Dog Owner Chat v2

[BlingBling]

Believe it or not, but they are real. What makes you think that they are fake?
Anyways I'm going to go take a nap ^_^
Then possibly walk my dogs, to some are "make believe" dogs, I guess I can see that.
But it doesn't matter, maybe they might find Yappy, if they don't... Poor little Yappy! But knowing him he will find someone's house to hide under, and then I will get information
Time to nap, walk the dogs, then scan the internet for any signs of Yappy
Bye everyone!
(Edit:)
Also, Fern wasn't bored. She might have been jealous if possible, but she can still get visits. I heard she is living my friends house, and her yard

You do know that when dogs are stolen it ain't a good thing, right? 99% of the time anymore they're used as baiters.. Either that or forced to breed in deplorable conditions. It's pretty sad when there's a torn up or matted dog at a shelter that fits the bill of a pup that was missing a year or two ago. Doesn't happen much here, dogs'll wander the town and everyone knows em by name but in other places.. I'd be far more concerned for the welfare of your poor little dog. Was the dog even fixed? If he wasn't I bet you he was probably stolen to use as a stud for a bby project assuming this is all 100% true

About Fern.. You could've just trained the poor thing? I agree, if you can't train a dog, don't get a dog. If you get another what if s/he does the same thing? Would you give that dog away too?

[Cardinal]

The dogs have been a bit overwhelmed the last couple of days, my mom passed early yesterday morning. They know somethings wrong and have been very on edge and overly affectionate and attached. The constant flow of people also hasn't helped them at all and Lucky has had stress upset stomach since mid-yesterday. Ugh, I wish there was something I could do to make them more comfortable. I guess when the house settles a bit so will they. Even the cats have been super attached and Eagles slept on my chest last night, something he never does.

[Saracirce]

I honestly don't believe the dog was stolen. Personally, my fear-aggressive-to-the-point-she-bites-everyone-else dog would A) bark at the person approaching her, B) growl, C) probably start yelping if she was grabbed roughly even if she wasn't being hurt. It would 110% get my attention and I would run outside immediately to see what the fudge is going on. What it wouldn't be is a totally silent affair.

Which... I don't really understand why you would throw outside a dog whose 'afraid of everything' and leave it outside unsupervised. Doesn't really compute in my brain.

On top of that... you can't exactly just hop onto a plane with a dog, no matter where the plane is going. There are regulations against that.

[Kyame]

Throwing my two cents in on this Husky thing... I have NEVER, EVER seen a GOOD breeder add in 7 years of combing Craigslist. If you want a dog just no... Go actually work to find a good breeder, don't slouch off and go for the first one you see. Just you wait some unknowing person is going to get this more than likely ringworm infested (I say that from the face) puppy here: http://lexington.craigslist.org/pet/4683553828.html because it's cute and they don't want to work to find a responsible breeder, either that or the cost is 'too high'. It sickens me when people get dogs like that and are screwed over when suddenly they either get extremely ill or even just drop dead and the breeder will do NOTHING because it's not in the tiny contract she made. A truly good breeder will have lifetime support, health checks, will always be there to answer questions, and will take the dog back if s/he can't live with you anymore. That is a true breeder that should be supported.
Ask these things and get back to us on it, I'm curious to see what this person will say:
What is a good food to give to my future dog?
How should I train the puppy?
What health issues does the breed have?
And other things like that (Sara, Jazi, Card? Got anything to add?) that a proper breeder will give great answers for but a byb will flunk

I came for advise not to be told i am slouching off or being lazy or none of the matter. I did not just answer the first post of a husky i saw. You can give advise while keeping that first part out of it. I understand if you did not mean to come off that way and that you are just really passionate about the health of animals but to me it seemed kind of rude in the beginning there.

>3 month health guarantee
That's garbage. Pure and simple garbage. If a puppy shows signs of a genetic illness within the first 3 months that puppy is pretty much doomed from the get go and has been showing for a LOT longer than that. Genetic illnesses kill as the dog matures. Years 5+ are when they show up, not before 6 months old. Often times with garbage guarantees like this, the breeder will not honor them or will say that YOU caused the issue anyway.

>Puppy pads
I have not seen ANY large breed breeder that's anywhere decent starting their puppies on pads. Maaaaybe with smaller dogs, but large breed breeders that are actually decent start their puppies actually outside.

>Kept indoors the whole time they're with the breeder.
This guarantees they have had absolutely no socialization. Early socialization is CRITICAL and it's the breeder's job not just to take them outside but to take them to safe places to explore the world and experience new things while out of the breeder's house. Puppies that don't get this often turn into completely out of control dogs due to being overstimulated in new and strange environments. This is a VERY BAD thing to do. (Also puppies are BORN WITH WORMS from their mothers, so outside or no the puppies absolutely do need to be wormed)

>6 weeks
Are these puppies under 8 weeks old? Another VERY BAD thing to do is to separate puppies from their mother and littermates prior to 8 weeks (and honestly as someone who got their pup at 14 weeks, I much prefer the 12 week limit some countries have).

>Vitamins
Okay so there's a difference between supplemental vitamins for specific active dog lifestyles and overloading your dog with pills which a LOT of bad breeders do. If they're not showing or titling, why are their dogs on vitamins? A balanced diet means they should need no vitamins. If the breeder is not feeding a good food and needs the vitamins in order to make their dogs healthy, it means they don't know enough about dogs to actually be responsible breeders.

