Canis erectus

[quote name='courtnek']now here I have to disagree. I dont think wolves consider us so much "predators", (used in the term as someone who hunts them to survive) as in "competition"...most predators tend to avoid each other, and try to not walk on another predator's turf....an instinct we dont have. we are the ultimate competition, and dont play by normal predatory rules. in some situations, one predator may take over another's territory, but you can bet its because prey is minimal, and its do or die in those situations. survival of the fittest is not just a term, its a reality.[/quote] That's more or less what I meant by predatory. When canines and men first came together out of a more or less mutual arangment, that was long before the wholesale hunting of wolves that began mainly in, what, the Dark Ages? Anyway, just as a species as a whole can adapt to the prospect of mankind being a resource, so too will a species recognize man as a predator when faced with long term persecution. On that note, aren't wolves extinct throughout most of Europe? Or is that bears? I can't remember.

I remember seeing Malamutes on a top 10 bite list somewhere a couple years ago. It's been my experience with husky breeds that they can be somewhat unpredictable, they seem to more readily fall into pack and predatory behavior than many other breeds, and I've seen many who are cool with strangers. Those opinions aside, I also think that Malamutes are easily the most steady and reliable of the huskies, though still rather hard-headed. Just like any other breed there's lots of 'bad' Malamutes. Since they are the largest of the husky types, Malamutes are the next macho-est thing to having a wolf or wolf/dog, and so get bred indescriminatley. I've noticed that the 'bad' ones have long muzzles and narrower heads, probably because they've got many other random sptiz dogs in their ancestry.

Actually the instinct to chase rabbits is a survival instinct= catching your food. Mankind has not bred any instincts into dogs, we have only made certain traits more or less prominant over the centuries through the selective breeding of individuals who possess stronger desired traits for a given task. Every domestic dogs' behavior/instinct can be traced back to a behevior/instinct found in wild canines. Most dogs will survive just fine when born into the wild (Canaan Dog is a good example) as long as it's body structure has been fooled with so much that it can't (Pekignese). IMO the major thing that keeps wolves from being a generally safe pet is not it's wild instincts, but rather it's lack of centuries of conditioning towards mankind as anything but a predator.

The photos look authentic enough, but something still smells kinda fishy to me. Something about the morphology doesn't look quite right to me, I can't quite put a finger on it but maybe the chest seems too broad or the head too large. I dunno but definately something... In snakes and other reptiles there is a recessive piebald gene that makes large patches of the skin devoid of any pigment. This looks somewhat similar and I know that a similar gene can be found in some mammals, but the coloration on these dogs looks far too uniform to be a true piebald, that and I also don't think they would have black noses. What I think is that some certain dogs owners weren't paying attention when another dog snuck in and tied with a female. If you take note of the blue eyes I would guess there's some Border Collie or Aust Shep blood in those dogs.

Oh come on, most of the time I don't have a strong enough opinion one way or another to participate in these cut-throat threads, but by god they are amusing to read! :D

Actually it looks like you've already missed the show, unless you're nearby in which case you might be able to catch this afternoon-> [url]http://www.hangtownkc.org/[/url] It looks like a pretty extensive list this year (starting on page #6), there's a few breeds that I haven't seen seen there before, their venue seems to be gaining popularity.-> [url]http://www.hangtownkc.org/2005%20Show%20Premium.pdf[/url]

LOL, this almost sounds like my house

I don't know how old your son is but I might suggest a Pug or Pomeranian(already mentioned), or maybe a Japanese Chin. I'd probably stay away from Chihuahuas unless you got a 'pound Chihuahua', that is, one that doesn't conform to standard, they tend to be larger/sturdier and more gregarious. I'd also stay away from terrier types as they tend to need to burn off alot of energy and also will have a high prey drive. Also if you're considering a Bichon, you might look into Havanese or Coton De Tuleaurs (sp?). They are fairly similar dogs but considered rare breeds and as such are less subject to congenital problems due to over breeding. I also know that you can find breeders for both in Mich.

