Dog snobs

[Horsefeathers!]

Some people are just plain stupid, I reckon.

We spent the day today in two different towns at different dog functions. Funny how there's never anything to do around here for months at a time, then for whatever reason, all the surrounding towns want to hold their dog events on the same day of the year.

Anyway, Devin was the only dog I had with me all day as it's always good to get him out for a refresher on his socialization (some of you may remember he used to be kind of nasty... glad to report he is now a comfortable people dog). Devin, for those who are new, is a Lhasa Apso, smallish dog. We were just walking along checking out the exhibits and minding our own business when this man with his very overweight Bulldog shouted, "NO, NO <insert dog's name here>!! That's not a snack!! Don't hurt him!!" in reference to Devin. How ignorant can someone be? First of all, this Bulldog was grossly overweight, was sitting on the pavement in the hot sun panting and drooling and trying to catch its breath. It hadn't noticed Devin, not as much as a sniff, and I'm pretty sure it couldn't have hurt Devin even if it tried. It took all the energy this poor beast had to breathe. I guess what bugged me about it is this guy was intentionally trying to perpetuate that bad dog myth. He wasn't really kidding as much as he was trying to insinuate that he had a "bad" dog. Moron. For every good bully breed owner out there, I shudder to think of the number of morons in comparison.

Some friends went with me and had their two dogs, one being a small terrier mix and the other is a Pit(ish) Bull/Boxer mix. Some Boxer snob was SO rude to my friend. She walked by with her two big Boxers and said snidely, "He'd be a nice looking dog if he were a PUREBRED Boxer..." How rude! My friend didn't think quickly enough on her feet because I sure would have said, "That sure would be a pretty lady if it weren't for her FACE!" Maybe I'm just too old fashioned and believe that if people can't say something constructive, just keep yer trap shut!

There's one other thing that just gets me every time... WHY do people come to an animal shelter fundraiser to SELL PUPPIES?? There is always someone at these events with puppies to sell while the shelter is trying to promote adoption and spaying and neutering. What goes through people's minds?

Fortunately, the good dog people outnumber the bad dog people for the most part, so it was a great day. I'm not generally much of a people person, but I can spend the day chattering away with other dog people (except that I almost got into a fight with another lady discussing dog food :oops: ). I wish we had more events like these today. It's great to have something where dog people can gather.

Oh, I've seen this before, but the police dog demonstrations are always fascinating to me, like how they use German commands. These dogs are so awesome. I could have done without the gunfire demonstration, though... especially since I was right by the gun toting "criminal" and wasn't expecting it. Holy balls, did I start cussing (a really bad habit of mine... reacting to fright with, er, colorful vocalizations :oops: )... "Oh, ____!!! what the...??? son of a...!! I'll be....!!! Mother......!!!"

[gooeydog]

[quote]I sure would have said, "That sure would be a pretty lady if it weren't for her FACE!"[/quote]
:lol: :lol: :lol:
Very nice, that would have been fun to see.

I get a similar version with Annie at the dog training place we go to, on Saturdays it's the group obedience classes, and they have a lot of big dogs there, rotties, GSDs, APBTs, etc. On a couple occasions, one person there has walked by with his dog and commented, "look, dinner on a leash!" or the like to his dog as they go past. The first time it happened, I laughed and jokingly warned, "yeah, dinner that bites back...", but since, just kinda smile, nod, and get on my way, no point in giving the kiddies the attention they so long for :roll: . We've gotten a few other laughing comments about her (which I don't really mind), but for the most part, the rest of the people there are either pretty indifferent to her.

[kendalyn]

Once in a while someone says something snotty about Buck after I tell them he's a mutt. (They usually assume he's a purebred lab) They'll say something like, "Too bad." or "Why didn't you just get the real thing?" It's annoying. Especially since anyone who thinks Buck is a lab knows nothing about dogs. He only weighs about 50 pounds :roll:

I usually don't say anything back but once I did because the guy was so mean. He said "a mutt isn't worth the food you feed him". :x I told him if that's how he feels then his kids should be starving. :oops: I really don't know if that even makes a lot of sense but I was pissed!

