Like our Homer...
Posted on 08/24/2005 7:20:13 AM PDT by Millee
I can't make it out at all. What do you think it says?
We may have a definition of terms problem, but chunky would seem to be close to "pleasingly plump" and closer yet to Rubinesque.
Especially for young women, there are also health problems with being too thin. One friend of my daughters is so thin, even after two kids, she had to stuff her bra to look OK as Matron of Honor at my daughter's wedding. I don't know how she managed to even ovulate with so little body fat, but she couldn't produce enough milk for the kids. She, unlike some naturally skinny folks I know, eats less than a bird.
Was it the way he said it instead of what he said? How it was said could be the reason she filed a complaint. There is a difference between concern and derision.
Be sure to buy from a breeder and meet as many of the pup's relatives as you can! And decide whether you want a go-go-go dog (field trial lines) or a more mellow pup (conformation/show/English lines). Color doesn't really matter. I went looking for a black dog, wound up with a choc, couldn't be happier.
I would imagine that has a lot to do with it. I have had doctor's who were jerks and have had others who genuinely cared. There is a difference.
Or just get a dog from a shelter and love and train it the manners you need in your house.... Dogs don't need pedigrees to be great pets.
AAM - I love your taste in dogs, but you're too elitist about them. You compete with yours, which makes you different from most people. Most people don't need highly pedigreed competition stock, they need pets. And some of the best pets are desperate for a home in shelters in all of our towns, right now.
Now... why are we talking dogs on a fat lady thread?
I'm really not an elitist -- but I like to know what I'm getting into. And I have some friends who have had some VERY bad experiences with pound dogs and cats . . . undisclosed temperament problems, undisclosed MAJOR health problems . . . and of course you can't just turn the poor thing out to die (my parents' real estate agent spent $6,000 on bilateral hip surgery for a severely dysplastic shelter Golden.) At least with a reputable breeder there's a return guarantee.
Like our Homer...
I think it says: "Must be Venus Envy."
They'll just put the dog down... Something tells me your real estate agent friend who spent $6,000 to repair the hips of her dog would not have opted to give the dog back to the breeder to be put down.
Point is, all dogs need trained when they come to your house. The little pedigreed and researched pup you buy is going to pee on the rug, chew your shoes, dig in the yard, won't always come when you call it, won't sit and stay, and will need several visits to the vet in the first year. The pound dog may only do half that. Point is, they all take work and relationship building, and most people don't need to spend hundreds on some papered dog in order to find the love they need.
Just saying is all. ;~D
Perzactly like our Homer ;~D
"Who? me? Elitist?"
My breeder doesn't put a dog to sleep unless it has intractable pain. . . which is the same thing anybody else would do. Maybe she's an unusual sentimentalist . . . I don't know.
What I meant is, many people would simply turn a pound dog with major problems out to die or dump it back at the shelter. A reputable breeder would treat within reason (not $6,000, but palliative care and reduced activity for dysplasia). I know I would get too emotionally attached to let the dog go, so I prefer to increase the chances of a predictable outcome from the git go.
My dog neither chewed shoes nor dug in the yard . . . but she certainly did pee on the rug a couple of times, thank heavens for Bio-Ban! And the vet DID nickel and dime us to death the first year!
Here's another alternative: most breeders have older dogs who are retired from showing or breeding, but still have plenty of life in them. Our breeder almost always has one or two "middle age" dogs who need a home. Usually they have a title on them and lovely manners (but a certain crazy Chocolate pup won my heart instead.)
GIVE A POUND DOG A CHANCE!
Unless someone tells you they're seriously interesting in AKC competition, there's no reason to advise people to rule out adopting some rescue dog, mutt or otherwise. Contrary to all good research into good breeders, it's been most often the really carefully 'bred' dogs who develop some of the most heartbreaking genetic defects. 'Hybrid Vigor'; the idea that mixing two unrelated gene pools cancels out some of the predisposition for any latent recessive genetic weakness to be passed on is an actual true phenomenon. Mutts often live longer, healthier lives than the pedigreed pooches uptown. Genetic health defects are no reason to reject a pound dog. In fact, it can be a wonderful way to go. That's my only point.
It's that last one that's the killer. I saw an unbelievably gorgeous Seal Point Siamese (a Quad Grand Ch. and All American point cat) savage a judge in the ring -- he had the most hideous temperament you have ever seen, and he passed it on to his offspring in spades. I would have neutered him in a heartbeat, but people kept breeding to him and he's all over pedigrees all over the States. I hesitated before buying my current big Blue Point male, because this naughty cat was six generations back. Really too far to muddy the "true blue" color, but I think my boy does have a slight case of the grouchies, and I know where he got it from.
Breeders have studied the avoidance of genetic defects in every breed, and every breed still has it's genetic problems. Just as you solve one, you've created another. It's the natural outcome of relatively small gene pools, and the desire for specific traits. You're going to end up with dogs who have most of the traits you want, and will also have concentrated some of the traits you didn't want, as an unintended consequence. I'm no fan of indiscriminant breeding, you know that... but as an unintended benefit, the random grab-bag aspect of the backyard mutt's parentage is not necessarily a bad thing, when considering if the little guy will be a good pet for somebody.
BTW... I still haven't read the article this thread is supposed to be about. I only came here 'cuz I saw your name. ;~D
It's about a poor lady who is all upset 'cause her doctor told her she is obese and needs to lose weight or she will die. So she reported him to the medical society.
Sheesh! My doctor told me I need to lose weight too, but I didn't have a cow and sic the Board and the state's attorney on her!
Somehow from there we got to exercise, and then my dog (who is my main means of exercise).
Well, that's a really roundabout way to find an audience to talk about your dog... ;~D
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.