Woof Wolf!

Thinking about how you are going to keep all the dogs quiet tonight? My sympathies, my friends.

Don’t trust your dogs tonight. They are just dogs. Guard dog breeds in particular, often react to anything which is different, by being aggressive. Children in costumes, running across yards in packs – what might that look like to a dog?

Dogs don’t always understand that it is just a mask. They don’t know it is a holiday. Don’t let your dog slip out the door, don’t let him be where he can cause trouble.

I knew a dog, who lived next door to a man who put up a big animated Santa Claus. The dog went nuts. The dog freaked out at the big red mechanical thing moving on the neighbor’s rooftop.

The dog had to be kept in the house, and only let outside to go to the bathroom, and even then had to be supervised to keep him quite. This went on for about a month.

Then the neighbor took down the animated Santa. The dog went nuts again, and with renewed vigor began barking wildly at where the Santa use to be. I guess the dog was trying to say “See, I knew it was alive, and now it has slunk off elsewhere”.

The dog barked because something had changed. When it got use to the change, it barked when things went back to being as they were.

There was a TV episode, I think it was Breed All About It ??? The one on the Swissy ??(Swiss Mt. Dog). Maybe it was Funniest Videos? Anyway, this guy moves his garbage can from where it always sits, and puts it several foot over. It has move from it’s place. The dog barks at it.

I think you could Myer-Briggs (see earlier post) dogs. This dog was an extreme J. His motto would be:

“A Place For Everything and Everything in it’s Place”.

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Ex or In

How do you know if your dog is an extrovert or an introvert? Your dog could also be an Ambivert, which is half way between an extrovert & an introvert.

* Put your dog on this continuum, based on how much your dog likes meeting new people:

EE = very extroverted/ ee = extroverted/ ei = ambiverted/ ii = introverted/ II = very introverted.

EE – My dog loves everybody, he loves to meet new people.

ee – My dog likes everybody, he likes to meet new people.

ei – My dog is selective about which strangers he likes, and who he doesn’t like. I don’t usually know which strangers my dog will like.

ii – My dog has certain people he likes, but is often scared of strangers or aggressive towards them.

II – My dog is shy, and hides when company comes. or, My dog warms up to strangers very slowly. or, My dog is aggressive toward strangers.

* In areas where dogs can run loose (like where there are dirt roads and only a few houses between you and the dead end of your road, how far would your dog roam?

EE – My dog would head for the hills, he wouldn’t even think about where home was until he nearly dropped from exhaustion.

ee – He would run around, but he would stay near our home, and come back in a few hours.

ei – He would quickly learn where the edge of our property was, and you could leave the gate open, he wouldn’t leave unless I called him.

ii – There are areas in our backyard the dog doesn’t bother to go into, or rooms in the house, that he seldom goes into. Our home is bigger than the size of territory he needs.

II – Our dog only goes outside to go to the bathroom, or if we go out with him. Or our dog doesn’t go upstairs unless we call him, although he is allowed to. All on his own, he has carved out an area, on our property which he thinks of as his territory and he doesn’t cross this self imposed boundary unless he is following us.

How well does your dog play with other dogs?

EE- My dog loves to play with other dogs, he is always happy and excited to meet other dogs.

ee – My dog likes to play with most other dogs, and doesn’t try to fight, or get all into that dominance stuff.

ei – My dog likes some dogs more than others. He plays well with some of them, but ignores the rest.

ii – My dog likes to play, but is a little shy, even with dogs his own size. or, My dog usually likes to play, but he can’t be trusted – sometimes he gets mean towards other dogs.

II – My dog doesn’t play well with other dogs – either he is too aggressive, or too scared, or he just isn’t social.

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Beagles tend to love everybody, love other dogs, and roam far from home if they get a chance.

Some lines of Rat Terriers (An American breed of farm dog), are so introverted that people who get a grown one, often assume that it was abused (unless they have had a rat terrier before).

If someone tells me that their dog only lives in some rooms of the house, even though the door is open to the other rooms, or if the owner says that their are certain rooms that the dog wont go in unless a family member walks in their first – then the first thing I think is, “Is your dog a rat terrier?”

If there was a breed of dog that most acted like it believed in ghosts, it would be a rat terrier.

The one time I felt this the most, was visiting people who lived in a large, multi-story home. They had one house dog, a rat terrier.

I began to feel spooked which is rare for me – then I realized why.

