The dog musing/vent thread

[Southpaw]

Cajun saw her previous owner today. The beauty of getting a dog from a neighbor, but this is the first time we've ran into each other since then. I had her and Juno out for a walk and the neighbor was just pulling into her driveway, and both dogs were luckily on their best behavior despite not wearing their prongs (I have this thing about people judging me, I wouldn't want her to see Cajun being a wild child with me!). Cajun greeted her happily like she'd greet anyone, and she took the leash from me and started drilling obed commands lol which Cajun listened to.

I let her know things are going well and she commented that Cajun is no longer fat! And then I told the dogs "let's go!" and they hopped back to my side and off we went. I was impressed by that, I guess I would have expected her to be a little more crazy excited.

 

[skittledoo]

Well we got our qualifying first rally leg YAYYYY!!!!

Cricket probably would have done better, but she was soooo distracted by..... goose poop *facepalm*. At least we got a decent score... 5th place so we didn't get a placement ribbon, but I'm still proud of her. We are going to be competing again tomorrow.

Not sure why I can't get this picture to post smaller? stupid photobucket... sorry

ALSO... we met a Xolo pup today... and omg he is adorable. I was trying not to be one of those people that literally fawns all over dogs at the dog show, but I did get to love on him a little bit. This just further confirms that I can't wait to get my own Xolo soon.

And here he is watching me lol

 

[Ozfozz]

There's a Chinese Temple around the corner from where I live that has 3 dogs that spend most of their time in an enclosed dog run attached to it.
There's shelter and shade, they are brought in at night, they appear well fed, and they are reasonably friendly.

A pile of people have suddenly decided that it's "not right" and because one dog is limping, they called the SPCA. The SPCA found that dog is 15 years old and have severe arthritis - which he is on medication for. And that the owner is not violating any laws.

Now, I'll admit, that's not the way I would want my dogs to live. But they're not mine. There's an entire tirade of people now claiming they are sneaking over to feed the dogs, and harassing the owner to relinquish them.

What I can't get my head around is why are these people so adamant on getting these dogs out of there when there's a pile of them in our local shelters and rescues in need of homes? Who exactly is going to take these dogs on - and why are they so dead set on those when again, there's lots out there that actually need homes.

 

[crazedACD]

A pile of people have suddenly decided that it's "not right" and because one dog is limping, they called the SPCA. The SPCA found that dog is 15 years old and have severe arthritis - which he is on medication for. And that the owner is not violating any laws.

Now, I'll admit, that's not the way I would want my dogs to live. But they're not mine. There's an entire tirade of people now claiming they are sneaking over to feed the dogs, and harassing the owner to relinquish them.

What I can't get my head around is why are these people so adamant on getting these dogs out of there when there's a pile of them in our local shelters and rescues in need of homes? Who exactly is going to take these dogs on - and why are they so dead set on those when again, there's lots out there that actually need homes.

This kind of stuff is getting crazy. The animal rescue network is getting crazy and going a bit overboard.

 

[Georgygirl]

Walter and I had a rough day at class this morning. The class is usually in a building next to a doggy daycare, but today it was in the doggy daycare because of a seminar was going on in our usual place. Other dogs are a HUGE distraction for Walter. It usually takes me the first ten minutes in our regular class to fully get his attention and focus. At the daycare today he was just gone. The were lots of dogs barking and people/dogs wandering around behind fences. I had to fight for his attention the whole class and it was really frustrating and exhausting. He really is a good boy, and when I have his attention he does really well on his exercises. I feel a little bad for being so frustrated with him. He got lots of cuddles this afternoon.

 

[skittledoo]

We did SOOOO much better today!!!! We got a score of 93, earned our second rally leg towards Cricket's RN and placed first. Considering how stressed out I was I'm surprised, but really proud of Cricket.

 

[Laurelin]

I just get frustrated any time I try to talk to my family about the dog plans. 1. They ASKED ME. So I answered.

They don't believe I should buy a dog. Let alone a fancy kind of dog for sports.

