athenix

Must agree, this is one of the best sites that I've found so far - right now it's more important for me to form friendships on-line that will potentially last than just be dealing with words: here, you really get to know the people behind the names. In a way, being able to interact with dog-owners and hear stories is helping me deal with the loss of Maggie and the fact that I'm no longer a dog owner.

Well, I have to admit that I was "attacked" by a Rottweiler puppy yesterday at the mall. As much as I know I shouldn't, I can't keep myself from stopping into the pet store, and they now have this adorable Rotti puppy in one of the cages on the floor. So I go in, start rubbing his head, he wakes up. Up pops his head, and his mouth heads right towards my fingers, and out comes this cute pink tongue. Wouldn't stop licking my hand, and when I pulled away after about a minute (I had an appt I had to start heading towards), he started growling, then whining pitifully, trying to squeeze his big head through the bars to get to my hand. I indulged him for about five minutes, then he sighed and fell asleep. Total love bug, and if he goes to a good home with owners who understand the responsibility of owning the breed, I imagine with good training he'd make a great ambassador for the breed. So many of the pet store puppies automatically nip, it was a very pleasant surprise to find one who just wanted to lick ;)

I'm beginning to think more and more that Snoop-Dogg is a troll... just here to shake up the place (note that their only two posts deal with both killing cats and killing humans). He/she is more than welcome to prove me otherwise, and I hope that they do ... I've just spent too much time on Usenet.

Having worked at a newspaper, I can add a bit onto that. Newspapers are attention-hungry. Nothing guarantees public outrage or sympathy than a dog bite story.

Exactly, about the responsible owners. I owned a Thoroughbred for about two years, and in the wrong hands, they can become incredibly unpredictable. Two of my best friends during that time period were also riders, and were constantly begging me to ride him, and I refused. They were both perfectly competant riders and owned multiple horses, but their experience was limited to schoolhorses and older "bomb-proof" mounts. I don't think that anything would have happened, but I wasn't willing to take the risk. A horse knows when a rider is insecure, and Windsor had a number of habits picked up from years of abuse that didn't phase me, but could easily make someone not used to that level of energy very frightened - which would just escalate into causing fear of the breed in my friends, and a possible setback in his training. A responsible owner has trained their dogs not to bite (play-biting in puppies is very common, and if not stopped, that behavior can continue when they're not cute puppies anymore), acclimatized them to a variety of situations (and know what situations will provoke them, and avoid them), and keep close watch on them, regardless of breed. ANY dog has the potential to be agressive, the media just makes some breeds out to have it as a more acceptable trait. As a sidenote, the The Kennel Club (UK)'s breed standard for temperament is: "Good natured, not nervous, aggressive or vicious; courageous, biddable, with natural guarding instincts."

This will be shorter than I want it to, since my sleep was just interrupted and it's 5:00AM :) Some breeds of dogs are not for everyone, quite simply put. Dogs that are typically used for guard work are a good example of this. They're very headstrong, and under the right conditions *can* become agressive. However, every dog can. The amount of pushing it takes varies. Dogs are dogs. When provoked enough, they can't quietly say "stop it" (they may bark, but that might not be enough of a deterrant). They may not realize that they've gone too far. So, your answer is a big NO ... Rottweilers are not killers. I've known two Dobermans who would fight over who got custody of my lap. I've been "mauled" (no stitches required, but close) by a cockapoo, shih-tzu, and pug. Rottweilers attract news attention because of the way that they've been portrayed in popular culture - as guard dogs who will fight to the kill. Also, a Rottweiler's jaws are stronger, and even a slight nip can cause a considerable amount of damage... this doesn't mean that damage was the intention.

LOL!! Rio looks like he's in shock ;) And the ears :) I have Maggie photos with ears beginning to propel her into the air (puppy photos, with the puppy "bounce", so it looks even better)

Maggie just loved the "right behind the tail" scritch. She would actually bob her rear half up and down to help you out. Tummy rubs were another thing. If you stopped, and she wasn't ready, she would lift her head up and growl at you until you moved your hand back. Whenever I was home, she would sleep with me... the rest of the time, with my father. He has a special chair that he reads in before bed, and while reading, Maggie would sprawl out all over the bed. When he finished and was ready to climb in, he would say "I'm sorry, Maggie, but it's time for me to go to bed", and she would get up, move into the corner opposite the side that he slept on, and curl up. And I agree... foot massages would probably be considered gross by anyone else, but they feel so good - warm and with that nice "roughish tongue" aspect.

Oh Luka! You ride! (I rode through most of my teenage years, and am anxious to start again: hunter/jumper, dressage, and owned a Thoroughbred)... details! (do you own? discipline?) Good luck with the show season, and keep us posted!

Congratulations! It sounds like you found a real keeper, and she's just the most adorable little thing - you have to keep us updated with photos :)

Oh!! *puppy envy* Hey, it's my birthday today, think ya can ship him down here overnight? Airport code is ERI :) He looks like he'll be a wonderful addition to the family ... those eyes! Good luck, and we can't wait to hear stories!

LOL I was just told I was the 100,000th visitor to the site. The three times I tried clicking on it.

Good luck, and have lots of fun! I had been planning to come up for it, but the plans got switched around, and my boyfriend is headed down here instead... ;)

Fingers crossed, and hoping we'll hear some good news soon!! ;)

Ai yi yi... Do I ever remember being grounded from the Internet. Once it was for about six months (because my parents felt my schoolwork was suffering as a result of being on-line too much)... not sure how I survived. Then there was the "no Internet after 10pm" rule, which I always broke (it's easy: drape a very thick blanket over both yourself and the monitor and type verry verry slowly :) Oh, how I love living alone!