Breed descriptions from an insurance company

[*blackrose]

I thought the Labrador profile was very good. And I have to say, they summed it up well:

There are a couple of characteristics these large, solidly built dogs share: A love of swimming and of eating.

I wish they had added something in about the sheer amount of hair Labs shed, as that seems to catch a lot of people by surprise.

[Laurelin]

Originally Posted by Shai

I pray Mia does not have a Ph.D. in nuclear physics....that would be bad...

Just another step towards world domination.

[Equinox]

The German Shepherd one is fine, not much greater or worse than other generic breed summaries I have read. I find less to disagree with in this article than I have others, which is nice.

They make a good point to say that most people do not need a trained protection dog, but I don't like the fact that they added

A socialized, well-mannered German Shepherd that lives with his family will protect them as part of his nature.

Maybe I am being nitpicky but you can't expect any German Shepherd you raise to be able to protect. Simply because a dog is "socialized, well-mannered", and a GSD does not mean the dog has the capability to actively protect. The most heavily socialized and well-mannered German Shepherds I know of are happy go lucky pet dogs, more likely to react in fear rather than ever in fight.

Originally Posted by ~WelshStump~

Actually that one is pretty darn near perfect, but one of the small exception I have to noisily disagree with: "...and independent (read stubborn)"
VERY inaccurate! The Beauceron is actually highly dependent on their owner, and although to the later comment about adolescent dogs "pushing boundaries" they are not stubborn at all. They are a highly sensitive dogs, in all uses of the word, they are such a constant "shadow" to their owners many people find it obnoxious. They NEED you, and will demand it vocally.

I'll have to look up the Pem later.

I thought that part of the Beauceron article was questionable, too. I was told before by a lady who trained/owned working Beaucerons and German Shepherds, that Beaucerons are generally more handler sensitive than the average working line German Shepherd.

[Laurelin]

Originally Posted by Shai

Yeah I am taking it in context of being an internet description lol. I mean bearing in mind the variance in dogs within a breed, and that half the stuff you read on the internet is about FCRs is insanity like they don't shed much because they don't have undercoats (yeah the black hair I am constantly sweeping up would indicate otherwise), or that their average lifespan is 6-8 years because their owners don't love them enough (it's 8-10 years as stated in this link, and um okay I'm all about the power of love but...), or to "Be sure to take them for daily walks to satisfy their migration instinct..." (dogbreedinfo -- thanks again for that one ~Tucker&Me~ lol)...yeah I'd say these guys did a bang-up job really!

Papillons were psychic according to wiki for a while. And they don't shed on about half the sites I see.

I also see way too many that talk about them being calm little lap dogs that don't need exercise so anything that doesn't say THAT is fine by me.

The sheltie one is okay, but I've never had a sheltie that spun at all.

[Paige]

I feel it a good start for when you first look into the breed. Talks about the split in the breed, that having a big yard is now what makes these dogs happy etc. But it takes a lot more than a breed description to know the breed of any dog. It's so easy to say it should say this or that or it should expand on this point when you live with and love the breed.

[Kat09Tails]

This one on the peke gave me a snort

Admit it: When you think of the Pekingese, the image of Cartman from South Park pops into your head: overweight, spoiled, selfish and ill-tempered. But people who dismiss the Peke as a useless fribble, the last living symbol of a decadent and now-dead empire, to them, the Pekingese has only one thing to say: ***8220;Respect my authority!***8221;

Also Laur - my brother's sheltie spins when she's amped up with no where to go. She's multi generation "working line" though. No idea if that's related.

[Pops2]

surprised they had american stag but not curs. the stag description was pretty far off on some things

[Zoom]

Not too far off on Aussies. Would recommend it for someone wanting a good place to start.

[Lizmo]

Like Zoom, I would recommend this site in context to the Border Collie breed. I actually thought most of it was spot on (minus a few small items, of course). Props to who ever wrote it!

[Miakoda]

It definitely wasn't my favorite, but I've seen worse. And then I read this:

dogs from fighting backgrounds or other troubling situations need expert evaluation and, usually, rehabilitation

I've owned several gamebred APBTs in the past (this means that they were descended from actual pit dogs), and absolutely NONE of them needed "rehabilitation".

And I find it moronic that the only time I read about dogs needing "rehabilitation" is in regard to "pit bulls". Seriously?

FWIW, I don't buy into "rehabilitation" anyway. If a dog is DA, it's DA. So what. If it wants to pull on the leash or jumps on you and knocks you down, it needs training. Not "rehabilitation".

With my breed, there is no room for nicities mixed with untruths and myths. We don't have the time for it.