>"Champion Bloodline"
I'll let you in on a secret. Every. Single. Dog. Has a champion somewhere in their pedigree. That is NOT something that makes dogs breeding worthy. If their bloodlines are so great, why aren't the dogs themselves champions? You can easily breed two champions together and make a pet quality puppy. Breed enough of these pet quality puppies together and you don't get champion material anymore. Again, pure and simple garbage.

>"Pick of the Litter"
Good breeders pick the puppy for you. Why? Because the people who have spent the last 8+ weeks with the puppies know them a lot better than you who will see them for a few hours at the most. You might pick the most outgoing puppy, but that doesn't mean that your puppy is the "best" or that it "picked you".

The best way to get a happy and healthy puppy is to buy from a breeder that's doing everything right, not from someone who just slapped two dogs together. This means the breeder is either showing or working their dogs to prove that they are stable enough to be pets, health testing to prove that they are healthy. Creed is my first dog from a good breeder, and let me tell you that the differences are ASTOUNDING between him and dogs who are not well bred. He is the picture of happy and healthy, no issues with his temperament, with his health, with his behavior, any of that. His parents are titled, health tested, and actively working in their fields. I couldn't be happier with my decision to go with a good breeder.

You make some very good points. I shall look more into it. I also agree that champion bloodlines mean nothing. I cant expect a puppy to just behave well at birth around other dogs or in public just because his ancestors were show dogs. I have to train him to have a good temperament.

[.muse.]

I honestly don't believe the dog was stolen. Personally, my fear-aggressive-to-the-point-she-bites-everyone-else dog would A) bark at the person approaching her, B) growl, C) probably start yelping if she was grabbed roughly even if she wasn't being hurt. It would 110% get my attention and I would run outside immediately to see what the fudge is going on. What it wouldn't be is a totally silent affair.

Which... I don't really understand why you would throw outside a dog whose 'afraid of everything' and leave it outside unsupervised. Doesn't really compute in my brain.

On top of that... you can't exactly just hop onto a plane with a dog, no matter where the plane is going. There are regulations against that.

I agree with this. Given the previous comments about how Yappy reacts to anyone aside from his owner, it's hard to believe someone just up and walked away with him.

If I were to steal a dog (Not that I ever would, all hypothetical), I wouldn't bother with something that is trying to bite me. The second the dog started snapping and growling intensely I'd say screw it. With how easy it is to get a chihuahua on craigslist for free, why would anyone steal one that they can't even pick up without being bit?

Edit: eeehhhhh, I said craigslist because that's the easiest source here, but I'm sure other countries have an equivalance? Also I probably should have considered that not all places are like here, where 95% of puppy postings are chihuahua or 'pit bull'. But my point still stands, why steal a dog that obviously isn't going to be easy to handle, when in general there are tons or easier methods to get a free dog for an improper reason.

[Jazi]

Temperaments are, in part, genetic. While Creed has of course received training, there are things that he has encountered same as other dogs in my past who were trained the exact same way and he has reacted differently. The base temperament is genetic, and typically you want to start with a stable base before anything else.

What's that they say about building a house upon sand?

[Transkitty]

Temperaments are, in part, genetic. While Creed has of course received training, there are things that he has encountered same as other dogs in my past who were trained the exact same way and he has reacted differently. The base temperament is genetic, and typically you want to start with a stable base before anything else.

What's that they say about building a house upon sand?

This. I followed the story of Skill, and let me tell you Creed is sooo different. Night and day. It's hard to believe that they are the same breed.

[Jazi]

Temperaments are, in part, genetic. While Creed has of course received training, there are things that he has encountered same as other dogs in my past who were trained the exact same way and he has reacted differently. The base temperament is genetic, and typically you want to start with a stable base before anything else.

What's that they say about building a house upon sand?

This. I followed the story of Skill, and let me tell you Creed is sooo different. Night and day. It's hard to believe that they are the same breed.

Hah, I wasn't even really talking about Skoll, because I knew that starting with a stable dog would be so different than starting with an unstable dog. But yes, Skoll and Creed have similar origins in that they are/were European-bred doberman and cropped&docked black&tans and that is really where the similarities end. Creed is just... so so different. I was afraid for a while that a Euro would be too similar to Skoll in intensity, but Creed's intensity and drive shows itself in positive ways rather than negative. Good genetics, and a good start, really go a long way.

But there's even things that have caught Mocha, who is a poorly bred but stable dog, that Creed breezes right by. Things that she had to be taught to be okay with, vs Creed who looks at it with curiosity and then continues doing whatever he was doing before. I had to teach Mocha to walk by a garbage truck without panicking. Creed does it without me needing to lift a finger. I took Titan to the one Tailwagger Trot and he is a stable adult well socialized and under control and he was completely overwhelmed and overstimulated and just a plain mess during, vs Creed who, once he got over the shock of SO MANY DOGS, was a perfectly behaved little gentleman. There is stable, and there is stable, and Creed is definitely the easiest dog I've ever had the pleasure of calling mine (even though he's also the most work!)

[Kyame]

So what are the top best questions to ask in choosing a breeder?

[Saracirce]

So what are the top best questions to ask in choosing a breeder?

http://www.dogplay.com/GettingDog/checklist.html