To Dream of Dogs

Chit-chat, current events
jdb1

Re: To Dream of Dogs

Post by jdb1 »

Yes, Moira - I agree. I've often wondered why the animals in these situations seem to have a lot less trouble reconciling their differences than do the people attached to them. :? :?
klondike

Re: To Dream of Dogs

Post by klondike »

Well, as our New England Royalty are fond of saying: ehh, let me say this about that -
You need to understand, where Yours Truly is concerned, my aversion to felini domesticus is neither aesthetic, nor elitist, nor even sociological.
I am literally repelled by physical proximity to any cat, or number thereof; my reaction is immediate, multi-sensory, and emotionally negative in a profoundly instinctive, non-intellectual manner.
The shortest way to express it is the one, simple statement that people in general will not accept: The mere sight of a house cat makes my skin crawl.
Know what's funny?
You can relate virtually any phobia one might have to any friendly listener, from crowded elevators to driving in thunderstorms to them baby-eatin' clowns, and that person will almost invariably nod, and tell you about a friend or relative who feels the same, or about a similar phobia they themselves suffer. But tell that same person you cannot abide the presence of a cat, and they will either lecture you irrelevently about the best way to handle fur allergies, or they'll openly condemn you for being some kind of anti-animal Nazi.
Trust me, the fact that I'm deeply & passionately devoted to Dogs in general, large, ancient breeds in particular, and Alaskan Malamutes specifically, is in no direct way connected to or resulting from my ailurophobia (sp?).
jdb1

Re: To Dream of Dogs

Post by jdb1 »

Quite interesting, your condition. Not the reaction one usually expects to furry companion creatures.

I think some regression therapy is in order. Perhaps your earlier self was mauled by a tiger in Mogul India? Or maybe you were once a barn mouse? Or maybe The Incredible Shrinking Man, vulnerable in his dollhouse, was too intense for you to watch when you were a kid?

So I guess this means you didn't watch the halftime kitten extravaganza at this year's Puppy Bowl?

I'll have to tell Evil Monty the Cat about your aversion. I can just imagine what he's going to say about that! He's getting very crotchety in his mature years. He's taken to punching me in the jaw if I don't give him attention when he demands it. Luckily for me, a runty cat punch doesn't amount to much. But oh -- those contemptuous glares!
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moira finnie
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Re: To Dream of Dogs

Post by moira finnie »

From AP:
Alaska State Troopers will be presenting a special award to Buddy, a German Shepherd that led authorities to a fire at his owners’ property on April 4, 2010. The owner suffered minor burns after a heater apparently ignited chemicals in the family’s workshop at a home in Anchorage, Alaska. Buddy’s owner, Ben Heinrichs, 23, was working on a vehicle in the workshop outside the family’s home in the Caswell Lakes area when a spark from a heater ignited gasoline. Heinrichs suffered flash burns to his face and second-degree burns to his left hand, and the fire became fully-involved in the workshop area. Heinrichs set his dog loose with the intention to have the dog get help. The trooper first responder had difficulty finding the fire scene because the squad car’s GPS device wasn’t working properly. The trooper sighted the dog on Caswell Loop Road a little over one mile south of Caswell, and the dog started running. State trooper Terrence Shanigan decided to follow, since the dog could have been on a mission to lead the officer to the fire.

The dashcam video shows the German Shepherd waiting as a police car arrives, and then running to the building fire with police following.
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mrsl
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Re: To Dream of Dogs

Post by mrsl »

.
Talk about rescuing. This is totally out there and away from Klondike's rescue dog story, but for some reason it made me think of the other day, waiting for NCIS, Entertainment Tonight had photos of Sandra Bullock (leave her alone already!!!), with her friend and her two Chihuahua dogs, one of which is missing one hind leg, and the other is missing both of it's front legs.

Question:

Is this being kind to the dogs?
You know I have a paranoiac fear of dogs, so loving animals that much is hard for me to understand, although I wouldn't hesitate a second to adopt a child with a missing limb, but it seems to me an animal would be different, though not to some people, and I know that. The three legged dog is one thing, but the other one walks and runs on his hind legs all the time, and I can't help wondering if he can be hurting with no way to tell anyone. I have started watching the Bonnie Hunt show daily, and she is the biggest dog lover I ever saw. The entire work crew brings their dogs to work every day, can you imagine? I guess they roam around backstage while their owners are getting ready for the show. Twice a month she has 'Adopt a Dog' day, and brings 10 to 12 dogs on who need homes. She's amazing and I cannot believe they have cancelled her show - what a loss that will be. The thing is, she shows before and after photos of how the dogs looked before they were cleaned up and it would break even my heart to see some of them. Well, as usual I mouthed on longer than I planned, but can you give me an answer?
.
Anne


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Birdy
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Re: To Dream of Dogs

Post by Birdy »

Anne, I think the delimma of who gets adopted and who doesn't crosses over into who deserves to live or die. (In our society, we say that animals deserve euthanasia but people don't.) But the point of a pet (as oppposed to a working animal or livestock) is to love and be loved, to need and be needed; and a 2 legged dog could fit that bill just fine.
Birdy
jdb1

Re: To Dream of Dogs

Post by jdb1 »

On that note, there was an article in the news just last week about how the NYC ASPCA has destroyed fewer animals last year than in many, many years before. The adoption rates are soaring. And for someone like me, who has gotten pets only through adoption, never through purchase, that is especially good news. It's absolutely astounding how many dog companions you see in New York now. But maybe not, since so many people live alone, and a pet is a lot easier to live with than some human roommates.

