In the same vein as the cat thread, let’s discuss …
The fact that we have a dog.
Name, age, sex, breed of said dog(s).
Strange talents of the aforementioned dog(s).
Additional information.
Link to an image, if available.
My dog, Bailey, is a 13 month old white/black parti curly Portuguese Water Dog. I’ll admit to getting my dog from a show breeder – I looked for several months in the shelters for medium-sized, non-shedding dogs, and unfortunately didn’t find any among the hundreds of dogs behind bars. (I used to be allergic to dog dander, and I tended to do better around non-shedders like Poodles, Soft-Coated Wheaten Terriers, Bichon Frises, and so on. I’m not taking any chances.)
Bailey, for 13 months, is disturbingly intelligent. Porties are supposedly smarter than Poodles, and it shows – she knows about 25 commands, can tell the difference between her toys, and has different grunts for different requests, like a “gotta’ go out” grunt, a “give me attention” grunt, and so on. She’ll follow me off-leash on hiking trails, usually not straying more than a hundred feet or so. She doesn’t bark so much as she “talks.”
Thing is, intelligent dogs, like intelligent kids, need a lot of attention and diversions, otherwise they’ll get bored and possibly destructive. Porties aren’t hyper, but they’re definitely high-maintenance dogs. Porties are also supposedly “yuppie puppies,” but I’m definitely not of that demographic.
I have 3 female Old English Sheepdogs. Gina, 7, Meg 7, and Evans, 6. Gina is the smartest OES I’ve ever known. She knows what many words mean like out, cookie, bedtime and others that I can’t think of now. Gina is the only one of the three who is not an AKC Champion as she has a heart murmer and we didn’t think she would live very long, boy were we wrong! The cardiologist said she may live to age 3 or die anytime! She has such a zest for life, she is great.
Meg is the couch potato, she thinks she’s a lap dog. 75 pounds on your stomach and lap is a lot! Boy is she sweet.
Evans is the youngest and she loves to play with Gina. She is kinda clumsy though and bumps into the furniture even though it’s been in the same place for years.
OES are one of the friendly breeds. There are many of those I know! But I like mine the best.
Her name’s Charlie, she’s an 11 1/2 month old female, and she’s a Border Collie/Lab mix that we got at the shelter.
Talents: digging huge holes, climbing on furniture like a cat, keeping my feet warm at night, herding everything in sight, and playing a mean game of frisbee. Interests: digging huge holes, watching animal planet (especially anything to do with bears), laying in front of the fire, chewing bones, and watching me cook (she’s always hoping, hoping, hoping that I’ll drop something).
She’s beautiful and really sweet. She looks mostly Border Collie, but with shorter hair. She’s only 35 pounds and I don’t think she’ll grow anymore. She’s extremely cuddly and loves to snuggle on the couch.
I have not image because I have no scanner. Picture a border collie, but not quite so fuzzy.
Now I have 2 dogs. I rescued one for Christmas. She was near death and had been badly abused/starved. She is a three year old White German Shepard. Her name is Spirit. She is new here and I will see what she is capable of after I let her get relaxed a little.
Then there is Bailey, my 4.5 year old Golden Retriever/Labrador Retriever cross. She is the most loveable fun dog ever. She loves to run and play, however, she couldn’t jump over a shoe if her life depended on it!Maybe I should put her on a diet… Naw… Spirit and her play so much, I think in no time she will lose those extra pounds
Dog: Blue Great Dane (even though it’s grey, but whatever)
Name: Misha (Russian for Michael, for some reason)
Talents: um…she can slobber at any given food, and will eat fruits and vegetables even though dogs don’t…she can do quite a few commands and is absoloutely huge.
I share my life w/ a dog. We belong to each other, a pack of two. Five year old (female) black Lab/Shephard mix. Her coat is black/brindle, w/ white paws and a white blaze on her chest–and the coal black, chiselled head of a Shep.
She’s just irresistably canine. She’s thrilled to be a dog, and happily keeps my homo sapiens hubris in check, while being the most loyal, loving, funny companion anyone could want.
She has a sneaky sense of humor. She rarely barks, but grumbles, yodels, mumbles and croons. She always has to streak past me on the stairs, nuding my knee in passing. (In the phrase from a novel by Carol Lea Benjamen, a dog trainer: “just to remind me who’s the faster animal with the wittier sense of humor”.) If I’m carrying food, sure thing her two soft front woofer paws will tap my heels at every step, reminding me of pack obligations.
If I’m playing around on the 'puter and ignoring her, after a while she’ll put her nose under my elbow and flip my arm up. Mostly she knows when I’m down. She plops right along side me (after circling 3 times, of course), wraps her front paws around my arm and snuggles her head into my shoulder. Pure, whole-hearted love on four paws.
We’re both mutts and we’re totally nuts about each other.
Gizmo is afraid of slippery floors, and has still not gotten used to the wood floors I had put down a year ago. He still acts like a puppy in a lot of ways, even though he’ll be 7 in March. He is prematurely grey around the muzzle. He is an extremely picky eater and is a little underweight. Sometimes he won’t eat for a couple of days even though food is available and get ETB - empty tummy barfies - invariably on the Turkish carpet. He is a total sweetie, though a little stubborn and feisty.
2) Name, age, sex, breed of said dog(s).
Six year old, former male, damnation. I mean dalmatian. Officially named Cirrhosis due to the fact that he is spotty (surprise) and liver in color. Turns out that “liver” is dalmatian jargon for “brown”. If he were a lab, it would be “chocolate”, “red” if he were a bulldog. I digress. Absolutely never gets called by his given name, usually something like “Spotty Little Bastard” instead.
