silverdog

You probably have heaps of better things to do. I know that most people are not all and many people are not most and I know when I read a negative comment about a group of people. In the middle of justifying why you think its good to keep a severely disabled dog alive, you mention that some other people (many breeders in fact) would euthanise a healthy dog for what seems like a frivolous reason. Is there some sort of implied logic there that I am missing? What does killing healthy pups have to do with this topic? What does it have to do with you? Why bring up an apalling practice in the same post that you try to justify your own practice? Your comment upset people, and it doesn't put breeders in a good light. When you say that 'many' people do something, you imply that it is not uncommon. Now you back down and say 'some'. Which is probably more accurate than 'many', but still a very harsh and irrelevant criticism. Your sly dig has been called out for what it is. If the offense you caused was truly unintentional, you wouldn't be back here calling other people sad or pathetic.

Excellent post!

Oh please! What has the Harp Seal hunt got to do with this thread? And what "mentality" are you talking about? Agree with you 100% on this one. It is very disturbing to me, as a Canadian.

I agree that the news is pretty horrific. I happen to live not far from Vancouver, which is the major news hub for Whistler and the rest BC, and it is all over the news right now - it's a HUGE deal here, running as the lead story on all of the TV and radio stations. And everyone is just as outraged by the slaughter as here on DOL. But, in saying that, why would you feel sick to your stomach for paying for a tour in Alaska???? Assuming that all sled dog tour operators are killing off their dogs in such a gruesome fashion, simply because one did, is pretty silly. I think that is reasonably safe to say that the majority of sled dog tour operators are reeling in horror at the news right now, just like the rest of us. Not to mention the economic impact they now face as people react by assuming that ALL dog tour businesses are bad because this one is. (Definite parallel here to blame the deed, not the breed, don't you think?... only in this case, it should read "blame the company, not the whole industry")

Ah yes.. the old "buy a dog from a breeder = kill a shelter dog" gem. Hmmm... maybe we should use PETA's own argument against them: For every dog you adopt from shelter "A", you kill a dog from shelter "B". Let them spin around in circles on that one for a while. :D

Luath was a lab. Tao a seal point Siamese. Bodger a bull terrier. This was one of my favourite books when I was growing up.

Weimaraner Noel

Good one, RuralPug!

If it's extinct then I wouldn't that call a distinguishing "feature" Yeah.. good point. Um.. it can close its nostrils like a camel?

What clues, what clues..? This is so hard without google. Ok. Let's see. Old dog book, published ages ago.. umm.. is it an extinct breed?

Ok.. how about a breed that has six toes?

Kerry Blue Terriers are born black. Don't know a second breed though.

I think it was a black poodle.. (nope... brown, apparently, and there were two.. both named Rufus? )

Yes.. Millie was Bush Jr's springer. And Millie was (I think) the offspring of Bush Sr's springer.. so unique in being a second generation White House dog. My personal fav ('cuz I am biased ) .. President Eisenhower had a weimaraner.

Where? What "claims"? I must have missed those. Please direct me to the posts that contain these "claims" that you are "refuting" . After all, a claim must first be made before one is in a position to refute it.

Something to consider here. This person has a long standing history of fear of GSD's. So much so that she is in therapy for it. Just how objective do you think her version of events is? Um.. probably not very. (And understandably so.) Who knows, perhaps, due to her overwhelming fear of GSD's, when she saw the dog in her peripheral vision as she ran past, she "perceived" that it was about to attack her and squealed and flailed about a bit, thus precipitating the bite from a dog who was already startled from her sudden approach. Seen that sort of behaviour a lot with people who are afraid of dogs. And, no, before you flame me, I do NOT condone dogs that bite. I dislike nasty, out of control, misbehaving, lunging, barking and biting dogs just as much as the next person. I also think that it is terrible that she got bitten, and that the owner of the GSD now has some serious work to do with her dog. It's just that people these days always seem so ready to scream "dangerous dog", when really it's not a dangerous dog at all. It's just a dog, behaving like a dog. Accidents do happen, especially when people don't use their common sense - like running up on a dog from behind with no warning. After all, I have read it over and over again on this very forum that children should approach dogs with caution, no sudden movements, hand held out for a sniff ect. Should not the same rules of cautious approach apply to joggers? Yes, people must keep their dogs under control. But the non-dog owners out there must also use some common sense around dogs, too. Give people with dogs a little space. Allow them to be responsible dog owners. I can't tell you the number of times I have been forced to jump to the side of the footpath as groups of joggers - sometimes three or four abreast - come plowing past, with no regard at all for me and my dog. I have had them jog by so closely that they have actually STEPPED on my dog's feet. Yes, really. I have also been forced off the path by groups of "jogger moms" who all have their "racing" baby strollers. Again, so little thought is given by them to anyone else on the path. It's almost as if they are daring the dog walkers to get in their way, so that they can scream "dangerous dog". And, no, I am not a jogger hater. Used to be one myself, for many, many years. I just never acted like the path was for my exclusive use, that's all, and always gave plenty of warning that I was coming up from behind... to fellow runners, people walking dogs, moms with little ones etc. Was I obliged to? No. Was it the right thing to do? Yes. Do I see many joggers using the same common sense these days? Sadly, no. As a result, I'm afraid that these days, when I hear of an incident involving joggers vs dogs, I am more likely to give the dog the benefit of the doubt, and assume the the jogger played a significant role in precipitating any "attack".

I think there is a vast difference between "normal" narkiness when a bitch is at the mercy of her hormones, and totally over the top behaviour like actually trying to kill dogs she normally gets along with the rest of the time. Just like it is normal for me to be a crabby bitch when my hormones are raging, but it would NOT be normal or acceptable for me to go into the kitchen, whip a cleaver out of the knife block and slay my OH. (No matter how justified I felt that act to be at the time. ) So, no I would NOT breed from a bitch who exhibited "over the top" hormonal aggression that put other dogs in serious jeopardy. I would (regretfully, for sure) have her spayed, and not risk her either passing that on to future generations or seriously harming the dogs around her at present. I would however breed a girl who just got cranky when hormonal.. that's normal, and to be expected. Just like I would expect my other dogs to heed her clear and obvious warnings not to mess with her at that time. (And I would separate and keep safe any that did not heed her warnings).

Chronic bad breath can also be a sign of kidney problems.

I really don't think that anywhere in the field of clinical psychology is is appropriate (or even common) to assess an individual as "simply born evil" and a "waste of oxygen", or to unashamedly "wish them a life of unhappiness and total misery". It also strikes me as odd that as a practicing clinical psychologist, you would make the following statement: You seem to believe that victims of abuse are less likely to go on to commit abusive acts themselves because they have a heightened sense of compassion for their victims. We both know that this is not the case at all. Quite the opposite in fact. One only has to look at the statistics for generational child abuse to know that abused children are at significantly higher risk to become abusers themselves.

Just popping in to say hello. Oops.. edit to change pooping to popping.

So hard to say goodbye to such a wonderful friend. My heart goes out to you.

Thank you everyone for your kind words. PaddyForever, I think we were both incredibly lucky to have been blessed with such amazing dogs. I have been spending a lot of time thinking back on all the wonderful things I did together with Nik. Having so many happy memories has really helped me get through the past few days. It still hurts, so very badly, but I take great comfort in knowing that he lived a long and happy life.