Getting a dog

poodles consistantly lead the US in biting humans (number of times) each year, not rots, not pits.

 

Can I use this thread as a public service announcement? Labradoodles are cute as hell, yes. As are puggles.

But do me a favor, diabeetus and any others looking: Save $500, go to the shelter and pick up the first little rugrat that comes running to you.

You've got your new best friend, and you saved a life.

 

I got a retired racing greyhound three years ago from a dog track that puts them up for adoption once their careers flame out. Cost $200. Haven't regretted one second of it.

 

I second that. Or look at an adult dog that someone else has given up on. My boy and I have been together for three years. I can't imagine life without him in it -- no matter how much he drives me nuts sometimes.

 

Yup, amen to that.
Our dog -- OK< it's Ms. Slappy's -- is a dalmatian-bull terrier mix. It was already an 8-month old rescue dog waiting to be adopted and staying at her brother's with his dogs. They got along great until the neighbor kids thought it would be fun to throw bologna in the yard to watch all the other dogs go after it. Well, the five dogs started fighting over the bologna and they started to turn on Dottie, the youngest.
They all mauled her and Ms. Slappy found her, cowering behind the central air unit, and took her to the vet -- who told her he didn't know if the dog would live. Long story short, she did live. And the two have a bond that is unique...
If you want to buy the $500-1000 purebreed, fine. But check the pound and the shelters first; you might find a mutt more to your liking and a very solid purpose.

 

Outing alert: Danny Noonan is Bart Simpson.

 

Well, I won''t dispute that claim. And I know any dog can bite. And I know it's stupid owners, not stupid dogs. Still, I wouldn't get one. Just me.

But, I did find this on dogbitelaw.com:

Merritt Clifton, editor of Animal People, has conducted an unusually detailed study of dog bites from 1982 to the present. (Clifton, Dog attack deaths and maimings, U.S. & Canada, September 1982 to November 13, 2006; click here to read it.) The Clifton study show the number of serious canine-inflicted injuries by breed. The author's observations about the breeds and generally how to deal with the dangerous dog problem are enlightening.

According to the Clifton study, pit bulls, Rottweilers, Presa Canarios and their mixes are responsible for 74% of attacks that were included in the study, 68% of the attacks upon children, 82% of the attacks upon adults, 65% of the deaths, and 68% of the maimings. In more than two-thirds of the cases included in the study, the life-threatening or fatal attack was apparently the first known dangerous behavior by the animal in question. Clifton states:

If almost any other dog has a bad moment, someone may get bitten, but will not be maimed for life or killed, and the actuarial risk is accordingly reasonable. If a pit bull terrier or a Rottweiler has a bad moment, often someone is maimed or killed--and that has now created off-the-chart actuarial risk, for which the dogs as well as their victims are paying the price.

Clifton's opinions are as interesting as his statistics. For example, he says, "Pit bulls and Rottweilers are accordingly dogs who not only must be handled with special precautions, but also must be regulated with special requirements appropriate to the risk they may pose to the public and other animals, if they are to be kept at all."

Here's a link.

http://www.dogbitelaw.com/PAGES/statistics.html#Thedogsmostlikelytobite

 

Make sure they are potty trained and they went to obedience school. Also, if you have other pets, make sure they all get along. I have a golden lab, a black lab and a lhasa apso poo.

 

Cansportschick is really this person:

 

Hammond and Noonan are right on. Forget shelling out all that money when you can go to the pound and save a dog's life. I did this seven years ago and the mutt I brought home is the best dog I have ever been around. The next dog we get will be a greyhound from a track.
This is the right way to go.

 

Bob, you found me out....what can I say?

 

That YOU LOVE DOGS!!! Funniest and weirdest thing she did on SNL.

And I wondered how you spelled lhasa apso. Ours is a mix of that and cocker.