The Official Raúl E. Esparza "Spread the Love" Thread, Part 3- Page 72

[MotorTink]

Posted: 7/15/07 at 11:40pm

I've had big dogs, i've had small dogs. Loved them all. My bulldog was the best though! Once we get a house, we'll get a Husky.

[Mandi Moo]

Posted: 7/15/07 at 11:42pm

My doggie is half pit and she's the sweetest thing ever.

[Sondheim Geek]

Posted: 7/15/07 at 11:43pm

I'd love to have a dog... but I oculd never for one, I do too much traveling and two... I can hardly take care of myself, but a dog? Come on. You see how messy my grammar is.

[misschung]

Posted: 7/15/07 at 11:43pm

My friend had a husky - she was great, but you couldn't take her off the leash because she'd run like the devil. It makes sense, since that's what they're bred to do, though.

I've had all kinds of dogs too, I love them all. I haven't had any small, yappy ones though.

My other friend's family bred pit bulls when they lived in North Carolina. They were very sweet animals - usually it's the people who get them who turn them into the horror story pets you hear about

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/15/07 at 11:58pm

I worked at an animal shelter when I was in high school. Some of the really big dogs loved going for walks in the snow, and I never really minded taking them. I remember one time, there was this gorgeous dog who was... half Newfoundland, half Rottweiler, I think. Massive dog. He looked like a Rottweiler, but was just even bigger than a purepred. He easily weighed 20 pounds more than I did at the time. I had him on one of those retractable leashes -- a FIFTY FOOT one. So, when he got out of the kennel, all he wanted to do was run, and I figured that since the leash was so long, I could let him go without having to walk at a speed much more than a stroll. Well, the leash had a knot in it, about ten feet in. That dog nearly dislocated my shoulder.

Updated On: 7/15/07 at 11:58 PM

[misschung]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 12:00am

oh man, that so describes what happens to me every day when I attempt to walk 3 terriers at once in woods filled with squirrels and chipmunks. Oh my!

[Rentjenn]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 12:06am

This was my dog. The vet said she was an American bulldog, but she died last month. She was a great dog.

[misschung]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 12:09am

Oh my gosh! Look at her and the cat! So cute! I'm so sorry that she's not with you anymore

[Rentjenn]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 12:10am

Thanks misschung. She loved cats. She would treat all the kittens we had like she was their mom. And she used to dig up the cushions of the couch. I don't miss that.

[antiandrewx]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 12:14am

I have a Toy Poodle and she's a total diva, but I love her anyway.

[Rentjenn]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 12:17am

Well, I want another dog, but I don't think I could handle it right now. If I'd gone to Broadway Barks I would have brought one home for sure.

[puppetoflove]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 12:50am

Pit Bulls are actually very sweet dogs. If they're aggressive, it's because they were trained to be so by their owners. The public perception of pits is very much a pet peeve of mine, because it's largely based on media driven hysteria and preconceived notions that aren't backed by any sort of fact. Not to mention the dog fighting. I've done a lot of volunteer and rescue work with pits, and there were countless times when a pit was brought in nearly dead because they'd been involved in a dog fight and left to die on side of the road. Those poor dogs are suffering and dying because of human stupidity and they're still shouldering the blame for it. /soapbox. If anyone is interested, though, there are two REALLY good books on the subject that are at most public libraries:



Here's the website, plus additional info. Updated On: 7/16/07 at 12:50 AM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 1:00am

It's really sad; if I didn't have allergies, I would adopt one from a shelter in a heartbeat. It makes me angry that they get a bad reputation by no fault of their own, but because of human stupidity. Those dogs that maul people and other animals are not born aggressive. I can't tell you how many loving, friendly, SMART pit bulls I've seen who have been abused because people assume they're naturally evil. I think the perception is slowly changing, but it bothers me, as well.

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 1:08am

Though I love all kinds of dogs, I'm a Boston Terrier girl myself. I was a god mother to one, but she died several years ago this month. Damn fireworks. I remember someone owned one who worked at Studio 54. They are the greatest dogs in the world, and are so easy going. But they snore and oink, and they have nervous problems. I want one so bad. But I also travel too much to have a pet. I would love to be like Michael Cerveris and take my dog everywhere (even overseas) but it's not the right time yet. Alas. My voice teacher has a Yorkie from Germany. She picked her up on the side of the road years ago while she was touring there. She actually gives her commands in German. I almost brought a dog home from Italy, but they are kind of wild and a bit mangy. We really are fortunate to have such great no kill shelters and humane societies because over there strays are a serious problem.

Last year I puppy sat a very large overweight pit bull named Trixie. I loved her so much. She had a great personality and a talent for chewing open canned food. No clue how she did it without getting hurt.

