Dog Owner Chat! (for-fun poll added) (new chat)

[star star.]

Do you own a dog?:
yes, three currently
Favorite dog breed?:
Aussies, German Sheppard, or Great Danes
Tell us about your dog(s), if you have any!:
Takoda is a brindle Great Dane, purebreed. We got him around 2-3 years ago and he's the sweetest thing ever <3
Jaz is our older dog at the moment. She's a mutt, we got her from the pound, and still don't really know what she's mixed with. She's hyper, lovable, and you could just kill her she's too cute
Mazie is our youngest that we got last.... March? She was adopted at the Humane Society, and she's a mutt. She's part Aussie, part something else, but she's a very hyper dog that's always trying to escape.
Pictures of your dog(s):
I don't have any of them yet. I'll upload them when i do! <3

[Ethulai]

And I disagree that small dogs aren't more fragile then medium or large dogs. They are. You wouldn't play/roughhouse with your min pins with the same roughness/strength as you would, say, a Boxer or Rottie, would you? I'd end up hurting Lolita if I tried to play with her the same way or with the same strength that I played with Clemmy. Just like you'd expect a large breed like a Great Dane to be aware of their size and strength, a little dog should be aware of their size, that they can NOT win a fight against a big dog and that would be ill-advised to start something with said larger dog.

That is entirely a personal preference, don't you think? I don't like 'roughhousing' and I wouldn't do it even if I owned larger dogs. In fact, my partner's parents adopted a Lab (or Lab X) from the Pound and there is nothing more I hate then him jumping on me. Dogs that don't know their own strength...just...gah...I can't stand it.

The fighting thing is just obvious. I wouldn't ever put my dogs in a potentially dangerous situation and I believe dog parks should have seperate areas for larger and smaller breeds. Even so, the only time my dogs have ever been 'hurt' is by being stepped on and they just yelp once, they don't even end up limping or anything like that. I usually tell them it's their own fault because it tends to happen in places where they shouldn't be, like the kitchen.

Like I said, of course you take precautions, but saying 'small dogs are fragile' as a blanket statement is as frustrating to me as something like 'big dogs are stupid' would be to large breed lovers.

[Saracirce]

The rough housing thing was just an example. You obviously wouldn't handle a small dog with the same amount of strength as you would a big dog. Not only because they don't need it but because you would hurt them in the process.

[FuzzyThePunkCat]

The dog park I went to in Florida (which was just AMAZING OMG) had a seperate area for small dogs, but that area sucked compared to the all dog area. So, we just took Bella and Kiba in the all dog area and Kiba was scares of all the small dogs and fine with the big dogs. She actually slipped under the fence and ran into the building because it was so hot lol, the lady inside thought it was because she was afraid of the bigger dogs. After she got in the water she was fine though. Even Bella got in the water and she doesn't like to swim, that's how hot that day was!

[Joe Kerr]

I know bigger dogs tend to have smaller life spans, from around 10 - 12, but that's still a grand old age. I agree it would be amazing if they lived just that little bit longer, but better to have a short happy life than nothing. I love my sheepies. Have you ever heard of Newfoundlands too? They're huge dogs but still great, I love that breed.
~QUESTION~
Just how long is a small dog's average life span? (Never had one before)

My roommate's Chi/Rat Terrier mix is almost 17 years old, and she's
as chipper as a puppy. No health problems or anything. Some
Mini Poodles live 'til they're 20!

[FuzzyThePunkCat]

How would I go about taking Kiba on a plane? She is only 4 lbs, would she be able to be in a carrier under my seat? I might be able to convince my dad to let me go to VidCon and I would have to fly, so I would like to take Kiba.

[Ethulai]

How would I go about taking Kiba on a plane? She is only 4 lbs, would she be able to be in a carrier under my seat? I might be able to convince my dad to let me go to VidCon and I would have to fly, so I would like to take Kiba.

Pretty sure the only dogs they allow on the plane where the passengers are, are service dogs. Otherwise they would have to be in the freight area of the plane in a carrier.

Edit; at least, those are the rules in Australia.

[MacGyver]

How would I go about taking Kiba on a plane? She is only 4 lbs, would she be able to be in a carrier under my seat? I might be able to convince my dad to let me go to VidCon and I would have to fly, so I would like to take Kiba.

You'll have to check with your airline as each airline has its own rules. Most airlines limit carry-on pets to a max. of 10lbs (including carrier weight) and the carrier must be able to fit under the seat on front of you. Again, check with your airline and flight (size can differ per plane type).
Also, be sure to let them know you have a dog as carry on when you reserve your flight - only a certain number of pets can be on board in-cabin. And confirm it at the counter when you board as well. You'll want to have Kiba's required health records too (though I'm pretty sure this is only for international flights and flights to Hawaii). Again, check the airlines rules on pets in-cabin.

I'll grab some links for you tomorrow.

edit; from FAA CFR FAR:
Your pet container must be small enough to fit underneath the seat without blocking any person's path to the main aisle of the airplane.
Your pet container must be stowed properly before the last passenger entry door to the airplane is closed in order for the airplane to leave the gate.
Your pet container must remain properly stowed the entire time the airplane is moving on the airport surface, and for take off and landing.
You must follow flight attendant instructions regarding the proper stowage of your pet container.

Have you decided on an airline yet? If you have any more specific questions, ask away. I studied up on flying with pets quite a bit when we were planning on going back overseas.

[Cardinal]

Small dogs are more fragile. Small dogs have smaller, thinner bones than a larger dog. That's not to say they are INCAPABLE of doing the things larger dogs, they're not to a certain extent (not all sports are open to small dogs). You don't typically hear about GSD's stepping off of a couch and breaking a leg, but its a VERY REAL threat for an Italian greyhound. You wouldn't typically push a smaller dog as hard as a larger dog, when having backpacks a larger dog can typically go up to 20% of body carrying weight and I'm pretty sure 10% is the average for small-toy dogs. You can do SERIOUS damage tripping over or stepping on a smaller dog because their bones are thinner.

I don't think this is a matter of small dogs cant do x,y,z.

[orpheus.]

I know bigger dogs tend to have smaller life spans, from around 10 - 12, but that's still a grand old age. I agree it would be amazing if they lived just that little bit longer, but better to have a short happy life than nothing. I love my sheepies. Have you ever heard of Newfoundlands too? They're huge dogs but still great, I love that breed.
~QUESTION~
Just how long is a small dog's average life span? (Never had one before)

Some only live to nine or eight though - and I know it isn't exactly a short period of time but it isn't quite as long as I'd like, it's a shame since I admire most big dogs but I don't think we have the right kinda lifestyle for them anyway. Newfoundlands are gorgeous, there's a lady who walks two of them and they are huge, but really gentle, you don't really see very many of them though, the majority of dogs here are westies, labs, whippets, english staffies, bully mixes, golden retrievers and border collies along with the occasional beagle. But most of them are staffies since people adopt them thinking they'll be 'hardcore dogs' and then they end up in the pound, where there is already 40 staffies. It's really sad since these dogs are actually really nice-natured and make great companions.