs in there were pit-bull type dog. I have a liking for Jack Russel terriers, ... "Trip hounds" as they are known around here... They all have individual characters, and they are happy being a dog?... But apart from that, I meet many small dogs, smaller than your average house cat, who have a problem being a dog, in that they want to attack everything. Someone I know keeps Yorkshire terriers... one of them has to be locked away when I go, because it hates men. It hates men of all kind. I think its territorial.... Trouble is, its small yappy and annoying... Keeping it locked up is for its own good. The owner knows I dislike it after it tried to bite me one time, she is used to it. I just want to kick some sense of respect into it?... I am no threat to it, so why does it take the "I wanna fight" attitude to me?.. I am happy that she keeps ALL of her dogs locked in the kitchen when she has visitors. For me, encouraging that kind of behaviour is a bad thing. On that respect, I dislike in general all small yappy ankle biter kind of dogs. In GENERAL... That is I do not say to all people I hate your dog because its small, I say that I personally would not choose to keep small dogs, because that is my choice when it comes to what dog I keep?... And ANYTHING that gets put in a handbag?... thats just plain nasty, cruelty, let it be a dog and run around. I prefer a dog that has a kind placid nature, one of size, one that cant hide behind a box of tissues and snap at your ankles. For me, a Collie dog is about the right size, bigger is better. there are problems with bigger: my parents just told us they are shopping for a new minivan, and they offered to let us have their old one to use until the wheels fall off. the caveat there being that they wouldn't be buying a new one if they didn't expect the wheels to fall off the old one fairly soon. the consideration is that we don't know how many years we have until the wheels fall off, and it is at least twice as close to the ground as Mrs. TLW's pickup seats. this is significant when one dog weighs 140# and is getting to the age that jumping is more difficult. |
|
|
|
Post by GTCGreg on Dec 8, 2014 15:44:12 GMT
there are problems with bigger: my parents just told us they are shopping for a new minivan, and they offered to let us have their old one to use until the wheels fall off. the caveat there being that they wouldn't be buying a new one if they didn't expect the wheels to fall off the old one fairly soon. the consideration is that we don't know how many years we have until the wheels fall off, and it is at least twice as close to the ground as Mrs. TLW's pickup seats. this is significant when one dog weighs 140# and is getting to the age that jumping is more difficult. Maybe they just feel that you should have the old van because you know how to put wheels back on when they fall off. |
|
|
|
Post by the light works on Dec 8, 2014 15:58:52 GMT
there are problems with bigger: my parents just told us they are shopping for a new minivan, and they offered to let us have their old one to use until the wheels fall off. the caveat there being that they wouldn't be buying a new one if they didn't expect the wheels to fall off the old one fairly soon. the consideration is that we don't know how many years we have until the wheels fall off, and it is at least twice as close to the ground as Mrs. TLW's pickup seats. this is significant when one dog weighs 140# and is getting to the age that jumping is more difficult. Maybe they just feel that you should have the old van because you know how to put wheels back on when they fall off. no. they would only get a few hundred out of it in trade-in value, so letting us have it could save us more money in fuel than they are losing on the trade in. and they made us promise not to waste our mechanic's time trying to fix the gremlins he has already been unable to fix. |
|
|
|
Post by OziRiS on Dec 9, 2014 15:56:40 GMT
most small dogs seem to have either serious breeding defects, especially in the nose area, or behavioral issues. Pits are all over the place, one of our neighbors has a staff. mix that is our dogs best friend, but the race attracts its (un)fair share of moron owners. And there's your problem! Stupid owners! As SD said, these breeds tend to attract big, muscular dunces who just want a dog that looks mean and scary. And what happens? These dunces train their dogs to be mean and scary and before you know it, the breed is outlawed. Sure... Blame the dog for having a complete idiot for an owner... Back when I got Bobby, almost 9 years ago (holy crap, I'm getting old!), his best dog friend in the whole world was a rottweiler/mastiff puppy named Chucky. One of the sweetest dogs I ever met! But that was because my neighbor who owned him knew how to train him and didn't want a scary dog. He just liked Chucky's personality when he first met him and decided that was the dog he wanted. No other motives. Chucky might as well have been a yorkie, a dachshund or a greyhound, as long as he'd had the same personality. My point is this: Don't outlaw the breed. If you know it's a breed that can cause problems if not trained and handled correctly, then make training of both dog and owner mandatory by law. Don't kill off an entire breed just because the humans are stupid. You can't blame the dog for that, so it's not fair that the dog has to pay the price. |
|
|
|
Post by watcher56 on Dec 10, 2014 4:05:23 GMT
Cassi, our Shih Tzu puppy, thinks she's a big dog. She holds her own with the big dogs in her training class and puppy socials. Never yet bit my ankles.
|
|
|
|
Post by silverdragon on Dec 10, 2014 9:02:43 GMT
I say outlaw the breed, and then outlaw the owners, and then outlaw the potential owners who want an outlawed breed.
You have to outlaw the breed to stop the idiots who will ignore the law on being a sensible owner.
Once its outlawed, you can remove the dog there and then and no ones "Rights" get infringed.
You cant fix stupid... remember that bit of advice?... well, you cant, and for every sensible owner, you will find at least 10 stupid twonka's who need a good dose of kick up the back side.
Those who will fight for their rights to be stupid.
The majority have spoiled it for a few.
Anything that becomes "Popular" gets its detractors.
I want pure breed Wolf. A whole pack.
Mainly because I see them in family groups and they are so social, you wouldnt believe it...
But they are outlawed because we see them as a threat...
Well, sort of yes, they are...
They protect Family, and territory, if you try being a threat to them, they will rip your bloody throat out?...
But get to know them, get accepted as part of the pack, stop trying to be an owner an start trying to be part of their family, and they will protect you.
I see it as part of my duty as a Human to protect them from the outside world, so if I ever "Win the lottery", I will dedicate a large fenced off area of a remote woodland to them as their home and just let them be wild, as a preservation thing.
|
|
|
|
Post by the light works on Dec 10, 2014 15:08:11 GMT
I say outlaw the breed, and then outlaw the owners, and then outlaw the potential owners who want an outlawed breed. You have to outlaw the breed to stop the idiots who will ignore the law on being a sensible owner. Once its outlawed, you can remove the dog there and then and no ones "Rights" get infringed. You cant fix stupid... remember that bit of advice?... well, you cant, and for every sensible owner, you will find at least 10 stupid twonka's who need a good dose of kick up the back side. Those who will fight for their rights to be stupid. The majority have spoiled it for a few. Anything that becomes "Popular" gets its detractors. I want pure breed Wolf. A whole pack. Mainly because I see them in family groups and they are so social, you wouldnt believe it... But they are outlawed because we see them as a threat... Well, sort of yes, they are... They protect Family, and territory, if you try being a threat to them, they will rip your bloody throat out?... But get to know them, get accepted as part of the pack, stop trying to be an owner an start trying to be part of their family, and they will protect you. I see it as part of my duty as a Human to protect them from the outside world, so if I ever "Win the lottery", I will dedicate a large fenced off area of a remote woodland to them as their home and just let them be wild, as a preservation thing. in the US, there is a requirement that a person who wants animals that are not commonly used as pets in the US to get an "exotic pet" license. ironically, this includes almost any animal native to North America. |
|
