Stay tuned.. posts starting up again after wed!!

Sorry for the longer than intended hiatus. Exams ended and then I lost one of my mares 2 days after she foaled and right when I was starting placement. So I am raising an orphan foal, she is doing well and is now eating solids and drinking milk from a bucket (whew).

This weekend I have a horse in a TV show (should be fun) after this I shall be back to ripping apart idiots and commending the commendable.

Posts may not be regular for the next week or so..

I have exams for the next while. (anyone want to write my pharm or biochem exams?) So I might not be posting every day or so. I might have some guest blogs, we will have to see. I do have some blogs planned. There will be the flexi lead rant, a good scathing discussion on Gentle Giants, I did get a hold of a copy of Oprah's show, and a lot more.

So stay tuned, this will be a short hiatus.

-Kerri

A few comments from a reader about Pets of Bel Aire

"We are horrified by the recent video released by the Humane Society of the United States showing footage of puppy mills. We do not condone puppy mills; we would never knowingly buy a dog from a puppy mill; and we are appalled by the possibility that this may have happened."

No s h i t (please edit, Kerri Na sounds good). Really? Appalled that you might not be buying the best puppies? I can't imagine. Somehow I think it has more to do with you being appalled that someone who might have wanted to buy one of your dogs saw the video. Ever wonder why they are being sold in bulk for cheap prices like toilet paper at Costco with no care as to who they are being sold to? Because they are low quality!

"We are investigating all of our sources so that we continue to have the finest and most reputable dogs from the best breeders, a practice that we’ve held central to our business since we opened nine years ago."

Because of course it wouldn't have been smarter to - what, ladies and gentlemen? - do that before you buy hundreds of puppies from them . . . I also find it amusing that they have reputable dogs. Are they reading a bit too much Garth Nix?

"Each of our beautiful puppies purchased out-of –state are from a USDA approved pet breeder."

OMFG they are bragging about it. It's like bragging that the baby sitter you hired to watch your kids is currently being watched by a parole officer - NOT SOMETHING TO BRAG ABOUT!

"We rely on our governmental agency to be sure that these breeders are inspected . . ."

Please see above - did it not occur to you to check that out for yourselves? Maybe not, it's probably a profit margin thing.

". . .and when we see the conditions that these animals are living in it feels as though the USDA has failed our business, and most importantly they have failed the animals that do not have a voice."

NO! The USDA did not fail these dogs, you did, you assholes. You and the people breeding them did. It's NOT the USDA's job to inspect the breeders that you are buying from, it is your job! By buying from puppymills you are sentencing the parents of those little designer mutts (AKA: the Animals Without Voices) to the rest of their lives as breeding machines, and little else. You have not only failed them, you have put fuel onto the fire! You are monetarily helping these mills!

Thanx Noludoru

So who watched Oprah?

Hey Readers,
Did you watch it? I didn't and forgot to get it taped? How was it, and does anyone want to do a guest blog on it?

Puppymill broker to the stars...

So if you were Paris Hilton, and you needed a teacup shmoodle or chi where do you go? Answer: you go here. Pets of Bel Air. An up scale pet shop selling 'up scale' (is that possible?) puppy mill puppies.
Thier clients also include Denise Richards, Demi Moore, Britney Spears and Robin Williams. (Dang I loved Robin Williams) These people have more than enough money to buy a good dog, they have no need to support puppy mills. Now of course Pets of Bel Air deny selling puppies from puppy mills.

"We are horrified by the recent video released by the Humane Society of the United States showing footage of puppy mills. We do not condone puppy mills; we would never knowingly buy a dog from a puppy mill; and we are appalled by the possibility that this may have happened. We are investigating all of our sources so that we continue to have the finest and most reputable dogs from the best breeders, a practice that we’ve held central to our business since we opened nine years ago.

Each of our beautiful puppies purchased out-of –state are from a USDA approved pet breeder. We rely on our governmental agency to be sure that these breeders are inspected, and when we see the conditions that these animals are living in it feels as though the USDA has failed our business, and most importantly they have failed the animals that do not have a voice."

I am NOT a fan of the HSUS, they are only slightly less offensive than PETA. (the HSUS raises millions of dollars by posing has a humane society-but don't fund ANY humane societies) but in this case they actually did some good.

The USDA (which is NOT the US Dressage Association, for you FHOTD readers) it is a body that polices puppy mills. This USDA is the US Department of Agriculture. Those of you who have livestock experience will know how minimal the standards are for livestock. These are the people this site is bragging approved their pups. NEWS FLASH!!!!!!! If the USDA is inspecting the kennels, thats cause its a puppy mill. No reputable breeder breeding good dogs will ever be inspected by the USDA as they don't fall under their jurisdiction.

