getting a dog: for and against

Randorama · Post by **Randorama** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 1:38 pm

Personally i'd advise against the typical species of my region, the Abruzzese mastiff. Unless you have problems with wolves and boars, it's the best partner around. One of the sub-species (of which Belle, my late dog was a member) can reach 100 kgs (220 lbs.), at full development. If your daughters are still young, they would be a perfect substitute for ponies, though

MOSQUITO FIGHTER · Post by **MOSQUITO FIGHTER** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 2:26 pm

That reminds me I had two English Mastiffs when I was young. Huge dog. Like having a pet lion.

landshark · Post by **landshark** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 3:41 pm

PaCrappa wrote:Everybody should have at least one pitbull. I have three. This one is Marco:

I adopted a pit but ultimately gave him back to the rescue organization because my work schedule would make it too difficult to take care of him. He'd end up stuck inside the house for 8-15 hours a day. Plus I did not have a yard so the only excercise he'd get is when I'd walk him. Nowhere to run free.

Even today I miss him alot. **INCREDIBLY** affectionate dog. I remember him whining as I walked away after leaving him with the shelter (same one I adopted him from). Pits rock.

Pic from 3 years ago.

I raised a Border Collie when I lived with my parents. Best dog I've ever had. They are incredibly smart, great fun to play with (you can teach them just about anything), and they have a personality that is very unique to canines. Even when I go back to visit my parents now, the dog goes ballistic when he sees me and wants to play.

Most people who don't like dogs or say they are not good to have, have never had one or have been attacked by a stray or one that had a bad owner. There's no animal in the world like a dog.

PaCrappa · Post by **PaCrappa** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 5:15 pm

For the record I was joking. My three dogs are some of the best behaved animals you could ever hope to meet and it has taken alot of attention to ensure this. Even nice people (like Landshark) have a hard time providing adequate care and attention for such intelligent high energy dogs. Fuck the "pitboys". We get them here in the states too. They're ruining it for everybody.

My dogs have never had a problem with a human and it's been very rare that they scuffle with other dogs. They did kill my mom's cat

Which was a huge drag, moreso for me than her for some reason...

Anyway, here's all three in my truck. Linda, Jade and Marco:

Pa

ahnslaught · Post by **ahnslaught** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 6:32 pm

For: Dogs can be a source of the funniest stories! I was taking my dog out for a walk, when a neighbor's dog started going crazy from behind the neighbor's fence. My dog casually trots up, sniffs around, turns his ass toward the dogs (all while the neighbor's dogs are going psycho), and proceeds to lay a fat deuce and trots off. I never saw two dogs quiet down so fast...

Pixel_Outlaw · Post by **Pixel_Outlaw** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 8:29 pm

Oh you could just settle for one of those birth giving stuffed dogs from the mid 90's. YOu know the kind that little girls want then never play with again. You know, the kind that have like 4 mini ones in their stomachs....

Diabollokus · Post by **Diabollokus** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 8:46 pm

As with any pet, its expensive, vet bills insurance to name a few things its like having another family member I have 2 cats a small one and a big bloody monster cat called Marvin whom I adopted from stray. My biggest concern with a dog would be safety, particularly with small children. Might be best to get something small and friendly. I got attacked by a dog one time when I was a kid still have the small scar on the left ribs to prove it, I was weary for awhile but now I wouldn't mind a dog, I like german shepards for some strange reason. Probably get a labrador myself.

Thanks rando you identified a 10 year mystery for me, a neighbour has one of those giant dogs you linked to always wondered what kind of bread it was. Imagine trying to feed a 100 kilo dog...

landshark · Post by **landshark** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 10:08 pm

Dogs bite. It's what they do. My border collie bit me on the face one day and I ended up in the hospital at midnight getting my nose and lip stitched up.

It was my fault though. I sat on his tail next to me and his reaction was to try and push off whatever was on it. Dogs don't have arms so they use their mouth. I wasn't angry at all - just lost a good bit of blood

You definitely need to watch any dog around children and that is fully the responsiblity of the parent. Unfortunately most parents do not do this and the dog WILL get blamed for anything (and the law WILL take sides with the parents).

When I went to the hospital they were trying to get all sorts of strange information about my dog. I fed them "what they wanted to hear" because there was no way I was gonna let them touch my dog.

Post by **Shatterhand** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 10:53 pm

To be honest, I've seen some lovely pitbulls too. It's all in the way you treat your dog, I guess.

I´ve had a Dobermann, a Cocker Spaniel and a Dalmatian in the past.

Specineff · Post by **Specineff** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 11:07 pm

My brother had a pit mix, Chopper. He wouldn't understand even "sit" or "stay". He must have been inbred, because he had this stupid look on his face, and loved to munch on anyone's hand, and we were never able to stop him from doing so.

Now the dalmatian mix we had, Chu-Chu, she was obedient and gentle. God I miss her.

Specineff · Post by **Specineff** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 11:35 pm

MWA HA HA HA! NO ONE IS SAFE FROM MY INSANITY! KYOOOOOOOO!!!

PaCrappa · Post by **PaCrappa** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 11:21 pm

Haha, nice. You've characterized them pretty much perfectly. Linda is all GO GO GO! Jade wants to always make her own rules and always takes the driver's seat if I'm not in it. Marco is very timid and never wants to break rules or upset anyone. He was just a stray dog I found (found me, more like) so I wonder how brutal and lame his previous owner's were.