[quote name='DivineOblivion19'][quote name='Canis erectus']My gears are running a little slow tonight, but ASD=Australian Shepherd Dog?[/quote] [color=indigo]I'm assuming Anatolian Shepherd Dog?? Something she's fostered in the past. [/color] [/quote] Ah, thank you, that would explain the comment about the black mask

Yes that is a big house guest, and yes, owner A is an idiot. But so is owner B, what did they expect from a Pyr cross? My gears are running a little slow tonight, but ASD=Australian Shepherd Dog?

That's really quite a horrible shame. You really can't blame the poor dog for trying to take a bite out of Free, he didn't really take the initiative to attack and probably felt the need to defend himself. Just imagine being a dog, coming from god knows what kind of background, and being abandoned in the territory of two other dogs who may or may not try to kill you when they show up, and with no way out. The guy must have been terrified, sad really. It's gotta make you wonder exactly why the dog was abandoned though. Did any of your neighbors see anything?

I agree completely with Seijun and Courtnek and couldn't have stated it better myself. I would like to add that millions of people all over the world keep wild animals as pets. Animals such as snakes and parrots are by no means domesticated, I would even consider housecats as being margianally domesticated, being kept commonly as 'pets' only in recent history. It's really a question of whether an individual person has the physical and intellectual means to safely keep a wild animal. Obviously when a smaller animal acts out, like a parrot for example, there is considerably less physical risk involved to a person than when, say a wolf hybrid, is involved. There are some folks who are capable of caring for wildlife, however the vast majority of us are not for various reasons. I also want to say that I had fairly recently met an old man who told me that he had a pet bobcat. Of course I didn't believe him until I saw it for myself, he just happened to be a client at the clinic I work at and had brought the cat in for routines a few months afterward. He (the bobcat) is actually very well mannered and responsive, although being something like 15 years old and only having three legs probably made him rather passive.

Not sure exactly where you live, but the El Dorado Kennel Club should be hosting their show in Placerville in a couple months or so.

Since I agree with the general consenses so far, I'm not going to repeat anything already said. However I will say that this level of agressiveness at such a young age, and for all we know from a loving and at least reasonably educated family, just seems really out of place. Since you fon't know anything about his life before you got him, I wonder what the chances are for him to have some sort of inherent mental instability/illness?

It's always nice when the crate isn't needed anymore, for many reasons. Heh, I'll never forget the first day that Zoey was left alone in the house (well, no people anyway), it looked like someone fired a rocket into my house. I doubt that a rhinoceras could have done even half the damage that Zoey did in that amount of time. My mistake :roll:

Mmmmmmmmm.... Coke flavoured ice cream, with nicotine! *drools* :icecream: Oh, and good job Pooh Bear!

I beleive that the Cane Corso is a quite common and much loved dog where you live. How would you feel if you owned one and had to constantly live with complaints, fear, and all around trouble caused by other folks who thought you owned a Pitbull. Well that's exactly what happens here because the media's prime directive seems to be to sow misinformation and fear among the populace. Oh... And don't you tell ME that I have no symapthy for the people involved in that incident, I knew several of them on a first hand basis, including the cop who shot the dog. Don't tell me that I know nothing about being attacked by animals, because I've had more kinds of animals than what ever fit on Noah's Ark try to take a piece of me. I haven't had any critical injuries, but my fiance has a more-or-less 6x2 inch scar on her right bicep from a dog attck. Yet still even we can still recognize a dog being shot simply for being scared and confused and not knowing that it did anything wrong.

Better yet, see if you can convince her to allow you to find a new home. She obviously hasn't put any effort into this dog and probably won't put any effort into rehoming him. If you could find him a home, it'll be no effort on her part and Tanner won't just go to the first loser who comes along.