So what other bad practices does this upscale puppy peddling business have. First of all I love their logo (can you year the scarcasm?) It shows the all important image the store wants you to buy into. Since they are purchasing superiour puppy mill pups, they should be able to offer a decent health guarantee.

"All of our pets come with 2 warranties.

1-Year Health Warranty: Your pet is warranted against certain congenital or hereditary problems.

Limited 14-Day Viral Warranty: Your pet is warranted against certain viral infections (i.e. Parvo virus, Corona, Distemper, Hepatitis)."

Wow a whole YEAR against unspecified health issues? And a limited Viral warranty. Just shoot me now please.

I looked at the pups. They show a JRT pup. OMG are they going to sell that pup to some unsuspecting person expecting Eddie? 99.99999% of JRTs in the rescue come from people who bought from a byb or petstore and had no idea what they were getting into. Of course they are never really told, as that may scare off a sale. This is an out of standard JRT (notice the short legs) who looks like the countless that are dropped off (often still as pups) to shelters and rescues across the continent. This pup did not come from a JRTCA breeder. I bet this pup is very expencive too. As a side note you can get a great JRT pup from a top breeder with a life time health and temperament guarantee for between 750-1200 dollars. This also includes full breeder support for life too.

If they don't have what you want, you can special order your dog. "To special order a puppy or kitten all we need is a deposit of at least $300.00 (depending on the breed) and your desired specifics (i.e. "female, tea-cup, applehead, black & white, Chihuahua" or "large, male, Bernese Mountain Dog")"

So why are stars so stupid?

Guest Blogger: Stupid Dog Owners

CSDB: This was posted on another blog by a friend, CharlieDog. I was told I could share this, I have a DR dog myself, and I KNOW the pain of other people not obeying the leash laws. I don't care if your dog is friendly. What I want to know is how friendly he is with my dog hanging off his lips!

Stupid Dog Owners

This has been bothering me for the past week. Mostly because it is me and MY dog that have suffered for it. And we do not suffer fools gladly.

Walking your dog is usually seen as an enjoyable affair, provided your dog is well behaved and doesn't enjoy trying to yank your arm out of its socket (that's another rant). Not that dog, I'm talking about a dog you can take a leisurely stroll around the block with, and not have to worry about whether or not he uses the bathroom on the walk, because he's already done it at home. Nope, you're out for a nice mosey around town time.

Well, if you live in my neighborhood you are S.O.L. Not only because people drive fifty miles an hour down the sidewalk, but because your neighbors let their dogs run loose in their yards. And these are the same neighbors who don't have really any control to speak of over their offleash (or onleash!!) dog.

My dog, Oz, is DA (dog aggressive, for those who don't know). He used to be merely reactive. But, thanks to a couple lovely neighbors, who let their Siberian Husky out, and who proceeded to attack me and my dog on the sidewalk despite my screaming at them to grab him and that Oz doesn't do well meeting other dogs on the street, and the one lady who let her Chihuahua charge at us from across his lawn, I'm positive he has developed full blown dog aggression. (On the same walk!!! [I had to drag Ozzy away from the Chi, he was making noises I've never even heard from a DOG, let alone him, and I'm sure he would have attacked and killed the little dog])

I don't even know if I trust him to meet other dogs offleash now. Thanks guys, I really appreciate it.

This is why there are leash laws. Because of the over enthusiastic Lab who gets attacked for running up to a DA dog being walked safely and under control, the lab gets away scot free, with maybe a few stitches, and the other dog gets the blame. "Oh she KNEW her dog was dangerous!!" or "HIS dog is the one who attacked first!!!" "My dog would NEVER start a fight!", is a common mantra, yeah, right, okay. YOUR dog JUST did lady!! Get your pretty little head out of your ASS. And never freaking mind that the other dog WAS ON A LEASH, HE is CLEARLY the aggressive one, and the problem. Just because he doesn't appreciate RUDE dogs in his face or space.

THERE ARE LEASH LAWS PEOPLE!!! OBEY THEM!!

And the other person is the bad guy. Its even worse if the other dog is a pit bull. And I don't even want to go into the problems pit bulls are facing.

MY dog is on a leash. YOUR dog charged US. I yelled to you to keep your dog under control, my dog didn't like other dogs. And now I'M the bad guy, because my dog caused damage to yours. Never mind that YOU are the one breaking the law, and I am on the sidewalk, which, by the way, IS PUBLIC PROPERTY.

And, by the way, if your dog is attacking mine, and you are standing there and making no move to get your dog, I am going to defend MY dog. With any means possible. So therefore, if I start kicking your dog, please do not scream at me that I'm HURTING HIM, OH NOES!!! That, is precisely the point. HELLO.

I have a right to defend my dog against your stupid monster. So unless you want both my dog and myself attacking your dog, come do something about yours. As long as you do that, I can pick my dog up and get him out of the situation. But if you just stand there gawping at me, you'd better believe I'm wading in the fray.