I don't get it. Because we have so many horse people and other competitive sports people- archery, etc. Totally cool to be really into that. But no, buying a dog is 'too expensive' for me.

And yes, any dog is a crapshoot but seriously? I am wanting a very specific kind of dog. I am wanting to do really well with said dog. I have worked really hard for this and am actually pretty good at dog training. Why can't they just accept that this is my hobby and I want to do well with it? It's just frustrating because all the martial arts and archery and horse buying is totally cool. Yeah spend as much as you want. Oh no but don't buy a dog for your silly hobby.

I've tried to explain I don't want a dog just to get a dog. If I end up with a free/cheap dog and it doesn't want to do agility then I'm STILL going to end up with an agility dog. Then I'll just have 4 dogs.

 

[sassafras]

It's just frustrating because all the martial arts and archery and horse buying is totally cool. Yeah spend as much as you want. Oh no but don't buy a dog for your silly hobby.

Have you said something like this to them? What was their reaction?

 

[Laurelin]

I have tried and I swear it just goes over their heads. I think I'm just going to stop answering them when they ask me things. I just really don't get why they are convinced it will be a bad decision. Or why me spending a fraction of my salary on buying a dog is a big deal to them. They don't pay attention to any of my other purchases.

 

[SaraB]

I have tried and I swear it just goes over their heads. I think I'm just going to stop answering them when they ask me things. I just really don't get why they are convinced it will be a bad decision. Or why me spending a fraction of my salary on buying a dog is a big deal to them. They don't pay attention to any of my other purchases.

My family was the same way. They were convinced that I was nuts to spend money on competitions, classes etc not to mention paying to import dogs from halfway around the world and traveling the country to compete. We never saw eye to eye and even when I was considering moving to accept this job, my extended family tried to convince me that it was a horrible decision because you can't make money working with dogs. Then right before I left, my grandfather asked to see a video of what I did. He was stunned, had no clue that I did anything like disc and from then on kept his mouth shut about it. It stung that even though I had explained what I did for a living, my family never really understood and would just write it off. I still never expect them to understand and when they politely ask about the dogs, I answer in layman's terms and change the subject.

 

[Laurelin]

I've tried to show videos and they're always 'Oh yeah, that's nice.'

:/

Or our ribbons. 'Oh that's nice' all half heartedly.

I mean Summer and I aren't the fastest team but still....I pretend to be interested in their stuff. I just really don't get why spending money on dog sports is so bad but spending money on horse sports- that's totally cool. It's like the same freaking thing.

I'm glad my dog friends are actually encouraging and complimentary about my skills as a handler and dog owner.

 

[Ozfozz]

I don't get it. Because we have so many horse people and other competitive sports people- archery, etc. Totally cool to be really into that. But no, buying a dog is 'too expensive' for me.

This drives me insane.
Countless "friends" of mine will post daily about their passions. From sports to cars, it all costs money, and that's all cool. But I post about my dogs and I get pretty well ridiculed for it.

I just don't get how one person enjoys spending their time is somehow less worthy than others.

 

[Fran101]

I have two facebooks (dog people/everyone else) for this exact reason.

I mean it's all well and good to be like "WHO CARES WHAT THEY THINK!" but it's annoying waiting for the stupid thoughtless commentary from people "Oh it's just a dog...what sport is this?..this is nuts...how much does this cost?" even if you love those people...they are clueless and who needs it. it just rained on my parade.
I had a new puppy (merlin) there was so much I wanted to say and post and I hated that I felt like I would have to tone anything down or feel bad for sharing because some of the people on my feed wouldn't be interested

I love my family dearly but they are a large group of people who aren't dog people and are quite clueless and sometimes their comments can be unintentionally hurtful

So two facebooks were born and I switched all the dog people over and it worked out splendidly IMO I highly suggest it.
I keep one logged on firefox and one logged on chrome so it's not like switching back/forth....and I post anything about Merlin and dogs and like too many pages and comment on as many dog stuff that I want! muahah

I don't clog anyones feed with dog stuff they don't care about
and I don't have to deal with explaining things to non-dog people LOL

 

[crazedACD]

I have two facebooks (dog people/everyone else) for this exact reason.

