Maine

[gracejr]

What annoys me are all the designer dog breeds that people snap up for hundreds to thousands of dollars. They are just expensive mutts whose lineage might not be the best mix. I know people seem to think Labradoodles are the perfect dog but one does not always get the typical Lab temperament with the poodle non-shedding coat. Sometimes it is the other way around and Standard Poodles are not always warm cuddly love bugs. Plus the offspring can also inherit all the genetic defects of both breeds. Yet people will still hand over big money to the 'breeders' thinking they are getting the perfect dog.

Guess it comes down to 'Caveat emptor'. Or the opposite thought of 'A fool and his money are soon parted'.

Oh my goodness, YES! This makes me SOOO mad! Especially being involved in rescue. It's just a glorified mutt folks! UGH!

 

[gracejr]

FWIW, just incase I sparked the rant...

I'm not breeding or showing Am's, just own a few, and have never been able to remember how to spell it. I have two Am's from a breeder up north (she's on here, but I can't remember the username), as well as an Am/Marans cross from her. I suppose that one would be an EE then?

Here are my pretty gals. Blackberry (black), Bluebell (blue), and Tigerlily (EE).

And for fun, because I LOVE her beard, this is Beardo. Either an Am cross or Fav cross. Whatever she is, she's a doll. Great personality on her.

 

[hoppy]

well I look forward to seeing him then and too bad you can't make the spring show.

I wish I could but I'm going to be out of town that weekend! You should see him now, He has been putting on Weight since I brought him home. I'm pretty sure its the feed. I should be at some of the fall shows though!

 

[Mainechick168]

It can be hard work, but it is SO rewarding! What are his concerns? This puppy is foster #10. It can be hard to part with them sometimes, but if we adopted them all, we wouldn't be able to keep helping the rest. We've done a variety of breeds and ages, rescues will usually do their best to make sure they aren't giving you an unsuitable dog for your household.
Oh nifty! I bet those are gorgeous! Once you get up and running let me know, I may be interested in getting a few for sure. I started out with chickens just for food, but I'm debating whether working towards a heavy bird with feathered leg, beard, and small comb might be worthwhile. My rooster now won't work (blue english orp), but his son would be a good start I think - blue orp/brahma mix with feathered legs and smallish comb. Have a light brahma and blue cochin for feathered legs, and a few americauna hens that would bring beards to the table. I've got one girl that is either an EE or Fav mix, she has an amazing beard, and fav-ish coloring, but only 4 toes.
I foster through Lucky Pup Rescue. The women who run it are great to work with, and do a good job of matching up dogs with appropriate foster homes. Plus, the majority of the dogs they rescue are transported up from the south where they would most likely otherwise be euthanized.
What naughty girls! Hope they don't make any more escapes! Ugh on the washer, but at least it was there and not a leak at home?

Grace, our rescue was from the south as well, I learned a lot about how differently dogs are looked at down there ( property vs. part of the family). We went through paws and claws new england, and they were great. Tikaani's ( my dog) foster was great, honestly, foster's are angels!

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Did you guys ever end up having the get together?

 

[buckabucka]

Did you guys ever end up having the get together?

 

Yes, and the fruit salad and chocolate chip cookies were killer!

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I skipped about a bazillion posts when I was on vacation.

 

[CoopChick719]

:

I picked up a new foster puppy today, so adorable! And calm as far as puppies go. The best part is, he has the same name as my oldest son! lol Oldest is Kaiden, foster pup is Caden.

This is what I just found when I went over to check on them...

This picture is so cute!!

aaand a finished portrait that I donated for the HART auction this past winter. So much fun to paint this one! They were shy but came around once they realized there was FOOD

Lovely portrait! You are very talented!!

 

[buckabucka]

I skipped about a bazillion posts when I was on vacation.

 

Oh! How was vacation? Didn't you go to the southwest? I love it there.

Did you bring home any chickens?

 

[echosrevenge]

grace, they are pretty! One of the orp cross chicks is showing split wings, so will be either a layer or food (depending on gender) but I have high hopes for the cochin pair. They're not great as cochins, but as far as I can tell the areas where they fail as cochins, they are closer to the Fav standard. They both have really nice meaty breasts & thighs too! (does anyone else feel vaguely dirty every time they say something like that? Lol) I think eventually we'll move away from the Faverolles towards our own breed - I agree with Joel Salatin (he may not practice all he preaches, but a good chunk of what he preaches is none the less good for it, and he's a marketing genius) that we shouldn't be so much trying to preserve the European breeds - which are awesome, but adapted to European foods, climates, etc - as developing our own American breeds that are adapted to American foods, climates, and conditions. It makes me a little sad that most of the people doing this are going the "doodle" route and trying for "designer" breeds rather than thinking hard about the climate, available foods, needs etc of their area and breeding to that over a long term...more evidence of the decline of long term thinking in our culture, I guess.... We will be working towards much the same thing, I think - beards, feather legs, small combs, higher winter egg production, good carcass size, etc - all the things you'd want a pretty well self-sustaining low maintenance Maine homestead flock to be.