The Dog Lover Thread

[LA Ute]

I do love a good dog. I'm looking for a germshep right now. I don't want it inside the house.

Fair enough. We are "dogs in the house as long as they behave" people, but I know not everyone's like that.

[TripletDaddy]

Good summary haha. Any dog that doesn't shed doesn't meet criteria 3 & 5.


I'd say a maltese is a good dog for you, but you have to keep it groomed. Unfortunately, the dogs that don't shed, are hypo-allergenic, behave, and smell nice when you bathe them can't groom and bathe themselves. Also, they may fit in a purse, which I'm not sure what the downfall of that is.

I'm not into tiny dogs. If they are too small, they make annoying sounds and they are more prone to wear clothing, which is an absolute deal killer for me. I'm not putting sweaters or boots on my dog and I'm not buying an airplane ticket for my dog. My dog can ride in the cargo hold along with the luggage and cadavers...and that is assuming I feel like taking my dog anywhere with me when I leave town.

I have done several of those online dog breed questionnaires. The dogs that are allegedly good matches for me often have long hair, not necessarily long facial hair. I was surprised to learn that many long haired dogs dont shed, which is ironic (correct usage).

I just took the Animal Planet dog breed quiz and again, one of the top breeds was a Water Dog. An American Water Spaniel. What is it with Water Dogs?This is the picture of an American Water Spaniel from the Animal Planet questionnaire website:



lol. that dog looks like a complete burnout. You can tell that the dog lacks mad skills. It can't dunk. It can't ollie. If dogs were people, this dog would be still be working at 7-11 a year after high school graduation. The hair on the top of his head reminds me of Don Flamenco from Mike Tyson's Punch Out, after a round of getting pummeled by Little Mac. I'm not down with Water Dogs.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I want that dog on "The Artist". Saving my life would be a bonus.

[TripletDaddy]

I want that dog on "The Artist". Saving my life would be a bonus.

Uggie is rad. He is a JRT. The problem with JRTs is that they are destructive as all get out. They will dig you out of house and home and are constantly destroying stuff. The cool thing about Jack Russells is that they apparently can act, as evidenced by The Artist, and, to a lesser extent, Wishbone.

[MarkGrace]

lol. that dog looks like a complete burnout. You can tell that the dog lacks mad skills. It can't dunk. It can't ollie. If dogs were people, this dog would be still be working at 7-11 a year after high school graduation. The hair on the top of his head reminds me of Don Flamenco from Mike Tyson's Punch Out, after a round of getting pummeled by Little Mac. I'm not down with Water Dogs.

haha. Totally looks like a burnout. That thing would destroy a bag of cheetos.

[PaloAltoCougar]

DDD, I shared many of your concerns, and our Bichon Frise (Louie, so named because the Kingsmen were working their magic on the oldies station as I drove him home from the breeder) fit the bill. A little on the small size (20 pounds or so), but a truly great dog. Very rarely barked, and never yipped or sniveled. Hypoallergenic and very minimal shedding (my wife kept reading that some dogs like Bichons have hair rather than fur, and thus don't shed, but this makes little sense to me). We never clothed him, except once at Christmas I put a Santa suit on him. He wandered around our Christmas party with a look that said, "I'm going to kill him." That was it.

He loved people, and liked nothing more than to sit next to whomever was reading or watching tv.

Biggest drawback? Probably the monthly hair maintenance which cost far more than mine, but worth it to avoid the poofy Bichon look that some people love but I find a bit too precious.

Coolest feature? The Bichon Buzz, when for about sixty seconds they go crazy, running hyperfast in a large circle as if the world is coming to an end. We'd channel that into the Louie Launch in which one person would hold him while another would tempt and taunt him, then run off and hide. Louie would act like Curly when Pop Goes the Weasel came on, running in place frenetically until he got finally got traction (very cartoonlike) then searching feverishly for the now long gone temptress.

[Commando]

DDD, I shared many of your concerns, and our Bichon Frise (Louie, so named because the Kingsmen were working their magic on the oldies station as I drove him home from the breeder) fit the bill. A little on the small size (20 pounds or so), but a truly great dog. Very rarely barked, and never yipped or sniveled. Hypoallergenic and very minimal shedding (my wife kept reading that some dogs like Bichons have hair rather than fur, and thus don't shed, but this makes little sense to me). We never clothed him, except once at Christmas I put a Santa suit on him. He wandered around our Christmas party with a look that said, "I'm going to kill him." That was it.

He loved people, and liked nothing more than to sit next to whomever was reading or watching tv.

Biggest drawback? Probably the monthly hair maintenance which cost far more than mine, but worth it to avoid the poofy Bichon look that some people love but I find a bit too precious.

