The Old Folks Home

[stonykill]

DH covered tomatos--frost predicted. HOpe forecasters are WRONG !

you mean weather guessers

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Oh, I think they do pretty good. I used to forecast sales/phone calls. It is tricky and needs strong data to reasonably forecast useable info. BUt yes, sometimes it does feel like they should be called "guessers" lol I am hoping the forecast is WRONG out and out WRONG. But I am expecting to see frost in the morning as the temps have been dropping all afternoon.

 

[stonykill]

being I'm putting my cat pics up. Here is our Maine coon mix named Baby girl. Here she is mousing



I think I put this up about 20 pages ago...but she is so pretty

 

[wolftracks]

NOthing like a dog to tell another one to get lost!!! Sounds like ROver was a wonderful dog AND handsome. I do like an attractive dog.

ANyone know about the bernee mountain dogs??

I love them!!! To hot here for them to be comfortable, but I used to know several breeders when I was showing. Sweet bears!

 

[sourland]

you mean weather guessers

I have a nephew who is a meteorologist. I once asked him why he chose that profession. He replied, "Uncle George, tell me any other job where I can be wrong half the time and still get paid." 'Nough said.

 

[drumstick diva]

Arielle, I love Berners but one of the neighbors who has had them said they do not live very long, and are lucky to make it to 7 yrs. I can't remember what genetic problems are in that breed but, every breed has their share. I just wouldn't want to be losing them so early. He got his from a very reputable breeder and had to be thoroughly checked out first, on a waiting list etc. The woman had all applicable tests done on parents.

Even small breeds like Cavalier King Charles & Papillon can have lethal genes that shorten their lives considerably. Our don't think the human population is any healthier.

I know many people think mixed breeds are much healthy etc. Bah humbug. My nieces and some friends have had shelter dogs and they have every healthy problem under the sun. Every mix comes down from some pure breds and can carry all their bad genetic material. The difference is people breeding mixes do not test their stock for any defects. Many people make a fortune from marketing their own brand mix - shih-poos, malti -poos, pit this, pit that, and claim it is some rare whatever. There is no shortage to those who shell out big bucks for something that is still a mongrel.

 

[wolftracks]

They say the typical age for a Rottie is 8 to 10 years. I've had them live 16 and there was a breeder a years ago that had 16 of them and his oldest at the time was 16. Yes I've had that many. Most lived to be between 12 and 14 years old. I used to have a Rottie rescue. I couldn't place enough of the dogs and pups that came in from bad breeding and people who wanted a younger dog. grrrrrr There was a guy that bred the crap out of his poor dog. She had at least a litter a year and most times 2. After taking in just this guys pups and later his female (he kept 2 female pups) I just couldn't do it any longer. I can't tell you how many times I cried when I wasn't sure I could take care of all the extras.

I have always had contracts with my dogs. Two different couple told me it was easier to adopt a baby than a dog from me. I had a return clause, right to remove from a dangerous or abusive situation and although I mainly should ADRK, there was a minimum AKC requirement for CD. In all those years I had only one time when I almost removed a dog. Even for PQ. The guy loved him, but he thought I'd let that CD slip and I wouldn't. That dog finished by giving him a 2 month extension and another contract, but once he got into it, he had titles all over that dog. His friends started bragging about how well trained the dog was and it got him out there with him. Some people think that breeders are these terrible people who are in it for money. I know people who made money. I spent it. It all went back into the dogs, or importing others. I hear my contracts shouldn't be legal, because I can remove a dog. Too bad. If you went through the waiting period on a list for a pup and saw all of my conditions and had me preach to you that they weren't just dogs, they were carefully and lovingly bred to be an extension of the person who decide to add them to their families, then you know what you were getting into before that pup was even born.

My first shelter dog died 6 days later of distemper. The second attacked my little sister. The 3rd had so many health issues I spent more on her than my kids over 3 years. The 4th had serious issues. She would have seizures, but during those things she would run around and try to attack. She didn't have many or that often, but they never could find out what triggered them. I couldn't even have her near my kids, but she did live comfortably and finally a friend's dad wanted her and even he had a time when she bite him and sent him to the hospital.

The best shelter dog was owned by my 3rd daughter. I found him online when she was looking for a puppy. She said no grown dogs, no males, not Pitts. I saw this beautiful blue Pitt at the Berkeley shelter. He was truly gorgeous. I was trying to talk my husband into going to see him and was almost there the next day while I was at work. Then I got a call. "Mom, you know that blue dog you kept going back to? We're first on the list for him. He's been there for 3 months and no one has even tried to adopt him until we had him out and had signed for him." Thank God that was a no kill shelter. He was the sweetest, funniest, coolest dog. Everyone that ever met him loved him. They'd be afraid of him at first, but once they touched him they were in love. He was 3 years old and a year later the man that had owned him saw him with my daughter and started yelling for her to stop. My daughter said she was so scared that he wanted to go back to his old owner, but he walked over after some loving and stood by my grand daughter. The guy told her why he was there and offered puppy pics and was so relieved that he was were he was. When Jersey was 6, he started to act strange and just wasn't himself. He had cancer and after everything he went through to fight it, nothing was working. They came to our house and the whole family walked him to the end of the street for his last walk to the park. I hand fed him hamburger. He ate a little and wagged his tail, but he just couldn't eat much. The vet said there wasn't anything else left to do, so they had him buried at a pet cemetery. There are SO many funny stories about that dog. He was really loved. I watched grown biker friends of ours wipe away tears when they found out he died. There's always a dog that stays with you forever. My daughter helped show and train my Rotties and she loves dogs, but she's never gotten another one after him.

That was long. Sorry. But I prefer a good breeder to taking a chance on lines I don't know and problems that can happen with a dog you just have no idea about. I'm not heartless, but I've been where someone wants a dog and think they're giving these poor dogs a chance at life and I've watched people push others to do it knowing the dog is going to cost them so much money or so much heartache, that I don't promote shelter. Yes I think it's great when people save a life, but if I was to get another shelter dog, to me it would be like saying I think it's alright that these dogs are being bred in outrageous numbers as long as someone ends up with them in the end. Instead, so many breeders who care and work to better the breed and health of the dogs they breed are criticized and treated like the bad guys. What about the ones you don't know of, because they just dumped a litter of pups at the pound?

Done with my soapbox!


I used to have a friend who had a 14 year old Bernie and a 13 yr old Saint. They were well bred and great dogs and she had them around for a long time. I have a Cane Corso that's going to be 8 on the 18th. Corsi don't have a long life expectancy either and she's showing her age. That may be my fault though. I've aged 30 years since my husband died and she's went through it with me. My depression was hers. I hope she's going to be around for a long time, but I do worry since she had been an anniversary present from Bill, so I want to hold onto her forever.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

It's 35 degrees here although I don't see any hard frost this morning. I still brought all my plants inside 2 days ago and won't bring them back out until tomorrow, most likely. Too cold.

We also had to start the wood stove last night. I still have the heated mattress pad on the bed, which I was happy to use last night.

Oh well, at least I haven't had to mow the lawn yet.

 

[dsqard]

SCG we have gone from winter to one week of spring (the week you were here) to full blown summer. It was in the 90's yesterday. I don't mind the heat but it would have been nice if spring had shown up earlier and then moved into summer. Ah well, at least we don't have to bring the plants in at night or turn on the pellet stove.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

You don't have plants to bring in!

In all seriousness, it looks like spring out there. We're finally GREEN. The most amazing in-your-face green that spring usually brings. After months and months of black and white - green, glorious green.

I can take the cold, I guess, as long as it remains green.