I've always wanted a Jack Russell (the normal one, not the "type"), but I hear they're not the best pets. They may be cute as hell, but I need a dog that's somewhat well behaved and good with children (uh... for when I get around to having kids). My fiancee wants a Springer Spaniel (or one of those Bichon Frise fluffballs, to which I said a forceful "NO"). We'll probably end up getting the Spaniel. They're a good size for a dog, and I believe they're pretty well behaved (and good with kids). When it comes down to it, though, I just want a pet that'll display unconditional love. That's why I dislike cats. I grew up with nothing but Yorkshire Terriers. Adorable but spoiled rotten. They're like doggy JAPs...
I don't think much of your Mom for doing that....or anyone else for that matter. I'm sure she is a fine person but anyone who can just drive a long ways away and drop off a dog in the middle of nowhere and leave it.....has some coldness in their heart somewhere. That poor dog was abandoned. How cold is that? Especially after the dog(Snoopy) was your childhood pet. I think I would have kicked my Mom's butt if she did that. Hell, I gave my Mom a hard time for putting my childhood dog down without giving me a chance to say goodbye or anything. She just did it when I was out of town...and I made her feel bad about it. And, I knew she felt bad already. But, she shouldn't have just done it...especially since she knew how much it would affect me being that it was my childhood dog. If I did that to an animal, then I would feel guilt. I suspect most people would but some don't. I wonder how your Mom feels in retrospect. The dog possibly was run over, starved, or froze to death. The not knowing is the agony of it. It's like a missing person case...except it's your pet. Did she even try to relocate the animal with another family? Oh well...don't mean to pry or judge....but I hate endings like that. You can always hope the dog found a new home...I guess. Surf
Vescey - how big of a dog do you want? My recommedation would be for a rottie! Yup, these dogs are very loyal and my Jane is gentle with kids, puppies and cats, it's amazing how sweet she is. This would probably hold true with any dog, if raised from a pup and not left outside all day with no human contact. I think just leaving a dog outside all the time without giving it any love or letting it be with the family (read pack) is a terrible thing to do. We have plenty of neighbors who do this, they don't even walk the dog... sad, sad. I would suggest http://www.k9web.com/dog-faqs/ for info on different breeds... good luck rH
LOUSIANNA CATAHOULAS!!!!! Beautiful, colorful, spotted coon dawgs! They come in several colors, but mostly brown (known as Red Leopard) and Grey (Known as Blue leopard). Not a single catahoula is alike! I've got 2. One male blue leopard named Spooky. I got him at a Catahoula show in Louisianna from this Catahoula big Mamma named Sherry Bando. Her kennel is Camp-A-While Catahoulas Shes got about 30 or more personal dogs and they win all the competitions! At the bottom of the home page is the photo album link. Spooky is in there! Also got a female Red Leopard named Isis. Got her a few years later than Spooky at another catahoula show here in Texas. When she was a puppy, she jumped out of the back of my truck and injured her spinal column. She was partially paralyed for about 2 months. I had to carry her outside to poop & pee, she could hardly walk. Shes recovered fine and is the main trouble maker now! She is also the hunter of the two. She kills, mice, rats, birds, and SQUIRELLS! I think I've posted a pic of her before with her latest prized squirell catch. P.S. they'd both love to eat a cat but haven't caught one yet. If you ever get a catahoula, just remember they need room to run. They are used in herding cattle, wild pigs, and finding those coons in the trees...so you see they love to run! www.baydog.com http://catahoula.net
I am now onto my third Chihuahua, named Nikki, female obviously. She is a toy chihuahua.....the first toy I have had. I love these dogs. They are very smart. fun, and extremely affectionate. They are very territorial and make good watch dogs (for barking only, they are not attack dogs for obvious reasons). In the past I have had a blonde Cocker Spaniel named Pudge (male). I like Cockers as well. I have had a Schnauzer named Patches, female. Great dog, but a little loud. I have had a male black lab named Barkley. Great name, not so great dog. Otherwise, I have had birds of all sorts, fish, a cat (I hate cats), and even various reptiles and hermit crabs. I am a sucker for animals and always take in strays, give them food, or medical care if needed, and try to get them back to their owners. In the past I have found dogs that have been abandoned or dropped off, and I usually try to find homes for them with co-workers or friends. I hate shelters.
we have a basset hound too he's name is snoopy and he is the cutest thing alive when other pepole look at him they think he is indifrent because the look on his face and the red in his eyes but once you get to know him and his kind you get the feeling that they are humen-beings trapped in the wirdest body.