The dog would walk to the big open area, between dining room and living room, and then walk back, like wanting me to follow him. When I went into the other room to get something, he would rush and get a drink or something, like as if he was scared to be alone.

He looked around corners before he would enter a room, unless he was following someone.

He listened for every tiny sound – which makes sense – rat terriers are bred to kill mice & rats on farms – they find the rodents by listening for the tiny patter of mouse scurrying.

But I found myself mimicking his heightened awareness, and it spooked me. Like sneezing when other people sneeze.

Rat terriers are probably the most common breed of farm dog in the US. They usually aren’t chained up, and the farms aren’t fenced (note: I said farm dog, not ranch dog). If they roam, chances are a coyote invites them for dinner. Rat terriers usually live in the house or barn, and don’t explore much alone.

Beagles usually can’t be trusted off leash – they will be gone. You usually have to work to get a beagle back.

Here’s the weird part. American Rat Terriers are a mix of fox terriers like the Jack Russell, Whippets, and Beagles – and a bit of whatever was around the barn at the time.

But, maybe because the bold ones got eaten by coyotes, they aren’t at all like beagles, and even though you might have to look hard to see the difference between Jack Russells and Rat Terriers – there are big behavioral difference between the fearless Jacks, and the introverted Rat T.

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sled dog?

Look at these four dogs, and tell me which , if any, are sled dogs? Are you sure? How do you know?

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Sheep dogs?

Which of these dogs herds sheep? Maybe all four? Maybe only one? Maybe none? Are you sure? 1, 2, 3, or 4?

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bird dogs

Which are the bird dogs? The poodle, the cocker spaniel, the English Setters?

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Find the bloodhounds.

Find the bloodhound(s).

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Bloodhunds?

Can you find the bloodhounds on this page?

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bloodhound?

Can you find the bloodhounds on this page?

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Blood hounds

Did you find the bloodhound? Or is the bloodhound going to have to find you?

What is a bloodhound?

Many dogs can track deer. They sniff the air or ground where the deer went, and follow it. Much like you might be able to scent track an animal if it had just been skunked. Or like you might be able to follow a perfume trail.

Bloodhounds have a special talent, they are suppose to track the one wounded deer from a whole herd of deer, and when that wounded deer, leaves the herd to lie down and die, the bloodhound must follow the trail left by the dying deer, not go off after the rest of the herd.

That’s the story the show bloodhound people tell. I don’t track shot deer – but I will give you a link to someone who does – but don’t arrive at their site uneducated. Read the rest of this post first.

The truth of the above photos is this: a bloodhound is a dog that tracks wounded animals, you can’t tell what a dogs occupation is by looking at him. Any of the dogs in the photos above could be bloodhounds – or none of them.

But, but, but, you say, bloodhounds are red with a black spot and they have big bones and long ears, and droopy skin.

Hmmm. Let me disillusion you. How about I recommend a good wife/ kitchen worker/ caterer? How do I know she is a good cook? Her last name is Cook. And if you want a second recommendation, I know somebody named Baker.

Please calm down, and in a short paragraph, explain to me why Cook & Baker might not be any better in the kitchen than Fletcher & Cooper. I’m serious. Find the words and explain it.

In explaining it to me, have you put your explanation in your brain’s memory? Good.

People did not use to have last names. How to say which David you are talking about?

You say David the Cook, David the Baker, David the Fletcher, etc.

At some point the government wrote down peoples names, and people were given their fathers profession as a last name which was then handed down through the generations no matter what your job was.

So you could be a barrel maker named Cook.

Dogs are like that. At one time, bloodhounds tracked wounded animals. Bloodhounds that did not track well, were culls and did not live to reproduce.

But that was before dog shows. Since dog shows started up, the breed split into 2 groups, the ones that actually tracked, and those that had the Bloodhound last name, and DESCEND from dogs that really did track wounded animals.

I guess I could write it like this:
a bloodhound tracks wounded animals,
a Bloodhound descends from dogs that tracked wounded animals.

But few people write names or professions with understanding, so why should I? You could, I’d know you understood. But the name of countries have to be capitalized no matter what, it upsets some people if you fail to capitalized their countrys name.

You could write:
English Pointer (a breed of dog) or
English pointer (a pointing dog from English lines).

German Shepherd Dog (a breed of dog).
German shepherd dog ( a working dog).

Border Collie (show dog, purebred)
Border collie (works sheep, might be purebred).

The capital means the profession is only the dog’s last name.

But it isn’t a standardized thing. But if you write it that way, you’ll think of it that way every time you think whether your writing about a cook or a Cook, a Retriever of a retriever.

