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 ...
Well, you can have dogs that don’t live as long, it depends on the lines and health as well...as far as I know, Great Danes only live about 6 or 7 years :(
I’ve seen these before, they’re VERY cool! Maybe I’ll have one done of my old boy :) I think they run like $200 or so?
I love seeing cats and dogs that are friends. My brother had a dog that was a doberman shepherd mix, big, scary looking, and intelligent, and a small gray short hair male cat.
When playing, the cat would grab the dog by both cheeks (just in back of his snout, not on his butt) with both paws, claws appearing to be used because the dogs flesh looked like it was being pulled, and that cat would have its mouth wide open looking like all the ferocious little jungle cat it was.
The dog would then plop its legs down over the top of the cat while at the same time, putting its entire head inside his mouth while the close-eyed cat emitted a threatening yowl, mouth still open.
Then the dog would start licking the cat’s head, and his fur would clump up and stand straight up making it look like a little feline punk rocker, and the licking, by mutual assent, would go on for some time.
It was the most charming and cute thing. They clearly loved each other.
I’m a male over 50 years old and I’ve only seen other men catcalling women in the movies. I’ve never seen it happen in real life.
I think it’s one of the many nonexistent problems that some women need to be a victim of.
The average GS probably makes it to 11 years.
Even the GSDCA has a 13 Club (which my dog missed by 1 stinking day), which is actually for dogs that made 12 and up. (I don’t know if they dumbed it down to 12 from 13, hence the name.) I’m sure they acknowledge you’re pretty lucky to make it to 12.
You all need to look into Degenerative Myelopathy (DM). Shepherds have the problem too. It’s not all about HD - hip dysplasia. The dragging is often a giveaway to DM. My last GS (full of problems) definitely had HD though we never got her scanned or anything, and near the very end (the good thing was that she did not seem this way until 11), the vet said likely had achieved DM also.
I learned about DM first from a lady I “met” on-line regarding GS, “marjorie”, who created a website called Heaven’s Gate, dedicated to her dog Jack Flash and intended to document dogs and bloodlines with DM.
Hi VermontLt —
Right you are about the amount of exercise required by Mals. I got my first at 4 months of age - she is now 10 months. I chose this breed for two reasons; first, I’m a sound sleeper and I want to be awake if my front door is kicked in. Second, I wanted a running companion for my regular training runs. I run several half and full marathons every year. Over the past six months, she has taught me many things about myself, training regimens, nutrition, and consideration of the needs of another. At present we walk (not run because of her age and dysplasia concerns) 10-15 miles every day, spread over 3-4 trips.
I undertook to train her myself. We are now working on off leash hand signals. She was potty trained in 12 hours by ringing a bell hanging on the door knob. If, in Winter, I’m slow getting my shoes on she will bring me the leash. She surprises me frequently how athletic she can be.
Yes, Mals can be tough. They require much patience, and understanding their sassing when they are young. They want to be dominant. They will be dominant unless corrected. But, when corrected with proper boundaries, they are thrilled to be a follower in your pack. My girl never runs through a door before me, nor crosses a street without getting permission from me.
I once heard it said about Mals that they are capsulized by three Fs; they are Ferocious, they are Fearless, and they are Faithful. My little girl is my constant companion - even on aircraft. I don’t go anywhere she is not welcome. But, she has very good manners.
She loves to be part of my pack, and accompany me everywhere. I’ve discovered that she is a magnet for children and friends. She is a force-shield to unsavory individuals.
I’m glad I’ve been blessed to have her.
Gwjack
As a GI Brat, every year when there was an on-base celebration of static displays of hardware and demonstrations of fire rescue and security police personnel, it was the “K9” unit, the obstacle course and criminal takedowns, that got my ateention. The friendly competitions between U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force “K9” teams were always German Shepherds. What blew my mind, one year, was a friendly competition between the Air Force squad, and a U.S. Marine team. Why? They used Doberman Pinschers!!
