Getting A Dog

[Aleina Dee]

Frenchie , lovely dog. Best of luck finding him a home,unfortunately I can't . He seems very adaptable and clever as you say . He even learned French !! :lol:

 

[Alicia karr]

Hey maybe we should organize a "Fiesta de Ex-patriotas Mascotas (y los dueños) some Sunday afternoon? A doggie meetup in a pet friendly park with human and canine snacks? But only for guaranteed well behaving participants with leads that can be removed for good behavior? I personally have seen too many little dgs attacked by bigger ones and seriously hurt while there owners are either nowhere to be found or say "gee how did that happen? He's never done that before"....

 

[Alicia karr]

The real "la Coqueta de Recoleta" smiling

 

[Aleina Dee]

Hey maybe we should organize a "Fiesta de Ex-patriotas Mascotas (y los dueños) some Sunday afternoon? A doggie meetup in a pet friendly park with human and canine snacks? But only for guaranteed well behaving participants with leads that can be removed for good behavior? I personally have seen too many little dgs attacked by bigger ones and seriously hurt while there owners are either nowhere to be found or say "gee how did that happen? He's never done that before"....

Small dogs can be a nuisance to larger dogs. Pack behaviour dictates that you approach a dog with respect until you know on which rung dog stands in terms of pack hierarchy. Little dogs often come yelping and yipping up to get attention as their owners taught them they are so cute when they get excited .But usually the owner of the dog says poor thing he was just trying to play.Yes , but in a humanised way not the way dogs do . Dogs have a low tolerance threshold for invasive behaviour and teach the little ones respect as they would a puppy if it is over playful. So the rep some big dogs have might not entirely be justified.

However big or small they should be always at the call of the owners and adhere to a "desist" warning. I am adding this in case anyone gets the idea that I tolerate this behaviour in dogs. Only trying to explain why there are seemingly unprovoked attacks on little ones.

 

[Aleina Dee]

PD : The doggie fiesta is a great idea. Transport might be an issue though to get everyone into the same park.

 

[thomasb]

Aleina Dee's comment makes me think of one of the things that really bothers me (sorry slightly off-topic and I am not saying this is the case with anyone here but nevertheless);

In general people seem to understand that when you have a big dog you need to train it to be well-behaved while it's less important when it's small because well, it's so cute...

Typical scenario in the park; my 4 (25 to 50 kilos) dogs are running free, I see someone coming along with a small dog, I call mine closer and if needed move away and continue to play, the other dog comes running to "say hello" to my dogs with the terrified owner trying to catch up while shouting on the top of their lungs the dogs name (to no avail) - dogs say hello - all good up until owner catches up and yells at me because my dogs are loose. Of course it's ok that the other totally untrained dog is loose and runs like a overexcited idiot up to my dogs because he is so small and cute, while I am a terrible dog owner because my bigger, well-behaved trained dogs are close to me and in full control (and didn't even do anything to their dog).

I do understand that my dogs can be scary, hence I move away when other dog owners come, call them close, move away from kids, only let them off leach if the park is not crowded and I have enough space, only let them play with other dogs if the dog owner asks for it etc etc, but I still have that particular discussion fairly often.

When are you raising a pup without other dogs around the socialization becomes even more important. A puppy that misbehaves with other dogs will most likely get a slap in the face - that same dog doing the same thing 2 years later might get hurt.

Since there aren't really any proper puppy classes here (I am in the north), whenever somebody I know gets a new dog I have them come to boot camp at my house for the basics, not from me - train your own dogs, but from my dogs

 

[Alicia karr]

I agree with all the posts. But my "little dog" is a certified therapy dog (had to pass tests of character ad training) and she is actually timid and runs away from other dogs. I have personally had the scary experience of being followed, dog in my arms, by an aggressive dog who was trying to get at her ("crazy in love?") despite that she is neutered. I had to escape to my car and would you believe this same animal tried to jump in the car through the open drivers side window to get at her after I had closed the door?! Apparently said dog was known to others and had already caused injuries.(this was back in the US) The owner never was in the immediate vicinity or took responsibility.
I've seen the same Cesar Milan video that some of you probably have seen, showing that adorable Pomeranian (same as mine,gulp!) excitedly yapping at the dog park. But trust me, I have seen many incidents of unprovoked attacks, more than one resulting in almost fatal injuries to the attacked animal. Try breaking up a dog fight and you'll understand. Prevention is ALWAYS the best policy.
By the way, I have at least one taxi driver animal loving friend who could be called for transport to such an activity. Maybe people could share transport to meet. Anyway it's just an idea since it would be so nice to personally meet English speaking dog owners!

 

[Yogur griego]

:wub:

 

[French jurist]

:wub:

If only women were looking at me that way (I mean the cute eyes, not the tongue outside the mouth), but that's another subject

 

[Matiasba]

I only like big dogs. Little dogs are rare to me, most of them I find hysterical, barking all the time, with a high pitched sound ... I like big dogs that when you come into the house run happily and throw you to the floor, dogs with enough force to fight equally with you... sadly, you cant have those dogs in an apartment, you need a green place to let them play, a garden, etc.
For the city, I prefer cats, they are obedient if you train them, much more domestic, and recognise clearly the owner (only one). Its another kind of affect, but they clearly show their preferences with people.

My family has a golden retriever, and those dogs are just wonderful. They re affectionate, funny, obedient, quiet, hairy dogs... they have like a lot of marketing, since they are the ones that always appear in tv, the image of dog that most brands use, etc...

Dogs and cats I love them both. Cats are like more mysterious, like an enigma, but once you know how to treat them they are lovable, and they respond. (dont agree with the "cats are traitors" myth.)