Dog Owner Chat v4

[alpraz0lam]

I've had to order a muzzle for Odin,
he's getting pretty bad with his biting.

Any tips on how to stop that?
It's not intentional,
he think's it's a game but i've got
cuts and bruises all up my arms because of it.

[Cardinal]

i can not stand designer breeds. there is no true standard for the breed and it is mainly for marketing. they weren’t bred for a purpose they were bred for a fad. they are mutts due to the fact that they aren’t bred for a purpose and there is no real standard.

anyone can register their dog with CKC and contracts don’t do anything unless the breeder takes it to civil court. also neutering and spaying any large breed that early can harm their growth. that being said CKC is not really a reputable registry. they also cannot sell without breeding rights unless not giving papers but then you could register the dog anyway. along with the contracts, a dog is considered property and thus once money exchanges hands, there is really nothing a breeder can do unless they spend more money taking you to civil court. has happened to plenty of dachshund breeders in the group i’m in. you have that one person that breeds a dog that shouldn’t be bred.

a breeder should meet the standard of the breed for show or working quality, not because they are cute. that’s how i see it. health testing is to help prevent any genetic diseases a dog could have and it is beneficial. why not try and prevent genetic isssues if you can seeing as you’re responsible when you breed two dogs have a puppy comes out with genetic issues you could have prevented. health testing is slowly making its way towards more breeders.

you have to be breeding show/pet/ working quality dogs to be a reputable breeder, otherwise you aren’t bettering the breeds at all.

what does a labrodoodle have as a purpose?
a pomsky?
that’s my two sense, i’m not being harsh either. it’s actually a fun topic to discus and it’s been brought up a few times. welcome to the site!

Don't worry; you didn't seem harsh at all.

See, my thinking is that most dogs simply don't serve a purpose beyond companionship anymore, so unless you actually want a golden retriever, for example, with a more specific temperament and appearance for retrieving downed birds, then it doesn't really matter to most people if their dog fits the standard exactly, has disqualifying traits in the show ring or even has a standard or purpose at all. Maybe some people want a pomsky, schnoodle or whatever, and don't care if they are a mutt or not. I'm not actually getting a designer dog; I'm getting a chihuahua, but I used my breeder as an example all the same because I know most people would still consider them a BYB.

There will always be pet quality dogs in every litter, even those breeding for show or work. Purpose breeding is incredibly important, even for just pets. A purebred dog comes with certain expectations; doberman are typically same sex aggressive, terriers have high prey drive, herding breeds are intelligent, etc. Yes, there are deviations from the norm but you generally have a very good idea of what to expect temperment wise. Not to mention that being able to perform, both in the show ring and sporting events, shows a level of stability under pressure and a sound temperment.. which I'd assume most peopke want.

A breeder should be looking at their dogs objectively and letting a third party judge their dogs. A dog should be physically sound, this is where adhereing to the breed standard comes into play. The vast majority of standards are set to produce a dog sound of body (yes, yes, extremes exsist in a fraction of breeds). A body that is not sound breaks down much faster. Flat feet, sway backs, forward shoulders, straight stifles, to much turn in the hock, swan necks, pigeon chests... the list goes on. Some of these do appear, moderately, in well bred dogs, but should never be purposely bred towards and the goal should be choosing complementary traits... and a breeder should be very honest about the faults. A high reared, cow hocked, splay footed, straight fronted dog will generally have more orthopedic issues than a good front, nice legs, and solid topline.. I have the first, shes a trainwreck with bad arthritis (started around 6) and has never been an exceedingly active dog lol.


Theres also just... no reason not to health test.

[taurus ;]

i can not stand designer breeds. there is no true standard for the breed and it is mainly for marketing. they weren’t bred for a purpose they were bred for a fad. they are mutts due to the fact that they aren’t bred for a purpose and there is no real standard.

anyone can register their dog with CKC and contracts don’t do anything unless the breeder takes it to civil court. also neutering and spaying any large breed that early can harm their growth. that being said CKC is not really a reputable registry. they also cannot sell without breeding rights unless not giving papers but then you could register the dog anyway. along with the contracts, a dog is considered property and thus once money exchanges hands, there is really nothing a breeder can do unless they spend more money taking you to civil court. has happened to plenty of dachshund breeders in the group i’m in. you have that one person that breeds a dog that shouldn’t be bred.

a breeder should meet the standard of the breed for show or working quality, not because they are cute. that’s how i see it. health testing is to help prevent any genetic diseases a dog could have and it is beneficial. why not try and prevent genetic isssues if you can seeing as you’re responsible when you breed two dogs have a puppy comes out with genetic issues you could have prevented. health testing is slowly making its way towards more breeders.

you have to be breeding show/pet/ working quality dogs to be a reputable breeder, otherwise you aren’t bettering the breeds at all.

what does a labrodoodle have as a purpose?
a pomsky?
that’s my two sense, i’m not being harsh either. it’s actually a fun topic to discus and it’s been brought up a few times. welcome to the site!

Lol, I really hate when people try to boast that their dog is registered and then I see CKC. All it takes is $50, nothing special there.
The doodle fad is my most hated. Just came upon an ad for goldendoodle puppies, $1300 and don't forget that they have no shots, deworming done, and definitely no health testing. Parents aren't registered and have neither show nor work titles.
I guess labradoodles had a purpose as they were bred to be service dogs in the first place. Would have been a great thing had it not created such a vicious cycle. Besides that have I ever met a tempermentally sound doodle: nope.

