NO KITTY CATS ALLOWED!

[monarch64]

Date: 2/18/2006 1:04:36 PM
Author: Mara
it seems like with all this great technology there''d be a small chip, aka she has the microchip for the vet to get all her info off of if someone brings her in, why not a small chip like that for GPS? the collar unfortunately can just be taken off if someone doesn''t want her to be found...maybe in a few more years!!

Apparently the concept is out there...but not in the form of an implanted chip yet. Here''s a link to a gps system for pets:http://www.petsmobility.net/petsmobility_products/

The current technology for 2006 still uses a collar device, but would of course only be helpful if your dog was wearing its collar when lost.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 2/20/2006 2:34:12 PM
Author: Mara
I would SO not get a dog to be a ratter!!!!!!

Rats can carry horrible diseases and if it bites your dog...?!?!!? A full grown Yorkie is not even bigger than a cat at all... rats can just as easily kill a small dog as they can a cat IMO.

Also terriers many times were bred not to attack and/or kill the rodents but rather they would find them and just keep them at bay until the hunter came and got them. Portia if she sees a squirrel or something just kind of corners it and then barks relentlessly until I go and release her from it, but I don't think she'd ever actually ATTACK a rat or a squirrel or anything...that's not what she was bred to do.

So you could just end up with a barking terrier that doesn't catch anything. My friend has a Jack and he does the same thing, corners it and barks.

I would say I wouldn't get a cat to be a ratter either, I just don't believe in putting housepets at risk that way....but I think a cat is a better option than a dog for actually 'catching' them? Not sure if that is the purpose. Or maybe you just want them to stay away from the scent?

Actually good point about the diseases Mara - hepatitis being one - my brain must have gone on the blink temporarily. Rats do carry disease to humans and pets. Dogs can get leptospirosis which is carried in rat urine and can be fatal. In England I believe there is a vaccine for it, but still far better to prevent it. Rats can also carry a bacteria which can cause blindness in horses - they are not good news in any way.

I have to deal with rats

occasionally and my plan is to get 2 ferrets as the smell apparently deters rats from coming near the premises. I have wanted ferrets for a long time and plan to get some in the Spring. I will keep them safe in a special run so that rats can't get near and hopefully the smell will put the blighters off.

Some old farmers in my local villages used to get inundated with rats. What they would do is take the tractors up to the " runs" the rats had made, attach a pipe to the exhaust and flush the rats out to the waiting dogs which would go into a killing frenzy. Sounds awful but the rats would cause big problems unless they were dealt with.

 

[rainbowtrout]

Good points about the rats guys---I''ve never had a smaller dog, ours kill anything that moves without a second thought and then bring it to us. Bit of a different problem. We''ve tried training them to corner or just to to go after stuff but Akitas are not the most trainable dogs...my dad worked for years on them and they solidly obey basic commands but that is it.


RE: housepets and risk. Well, on the one hand I wouldn''t put the typical animal at risk like that. On the other, when we lived in the country I''ve adopted barncats that would have been put to sleep before, we outfitted them with their shots, neutered them and they lived a pretty happy life and killed our mice. Some animals you can''t train to be indoor cats/dogs/whatever if they are later in their life; I don''t see a problem in using them as ''working'' animals. I don''t really have a problem with a working pet as long as I could afford their vet bills, etc. It is what most of them were bred for originally. Of course I wouldn''t get a Bichon and try to set the poor guy on a squirrel, if that makes sense.

But no, I wouldn''t expect the dog to run down the rats and kill them as much as keep them out of the apartment. Perhaps a terrier is too small a choice? I figure if *I''m* going to be at risk from rat bites the dog will be too anyway, so why not have one who will defend itself. I''d consider a nice angry semi-feral cat but I''d worry that they were just too small to protect themselves.

 

[rainbowtrout]

the other problem with the semi-feral cats is that they tend to spray and attack people if they are not outside cats...

 

[Tool Guy]

I would like to show off my American Staffordshire Terrier Harley.

 

[widget]

Harley''s just beautiful, Tool Guy....and he looks like he wouldn''t have any trouble dispatching a rat!!!

Mara, I wouldn''t be too sure that dear little Portia wouldn''t kill a squirrel if she happened to "get lucky" and actually catch one....dogs do often "return to their roots" (primal instincts) during the thrill of the chase...

"killing prey" is exactly what they''re mimicking when the ferociously shake their toys...

widget

 

[Mara]

haha i know widget, I am probably in denial, Portia LOVES to 'whip' her toys when she plays with them (what i call the head shaking)...definitely instinctual. I just hope she never actually catches anything!!

BUT then again Westies were not bred to catch and kill the rodents, but just trap them. HOWEVER, there are old stories that say that breeders used to throw Westies into a barrel with a Badger (YIKES!) and if the Westie killed the badger then that Westie was bred on...if it was the other way around, well doggie natural selection I guess. Sad to think of but true, definitely working dogs in the past. now the only work Princess P does is the gobbling of her breakfast...ehhee.

ToolGuy, Harley is soooo good looking!! what a charmer! please post more pictures of him...we love dogs here!

 

[Kaleigh]

Hi Tool Guy, Harley is one handsome dog, too cute!!!

 

[Tool Guy]

Thanks for all the kind words about my pooch. He looks mean in some pictures but is the biggest baby. He is 9 years old and people still think he''s a puppy when I''m walking him. And then there are the people that cross the street when thet see him coming. Here is another one.

