Posted on 10/16/2009 3:33:52 PM PDT by Lorianne
Truer words have not been spoken (or typed.) I grew up with dogs and I just cannot imaging not having one in the family. After our "Jerry" died four years ago, I said I never wanted another dog. That lasted almost 5 months, the longest I ever went without a dog in the home.
The difference between a house and a home is four paws and a tail greeting you at the door.
My mastiff also. His words would be, “Obstacle course? Are you nuts?”
On the other hand, he knows who is frail, or frightened, and he is very kindly. He is safe with all sizes of children, knows who does and doesn’t belong in the yard, is good natured and looks very soft, until you see his muscles outlined when he sits.
Looks lazy, but is extremely fast. Goes from a dead snoring sleep to snapping a hot dog out of the air in a split second.
Excellent as a foot warmer, also.
You are of course, correct. We had no intention of getting another dog when our "Jerry" died, much less a designer dog. "Teddy" came to us via a family friend who picked him up from a Labradoodle rescue in Indiana and he intended to keep him himself. Our family friend wasn't supposed to be allergic to Labradoodles (they're supposed to be hypo-allergenic) but as luck would have it, our Teddy has more Lab than Poodle in him so he sheds like gangbusters and our friend was in fact allergic to him. So one day I get a phone call asking if we were ready for another dog yet, and that our friend had one in mind - his, the one he had for four days from the Labradoodle rescue.
Stupid me, I went and looked and saw this beautiful intelligent dog, then did an even dumber thing and brought the kids back to see how he'd be around them. I don't know if we chose him or he chose us, but he's a great dog and we love him. He's been with us four years now, I wouldn't trade a minute.
So true.
I went without a housedog for 2 years....It was a sad 2 years...
I have loved reading every post...we are just a bunch of mush when it comes to our dogs....loved them all, thanks for the delightful thread......
You summed it up beautifully. ((hugs))
Ooh that hurts:).
All 3 of my shorties outweigh your lab, one nearly doubles him. Bassets are amazingly heavy. The smallest male sounds like your lab though. He loves roughhousing with bigger dogs at the dog park. He pesters them until they play with him. And his bark is so deep, it is funny to watch the big dogs react.
I saw a video of a border collie trying to herd kittens. The kittens won.
:)
I think cats are one of the few animals that don’t herd to well......
True dat.
So you have one that will jog with you and one that just makes you giggle. I wouldn’t give up our Bully, Hazel, for anything. She brings us so much joy. I wouldn’t want a dog to outsmart me anyway! You can probably tell I wouldn’t want them to outrun me either- a Mastiff and a Bulldog? Ha!
Wrong?? I think is Sooooo correct!!!!!!!!!!!!
UGH, you ruined a great thread!!!!
I had that experience many years ago with a Newfie from the Dryad Kennells. She outsmarted me and everyone else, particularly her companion, our then other dog, an Ibizan Hound, although he was not by any means dumb.
It's a tough nut to crack.
One should always remember that ‘smart’ isn’t necessarily a good feature in a dog. Being ‘smart’ is being a good problem solver. Now if the problem (from the dog’s perspective’ is how to open the refrigerator or get out of the yard...
This is my rattlesnake killing dog. He is so proud of himself that he kept looking back to see if I was watching. He killed them differently than most. A dog will typically grab a snake and shake them to pieces. Smokey would grad them behind the head and clamp down until they were dead. I am sure he has a bit of bulldog in him.
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