The Dog Lover Thread

[LA Ute]

On a lighter note:

"How the wet-dog shake gets mammals dry in no time flat"

There’s a certain expression a wet dog wears as it trots up to you, a kind of gleam in the eye that says, “I’m about to shake so vigorously that in a mere 4 seconds, 70 percent of the water in my fur will fly off of my coat and on to you.”

But the wet-dog shake, though it’s an annoyance to us, may be a survival technique to dogs. The water that sticks to a mammal’s fur can lower its body temperature, causing hypothermia, so it behooves wild animals to get rid of all that water as quickly and efficiently as possible.

To find out just how efficient the wet-dog method is, researchers from the Hu lab at Georgia Tech filmed 33 different wet zoo mammals from rats to kangaroos to lions and tigers and bears (oh yes) with high-speed cameras and analyzed the motion of their bodies, skin, and fur. Their research was first published back in 2010, but their latest study, published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, improves their mathematical model of the wet-dog shake and reveals how much force the furballs can generate. (The paper is not yet online; we will provide a link when it becomes available.)

Dogs shake with a characteristic oscillation, twisting their bodies from side to side at a set frequency to generate so much centripetal force that water droplets go flying. The shaking animals observed in this study generated forces 10 to 70 times greater than gravity, a feat that was easier for the larger mammals.

[YOUTUBE]AFzWJ6P2iyY&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/YOUTUBE]

[Babs]

Our family dog, Tucker, an almost 10 year old Golden Retriever is dying.

His appetite has crashed the past week, eating very little.

Our Golden is really starting to show her age, too. She's hardly eating and looks awful. I hate to take her to the doctor because I don't want to know what's wrong.

[wuapinmon]

From across the street, I watched a mom last night set her kid down next to her car while she got her dog and put it on a leash. The kid ran out into traffic and the mom didn't drop the leash and lunge after her child. The cars stopped and the child was safe, but, man.

[LA Ute]

Our Golden is really starting to show her age, too. She's hardly eating and looks awful. I hate to take her to the doctor because I don't want to know what's wrong.

That's tough. I know the feeling. What I learned this last time around is that it's better to know because there are very good, inexpensive palliative medications that can help the dog feel better at least.

From across the street, I watched a mom last night set her kid down next to her car while she got her dog and put it on a leash. The kid ran out into traffic and the mom didn't drop the leash and lunge after her child. The cars stopped and the child was safe, but, man.

Yep. Some people have difficulty making important distinctions.

[marsupial]

Another thought that you probably will not like, but what about a Standard Poodle. Just don't groom it like the ones on the dog shows. High energy. Large. Can be protective/guardian like. Tolerant of kids and guests. Don't shed. Get a black one.

We just got a standard poodle puppy. Personally, I think poodles are ugly. But this pup is growing on me. She loves our kids. She follows them around and wants to be wherever they are. Apparently, standard poodles really bond with the whole family, not just one person like their yappy, purse-sized counterparts.

We had a greyhound for 7 months. He bit my 4-year-old in the face, so we returned him to the rescue organization. Maybe someday when the kids are older, I'll get another greyhound. Until then, I am loving how playful this little puffball.

Also, I have a friend who runs with their standard poodle and the dog really loves it. When our dog is full grown, I'll probably start running with her, too.

[LA Ute]

We just got a standard poodle puppy. Personally, I think poodles are ugly. But this pup is growing on me. She loves our kids. She follows them around and wants to be wherever they are. Apparently, standard poodles really bond with the whole family, not just one person like their yappy, purse-sized counterparts.

We had a greyhound for 7 months. He bit my 4-year-old in the face, so we returned him to the rescue organization. Maybe someday when the kids are older, I'll get another greyhound. Until then, I am loving how playful this little puffball.

Also, I have a friend who runs with their standard poodle and the dog really loves it. When our dog is full grown, I'll probably start running with her, too.

Everyone I've ever known who had a standard poodle loved the dog and the breed. They're quite smart, too, I understand. Have fun.

[San Juan Sun]

We couldn't get this pit bull:



So we got this one:



Hard to get a good picture of this little guy. He is a little more camera shy than his namesake. Actually, we named him "Oso".

The kids love him, my wife tolerates him (he already made a deposit on the laundry room floor). Funny thing is, he loves my wife, he's been sitting on her lap all afternoon.

[TripletDaddy]

pit bull

That is a no-go for me. Every pit bull that ever killed a baby started out looking like that. Same with rottweilers.

It does look like a cool puppy though

[San Juan Sun]

pit bull

That is a no-go for me. Every pit bull that ever killed a baby started out looking like that. Same with rottweilers.

It does look like a cool puppy though

We spent a fair amount of time looking at the mother (very nice temperament), and the litter as a whole. He was the mellow one.

While I don't think anyone should get a dog like this (PB, Rottie, Doberman, German Shepherd, Akita, etc.) cavalierly, if raised properly you can obviously modulate for good behavior. And he's not a full PB, which is supposed to help avoid undue aggressiveness. At least these are the things I tell myself.

[TripletDaddy]

We spent a fair amount of time looking at the mother (very nice temperament), and the litter as a whole. He was the mellow one.

While I don't think anyone should get a dog like this (PB, Rottie, Doberman, German Shepherd, Akita, etc.) cavalierly, if raised properly you can obviously modulate for good behavior. And he's not a full PB, which is supposed to help avoid undue aggressiveness. At least these are the things I tell myself.

hopefully you aren't as tasty in real life as you seem to be online. Especially after smoking delicious meats on the Yoder.

Sleep with one eye open...gripping your pillow tight!

[Babs]

pit bull

That is a no-go for me. Every pit bull that ever killed a baby started out looking like that. Same with rottweilers.

It does look like a cool puppy though

I honestly thought SJ must be trolling. I wonder how much pit bull damage ERCoug has seen.

[San Juan Sun]

I honestly thought SJ must be trolling. I wonder how much pit bull damage ERCoug has seen.

I'm not sure why you think I'm trolling.

[Babs]

I'm not sure why you think I'm trolling.

I don't know. I guess "I bought my kids a pit bull" just seems like something somebody would post on CB to get a reaction.

[San Juan Sun]

I don't know. I guess "I bought my kids a pit bull" just seems like something somebody would post on CB to get a reaction.

That's a good idea.

[FN Phat]

The dog "will maul, slash and kill things to death!" That was the reaction that I got when I tried to get a pit bull pup. I have always wanted one. I love the breed. Very loyal and loving animals, when raised correctly.

Did you fall in love with the breed when you were in Motown?