Posted on 04/05/2012 10:29:35 AM PDT by C19fan
When most of us think of caring for the family dog, we have in mind a sedate walk around the block once a day, maybe an obedience class when he's a pup, a good brushing once a week and lots of hanging out together watching TV at night. And then there is that special breed of dog - the high-energy, need-a-job-to-do, groom-challenging kind that comes in all looks and sizes, but shares one commonality: He is undeniably high-maintenance.
(Excerpt) Read more at shine.yahoo.com ...
A woman used to work for me part time and ownded 2 OESDs. She was the only person I ever knew who arranged her working hours around her Old English Sheep Dogs’ grooming schedule. To her, getting the dogs groomed, washed, dried, brushed was more important than her pay check and cost more too!
Our large 10 lb Chihuahua is pretty calm. She goes into a frothing fit if someone comes to the door and sometimes she gets running fits and runs around the house a couple of times. She saves most of her energy for chasing other small animals like squirrels and chipmunks.
Our Sheepie is only three years old, and still full of puppy energy. We had a local (mobile) groomer cut her hair the first couple of times, but that is $85 per visit.
We got the model of the shears and now cut her hair when needed. We try not to let it get too long here in Texas. Actual brushing her takes over an hour when it is long. I don’t know why Rush has three.
Rush has a STAFF! LOL.
I can’t believe that the English Bulldog isn’t on that list, and at least in the top 5!
They’re notorious for having skin problems, especially “hot spots” due to the folds of skin that MUST be kept clean and dry. Be prepared to spend at least a half hour once or twice a day grooming them. Thank goodness they have short hair!
Next on the list are all the common aliments that they have. It’s not unusual for Bully owners to have to visit the vet at least once a month.
Finally, when it comes to breeding, they generally need to be artificially inseminated, and nearly always have to give birth through c-section!
The ones I’ve known LOVED water, but swam like bricks. They quickly get overcome by heat, and need to be kept cool. They snore like locomotives and they contribute more to “green-house gasses” than a herd of cows!
But they’re solid muscle, bone, and personality. Some people say they’re dumb and can’t be trained, but I’ve found that they’re just independent and once they’ve proven to themselves that they can do something, they don’t need to demonstrate the ability to anyone else.
Mark
He’d look good naked. I, on the other hand (lol!)....
Bullies AREN'T dumb! They're independent thinkers, and don't care what others think about them, or for that matter, what they want the Bullies to do!
Mark
Sorry Mark...This bullie is dumber than a bag of rocks. My Doberman had an IQ better than half the kids in grade school.
Or Pugs.
My friend devotes most of her nights to keeping her rescue Pugs alive despite various wheezings, suffocation incidents, collapsed tracheas, etc.
In spite of her extreme expertise with them, sometimes, they just fall over dead.
Her graphic descriptions of the muzzle folds/wrinkles issues are nauseating.
Um, yeah.
Let’s ~both~ just *not* go ~there~....LOL
Saw a bumper sticker once that said “My Doberman is smarter than your honor student”.
;D
Vigorous concurral! (But not *too* vigorous—don’t wanna shock my ancient systems.) ;>}
One of my very favorite dogs was a wolf hybrid/huskie mix. Beautiful smart guy although pretty independent.
Not much of a guard dog, except for his size and somewhat intimidating appearance. Unless there was unauthorized wild life around the house, lol. Wolf hunter instinct, I guess. I once had skunks take up residence under the house and he nearly dug a hole thru the floor trying to get to them.
As a very young pup, he jumped up and grabbed a bat in his mouth. The vet allowed me to quarantine him myself. I would sit on the floor with him in my lap in front of the stereo and rock him back and forth to the music. All of his life he had a great “Stevie Wonder Sway” when music was played.
I miss that ole guy!
Not a big fan of the terrible - er, terrior - breeds here. No ill will, I just tend toward laid back personalities. But I love my aunt & uncle’s rat terrior, Petey. I don’t know if he’s atypical of the breed, but he’s a mellow little dude who quietly visits each houseguest without being intrusive. I can’t recall ever hearing him bark. Cold-natured, tho.
One of the pretties dogs I’ve seen appeared to be Weimreiner crossed with B/T Dobie. Pewter grey like a Weim & shaped & trimmed like a Dobe, sleek coat in sunlight with the faint B/T shading pattern throwing glare like a mirror.
or this?
Could've been a light Blue or a silvery Fawn Dobe.
Holy - wow. They are beautiful. Just wow.
More like the one on the bottom, with just a hint of the markings. It’s like ghost-of-Dobie, even the eyes.
Jimmy, I know you favor reds ‘cause of your boy Hoover, but look at these gorgeous beasties!
Thank you for the pics, Salamander.
You are well blessed....I miss my girl
We have 3 bassets. They sleep quite a bit, but love to tell anyone who walks or drives past the house they live there. We have a sunroom, so they see a lot of movement, and can wake up from a deep sleep and be outside in moments. All day long.
On to the chihuahuas. We have two of those. One is the wildest thing ever. He does the whole bouncing and dashing through the house at least twice a day. And he instigates a lot of the mad dash to the yard incidents.
Then we have the fat chi. He was just diagnosed with hypothyroidism. He weighs nearly 2x what he should (he came to us this way). He is pretty mellow. We have had him for about 8 months and he barked for the first time in the last couple of weeks. Now he barks non-stop, food, water, you name it.
The love sponge description of chihuahuas is so true. The bouncy chi has befriended a neighbor girl. When she comes over, he won’t leave her alone. She picks him up and he roles over and closes his eyes, heaven.
I always learn something new on these threads!
Great looking dogs. I didn’t know the coloring varied that much.
I rely on abandoned pups to populate my home..and have never had a Dobe. Must say something about their and their owners’ natures. :)
Those pretty looks come with a high price
80-90% of blues and fawns will develop color dilution alopecia during their life time
That means they’ll go bald and develop all kinds of skin disease including. chronic staph infections
You might guess that I’m not very happy about “color breeders”
:(
For a very long time, any color pup than black and rust were culled from the litters
Then Americans got hold of them and Dictator Von Glenhugel was the first red AKC champ and one of the 7 foundation sires so red was accepted
Then Felix vom Ahrtal was the first blue champion and blues were bred despite their coat and skin problems
Fawn (Isabella) came in next and now the dilute colors are so deeply entwined in every bloodline that even the blacks are affected
To this day, Fawns are not accepted in the German standard
(yes I am a purist) ....;)
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