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Dogomania

athenix

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Everything posted by athenix

  1. 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.
  2. 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 ;)
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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."
  6. 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.
  7. 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)
  8. 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.
  9. 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!
  10. 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 :)
  11. 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!
  12. LOL I was just told I was the 100,000th visitor to the site. The three times I tried clicking on it.
  13. 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... ;)
  14. Fingers crossed, and hoping we'll hear some good news soon!! ;)
  15. 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!
  16. I think keeping your name is a good idea - my little tribute to Maggie is in my avatar. And you might look crazy, but you definitely aren't! Right after I moved out, I would always start yelling for the dog if I couldn't find my slippers - even though she was 150 miles away, I could swear she was connected with their disappearance. ;) If you ever want to talk, feel more than free to get in touch with me..
  17. *hug* Shara... you seem to be dealing with this extraordinarily well, in your own way. I can't imagine the feeling that must go along with actually being there when your dog is PTS (I would have been there had there not been the danger that Maggie would have started actively dying any minute: it would have been an hour for my parents to come get me and an hour to go back down ... too risky). bullygirl29532: Maggie was cremated (the vet has his own crematorium, said that that was the first thing he built when he got the clinic) and my parents spread her ashes in our backyard on a nice, windy day. I'm honestly dreading having to go back home at some point. I think that the quietness of the house will just be too much for me to handle... that and the fact that now the dog is "out of the way" (according to my parents), all of the home improvement projects that were put off are being done - I'm not sure that I'd recognize it.
  18. Oh Shara... I know exactly how you're feeling... but you were there for her right up until the end, and did what was best for her. It's never easy, but it does get better. Soon the images of her last few days will fade and you'll remember the good times, and not the bad ones. I can't go home anymore because I know the empty house will be too hard for me to deal with. *hug* We're here for you.
  19. This is great! I love reading/hearing amusing stories about one's childhood (or really, any point :) The fact that they really happened seems to make them even better. Our first Christmas together, Adam and I stayed with my parents. While opening presents, Maggie was playing with Adam, and I went over and joined in, and for fun bit Maggie's leg (this is a game we liked to play, don't ask). Adam yells out "hey! you bit me!" and my parents were sitting there utterly confused, until he explained that Maggie had jerked her leg at the last minute (another part of the game) and I got him instead. My mother says "Nellie! I didn't know you were into that kind of *thing*!" ... silence ensued for about a full minute until I shoved a present at my dad.
  20. And, going back to Indiana Jones, Indiana was really the dog's name ;) (boyfriend and I *love* those movies)
  21. Maggie: the name just fit her... no other way to put it. Her registered name, Brandi's Lady Maggie May, comes from her mother's name (Brandi), the name the breeder called her (she was the 'Lady' of the litter), and her "full" name (Maggie May). Funny story is that the academic dean of the college my parents work at invited us to Thanksgiving dinner one year with her family, and we all sat around discussing various things, and it came out that her nickname was "Maggie" (from Margaret), "just like Jim, Diana, and Nellie's new puppy!". My mother said "uhh... I don't want to know this... but what's your middle name?". She responded "Mae". Uh-oh ... here comes that nice letter stating "you aren't needed anymore, sorry..." luckily she thought that was just great! Athena and Artemis: two gerbils that overlapped into Maggie's puppy years. After a lot of begging, parents finally consented to two gerbils (sisters), provided I give them "dignified" names. Parents both have PhDs in classics, so Athena and Artemis. ;) Windsor: horse. Race name, Tea Mug. Call name as a foal, Mugsy. Name when we bought him, Kyle. I was going to name him Wadsworth Blizzard (no idea what the call name would be) because on the day we went out to do the pre-purchase vet exam, driving back, there was a major icestorm (late March) while going through Wadsworth, OH. It somehow morphed into Windsor. I showed him as "Blanding's Pongo" (anyone get that one?) Gypsy: cat I fostered. Came to me as Dr. Gonzo, but that name just couldn't stay. She had been moved around a lot, swapped hands a number of times, and when she came to me from a friend to be placed, another friend suggested "Gypsy" due to her past.
  22. I have to say, this is incredible... a new addiction... and I love that they put a clock up so that people would know that it is, indeed, working.
  23. It seems to me that, even though the dog "might not" survive, it's worth it. You'll note that on Animal Cops/Animal Precinct, sometimes the worst looking dogs end up to be the most beautiful and friendliest adoption candidates. Call the humane society and make sure the police know just how bad the dog's condition is.
  24. That's adorable: Maggie loved having her teeth brushed, and when the time came to trim her nails, she would get iin front of "her" window and lift her feet...
  25. Ick. Ick. Ick. I think that the worst Maggie ever ate were a few bugs here and there, but then, that's understandable (although, I suppose, even that is questionable!). My parents trap mice in their house: the practice started out of the fear that Maggie would one day have a nice "midnight snack" - it's actually quite cute... my father takes them out to Titusville's claim to fame (Drake Well: first oil well) and lets them go... There were a few tense moments when I had gerbils: we would let them run loose in the bathroom (accompanied and entirely blocked off/gerbil-proofed, of course!), but they were jumpers and sometimes one would jump over the cardboard we used to "close the door" (easy in/out for humans). No harm ever came to them (they were caught quickly), but once we got Maggie, the first thing when that happened was that the gerbil watcher called out to ensure that Maggie came nowhere near :)
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