Speaking of lame, here's an incident from half an hour ago. I was walking Jade and Marco (Linda's got a bad wheel and has to be walked seperate) as we walked past the bustop it went like this:

Pitboy wannabe: "How much you sellin 'em for?!"

PaCrappa: (already seeing red and burying the urge to swing a backhand to the dome) "Yeah. That's why I left the house today. To sell my pets to some dude at the bus stop. Good guess." (turns to walk off)

Pitboy wannabe: "Wait wait wait!"

PaCrappa: (waits, with failry dirty look most likely)

Pitboy wannabe: "How about them puppies? How much you sellin the puppies for?"

PaCrappa: (brain nearing implosion) "No fuckin puppies man. Goodbye."

WTF? What kind of person just blurts out "How much ya sellin em for?" the second he sees somebody with their pets?

Pa

EOJ · Post by **EOJ** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 11:41 pm

PaCrappa wrote: WTF? What kind of person just blurts out "How much ya sellin em for?" the second he sees somebody with their pets?

Pa

The Bus Stop is a good place to find crazy people.

landshark · Post by **landshark** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 11:46 pm

PaCrappa wrote: Pitboy wannabe: "How much you sellin 'em for?!"

Those types of people need to be removed from the earth. They give an otherwise lovable and affectionate dog a bad name. And they are generally bad people as it is so the rest of the population won't miss them.

thesuperkillerxxx · Post by **thesuperkillerxxx** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 1:39 am

Finally posted the pic to the net, I present to you "Droopy in a Blanket":

Vexorg · Post by **Vexorg** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 4:24 am

twe wrote:
PaCrappa wrote: WTF? What kind of person just blurts out "How much ya sellin em for?" the second he sees somebody with their pets?

Pa
The Bus Stop is a good place to find crazy people.

Seattle in general is a good place to find crazy people. Capitol Hill and Fremont in particular.

shiftace · Post by **shiftace** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 5:01 am

The last dog I knew was about a 20 lb. rat terrier or similar mix that my parents took home from a shelter. He started with a completely undisciplined alpha personality, pissing on the floor when he was mad and snarling at everyone. He started to calm down after a couple months of discipline and routine, and he became just protective and suspicious.

He bit a lot of guests and other dogs, and I have to blame my dad for most of that. He only bit a stranger once while I was supervising him, a little toy dog that ran out its front door and picked a fight. My guy grabbed it by the neck and started shaking -- I was pretty scared, and I broke it up. It was the first and last time I ever let him meet another dog.

I really wonder what happened to him before we got him. We had him x-rayed once and found he'd been shot with a pellet gun, which explained his noise aversion. More than that, he was smart, circumspect, and he didn't get along with people or other dogs in the slightest.

We'd had him for close to a year, and he'd adjusted to us and turned real affectionate, when he ate some combination of mushrooms and poisonous seeds. We saw him die of liver failure a few weeks later. He acted pretty normal for most of that time, but I got a few haunting looks out of it, too. I miss that dog.

I'm strongly in favor of dogs. They're simple and honest, so they make better company than most of the people I know (better company than I make, I'm sure). But they need attention -- not just in the sense that they'll make a stinking mess if you leave them home for a week, but that they need to socialize every day, more directly and more pressingly than people do. Maybe in 10 years I can keep one.

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 4:52 pm

Vexorg wrote:
twe wrote:
PaCrappa wrote: WTF? What kind of person just blurts out "How much ya sellin em for?" the second he sees somebody with their pets?

Pa
The Bus Stop is a good place to find crazy people.
Seattle in general is a good place to find crazy people. Capitol Hill and Fremont in particular.

Heh, that reminds me of a quote from "I Love The 90's", on VH1: "The grunge era ended when people in Seattle discovered dry cleaning."

I have heard that how aggressive a dog is mainly depends upon their owner, but I do often wonder if pit-bulls aren't inherently more aggressive. Nature and nuture both play a part, I suppose.

PaCrappa · Post by **PaCrappa** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 6:49 pm

Vexorg wrote:
twe wrote:
PaCrappa wrote: WTF? What kind of person just blurts out "How much ya sellin em for?" the second he sees somebody with their pets?

Pa
The Bus Stop is a good place to find crazy people.
Seattle in general is a good place to find crazy people. Capitol Hill and Fremont in particular.

It was one thing when I lived in Columbia City. I expected that kind of bullshit. Now I live in Magnolia. It's a whole different world and not the kind where you expect to receive offers on your pitbulls at random in public.

dave4shmups wrote:"I Love The 90's" - VH1 - "The grunge era

Dude, are you lookin for trouble?

Pa

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Mon Jun 19, 2006 1:40 pm

Remind me to start asking anyone with children: "How much you sellin 'em for?!"

Minzoku · Post by **Minzoku** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 2:09 pm

Don't be fooled by that face--Mary scares away the mail carrier

[then again, he's a whiny prat]

Vexorg · Post by **Vexorg** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 9:43 pm

I got a couple of more recent pictures of my parents' beagles than the one I posted previously. These ones show their personalities pretty well:

Imola: She's the larger of the two, and a bit of an attention hog. She's also the one who's always trying to grab stuff off the table, and generally a bit of a troublemaker. Has been known to bark at the neighbors on occasion (a trait probably picked up from her parents, since her sister Monza would do so regularly as well.)

Minardi: Smaller than Imola, but not by much (she was the runt of the litter) and a little more reserved. That also means she's better behaved overall, and more obedient. She can be pretty rambunctious at times though if provoked.