Coolest feature? The Bichon Buzz, when for about sixty seconds they go crazy, running hyperfast in a large circle as if the world is coming to an end. We'd channel that into the Louie Launch in which one person would hold him while another would tempt and taunt him, then run off and hide. Louie would act like Curly when Pop Goes the Weasel came on, running in place frenetically until he got finally got traction (very cartoonlike) then searching feverishly for the now long gone temptress.

This sounds exactly like our little Maltese. Such a cool little energetic weasel without the smell. Another cool thing is that once she was groomed she'd smell like marshmallows for a couple weeks-- zero dog funk. And ditto on the no yapping, too. People often commented that she wasn't like a dog at all but some weird alien bear. I didn't see how that was a bad thing

*the one drawback was that housetraining her was an effort, but she was flawless once she was trained.

[Commando]

I just took the Animal Planet dog breed quiz and again, one of the top breeds was a Water Dog. An American Water Spaniel. What is it with Water Dogs?This is the picture of an American Water Spaniel from the Animal Planet questionnaire website:



lol. that dog looks like a complete burnout. You can tell that the dog lacks mad skills. It can't dunk. It can't ollie. If dogs were people, this dog would be still be working at 7-11 a year after high school graduation. The hair on the top of his head reminds me of Don Flamenco from Mike Tyson's Punch Out, after a round of getting pummeled by Little Mac. I'm not down with Water Dogs.

I have another sister that has an English Springer Spaniel b/c her husband likes to hunt fowl, and that thing is such a good looking dog. And super friendly/playful, too. I love it. Here's kind of what it looks like:



Virtually what you're looking for, but a looks like it might have actually studied for ACTs/SATs out of high school.

[MarkGrace]

My sister just called to tell me she was attacked by a dog a couple nights ago on a walk with her kid. Apparently a little neighbor kid had it on a leash and was running around with it, and followed the dog as it approached my sister. She said the dog didn't look angry or anything so she didn't step away from it, but then it suddenly jumped up against her stomach knocking her back (she has two bruises on her stomach -- and she's 30 weeks pregnant by the way). She said it really caught her off-guard and then the dog jumped up again latching onto her arm.

The kid's parents were in the garage and had to drive her home because she nearly passed out. She said the ride was super akwward and the parents kept saying "he's never done anything like this before" and she just kept thinking "well he just did."

Anyway, she's got seven holes in her arm and had to be taken to the ER. She said they had to scrub her arm with a brush to clean it and it was exceptionally painful. I guess they also don't stitch up the holes because they don't want to trap any saliva under the skin and cause infection. She said animal control came to check the dog and make sure it was up on its shots and thankfully it was. The docs also checked the baby to make sure everything was ok and sounds like it is. I guess right now she's just dealing with a swollen and bruised arm and can't take anything other than tylenol for the pain because she's preggers.

I felt bad (and mad) when she was telling me this.

[Scott R Nelson]

She said the ride was super akwward and the parents kept saying "he's never done anything like this before" and she just kept thinking "well he just did."

That's sort of what the people said when their St. Bernard killed my daughter's Chihuahua mix as my four-year-old grand-daughter was holding it's leash.

I don't understand why so many people want big dogs and allow them to go out in public with kids "in control" of them.

[Pheidippides]

My sister just called to tell me she was attacked by a dog a couple nights ago on a walk with her kid. Apparently a little neighbor kid had it on a leash and was running around with it, and followed the dog as it approached my sister. She said the dog didn't look angry or anything so she didn't step away from it, but then it suddenly jumped up against her stomach knocking her back (she has two bruises on her stomach -- and she's 30 weeks pregnant by the way). She said it really caught her off-guard and then the dog jumped up again latching onto her arm.

The kid's parents were in the garage and had to drive her home because she nearly passed out. She said the ride was super akwward and the parents kept saying "he's never done anything like this before" and she just kept thinking "well he just did."

Anyway, she's got seven holes in her arm and had to be taken to the ER. She said they had to scrub her arm with a brush to clean it and it was exceptionally painful. I guess they also don't stitch up the holes because they don't want to trap any saliva under the skin and cause infection. She said animal control came to check the dog and make sure it was up on its shots and thankfully it was. The docs also checked the baby to make sure everything was ok and sounds like it is. I guess right now she's just dealing with a swollen and bruised arm and can't take anything other than tylenol for the pain because she's preggers.

I felt bad (and mad) when she was telling me this.

Not cool.

I got attacked by a dog the other day. Not sure the breed but it was a yapper. Mom and her kid - probably about 3 or 4 - out walking the dog. No leash. I am running. Dog charges me from 30 yards away. I boot it into orbit (not really; just kicked it). Dunno what happened after that because I kept running.

[LA Ute]

I've had two bad experiences with other people's dogs. One was a freak accident (a big dog's leash broke and it was on my dog in a second - we escaped), the other was an idiot trying to walk two huge uncontrollable dogs at the same time. Since then, whenever I am out running with my dog I have pepper spray with me.