[imported_Cassie]

[quote]Once in a while someone says something snotty about Buck after I tell them he's a mutt. (They usually assume he's a purebred lab) They'll say something like, "Too bad." or "Why didn't you just get the real thing?" It's annoying. Especially since anyone who thinks Buck is a lab knows nothing about dogs. He only weighs about 50 pounds [/quote]
This is what makes me so angry. I am not anti purebred (I have a few purebreds, & belong to the Newf club etc.) but, I always make sure when some one gets snotty about purebreds and insinuates that the purebreds are the "best" and all other dogs - mutts etc. are a degenerate form of a purebred...this is where I correct them. I usually ask people...where do you think your purebred dog came from??? they all came from mongrels and mutts...and alot of purebreds are so inbred once the stud books are closed its no wonder they suffer from so many genetic diseases...we as man are ruining are dogs by being so anal about purebred breeding programs. I have even said to a couple of people at the national specialty Newf show that they should throw a lab into the Newf breeding program once in a while to bring new blood into the breed and to get rid of that big coat...we as man created our purebreds, by planned crossbreeding programs in the first place..but, instead of continuing to crossbred for good genetic health they close the stud books and slowly start to create genetic diseases...you just can't keep a dog in a purebred without creating genetic diseases...especially when they become a popular breed.

I think the one thing that really upset me about some purebred breeders being so anal. When I found my Dobie mix Beau (most people know I found him half starving and dumped on the side of a road way). I picked him up, brought him back to health and have kept him. Some of the people in my Newf club rolled their eyes at me and said..."you should have just left it there" they were serious! :o .

[imported_Cassie]

[quote]That's a great comment! It makes a lot of sense! Unless that man and his wife are "purebred" (insert ethnic background here) then they are mutts too! Most of us are mixed breeds! I'm an Irish/German/English/Swedish/Amercian![/quote]
Hey, great comment!! :lol: :wink:
Purebred people are racist!!!
Our mongrels would be the races of the population of dogs...purebreds are man made...so to have a purebred human you would have to sexually isolate a small population of people who had great looks...and keep breeding for this. So to create a purebred human we would take a Irish/German/English/Swedish/Amercian person and breed to perhaps another nationality and get a "look" or motor pattern we want, then you would breed for this until you have the same "look" for this purebred human and then after a few generations you can call them a "purebred" human :lol: :wink:

[courtnek]

[quote]I usually don't say anything back but once I did because the guy was so mean. He said "a mutt isn't worth the food you feed him". I told him if that's how he feels then his kids should be starving. I really don't know if that even makes a lot of sense but I was p***![/quote]

you're absolutely correct. There are VERY few places anymore in the world where there is still what's called "racial purity"...nor should there be, for health reasons. The old french and british royalty almost destroyed their own houses by inbreeding, before they realized the health affects it had on the children, and future Kings/Queens....

I read a story once, and dont know how true to fact it is, that the original "Dracula", was actually a real person. Count Dracula (meaning Son of Drac) from the Transylvania area. Back when it used to be called that, I'm not sure what it's called now. He was the inbred son of the King at the time, and he had a major blood disorder, where his own blood did not produce enough of an enzyme necessary for health, and he was dying.
They found out somehow that drinking other peoples blood would alleviate the symptoms, and he became an unholy terror in the country, killing people just to kill them. He was obviously mentally unstable as well, but his horrible actions got so bad that even his own family disowned him.

I also agree that some outside lines should be brought in to the purebred dog family, for stability and health reasons. Labs to Newfs is not a bad idea, since the Lab was originally created by mixing newfs to another, smaller water dog.....

[courtnek]

Did your version mention his illness at all? I have read that one too...but it was a different article then the one I rememeber...

[pei obssessed]

I had to anwer to the off topic bit. Transylvania is still called that and it is one of the 3 Romanian counties. I am a Romanian and can confirm Mei-Mei's part of the story, except the ending. It is historically known that Vlad Tepes (or Vlad Dracul) was a very bloody prince of Wallachia (incidentally, that's another county); as a boy, he lived at the Turkish court for a while and there he came into contact with the bloody practices they had. He brought back this knowledge and used it as a ruler of Wallachia. Yes, he used to stake his enemies, as well as any criminals--so for keeping the Turks at bay and keeping "order" in the country, he is regarded as one of our national heroes.
No bloody baths known...
And no disease known either. But when writers take their models from reality, they tend to combine what they've heard/read about different persons into one fictional character. The disease you speak of, courtnek, was common amongst the European aristocracy--and yes, it is a result of inbreeding. Again incidentally, all 3 counties of Romania were either under Hungarian dominance or Turkish one for hundreds of years, and so the aristocracy would periodically get killed depending on who had bribed the Turks or the Hungarians to get in power; therefore, there couldn't be much inbreeding going on :lol:

[courtnek]

[quote]The disease you speak of, courtnek, was common amongst the European aristocracy--and yes, it is a result of inbreeding.[/quote]

thank you Mei Mei...I also believe, that with dogs, "you cannot breed too close home..." sometimes, its in the breeders best interest's
TO NOT BREED~~~!!!!!!