Dog Breeds

[ninjanurse]

I don't know of any dog forums but "Breed All About It" is a great show to watch. That is the show that I saw the "Chinook" on and now I have one!

 

Don't worry, the perfect dog will find you! Be patient!!!

[chh]

I love ridgebacks, aren't they gorgeous? I've only known one, he was in a puppy class my boyfriend took his shiba to. It was for 12-16 week old pups, the ridgeback was about the size of a grown (incredibly clumsy) lab. They finally bumped him up to the regular obedience class, he loved playing but was trompling all the regular-sized babies with his giant feet

 

Hey, after I read your last post about what you're looking for, the border collie popped into my head. I usually wouldn't recommend the breed to the average person because of how much excercise they need (I've heard of people purchasing sheep just to keep these guys busy), you'd need to be sure you're serious about that, a couple of walks a day would not even scratch the surface of what they need. They are as smart as they come, border collie folks say behavior problems are usually due to you not offering the dog enough stuff to occupy his mind! They love learning games, tricks, most of them make great flyball and agility dogs. They don't look as imposing as some of the other breeds you're talking about, but they sure have all the other qualities that are important to you. If this interests you keep watching that Breed all About It show, I know for sure they've done one on border collies.

 

Then you could get the bumper sticker I saw the other day: "My border collie is smarter than your honors student"

[Neil]

I love border collies they are incerdibly intelligent and very very energetic, they are also the most agile dog! I have seen them on 'Breed all bout it' and I'v also seen it on the National Geographic Channel on the program 'Dogs with jobs which is a half hour program ddocumenting 2 breeds each time, but is really about interesting jobs dogs do that are sent in by owners, thats why you often get the same breeds.

 

Border collies have got everything I want in a dog, except that bit of roughness in a dog - if you see what I mean. I love the attitude very courageous since they manage to herd bulls 10 times there own size and 20 times there own weight! Its just I'm looking for a bit more or a physically robust dog - if you see what I mean. A cross between a border collie and a rottweiler would be perfect!

[Davison]

i have a pitbull named garcia and a rot named chief.my pit is very well behaved,but my rot wants to eat anyone who comes close to me.hes very protective.rots rated 2nd best to have around young kids.its really about constantly training and working with them,if you train them good they will be the best dog you ll ever own.also,dont belive all the bull you hear about pitbulls,the are great dogs with great personalitys.i also have a kitten and every night i go to bed,my pit takes the cat by the scruff of his neck and lays him in between his front paws and sleeps with him.i guess to keep him safe.make sure there full blooded and have papers and ask if the parents are around so that you you can tell what kind of temperment they have.good luck!

[Fenris-wolf]

To be completely honest I don't have the energy to discuss the whole idea of a "ferocious" dog, and everyone here seems to have a pretty good grasp on things, so I'll just comment on what really got my blood boiling...

Karate_woman, I'm sorry to hear about your mom's kitten but I wouldn't judge all rotties based on that one incident. I've known several sweet, friendly family rotts. I can honestly say I've never met a mean pit bull, all the ones I've met have been very sweet. I know it shows up in the bloodlines, and even worse than that idiots go out of their way to make them mean. You know on pet forums I've often seen questions like "I have an 8 week old pit bull who's not mean enough, will putting hot sauce on his food help?"...or starving him, or keeping him in a dark closet, or hitting him with a stick...all of these are actual methods people use to get that mean "fighting" dog they think it so cool. Then everybody blames the breed when it bites somebody.

 

First of all, yes, I completely agree, I love all these breeds. Maybe you have to be careful when picking a breeder etc, but that should be true of all dogs. It's so sad when people discriminate by their pre-conceptions about a breed, because is makes the entire problem self-perpetuating. If the only people who want a doberman want a "lean, mean, fighting machine", then this poor breed is doomed to be bought primarily by abusive owners. Which naturally will create aggressive tendancies!

 

More importantly though... How can somebody consider themselves worthy of keeping an animal if they would even consider beating them?! If I knew somebody who had done this to their dog I would be hard pressed not to give them at least a good slapping. It's disgusting and there is no justification! There should be tests of character, not just the person's property, before you're allowed to take on the responsibility of another creature's life!

 

OK, and I'm spent.

 

P.S. I don't live with a dog at the moment since I'm flatting, but I have a beautiful little lab-cross at Dad's place who I love to bits.

[swooshfinn]

ok I have to set this one up for you....

 

my sister's fiance's name is Jeff Myer, and my family is partial to female dachshunds.... so she thought it would be cute to get a dachshund (female of course) and call it Oscar....

 

she registered it under her fiance's name, so she has:

 

Oscar Myer the Wiener Dog!

 

(INSERT RIMSHOT HERE)

[monkeygirl]

 

My family had a Keeshond (pronounced KAY-Zund) for about 7 or 8 years, until he got intestinal cancer and had to be put down about 3 years ago. He was the only dog I've ever had, and boy was he a sweetie. Keeshonds are Dutch barge dogs, so they have a lot of fur to keep them warm...and they love the snow! (It's so cute when they get little snowballs stuck in their fur) They're often called the "Smiling Dutchmen" because they actually smile! When they're happy, they curl up their lip and sneer at you They're also in the top 5 most intelligent dogs, which doesn't surprise me...our Keesie understood English, German and could spell.

 

Oh, that was a mistake...used Google's image search to find pictures of Keeshonds and almost passed out from cuteness. Here's some pics:

 

Newborns: http://www.keeshond.nu/Foton/keesbebisar.jpg

 

Puppies: http://www.dog-tracker.com/image2/keeshpup.jpg

 

Adults: http://www.petsmart.com/aspca/images/dogs/keeshond.jpg

 

If you're looking for a big dog, then a Keeshond probably isn't going to be your breed..Keeshonds aren't very agressive. Don't let all that fur fool you! They're pretty skinny underneath.

 

Unfortunately, Keeshonds have a tendency to have hip dysplasia, heart defects and/or genetic eye diseases. Ours had an enlarged heart. If you get one from Australia, though, I hear they are healthier.

[capn_midnight]

mokeygirl, our dog was a rare occurence in the breed line we bought from. It was amazing that he lived in the first place, he was the runt of the litter and almost died on birth.

[monkeygirl]

No actually, the breed itself is prone to heart defects. I saw it on a website when I was finding those images. So

 

[sansoouser]

dobermans have stamina and companion and are good gaurd dogs, but both of my dogs are mutts one we saved from dying another we got as a puppy, when you save a dog you can tell they know you did something special for them and my dog is even more loyal than most other dogs I know, he knows what we did for him and he is an excellent dog. But then again there are pure breed dog rescues.