3) Strange talents of the aforementioned dog(s).
None whatsoever. Even if I ignore the word “strange”.
4) Additional information.
Super good natured dog, but lives up to the breed’s reputation for being dumb, stubborn, and high-strung. It’s like having a little miniature cow on crack (I realize that “little miniature” is redundant, but I like the way it sounds). I wanted a larger, short-haired dog with some energy, the theory being that having one would get me out running again. Didn’t work. Even on the rare occassion that I do take him for a run, he has zero concept of pacing and is only good for about 3 or 4 miles depending on the weather.
4) Link to an image, if available.
Hey, didn’t I already answer a question number 4? Very dated pictures of both the dog and me on my sorry excuse for a web page.
Hamlet, the 6 year old Fawn. Special power - sleeping. And riding herd on the rest of the pack. He is a rescue dog, and may not be a pure-bred. He looks like he might have some rhodesian ridgeback in him.
Ipso Facto ( ips for short ), 2 year old Merle. Special power - protecting the house from things only he can see. Also, he has learned (from Pixel, the evil cat) how to use his forelegs like hands - he can hook things with his paws. This makes him more agile than any Dane should be.
Dengo - 6 month old Brindle. Special power - he will be big. Really big. He’s 60 punds now, and still packing it on. Oh, and he is never-say-die puppy; he started in on tug of war with Ipso at 12 weeks.
Jimmy just turned 2 last month, and this month we celebrated our second anniversary together (he got a squeaky sandwich, pressed rawhide chews, doggy biscuits, and a doggy bed). He’s half black lab, half Aussie shepherd. I think he’s pretty smart. “Sit” and “Shake” were the first two things he learned. To him, “shake” still follows sit; as soon as his bottom hits the floor, the paw goes right up to shake. I never really tried to teach him the actual names of his toys, but if I point to a toy and tell him “Go get it,” he does. You can see pictures of him, as well as his “buddies” (they would probably dispute that) Squeaky and Orion, at http://members.aol.com/gr8kat1/KatGen/pets.htm
I’m in the process of convincing hubby that A Dog Is A Good Idea.
If I was going purebred (which we probably won’t - too many shelter dogs/puppies need a home), I’d go (not in any order):
Portuguese Water Dog
Viszla
Keeshond
Samoyed
Lab (of any flavor)
Sheltie
I’m not a fan of Shelties but my husband loves them. I want a dog I can take running with me and that won’t eat our 2 cats (which puts grayhounds and other sight hounds off the list, unfortunately).
http://www.apbpets.com is a cool site here in Lansing with lots of neat dogs so we’ll probably (see how confident I am? ) go through them or the Humane Society.
No strange talents. Interests: tug-of-war, keep-away, belly rubs, kisses, and treats. Oh, yeah, chasing cats and killing varmints.
She’s a really sweet girl and loves the cats, in spite of the fact that she likes to chase them. She loves nothing better than to GO anywhere we go. In the truck, in the boat, doesn’t matter as long as she gets to go.
Okay, so I have only kitties right now but I am “auntie” to two beautiful tri-color collies – they live in the same house as I do and I’ve known them since they were 10 weeks old.
My own dogs have sadly gone to that big field of daisies in the sky: Nini (English Springer Spaniel mix and mortadella lover) put to sleep Feb. 1987; Sydney J. (Lab/Husky mix; he was my Big Brown Nut and the most gentle dog ever) died in my arms 9/6/93 of perforated ulcers; and his sister Little Girl (who did NOT like to give kisses, fetch, play with toys or sticks, or do anything else dog-like), put to sleep 9/5/00. God I wish they were still here. Pets bring so much joy but it is so hard when they leave you.
His name is Pimpollo, I didn’t name him, blame my sister, male, four years old, I think he’s just a mutt but my sister insists that he’s just a mix. German Shepherd/Chow Chow
He can sit and jump and shake. He’s bilingual too, he understands us in English and in Spanish. I think his best talent is cheering me up when I go outside to whimper or cry.
Well I think he’s in love with my father, when my dad is home he can’t stand to be out of his sight, it’s funny.
Has anyone realized that there are two 4s? Lots of scanned pictures, my baby is just the cutest, but nothing on-line, sorry.
Bunnygirl, if you’re interested in a pure bred dog, contact your local rescue organization for the breed you’re interested in. Lots of homeless dogs are purebred. My friends adopted 4 wonderful Rotties through a local Rottie rescue group. Of course, you can get a wonderful mix from your local shelter as well, but don’t think you have to go to a breeder and pay big bucks for a purebred dog.
My next dog will probably be a rescue Rhodesian Ridgeback or possibly a greyhound. I’m hoping it won’t be for a while, though. It won’t happen until I move into a house with a yard (I’m in a condo now) or until my boy Gizmo is gone, which shouldn’t be for a long time since Elkhounds typically live to be 15.
Pixie, Dixie, and Daisy, all pugs, all about 2-3yrs
All of them can hear food being eaten, opened, looked at or thought about within a twenty-five mile radius. Dixie can dance on her hind legs. Pixie can’t bark, but she CAN say “woo”. Daisy can push the chair out from the table, sneak up and eat your dinner before you notice she’s there.
Pixie has Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and suffers from extreme separation anxiety. She is on three types of psych meds, all of which were prescribed to my mom (yes, it’s legal, here at least) because to prescribe them to a dog is three times as expensive. Oh, it’s great. Daisy is just obnoxious. Dixie is a sweet little cuteypie.