Little kids should never be allowed to walk any dog. They can't control the big ones and can't protect the little ones (or themselves).

[TripletDaddy]

Our neighbors have two tiny purse-size dogs. They always come into my yard, run around, make noise, and get on my nerves. The only reason I don't say anything is that I don't want to make waves with my neighbors plus their adult married daughter lives with them and often walks around in her bikini so I don't want to disrupt the routine that is currently working well for all of us. But the dogs are annoying. Another ancillary problem is that when the dogs run into the yard, one of the neighbors runs after them to bring them back and then I get caught in some conversation that I don't want to have. I have also noticed random tiny dead spots on my lawn and I can't help but wonder whether those dogs were pissing on the grass. The other day I was in the yard and one of the dogs came up to me and started growling so I threw a large piece of bark right at its head. It took off. I haven't seen the adult daughter in a bikini in a few weeks.

[Portland Ute]

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

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

The vet has diagnosed him with lymphoma and says he'd be surprised at this point if he lasts a week. I think we are going to put him to sleep this weekend after everyone has had some time to spend with him and bid him farewell.

Tucker actually lives with my parents. They live about 3 miles from us. Our kids call him "my dog" or "our dog".

He replaced another Golden that only lasted about 5 years. Jake died from kidney failure related to his eating grapes off our back fence. I trained Jake and he was "my dog." I left him with my parents when I went to Portland to dental school. We found out he was dying during my 4th year. I was devastated.

Shortly after that, my oldest was born and I graduated from dental school. When we returned to Utah, we lived for a few months in the basement of Casa de los Padres while we looked for a house and got settled in the job. Tucker was still a puppy while we were there.

My oldest, 9, grew up with him. My 2 year old adores him. He thinks he's another person. He talks to him, plays cars with him, uses him like a pillow when we watch TV. The 7 year old is probably the least attached, but he keeps his emotions deep. I wouldn't be surprised to see him react the worst to the news.

I worried something was wrong a while ago. I noticed about 8 or 9 months ago that his gait seemed a bit stilted. I wondered if he wasn't starting to suffer from dysplasia. Then about a month ago, I noticed some lumps in his neck. The vet had told my mom that he was in great shape, though.

Fast forward to today. He hasn't eaten well in over a week. My mom took him to the vet and the news was bad.

Dogs are tough. A golden retriever is the sweetest animal in the world. Big, beautiful furry bundles of love. It's sad to see such a sweet being leave the family.

My kids haven't dealt with death before. I suppose this is going to be an introduction to the concept. Part of growing up. Part of toughening up. Part of the loss of the innocence.

Mostly I feel bad for my kids. They will miss Tucker. I will, too.

[LA Ute]

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

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

The vet has diagnosed him with lymphoma and says he'd be surprised at this point if he lasts a week. I think we are going to put him to sleep this weekend after everyone has had some time to spend with him and bid him farewell.

Tucker actually lives with my parents. They live about 3 miles from us. Our kids call him "my dog" or "our dog".

He replaced another Golden that only lasted about 5 years. Jake died from kidney failure related to his eating grapes off our back fence. I trained Jake and he was "my dog." I left him with my parents when I went to Portland to dental school. We found out he was dying during my 4th year. I was devastated.

Shortly after that, my oldest was born and I graduated from dental school. When we returned to Utah, we lived for a few months in the basement of Casa de los Padres while we looked for a house and got settled in the job. Tucker was still a puppy while we were there.

My oldest, 9, grew up with him. My 2 year old adores him. He thinks he's another person. He talks to him, plays cars with him, uses him like a pillow when we watch TV. The 7 year old is probably the least attached, but he keeps his emotions deep. I wouldn't be surprised to see him react the worst to the news.

I worried something was wrong a while ago. I noticed about 8 or 9 months ago that his gait seemed a bit stilted. I wondered if he wasn't starting to suffer from dysplasia. Then about a month ago, I noticed some lumps in his neck. The vet had told my mom that he was in great shape, though.

Fast forward to today. He hasn't eaten well in over a week. My mom took him to the vet and the news was bad.

Dogs are tough. A golden retriever is the sweetest animal in the world. Big, beautiful furry bundles of love. It's sad to see such a sweet being leave the family.

My kids haven't dealt with death before. I suppose this is going to be an introduction to the concept. Part of growing up. Part of toughening up. Part of the loss of the innocence.

Mostly I feel bad for my kids. They will miss Tucker. I will, too.

Last night my wife walked into the room with tear-filled eyes. I asked what was wrong, because we had been laughing about something must 5. Invites earlier. She just said, "I realized it was one month ago today." I had noticed the date too but hadn't said anything. It's interesting - my wife had always opposed getting a dog but over the 16+ years we had Whitney the two became buddies. She was much more broken up than I was at the end.