 

[pricescope]

I love the smile Staffies make, they know how beautiful they are.

Does Harley lift his lip and showing teeth trying to smile like humans? Some Staffordshires are very good at it.

 

[hlmr]

Someone sent this to me. Very cute!!

Heather

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 3/8/2006 10:29:08 PM
Author: hlmr
Someone sent this to me. Very cute!!

Heather

I was sent that too, how adorable is that?? Sooo cute!!!

 

[pricescope]

Thanks for sharing Heather, and look at those well formed paws!
I bet he is asking of letting him up on that bed.

 

[monarch64]

That''s by far the most adorable "awwww" picture I have seen on the internet so far. And I have seen A LOT! Thanks for sharing, Heather!

 

[Scintillating]

Date: 3/8/2006 7:33:30 PM
Author: Tool Guy
I would like to show off my American Staffordshire Terrier Harley.

I've met Harley and he is the biggest MUSH you've ever met! He's the office herald!
He's the kind of dog that would probably hold the crook's flash light.
He's a sweet guy.

Scintillating...

 

[Mara]

aww look at harley's smile, too cute!!!

i met janna's boomer tonite and he was SOOOOOOOOOO cute and i am not necessarily a big dog lover at all. i guess the fact that he seemed to adore me and kept giving me the 'please pet me' eye had something to do with it, but he was just such a sweetheart, so beautiful with his thick coat and so incredibly friendly, he just was a big lovebucket. i can't wait for portia to meet boomer. when i came home she was just glued to my leg sniffing loudly and i could practically see her thought bubble over her head which would have been something like 'mom you cheater!'

 

[Tool Guy]

Date: 3/8/2006 10:20:35 PM
Author: Pricescope
I love the smile Staffies make, they know how beautiful they are.

Does Harley lift his lip and showing teeth trying to smile like humans? Some Staffordshires are very good at it.

He only shows his teeth if we are playing tug-o-war and I really tease him. Are you posting your dog?

 

[pricescope]

Latest one of Sharik, it''s pathetic to walk in the woods on leash, but that''s how it goes.
He also has the thickest chain available on the market.

 

[Tool Guy]

Date: 3/9/2006 12:27:54 AM
Author: Scintillating

Date: 3/8/2006 7:33:30 PM
Author: Tool Guy
I would like to show off my American Staffordshire Terrier Harley.

I''ve met Harley and he is the biggest MUSH you''ve ever met! He''s the office herald!
He''s the kind of dog that would probably hold the crook''s flash light.
He''s a sweet guy.

Scintillating...

Thank you Scintillating, Like you said he is a mush and when you see him in person he is part human. I''m guessing you were in to see Jeff at the office.

 

[Tool Guy]

He looks great! Will he run away if not chained?

 

[LizzieC]

Here are my baby girls!

Daisy on the left, and Scout on the right. Daisy is a Shepherd-Terrier mix w/ a little Chow mixed in (we think). She''s just under 1 and a 1/2 years old, and we adopted her about 8 weeks ago! Scout is a Border Collie - Australian Shepherd mix (we think) and she''s 4 and 1/2... I''ve had her since she was a couple of months old. My sweeties! Can''t imagine life without them!

 

[Tool Guy]

Very cute Lizzie.

 

[widget]

Sharik is beautiful!! So stately!

And Lizzie! They''re darling!

Yeah!! Let''s hear it for MUTTS!!!!

(I''m tempted to start a thread: "NO PEDIGREES ALLOWED"!!!

widget

 

[pricescope]

Date: 3/9/2006 11:16:12 AM
Author: widget
Sharik is beautiful!! So stately!

And Lizzie! They're darling!

Yeah!! Let's hear it for MUTTS!!!!

(I'm tempted to start a thread: 'NO PEDIGREES ALLOWED'!!!

widget

Widget you are funny, go ahead and start it - mutts rule!

And thanks for Sharik, we are proud parents of this rascal.

 

[littlelysser]

Sharik and Harley are both beautiful!

And of course, I love a mutt. Cricket was our first Muttski, and she's darn near the cutest, sweetest thing ever...

Here's a puppy pic the day after we got her...

awwww, baby crickie...

 

[AmberWaves]

Oh, Lysser, Cricket is so cute. I love those ears. I wonder if there is some pharaoh hound in her, or something..

 

[littlelysser]

Amber - funny you should say that...we've often wondered if she had some Pharoah or Ibizan hound in her. And color me impressed for being familiar with that breed...most folks aren't.

We think it is kind of unlikely because we got her from a shelter in W.Va...and we doubted that many folks out there had that breed (there were only 94 Ibizans registered with the AKC in 2004)...and if they did...that they allowed them to mate with a muttski. We've spent lots of time thinking about...and we definitely have crossed pharoah hound off the list...I think she also might have some rat terrier in her...she's a tenacious little thing. Weighs about 20 lbs.


Our other dog, Izzie, is a pure bred Ibizan Hound and one of the reasons we chose Crick was because of her fantabulous ears. We love 'em. Izzie also has ginormous ears. hehehehehe. We call Cricket our knockoff-Ibizan

 

[Angela1977]

Here''s my little man...

 

[Angela1977]

Awwww...

 

[Miranda]

Here''s my tiny baby! Well maybe not that tiny, he''s 85 lbs. DH thought it would be cute to tuck him in on my side of the bed.