Dogs are wonderful. But a huge responsibility.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 1:12am

I don't think I can do the puppy thing again. I fostered a puppy in my house a few years ago, and people always SAY they understand what a huge responsibility having a puppy is, but you have no idea until you've done it. She was the most precious puppy in the world, but by the third day, all I wanted to do was get a good night's sleep. I think, for my own sanity, I'll adopt a grown dog. I have no qualms with having to take on the responsibilities of training a dog -- I actually enjoy it -- but adult dogs are so much easier to deal with, for me. And besides, everybody wants a puppy; they don't last long in shelters. Much better to rescue an older dog who might have a harder time getting out of a shelter. Puppies have it easy -- a cute face is a ticket home.

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 1:31am

Yes, puppies are adorable but such a handfull. I feel that is is definately best to go with a grown dog especially if you've never had a dog before. I agree about the good nights sleep. I have a VERY hard time waking up in the middle of the night just to take them outside. And you HAVE to do it. And then when it's winter time, they want to play around in the snow for a while before going in. Not. Fun.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 1:36am

Heh, yeah, it was winter. I remember being like "for God's sake, it's four in the morning, stop playing with the snow." I loved that dog, but at that hour, I had no patience. I was waking up at 5:30 for school at that point, so it wasn't the ideal time to be training a puppy, but what can you do? Winter is definitely not the best time to bring a new dog into your house!

[puppetoflove]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 1:38am

Emcee, I'd say that public perception is actually getting worse. Cities supporting BSL are just spreading more and more misinformation left and right. And the sad thing is that the overpopulation of pit bulls due to poor breeding practices in order to produce more 'stock' for fight is making them more aggressive. Instead of bad traits being bred out, people are breeding aggressive dog to aggressive dog, and all the inbreeding is causing some of the dogs to literally be born crazy and dangerous. It's a relatively small percentage, but every time one of these dogs, or a dog trained to fight/attack, hurts someone, 90% of the time through the fault of the owners, the KILLER PIT BULL!!!! stories are all over the place. And instead of cracking down on dog fighting and regulating pit bull adoptions, cities are choosing to ban all pit bulls because they're so 'dangerous' and . ..grr. Sorry. The whole thing just makes me so angry. Plus, the real kicker is that there are far, FAR more attacks by small dogs like Pomeranians, but because they're not big enough to do real damage, most of the time, we don't get any news stories about those scary, evil killer poms!

Chrysanthemum62001, I love boston terriers, my grandmother used to have one. I have a beagle, a lab/pit mix, a dachshund/terrier mix, and a big old mutt who looks like Benji. ( . . . I can't say no.)
Updated On: 7/16/07 at 01:38 AM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 1:48am

I wonder if awareness and perception is regional, then -- or I could just be looking in the wrong places. But no need to apologize for your frustration, I completely understand. I agree with you, that it's completely unfair to blame the dogs, especially since there are breeds that are NATURALLY much more aggressive than pit bulls (properly bred) are. It's easier just to try and shut eyes and ears to the problem rather than fixing it, so people slap the "EVIL DOG!" label on them and shelters are under order to euthanize dogs with Pit Bull lineage because the reputation makes it too difficult to find them homes. The kicker for me is that these dogs are NOT naturally crazy or dangerous, but that people are making mistakes that perpetuate the bad reputation, because they ARE turning out dogs who are born aggressive.

They gave some kind of statistic yesterday about how if you don't spay/neuter a dog, it could be responsible for the births of LITERALLY thousands of puppies within its lifetime -- so even if that percentage IS relatively small, it's obviously still a problem, because it's a relatively small percentage of a huge number.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 1:51am

The county next to mine has a rule that pitbull puppies born in a shelter are put to sleep after 30 days if there's no immediate interest in adopting them. It's not out of ignorance, where they think the dogs are evil, it's because there's such a problem of overpopulation. There was an article recently where a shelter in the area basically said that pitbulls have reached the status of cats, and there's just not enough room to deal with all the animals and not enough legitimate pet owners (i.e. not for purposes of fighting) interested in adopting them.

Updated On: 7/16/07 at 01:51 AM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 2:00am

Isn't there a fairly large transport circuit in that area? I think there's a decent amount of relocation in hopes of giving the animals more of a chance.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 2:33am

I'm sure they're doing the best they can; I can't imagine too many shelters relish in giving entire litters death sentences simply because there are too many irresponsible pet owners out there. But it probably gets expensive to ship truckloads of puppies cross country, especially with so many destinations already placing bans. It's sad that so many animals have to suffer just for the sake of keeping them out of the hands of owners that will hurt them anyway.

[misschung]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 10:44am

Oh man, this topic is making me depressed. I could never work at a shelter that put animals to sleep. Not because I disagree with it, but because I'd go into hysterics if I saw them go into that "back room." I don't know what's worse - having whole litters put to sleep or seeing the looks on those animals' faces who have been sitting in a shelter for years and years, and who have outgrown the cute puppy look. Ugh, I hate it. If I ever won the lotto I'd take them all home, I swear.

Moving on - Broadway Barks pictures are delicious. The white shirt, the flip flops - and a dog! What can be better?

[MotorTink]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 10:45am

[MotorTink]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 10:46am

Raul has been working out, look at that calf muscle in the first pic!