So why did I use the bloodhound to illustrate? It’s an issue with bloodhound people yes, but, I heard on TV about bloodhounds looking for a girl, and it reminded me that I want to write about a site I found. Go to this blog, and the answer to what a bloodhound is, can be learned from reading there.
http://borntotracknews.blogspot.com/

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QUIZ Gotta pee, but can’t?

Message #129 of 148

Have you heard about the trouble in Dalmatian dogs?

Dalmatians get an inherited disease called hyperuricemia. One dalmatian breeder told me that the disease makes the dog’s urine stink worse than most dog urine. Actually, it has a much worse of an effect on the dog’s health.

Back in the 1970s one brave man, Robert Schaible, decided to fix the problem by crossing the Dalmatian with the breed most like it, the (English) pointer. He made a line of Dalmatians that looked like other dalmatians, but who didn’t have the gene for hyperuricemia.

The American Kennel Club, accepted his Dalmatians.

But the AKC’s structure is what is sometimes called a “club of clubs” – that is, the AKC has clubs for members, not people.

The AKC “recognizes” various clubs. There is a club for each breed. One of these clubs is a dalmatian club.

QUIZ:
How did the AKC’s dalmatian club react to Schaible creating a line of healthy dalmatians?

1. They made him president of their club.

2. They gave him prize money.

3. They held a banquet in his honor.

4. They named their biggest club after him.

5. All of the above.

6. They asked the AKC to un-register the healthy dalmatians.

If you answered with any of the nice smiley answers, you don’t know the world of purebred dogs.

Of course, they un-registered his dogs!

Why? Only they know why.

Maybe because a few of the healthy dalmatians had solid black ears instead of spotted ears?

Dalmatians also often have deafness. I’ve read that deafness is associated with white coloring, especially white around the base of the ears.

Maybe his healthy dogs made some breeders of deaf and sick dogs look bad?

Maybe the show breeders felt breeding sick dogs would improve the breed?

Maybe the purebred dog breeders had some notion about letting a dog breed with any dog that didn’t look like them? But English pointers do look a lot like dalmatians.

Maybe some of the purebred dalmatian breeders had a thing about making a little group of dogs and calling them “pure” and not letting them breed with any other dog, even if it was necessary to do to produce healthy puppies?

Maybe some of the dalmatian breeders wanted to breed unhealthy dogs with a genetic disease? Who knows?

QUIZ:
What did the AKC do?

1. They said “We are glad you brought this to our attention, there is a conflict between the kind of dalmatian you want and the healthy kind Mr.. Schaible has produced. We like his healthy kind better.” So the AKC, un-recognized the old dalmatian club, and recognized a new dalmatian club started by Mr. Schaible.

2. They said “We are glad that Mr. Schaible made this new kind of dalmatian that looks like the other dalmatians, but is healthy. We are going to have both kinds in the breed. If the public wants to buy your unhealthy dogs, they can. If the public wants to buy Mr. Schaible’s healthy dalmatians, they can.”

3. They said “We want to make both clubs happy. We will have two breeds of dalmatians, the “dalmatian”, and “American Dalmatians” – which will be those from Mr. Schaible’s line.

4. They said “We recognized his dogs, they are in the breed, get over it. We have spoken.”

5. They said “We will un-recognize Mr Schaible’s healthy dalmatians, and remove them from our registry.”

Let me give you a hint: despite this being over 25 years ago, dalmatians are still suffering from hyperuricemia.

That’s the world of purebred dogs that we daren’t say anything detrimental about, even when it is true.

The AKC un-recognized the healthy dalmatians.

Across the pond, in England, in 2008, the brave Margaret Carter, spoke out about the problem in her breed, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.

These spaniels often suffer terribly from a horrid genetic disease which makes the little spaniels have terrible pain. They also often suffer and die from heart disease.

QUIZ:
How did the the Cavalier’s dog club over there re-act to Margaret Carter’s words?

1. They did nice things.

2. They ignored it.

3. They promised to work on removing unhealthy Cavaliers from breeding.

4. They took a vote, and by a huge majority voted out all the people who knowingly bred unhealthy dogs.

5. They took a vote, and by a huge majority voted Margaret Carter out of the Cavalier dog club.

Would I have called her “brave” if this was easy?

Of course she was voted out by a huge majority.

Can’t have anyone telling the truth about club members or their unhealthy suffering dogs, can they?

Permission to crosspost.
This post is in public domain.

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