I can't wait to retire, so I can adopt a nice doggie. I love the big boys and girls, but I think I'd like a little 'un this time.
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Birdy
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Re: To Dream of Dogs

Post by Birdy »

Klondike,
I enjoyed that story so much. There's something about watching a dog run that just almost chokes me up. (Reminiscent of my overly emotional Lassie days, when I would get misty during the opening credits when Lassie ran through the field.) Recently, my old dog is enjoying an enviable burst of energy (due to glucosamine, maybe I need some) and it is such a joy to watch her lope across the yard. She no longer tries to keep up with her 'sister', who flies across the fields with her beautiful tail flying in the wind!

I also read a nice story this week about a dog who stayed by his master, an elderly gentleman, who'd had a heart attack and lay missing 5 days. The family was very appreciative that the dog had been with their father during his last moments.
B
klondike

Re: To Dream of Dogs

Post by klondike »

Dry those tender eyes, Birdie, and let your heart pound with the thrill of being 8 years old again and it's Saturday morning:

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mongoII
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Re: To Dream of Dogs

Post by mongoII »

I would like everyone to meet Lily. She is a beautiful Greyhound and a new member of our family. Her color is called brindle and she is as soft as velvet.

Image

A few months ago my daughter Veronica adopted Lily, a former race dog champion, who is now 5 years old. She is as gentle as a lamb and gets along with our Chihuahua/Jack Russell mix Jeter and is cat friendly with Jake.
It is amazing to see Lily race around our big back yard and around the pool, her speed is uncanny. No doubt, a joy to behold.
Joseph Goodheart
klondike

Re: To Dream of Dogs

Post by klondike »

mongoII wrote: It is amazing to see Lily race around our big back yard and around the pool, her speed is uncanny. No doubt, a joy to behold.
I know of which you speak, Joe.
A distant second behind my consuming passion for the divine Alaskan Malamute, is my deep and abiding love for the magnificent Borzoi . . . {sigh}
And during one strange, flukish interim in my young adult life I owned one.
And though he ruled my heart for only a year & 1/2 between a celestial succession of monarchial Mals . . . he quite broke it, too, when I lost him - :cry: . . . .
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mrsl
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Re: To Dream of Dogs

Post by mrsl »

.
Judith:

Thank you for your lovely answer. As I said, although I'm terrified of dogs, I still hate to see them hurt or sick, and I cannot watch the TV when they have those commercials on about adopting a dog. So often in my life I've hated this fear I have, but I've never been able to overcome it and I had three dogs while the kids were growing up because I do believe all kids should have pets. We had what I call mini-sheepdogs. Not Llasa-apsa (they're too skinny), but sturdy little dogs that look like sheepdogs, and I don't mean English Collie either.
.
Anne


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charliechaplinfan
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Re: To Dream of Dogs

Post by charliechaplinfan »

Mongo, Lily looks just like my in laws dog, if she's anything like her she will have a lovely temperament and be great with kids. I think it's so good for kids to be raised around animals. I wasn't and always wanted a pet but the animal lover strain passed everyone in my family by, thankfully hubby's family more than make up for it, they have a dog and cats, we have cats and maybe one day a dog, I'm working on that one :wink:
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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silentscreen
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Re: To Dream of Dogs

Post by silentscreen »

Aw, doggies! Love 'em, love 'em, love 'em! They don't call them "man's best friend" for nothing! They ask so little for a lifetime of devotion!
"Humor is nothing less than a sense of the fitness of things." Carole Lombard
klondike

Re: To Dream of Dogs

Post by klondike »

Here's a fun little thing from my oft-parochial past. I used to recite it on a regular basis for my kids, and then one summer in their brief, mutually adolescent years, they grooved on it so hard that they used to drag friends home to hear it . . that wore off in pretty short time.
Purportedly, these stanzas first evolved during teenage Boy Scout campovers in the 1930's or thereabouts; I first heard it as a toasting-chant in an Alaskan roadhouse in 1989.

The Dogs' Party

The dogs, they gave a party,
They came from near & far,
Some arrived by taxi,
Some by train or car;
As each dog arrived they signed their name
Into a Special Book,
Then promptly hung their butt-hole
Upon a numbered hook.

One dog was not invited,
And this aroused his ire,
He broke into the Party,
And loudly shouted: "Fire!"
Well the dogs began to panic,
And they didn't even look -
They just grabbed the nearest butt-hole
From off the nearest hook.

Now this is a sad, sad story,
For it is very sore -
To wear somebody's butt-hole
That you've never worn before;
And that is why, to this very Day,
No matter where you roam -
Dogs smell each other's butt-holes,
Still trying to find their own.
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