The Old Folks Home

[stonykill]

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.

I have always said that about that profession.

 

[Cynthia12]

one of my coworkers puppies golden ret.
I do have to say check out your local rescues and vets

I think you all know by now, that I love this breed. Very willing to please. Very smart. But, for Arielle...not so sure it is a good one for her needs. These dogs make great pets. They will however, lead a burgler right to the silver ware as they say. So friendly. They are known for not being a barky dog. Mine have when someone comes in the back yard..with us. They are excited to see someone visiting. My last boy was good at barking when a cat showed up on the property, he knew I did not like those cats! Had one kill one of my Heritage RIR babies. My dog is separate from the chickens..penned in a real large area of his own, so he couldn't get to that cat, but sure he would have. Not so sure my little girl I have now would though. You can say about some dogs...great watch dog, not a great guard dog. That would be the Golden, but not even so sure about the watch dog part.

 

[Cynthia12]

Arielle. I have owned a Pitt Bull. Loved, loved, that dog. They have about the same rep as the Rotti's I think. But I'll tell you what, that dog has been one of my favorite dogs I've ever owned. Very sweet and loving to our family. Great watch dog..what a bark when strangers came around. Wonderful with them when they were invited in. We had him from the time he was young until he died of old age. I can't say enough good about this breed. Need to check out what mom and dad are like, how they are raised. Makes a difference. Of course, like it would with most dogs.

 

[dsqard]

You don't have plants to bring in!

I do now! You inspired me to try to not kill my tomato plant. In fact DH got two planters and a regular tomato plant. We are going to try really hard to keep them alive. We might even go get another planter for some hot pepper plants this weekend. Look at us! We're FAAAAAAAAMIN'

 

[gryeyes]

I <I>finally</I> bought some bags o' dirt so I could finish planting some veggies and some perennial flowers. However, I also picked up some more and different heirloom tomato plants, so now I need more planters.

I've been working on a bottle border within the garden. Luckily, my friends who work at wineries are assisting me in collecting empty wine bottles. (Bottles of wine *I* drink go onto the bottle tree on the other side of the house.). Because I am not heat-tolerant, nor mosquito-tolerant, I get about four bottles planted into the border every couple of days.

Yeah, some of it is the short attention span aspect of completing tasks; there are chickens and chicks and ducks and ducklings and Sarge the turkey and the two ganders which often distract me.

Mama Duck has discovered her ducklings think the pond is THE greatest place to play. The ramp is perfect for sunning. She has to really work to get them to get out of it. I have seen her resting in the shade under the apple tree, keeping a close eye on the babies playing in the pond fifteen feet away. Sometimes she walks along the rail like a swim team coach as the duckling flotilla traverses the length of the pond.

I wondered why she wasn't swimming WITH them, but that mystery was solved today. As soon as she gets into the water, drakes come running to get into the pond for Big Duck Games. Darn boys!

 

[Cynthia12]

I finally JUST planted my tomatoe plants yesterday. They are a pretty good start, so, they should do ok now. Not expecting a freeze any time too soon, but who knows. I know we've gotten warm, but we are supposed to be back down into the 60's again, and low 70's here soon. Nights will stay around the 40's. Yaay.
I haven't planted my herbs yet! I guess that's ok. They should do ok. Have been going through some tests for my inner ear and dizzy problems. Plus, need to be scoped in my throat. I think I may have time after the test today to plant those herbs. I want some mint for sure. In pots.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Heavy coats are a problem. ANd I don't want to be grooming every week. WE had an old english sheep dog- FOUR HOURS every sat at her orig show home. WHen she was place with us , my mother had her clipped every summer!

Quote: Hoping one of my boys will head this direction!! LOL

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.

I found a Jack Russel wandering on a cold 10degree morning and took her in. Found a new home 3-4 days before she whelped. THey were fathered by a pug, and the new owners sold the pups for $300 each. EACH!

Hard enough to find a good breeder from an established breed. I think I am wanted a dog bred more for ability to do a job than his looks, if that makes sense.

 

[Arielle]

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.

THanks WOlf.

My Heidi was very obedient ( took lots of training to get her there) and while we never went for any titles, did a couple shows though, her papers showed some 16 dogs with titles. Lots of working titles, not just BOS titles.

I can't do a rottie right now. I will wait until my kids are grown and then get another one maybe. I just know I can never find one a brilliant as HEidi. ANd now her two sons are gone too. FOr now a different breed.

I was looking thru the AKC listing, many interesting breeds. I will look for a breeder, though time is running short as we are concerned about coyotes and I found dog poo in the drive this morning!! THis has me very nervous!!

THe pounds are too strick about place ment-- I tried a few years ago-- like 15-- and becaue I didn't have a fenced yard I would not be concidered. I bought puppies from 2 breeders with out such requirements. THe first breeder asked that I cut the male ( had the appt before I picked him up) and the second rrquired obecience training. THe best thing I ever did!! I'll NEVER have a dog that is not trained. AND I want one EASY to train. THe rotties overall were easy with just a few hurdles to overcome. I'm not looking forward to puppy training, but I don't want someone elses errors as I have kids to think about.

THe search is on.

 

[dsqard]

I found a Jack Russel wandering on a cold 10degree morning and took her in. Found a new home 3-4 days before she whelped. THey were fathered by a pug, and the new owners sold the pups for $300 each. EACH!

Hard enough to find a good breeder from an established breed. I think I am wanted a dog bred more for ability to do a job than his looks, if that makes sense.

Arielle, I agree with you on both these points. The breeder for the puppy we got last December was awesome! She had three sets of puppies in her family room in the basement. You couldn't tell she had a single puppy in the house she kept them so clean. All of her dogs were treated as family pets and you could tell the puppies were handled every day. It was great to deal with such a great breeder. I also can't stand how many people are selling "designer" breeds for so much money when you consider how hard a good breeder works with their specific breed to ensure they are breeding for quality. We called designer breeds mutts when I was a kid and it was hard to give them away let alone sell a "chi-poo" for $400 (or more). Honestly steams me when I see those ads. Ah well, not my problem and if people are willing to pay that much for a Heinz-57 then you know what they say about a fool and his money. This doesn't mean that I think mutts are bad dogs. We have our own rescue designer breed (I think she is Cocker - Lab mixed) and she is the sweetest thing. 'Nuff said.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I do now! You inspired me to try to not kill my tomato plant. In fact DH got two planters and a regular tomato plant. We are going to try really hard to keep them alive. We might even go get another planter for some hot pepper plants this weekend. Look at us! We're FAAAAAAAAMIN'

Tomato plants are a gateway drug to more exotic plants like hot peppers!

To keep you in the loop... the next part of your addiction is starting more exotic things from seeds. Maybe next year you'll get a seed care package from me!