Posted on 05/11/2016 7:38:25 PM PDT by chrisinoc
There are things I love about being a woman. The perils of walking and traveling alone and the safety concerns that accompany it are not among them. As an avid hiker and a stubbornly independent person, this has always irritated me. I don't like that constant, nagging feeling of unease. I don't really enjoy double-checking for my pepper spray in my purse or carrying my keys between my fingers on my way back to my car. I particularly hate getting catcalled, followed and leered at.
Then I got a German shepherd.
The catcalls were the first thing I noticed vanish as my little bundle of love grew into an 85-pound dog with a serious set of teeth. Then I realized that the leerers crossed to the far side of the street to avoid passing me and my best friend. In fact, the majority of the people who approached me were suddenly small children and their mothers, or other young women, all of whom wanted to meet my fluffy sidekick. Life was great. Not only did I feel safer, but I started to think about what my dog was doing to make this possible and how I could use those tricks when she was not around.
(Excerpt) Read more at sheknows.com ...
It's not PC to say this, but hiring a GS, or a Pit, or a Ford Explorer for their deterrent value is a side issue...If you want a Shepard as a weapon against cat calls, or an SUV as a freeway battering ram, you're in need of counseling.
My faves are Pits, Dobies, Bichons, and plain old yellow mongrels; I don't now about Bichons, but any of the others would willingly take on bad guys and/or alligators simply because they were your friend.
PS: I'm off now to walk an 11 pound min. poodle here in the big city; guess who's in protective mode.
Dogs are great, but I can take my Glock 23 to a lot more places.
I have a huge 115 lb German Shepherd - he’s very lean but the size if a Great Dane, much larger than normal GS. Amazing, noble, handsome, smart, discerning, gentle, protective and playful are words that describe him. Got him when I was single; he’s my 1st GS but my hubby’s 3rd. He is gentle with my cats, including letting the male cat eat from his bowl... while the GS is eating! Our 2 cattle dogs would never let that happen. All 3 dogs are ridiculously smart and protective, but the GS makes me feel the safest and is less excitable than the cattle dogs (except when he sees other dogs).
The only downside is... he’s now a senior citizen & his hips are failing. I give him the expensive supplement the vet recommended, feed him chicken thighs with brown rice & veggies every day, & walk him every day, but he doesn’t put any weight on hind left leg while standing and that leg drags when he walks. We stick to the nearby grassy parks as sidewalks & asphault wear his claws down until they bleed if he goes very far due to that dragging leg. I know the sad day is nearing and treasure every moment with my GS, a dear and trusted friend & fierce guard dog. I wish he could be young & healthy and live a long long time!
Sorry to hear of your situ AFPC, but grateful you have your two angel pups. I pray things improve for you and your dogs, beyond your wildest dreams.
Border Collies, then Poodles.
This entire article could be just 4 words:
I DON'T NEED MEN.
My neighbor has a Golden Retriever, very sweet & loving dog. Unfortunately they don’t pay much attentio to her at all, which really makes me mad.
The bright side of that is that she stays in my yard 99% of the time & that’s just fine with me. I love her as my own & buy her food & dog bones. My 25 pound Maine Coon cat likes her too, although he lets her know that he’s the boss, lol.
She is very quiet & hardly ever barks. I used to think she wouldn’t be a good guard dog until a couple of recent incidents where she has proven me wrong. I found that she can be very aggressive if she needs to be.
Golden Retrievers are precious.
I have a 22 lb deranged Jack Russell that drinks beer and loves chips and salsa. When she gets a snoot full she thinks she’s a 125 lb GS.
“Golden Retrievers are precious”
Yes they are, as long as you survive their puppyhood. They can chew everything and anything but then become marvelous dogs.
How long do you think shepherds live for? The dogs I breed have had many 12, 13 year olds in the pedigree.
If you aren't smart enough to stay out of those areas, dog or no dog, well, good luck with that.
We kept him going, for awhile. Then when we answered the question, "are you doing this for him, or are you doing this for you" we knew it was his time.
We found a vet who would come to our home to perform the euthanasia, which was a comfort, because I would have hated dragging him into the vet.
He was resting comfortably, on his bed, and we knew we did the right thing.
Good luck
thinking about doing this for my wife.
Basically, they will make an exact replica from pictures.
Well, it hasn’t happened since 1995 or so, which, coincidentally, is the year I turned 40.
Cheyenne I’d a beautiful dog.
I saw Destiny also...the one dying from cancer. It rips my heart out as we recently lost our good friend Lucy (bearded collie) to cancer.
Maybe I confused GS with Great Danes but I thought around ten years. Looks like I was wrong.
We have a black Lab...she is sweet....but this article makes me want to add to the family!
I didn’t want to hijack the thread, but...I admit it is possible, in some large democrat controlled cities, this kind of behavior might exist, but...I largely see these things the same way I see accounts of “racist” incidents...
On a lighter note, I have seen it with my own eyes in Italy (albeit back in 1971)
My family was in Subic Bay, and my dad got orders back to the states, so he and my mom decided to take us on a tour of Europe on the way back, so we landed in Spain, rented a VW bus, and camped through Europe.
When we got to Rome, my dad had business at the Embassy, so he left us six kids with my mother, who was a very attractive woman, black hair, Jackie-O sunglasses, short one-piece black dress, high heels, etc. So here we are, walking down the street trailing behind her like ducks, and the Italian guys are all grinning, saying things in Italian, making clicking sounds with their mouths, and gesturing with their hands.
She was furious at my dad for leaving her with all of us so he could take care of business. It turns out there is apparently a special significance of a young attractive woman wearing all black (as my mother was) accompanied by a bunch of kids, but I didn’t find out if it was because she was seen as a hooker or a widow...:)
When my mother told the story in her later years, she would look all indignant on the surface, but it was clear to me that there was an element of it that that lingered in her eyes and below the surface, in her old age, that she rather enjoyed. Perhaps it was just the memory of an earlier time when men found her attractive, or perhaps she found it funny to look back on!
When she would tell the story, my dad would sit there, smoking his cigarette with a bemused look on his face, saying nothing. I suspect he remembered more how she lit into him afterwards!
Ah. They were quite a pair, I miss them both dearly.
My prayers are with you, FPC.
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