I mean it's all well and good to be like "WHO CARES WHAT THEY THINK!" but it's annoying waiting for the stupid thoughtless commentary from people "Oh it's just a dog...what sport is this?..this is nuts...how much does this cost?" even if you love those people...they are clueless and who needs it. it just rained on my parade.
I had a new puppy (merlin) there was so much I wanted to say and post and I hated that I felt like I would have to tone anything down or feel bad for sharing because some of the people on my feed wouldn't be interested

I love my family dearly but they are a large group of people who aren't dog people and are quite clueless and sometimes their comments can be unintentionally hurtful

So two facebooks were born and I switched all the dog people over and it worked out splendidly IMO I highly suggest it.
I keep one logged on firefox and one logged on chrome so it's not like switching back/forth....and I post anything about Merlin and dogs and like too many pages and comment on as many dog stuff that I want! muahah

I don't clog anyones feed with dog stuff they don't care about
and I don't have to deal with explaining things to non-dog people LOL

I do that too! I post the occasional picture or random dog thing on my friends/family facebook, but I'm way more active on the dog one. And usually, my dog facebook is logged into my phone 99% of the time.

 

[Linds]

I just have a list of non dog people that I put in the "don't show this post to these people" spot when I post dog stuff. That way I don't have to manage two accounts but don't overwhelm non dog people.

But, I do always love hearing about everyone's interests on my fb no matter if I am into those things or not.

 

[Oko]

I just have a list of non dog people that I put in the "don't show this post to these people" spot when I post dog stuff. That way I don't have to manage two accounts but don't overwhelm non dog people.

But, I do always love hearing about everyone's interests on my fb no matter if I am into those things or not.

My Facebook has minimal friends IRL on it, so that cuts down on worrying about it. I know I'm lucky in that my family all love Feist and seeing pictures/videos of her, and are supportive of dog sports. It must be quite unpleasant to have someone close to you shooting down an important hobby/activity of yours. Personally, I like seeing the things people do on FB, outside of what I do, and my immediate interests. Like babies, keep on posting human babies, because those are cute lol. And if there are people that annoy me (not dog people obviously, never too many dog things) but I have to keep them as FB friends to prevent social meltdowns, the 'unfollow' button is a beautiful thing. But basically, if you're FB friends with me, you will be subjected to ridiculous amounts of pictures of my dog.

 

[Red.Apricot]

We did SOOOO much better today!!!! We got a score of 93, earned our second rally leg towards Cricket's RN and placed first. Considering how stressed out I was I'm surprised, but really proud of Cricket.

CONGRATULATIONS! What a good girl!

 

[skittledoo]

CONGRATULATIONS! What a good girl!

thank you so much.

 

[Southpaw]

I hate when it's completrly pouring rain outside and I can't take Cajun to the park over lunch.

On the plus side, she now has a nice beginning of a "leave it." =p

 

[Babyblue5290]

Talon tore the crap out of his paws.

Went for a nice long hike yesterday at a new spot. It was really pretty, but I don't understand WA Park and Recreations obsession with crushed rock! The rocks are so jagged and range in size so much that it's not that great on the dogs paws. If it was smaller rock, a different kind of rock, or not rock (lol) then it would be much better.

But we were stopping to check paws every once in a while and we had to cut the hike really short because the dogs paws were a bit too soft for the terrain since we didn't do much through winter. So we headed home, still checking paws. Everything looked good. Both the dogs paws were a bit warn but nothing harmful. We were only a few feet away from the grass and pavement of the parking area when a big group of dirt bikes (um...that is NOT allowed on this trail!) came screeching by almost running us over.

Talon, with his movement issues, decided to pull on the leash and in the process took two giant chunks of skin off his paw pads on his front paws. T_T Stupid dog didn't even show he was in pain until we got home and I noticed him licking his paws. Stupid dog also thinks going outside to run and play is a great idea.