AKC puts out great PSA based on "Marley and Me"

AKC ^ | Dec 18 2008 | American Kennel Club

[AnAmericanMother]

This is a great public service announcement by the AKC on the importance of properly training and caring for your new puppy.

Marley video

Thanks to Darnright for finding this.

[AnAmericanMother]

AKC press office: http://www.akc.org/press_center/psa.cfm

[AnAmericanMother]

Cute video!

And just in time for Christmas . . . .

[dodger]

Parents might usefully apply some of this to the rearing of children, too!

[Puppage]

"Marley and Me"

Fun book. The movie versions never hold up, though.

[theDentist]

This thread is of no use without a photo...

[AnAmericanMother]

You know the dogs in the Marley movie must have had the time of their lives doing all the "NO! NO!" stuff.

My younger Lab as a puppy always was very pleased with herself when she managed to get to the Kleenex box . . .

"I'm havin' a ball! Wanna help???!?!?!??!!"

(plastic covers on the boxes solved the problem. Now she can only get one at a time.)

[Darnright]

Thanks, AAM! I have a Mini-Marley. Meet "Bumble", the Papillon. Bumble ended up on the streets as a stray in my vicinity. I'm his foster home, until he finds a permanent place to call his own.

Bumble is NOT a old lady's lap ornament. He needs an owner who will play with and walk him. He'd do great with someone who wanted to do canine agility. He's certainly fast enough! Anyone looking to add a very cool little dog to their life, Freep mail me and I'll tell you where to apply.

[maine-iac7]

Marley - the film - I may just go to my first ever “Jen” movie -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r98raj66ZkM&NR=1

[AnAmericanMother]

The book drove me nuts.

The author and his wife were first time dog owners and IGNORED every warning sign (including a specific comment from the breeder that they might not want that puppy) and chose a high-bred high-energy field trial Lab for a quiet suburban setting.

I've got one moderately high-energy half-field bred Lab. My second is a field dog, and I got what I asked for. It has taken careful and strict training to make a good dog of her. She still gets into trouble occasionally . . . but she is an absolute crazy wizard on birds.

[AnAmericanMother]

Wow! GANGWAY!!!!!

[brytlea]

Man I wish we could take our dogs to the beach. S. FL is not very dog friendly, beachwise.

[Mr Rogers]

I hate the AKC. They specialize in turning working breeds into mindless, useless show dogs.

[savedbygrace]

Our Golden would grab a used napkin or tissue and run under the coffee table, which is large enough for him to scramble away from you when you try to grab him.

It always took at least two of us to get the paper away from him before he swallowed it.

Now, at two and a half years old, he expresses his displeasure at one of us by grabbing an article of clothing and bringing it to me. It’s usually wet but unharmed. Usually.

[brytlea]

Paps are super little dogs, and VERY smart. I think that may be my old age dog (you know, when I can't carry around the heavy golden retriever paraphernalia!

[theDentist]

My sister and bro-in-law have a black lab on their farm. Then they got chickens. Went into town one afternoon, leaving him alone. Talk about a real mess. Had to buy new chickens.

[brytlea]

The AKC has never bred a single litter, blame breeders if you don’t like what they’re breeding. On the other hand, the AKC offers MANY different working tests for those so inclined.

[Mr Rogers]

BTW - Joe Biden just bought a puppy. A GSD from what seems uncomfortably close to puppy mill status...

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/harrisburg_politics/Kennel_where_Biden_bought_puppy_is_cited.html

http://www.obama-dog.com/

As a general rule, try to avoid breeders with 80+ dogs and multiple litters for sale each month.

I’ve also read he plans to have someone else train the puppy...sounds like all he got was the photo op.

[AnAmericanMother]

St. Simons Island GA allows dogs on the beach north of the Coast Guard Station.

They are supposed to be on leash, at least between Memorial Day and Labor Day, but I keep mine on their electronic collars. Since I can move the older dog around like a chess piece, I'm ready to demonstrate that they're "under control". But nobody's said anything so far.

[Darnright]

>As a general rule, try to avoid breeders with 80+ dogs and multiple litters for sale each month.

I’ve also read he plans to have someone else train the puppy...sounds like all he got was the photo op.<

I agree with you about the avoidance of huge breeding facilities. That said, at least Biden is making the effort to have his puppy trained and socialized by someone who is experienced (a police dog handler, if memory serves). Better that than a GSD pup left to its own devices because Senator Biden has very little free time, and will have even less in the near future.

[Mr Rogers]

Don’t blame the breeders for breeding what the AKC demands for show. Don’t blame the breeders for trying to breed to AKC ‘standards’. And the AKC ‘working tests’ are an embarassment.

Australian Shepherds used to be fine herding dogs. Since AKC took over them, they’ve become pretty dogs with no discernible instinct.

The AKC has tried to take over Border Collies as well - over the objections of the large majority of Border Collie breeders. Show Border Collies are an embarrassment - which is what virtually every BC breeder told the AKC. The AKC couldn’t find any reputable breeders who would write a ‘breed standard’, so they did it themselves.

The AKC ruins breeds. The have a long track record of failure.