I have never figured out why exceptionally attractive women own the ugliest, narelyest, snotty beasts (pugs, Shar-Peis (sp?), Bulldog types (French, English, Boston Terriors). Maybe it is a sectret test to potential suitors, they figure if you can love their runt the relationship is based on more than physical attraction
Great thread. I love labrador retrievers. Boring, I know, but there is a reason they are so common .... rH ... Jane looks like a sweetheart ... cool page DREAMer ... your story made me all verklempft ... if someone tried to poison one of my dogs I think I would be pounding license plates .... don't f***with my dogs or my kids .... Surfguy ... maybe your Mom didn't have a choice (I hope so anyway) ... I had to put my 12 year old lab down this summer while my kids were at camp ... I didn't have any choice, as she was having seizures ... my kids were heartbroken and my 9 year old boy slept with the dogs' bowl in his bed for two weeks (ouch) ... he also asked me if we could stuff her head , but she had already been cremated .... mr_oily ... one of my favorite dogs (belonged to my best friend) was a cross between a Catahoula and a Lousiana Coon dog ... named Cain (his brother Abel died as a pup) ... Cain was a working ranch dog and the bravest animal (man or beast) I have ever known ... one time we sent him in to break up a bullfight between two very large Beefmaster bulls because they were tearing up the pen ... Cain grabbed one bull by the ear and when that bull turned on Cain the other bull smashed the first bull into a fence gate, ending the fight ... the fence gate, which was made of some kind of expensive superduper steel, was twisted like a pretzel and it took running over it with a tractor to straighten it out ... cats were in grave danger around Cain ... he killed many, other than the ranch cat Tigger, who would eat out of Cain's bowl ... Cain was the only dog I have ever seen climb a tree (ok, it wasn't quite vertical, but it was close) .... That's all I know.
the most beautiful girl in the world is my 15 week old puppy, Pisces. She's an American Water Spaniel. Smart, comical, loves the water, loves to retrieve, full of personality, very loving....but she's a handful.
Man this is such a gloomy thread for me. My dog of 15 years, Blazer, died yesterday of old age while no one was at home. She was a Wiemeriner. We have a younger one that is seven and she is totally lost on what happened. She cries because she can't find Blazer. They are both the same breed, so they were like mother and daughter type close. I will really miss her. To get our mind off of her, do you guys think it is a good idea to press my parents for another one?? I kind of think it will be undervaluing what she meant. What dou y'all think??????
That next one never replaces the previous one, but will provide a new spirit and energy to your home. Sounds a little soon for you and your other dog to take in another one IMO.
Stevierebel ... so sorry man. My lab that I put down in August was named Blaze and sometimes I called her Blaze R. (all of my pets have the middle initial R. for reasons I don't even remember). As far as getting a new pup, I can't really say what is right for you. Just remember that what is right for you might not be right for the rest of your family. In my case, my kids were ready for another pup right away, but it took me awhile and we now have a deposit down for a new pup. I watched ALOT of movies (comedies) for a while. If you do decide to get a new pup right away, I don't think it is at all disrespectful of your old dog, in fact it is nothing but a compliment. Good luck.
I wanted to respond earlier than this, but believe it or not, I have been tied up. Crisco, DREAMer, and StevieRebel, reading your stories broke my heart. It's amazing how much an animal can mean to you. My advice for Stevie would be not to do a knee-jerk reaction. I would continue to see how your 7 year-old reacts to being the only dog in the household. If she continues to struggle by herself, then I would without hesitation, get another dog. rockHEAD, I hate to hear that your Cocker has been abused. That sucks that someone would be that low and cruel to an animal, especially a loving animal like a Cocker. The pictures were great. Desert Scar, I will probably plan on trying to have an outdoor dog for now. I do feel that you develop a closer relationship with a dog when they are a house dog (I'll explain that later). I know a lot of people feel that a mutt is the best type of dog to have..my sister and her husband have one. However, I always for some reason, wanted a purebreed. I don't live in Houston, but in southern Middle Tennessee (about an hour south of Nashville). I would say that the climate is somewhat similar to Houston but more like Atlanta. Other than a collie, what would you think would be the best outdoor purebreeds to get factoring in cost of buying the dog, pros and cons, etc. I still would like to have a Cocker, but from my experiences, it's better to train a Cocker to be a house dog. Okay, let me tell you some more about my experiences. When I was 4, my parents got a blonde cocker, who they oddly enough named Rocket. He was named after the local Junior High School that my dad taught at, not our Rockets. Rocket wasn't the brightest of dogs, but my family didn't do a great job in making sure that Rocket got all the necessary attention he needed. Think of the Simpsons' dog, Santa's Little Helper, and you get the idea of what little attention he received. I'm still ashamed to admit that today, but it happened. When Rocket was about 8, he seemed very sluggish, and we feared that heartworms were giving him problems. Little did we realize that he had cancer. The vet recommended to us to go ahead and put him to sleep. We didn't