I prefer purebreds myself, mixed breeds are too much of a wildcard. I don't have the time nor the patience for unexpected genetic defects and issues.

[PerpetualMints]

Of course there's no reason not to health test, but there's no huge reason to do it, either, unless maybe the dogs you're dealing with are horribly inbred or happen to be one of the breeds more plagued by health problems.

You can't health test away all your problems, we only have tests for a small portion of the illnesses dogs are afflicted by, for one, and dogs have existed for THOUSANDS of years without health testing. So, why of all a sudden is it so needed? Because we're trying to health test for the very problems we created? I don't get it - a lot of working dog breeders don't health test, either. At least not around here. This is very common for LGDs; you can buy working bred ones fairly cheaply on classifieds where I live for around $300-500 and they've been raised around stock and so on. I could be wrong, I'm not denying that. But I've been surrounded by "poorly bred" dogs all my life and not one has had any health problems except for a lhasa apso my grandmother had who ended up with testicular cancer.

I didn't know about the contracts, but considering all of my past dogs have been mutts from oops litters or, in the case of one, a puppy that somebody impulse bought and later got bored of, I thought I was doing pretty good with the breeder I chose since they actually seemed to care for their dogs. I've never owned a purebred dog, or really anything, before.

[plecostomus enjoyer]

my dog came in from being let out with snow all over her nose! she's been playing in the snow, tossing some up with her nose and pouncing on it. so cute<3

still have no idea what breed she is, but her ears are just the cutest things, and her little lion mane <3

[shadow~wolf]

Lucky's first snow!!!

[eleutheromania]

so. it snowed at home and i only left two days ago........ i didn't get to see my low riders first snow T.T

[oddball1234]

It snowed for the first time in 28 years in my home town!!!! I'm on the south coast and its hasn't done this since 1989. wayyyyy before I was born so I was like a little kid all day! Built a snowman with my nephew and had snowball fights. Killian also had a ball! But I never had him out at long periods at a time because he was cold xD


Part of my front lawn looking down the street.




Killian on the porch. I was throwing snowballs for him to fetch and he would catch them lol




Killian under a blanket with me as we seat on the air vent to get warm



I need to get him a new sweater. The one he has on was one I got before Thanksgiving and its too small(length wise). It also doesn't help that I bought one that that was xx small. xD

[bloodredsheep]

Of course there's no reason not to health test, but there's no huge reason to do it, either, unless maybe the dogs you're dealing with are horribly inbred or happen to be one of the breeds more plagued by health problems.

You can't health test away all your problems, we only have tests for a small portion of the illnesses dogs are afflicted by, for one, and dogs have existed for THOUSANDS of years without health testing. So, why of all a sudden is it so needed? Because we're trying to health test for the very problems we created? I don't get it - a lot of working dog breeders don't health test, either. At least not around here. This is very common for LGDs; you can buy working bred ones fairly cheaply on classifieds where I live for around $300-500 and they've been raised around stock and so on. I could be wrong, I'm not denying that. But I've been surrounded by "poorly bred" dogs all my life and not one has had any health problems except for a lhasa apso my grandmother had who ended up with testicular cancer.

I didn't know about the contracts, but considering all of my past dogs have been mutts from oops litters or, in the case of one, a puppy that somebody impulse bought and later got bored of, I thought I was doing pretty good with the breeder I chose since they actually seemed to care for their dogs. I've never owned a purebred dog, or really anything, before.

Health testing for LGDs is just as important for them as any other breed. If you depend on your livestock to make a living your going to need a healthy dog to protect them. They will be fighting and chasing off predators. I went with health tested and AKC Anatolians for this reason I wanted to make sure I knew bloodlines, an idea on health and the temperament of my dogs. I didn’t want to take a gamble.

By having the dogs around livestock is good that doesn’t equal a sound body. Having a dog that’s healthy/sound bodied and right temperament is what ranchers/farmers should be looking for. Usually when an LGD is that cheap they are mixed or bred not soundly ex. structure is usually bad or coat type is not correct ex. Easily matts or just a terrible coat for a working dog.

Also way back when dogs were treated as stock when you had a dog that had a health problem or just wouldn’t work you put it down.

(Sorry for any spelling errors lol I’m on my phone. My phones terrible!)

[Cardinal]

When we know better we do better.

60 years ago Doberman just dropped dead, it was shrugged off. Theres a boat load of pedigrees with unexplained sudden deaths; the breed is rife with them. It was shrugged off and not thought about or swept under the rug, we know now Doberman have DCM, an always fatal heart condition. Our ancestors did not view dogs the way we do. Displastic? Shoot it. Doesnt herd properly? Drown it. Galagos are still routinely stranged and hung in trees because of a poor hunt or easily treated health condition. Lets also be honest here, natural selection no longer factors in. A dog thats WASNT sound of mind and body died and didnt live long enough to reproduce; hunters (even now) have no use for a lame dog and a lame dog doesnt survive without our intervention.

If anything we need health testing now more than we ever have in the past. Many breeds are now soft and watered down and the old hound that would have fallen due to natural selection or culling has been allowed to pass on the faults in its genes. Health testing isnt end all be all, thats where extensive pedigrees and third party evaluations come into filling in the gaps.