I agree that people shouldn't have to live in fear of domestic animals, but those descriptions that you provided are examples of what we call media sensationalism. I think it's pretty safe to say that most of those stories come from relatively small local papers and news casts, and it seems that many columnists and reporters have a weird sort of competetive drive to cover the most important story. You might call it 'local celebraty syndrome' or something like that, I dunno. But let me relate to you a story that relates to this, in which I was privvy to most of the facts. A few years ago when I was living in the Calif foothills, our local small-time paper had an article about a dog attack. The dog in this case happened to be a German Shephard, and the article basically reported that the dog had severley mauled it's owner and took off on a rampage through the neighborhood. A cop, on foot, suppossedly chased the dog for two blocks (which in the country is like 4 city blocks) while it fled from him (still wearing a leash and collar), until the officer finally had to shoot the dog when it turned and headed for a woman and her baby "with a crazed look in it's eyes" (I'll never forget that part). Of course the neighbors all report that the dog was obviously viscious and was often seen roaming around loose. Now it just so happens that the owners of the dog were clients at the clinic I worked at. They were good relativley responsible people, a man who lived alone with his daughter and the dog wasn't viscious, more like 'squirrily'. He about a year old and so was at an impetuous stage and he had alot of energy. The problem was that the daughter (who was like 18 or 19) was a rather petite and not very assertive, so she did not have control or the respect of the animal. A couple weeks prioir the dog began pulling the girl around by her pants, definately a bad sign, and the problem was not corrected right away which escalated into the girl having many many stitches in her lefy leg resulting fom that mauling. Anyway, the dog took off, a neighbor saw the seen and called the police. There was no foot chase, a few cops drove around until they found the dog and after cornering him against a building they shot him when he snarled at them. The 'neighbors' who reported the dog viscious was in fact only the neighbor who called the police, someone that that had something of a feud with the dog's owners. So there is a perfect example of how these stories are taken out of context by some small-time jack@ss looking to make his mark.

Sorry Courtnek, it's always sad to see them go. 17+ years is darn good for a cat, and I'd be willing to bet that it's been a good life.

I agree with you guys completely. This isn't something I'm considering, just something that sparked a general interest. I'm curious , does anyone know of someone who has cloned? I wonder how often it's actually done.

Holy cow, that needs to stop now! Is this something new/ And if not is it something he does only with you, or does he growl at your parents too? At any rate if it were me, I'd scold the sh*t out of him and take the offending object from him on way or another (be commanding). Then I'd put it away until he's settled down and more or less feels the event is passed him. After awhile I'd offer the treat again, but make him sit first, and then lay down, and then sit again. And then I'd make him laydown and sit again, and maybe a few other commands if he knows them. I'd praise him verbally for obeying the commands but he wouldn't get the treat until I felt he understood that I am the one in control. You'll also need to talk to your parents and work out a plan that everyone abides by where Carson doesn't get anything without obeying a command first. If he wants a treat, he should lay down. For food, so a sit/stay. Vary the commands as well so that it doesn't become routine and he does them automatically without asking. That's just my advice, I know that Carson isn't particularly motivated but neither are my two dogs and that's what I would do with them. I'm certain that some of the professionals here will have some better avice for you though. Oh and I read that Carson is from a working line of dogs. This is probably the main reason that he is becoming to be a bit of an unruly house pet. he needs a job, agility, flyball, frisbee, something... I guess hunting would be ideal, and if you know someone who does you could loan him out for hunting trips.

I keep seeing that Genic Savings and Clone ad onthe forim pages and I got to wondering: Assuming that cost is not an obstacle, would any of you consider cloning your pets? Personally I don't think I would. I'm certain that China wouldn't be near as good of a dog as she is if it weren't for her neglectful past. Zoey could probably be an even better dog if we had her since she was a puppy, but a clone just wouldn't be the same as Zoey. Oh and just what do you name a cloned pet anyway? I wonder if alot of people who have cloned have used the same name.

Yup, it is that time. Thank god for me that China finished blowing her coat a couple weeks ago. I can usaully fill up a grocery bag at least once a week or so just with normal shedding, but when she blows coat it's crazy. We always like to joke every spring about evrey bird in a six block radius having luxury padded nests. Anyway, I use a rake if I'm giving China a bath, it seems to be the thing that works best for her.

I wouldn't put much more thought into it Courtnek, he's already thrown everything at you he can legally. So should he ever even come by your house again you can look at him out your window and know that he's the one who's stewing with his panties in a bunch.