(This was way before those ‘Day of the Doberman’ movies.)
If you can, buy a motor home. It doesn’t have to be big, but it will make your life less miserable.
Seems more likely in an inner-city non-white neighborhood.
A girlfriend of one of my friends, who lived in such a neighborhood, said she tended to wear shapeless hoodies to hide her female-ness when walking around, to avoid harassment.
Yeah, $259
To be honest, I’ not even sure 11 is what many GSDs make it to nowadays...I’d say usually 9-11 would be moreso on average, though like I said my lines average more like 12, 13. I did not know that the 13 club will accept 12 year old dogs, will have to check into that!
“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.”
Cheyenne is a great dog with people and larger dogs but cannot be around cats or small dogs (high prey drive).
I think our rescue would consider an out of area permanent foster for Destiny as she is in a commercial boarding kennel now. Food and approved vet care would be paid by the rescue.
Ditto.
Or worse.
I did not like the tone...it is as if she thinks men can go do what they want, let their guard down, etc. Men have to be just as safety conscious, but I suppose the difference is that many men feel that if something comes up, they will have a fighting chance to defend themselves effectively, even without martial arts training or a weapon.
I found this statement near the end revealing, though: "...For me, though, owning a "scary" dog has taught me that I should not only expect respect, but that I deserve it.
Nobody should ever expect respect, and to paraphrase Clint Eastwood from "Unforgiven" as he stood over the dying sheriff, "Deserves got nothing to do with it."
You never EXPECT respect from people you don't know, even if you determine to respect them. And respect is EARNED, not "deserved". To "deserve" respect is a liberal mentality.
One cannot control others, which is why you can render respect to people you don't know (until you find out it isn't merited) but you are silly and naive to EXPECT it from a stranger, sight unseen.
This is, of course, my opinion. But the author's statement seemed wrong to me.
I’ve had several. My buddy now is a Malinois, the best dog I’ve ever had. Extremely loving, even with kids, protective to the last breath. In other words, great companion, bites like an alligator when instructed to.
Goldens are the best. Thanks for taking in that poor girl.
Won't argue with you about the mental derangement of liberals, and I certainly don't want to defend the mindset of the authoress of this article - but I think that, by "respect," the authoress meant the basic respect owed to anyone who simply doesn't want to be harassed - NOT the kind of earned respect (manifested by deference, courtesy, etc.) due someone because of his extraordinary accomplishments, great wisdom, saintliness, etc.
Regards,
I don’t think I would adopt a rescue GSD again. I adopted a 2 year old and I loved him to death. After about a year with me, his guarding instincts really took over and he began barking at everything that approached me on walks. Now I had tried to be the alpha dog and keep him from feeling like he had to lead at all times. We trained a lot.
Long story short, I worked hard to socialize him and I thought he was coming along when he went off a stay command and bit a neighbor’s young child. It happened so fast that I didn’t have time to scream the word tat usually worked to recall him when he knew he was in big trouble.
I dont blame the dog. He had high prey drive and small creatures and small bodies are going to trigger that. But I did learn that there is no socializing a GSD as an adult. I utterly failed. I want to be able to walk my GSD among people. I want to avoid the aggravation and work of being constantly on guard for who is approaching and having to create distance between my dog and them.
If I lived on a ranch in the sticks where I had no people around, then I wouldn’t hesitate to get a rescue GSD. But in a suburb surrounded by masses of kids playing and other folks walking their dogs, I would never get another rescue GSD. I would get a puppy from a top breeder and socialize the dickens out of him.
Shepherds are not lovey dovey dogs and any GSD is going to cling to one owner only and is going to be wary and aloof with any and all strangers. But I want to be able to walk my dog everywhere with his being calm and reserved around strangers, not on high alert and barking at every jogger and cyclist he sees.
They took my Sheperd after he bit the child, said they would not put him down, and then they did. They destroyed him. I miss that dog more than I miss many people.
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