want to see Rocket suffer, so we did. My mother cried that entire day. About a year or so later, we got our next blonde cocker, Duke. Duke was way smarter than Rocket, and I was a lot closer to him than I was with Rocket. Duke, however, was very agressive around other people, and we always worried that he was going to bite someone. When we moved to our new house (my parent's current house) right before my senior year in highs school, we knew that we couldn't keep Duke. Just like Rocket, he was raised on being an outdoor dog, and now that we had a deck, the area where we were going to keep him was too far away. Add to the fact that both my parents were still working, and you can see that Duke wasn't getting the necessary attention, either. One of the hardest things that my dad ever had to do was give Duke away. He gave him to a guy he worked with who would make sure that Duke would get the attention he deserved. We were all heartbroken when Duke left, and my mother cried (again) all day. It would be almost 5 years before they would get another dog. This dog was a Cocker, too, and he was not blonde, but a black and white or parti-colored. I'm came up with his name..Rex..which of course is Latin for King. Rex is just as smart or even smarter than Duke, and he is now 5 years old. He was trained from the very beginning by my father to be an inside dog, and it has made a world of difference! We all feel closer to Rex than we ever did to Rocket or Duke. When Rex was over a year old, he broke his hip in an accident with a vehicle. I'll never forget coming home from work (I was still living with my parents at the time) one day, and seeing my parents with deathly-grim looks on their faces. They told me what happened to Rex and I started crying. Even my father, who's pretty good at containing his emotions, was visibly upset. The good news is that Rex came through this surgery fine, but a side effect of the accident is that he will have seizures periodically and it tears our whole family up when it happens. My dad is so attached to Rex that he has said and has been serious that he wants Rex stuffed when he dies. I don't think that my mother would let him do this. Sorry to go on and on but Rex has been an important part of my family's life. I was hoping to show a picture of him, but I can't figure out how to convert this image of him to a JPEG file. Oh well.
Manny, I have a male Norwegian Elkhound and a female German Shepherd mix (probably Collie/Yellow Lab in there), both are fixed. They both are great dogs, totally different. The Elkhound is very, very smart, and does much better if he has to spend some time by himself than the Shepherd (one of the main reasons we originally got him). On the other hand, he is more stubborn, feisty (doesn’t back down from bigger dogs) and independent--if you take him off lease he will dart off looking for Moose (good luck finding one in the desert right?). We got him before we moved to Arizona, but he actually does pretty well in the heat (on really hot days we have him stay inside though). Our mix is very smart too, but the difference is she was born to please you. She has been always very easy to handle because of this. In terms of pure breeds, it is hard to go wrong in terms of smartness and trainability with a German. There is a reason they are often police, search and rescue, seeing eye, and other kids of working dogs. With many of the large pure breeds, German’s included, you have to watch for hip trouble though. I think retrievers (Goldens, Labs) usually have really good dispositions as well, but they are so socially oriented even relative to other dogs, they do not handle being alone as well but are fantastic around a very active home IMO. Elkhounds are very good dogs, they are not easy to find, my understanding of the behavior of mine is pretty typical (smart, but somewhat independent for a dog). We had thought about an Aussie or Border Collie also, both real smart, very social, but very hyper/energetic. I would get them over a Spaniel, Beagle or most other hounds (which also tend to be hyper, but in my mind less smart/trainable than those two). I am not a fan of Terriers at all. Now that I am in the desert and like hiking if I got a new pure bread dog (I would probably get a mutt though) I might get a Ridgeback if I was looking at a larger one or an Australian Cattle Dog (not to be confused with an Aussie, this one is also known as the Blue Heeler). Just 1 guy’s opinion.
I'm sorry to hear about that too! Take some time to get over it first, your other doggie too. I've gone through many a puppy and dog deaths, not a good thing, but all you do is value what they meant to you and time moves on. You really should get another puppy one day when you guys are ready. Maybe even another breed so as not to get in too close to Blazers memory. Hope all your doggie family are doing well!
my dog(family pet) is 8 yrs old new years day, she is a very adorable lhasa apso and wouldnt hurt a fly, i miss her since im up in austin for college but she always remembers me when i come home
My dog....Coney the wonder dog....A Dachshund, black and tan. I have had a number of dogs in my life, but never one like this one. He is asleep at my feet right now. He is a great watch dog, hates everyone who comes to the door. Very smart a funny little dog but he is the King in his own eyes. This has been enjoyable reading all of y'alls posts, everyone loves their dogs. Good topic.
I like my friends ball python. He does strike and bite, seldomly, but the bite feels like a wet fingernail gently gliding across your skin so it's not bad at all but the snake is only 18 inches (1.5 feet) long so I'm sure his bite will pack a worse punch when he gets bigger. I would get one if my sister wasn't so terrified of them.