Control your dog. Then I'm might have an easier time of it trying to help MY dog get through his problems. Unfortunately, you, in your ignorance and ineptitude have cost me MONTHS of work. And whereas before I could have fixed it so that he had no problems, your stupid ways have exacerbated it, and I have an even bigger problem on my hands.

Thank you, retards of the dog owning world. Having a dog is a privilage, not a right, or even something required of you. And if you are going to allow your dog to run loose, PLEASE train it, so that you have AT LEAST a recall or a down that is reliable on it. Wait. Scratch that. Keep him confined. Don't even THINK about letting your dog loose anywhere but in your backyard or at a dog park.

Or is that to hard for you? If it is keep your blasted dog in a fence, or on a leash. If you don't have a fence, stake him out somewhere. Or keep the bugger in the house. I'm sure he is a great dog, but keep him away from me AND my dog.

Whatever, my dog and I are going for a walk. Woe betide any offleash dog we run into. I told you we do not suffer fools gladly.

Is this site trying to give you a seizure or sell you a puppy?

Here is the site, but be warned-if you have epilepsy or are prone to seizures this site is not for you. This site has so much blinking, flashing, dancing, sparkling nausating animations it would make the gaudiest Xmas tree blush. Maybe it is on purpose, your head will be aching and your visual cortex stunned so that you won't notice all the horrid things going on. (and is this dog living in a gerbil cage?)

This site was passed on by a reader. At first I started reading and was thinking-this isn't so bad. (other than the site's garishness)

"We work hard to improve QUALITY, and strive for the standard set forth by AKC. My poms are AKC registered, and micro chipped with AVID chips, the males are DNA certified by AKC as required. I carefully plan and select each breeding for improvement of quality, soundness of body with Health and Temperament being the top priority. I breed mostly for PET, while aiming for the "show" quality, with health and temperament and soundness of body being my top priority, as I want each baby to get a lifetime of love, but also strive to improve quality so those who are outstanding can also be in the show ring besides being a loving pet. I do my best to ensure all pups are healthy, sound in body, have a good temperament, are well socialized as well as having the best quality of conformation I can. I do not breed any dog with a known defect and have been blessed to avoid most of the common issues in poms like black skin disease,
collapsing trachea, etc....I am hoping to start showing some of our fur kids in the AKC ring soon as well as thru the IABCA shows. I evaluate every pup we keep or buy for improving my lines before breeding it. Not all pups hold their potential when grown. We strive to improve with each breeding. Each breeding is carefully planned out long before they come of age, and re-evaluated based on each dogs characteristics or flaws before breeding, pedigree's are studied continually to make the best matches possible always keeping an eye out for improving. I am always happy to talk and answer questions on my babies anytime and assist others any way I can. I pride myself on my integrity and honesty regarding my babies and breeding program."


Doesn't sound bad does it? Then I kept going. Her contract does not guarantee the pup for health or temperment as soon as the new owners take it off the property. No where in the contract does it say that the dog must go back to her if the owner can't keep it. But if you dig hard enough there is another 'contract'

LIFE THREATENING GENETIC DEFECT’S ARE GUARANTEED FOR 1 YR FROM DATE OF PURCHASE AND LIMITED TO A REPLACEMENT PUPPY OF EQUAL VALUE & SAME GENDER, AFTER DEFECTIVE PUP AND ALL OTHER PAPERS ARE RETURNED TO SELLER AND PROVIDED MY VET CONCURS IT IS A LIFE THREATENING GENETIC DEFECT. IF A PUP OF LESSER VALUE IS CHOSEN NO FURTHER COMPENSATION WILL BE OWED OR GIVEN. IF THE BUYER CHOOSES TO KEEP THE DEFECTIVE PUP, WRITTEN PROOF OF THE DEFECT MUST BE PROVIDED BY THE BUYERS VET, AND IF MY VET CONCURS IT IS A LIFE THREATENING GENETIC DEFECT, ONCE THE DEFECTIVE PUP IS SPAYED OR NEUTERED AND PROOF IS PROVIDED, A REPLACEMENT PUP CAN THEN BE CHOSEN AND ½ OF THE PURCHASE PRICE OF THE DEFECTIVE PUP WILL BE APPLIED TO THE REPLACEMENT PUP CHOSEN, AND NO FURTHER COMPENSATION WILL BE OWED OR GIVEN.

OH MY! So if your dog has a horrible disease but it is not life threatening, she will do nothing. If it is you don't get your money back, you get a 1/2 priced pup! And really how many life threating genetic diseases show up in the first year?

She breeds poms in funky colours (once again why is it that John Q Public wil pick their new family members based on a cool colour?) And in tiny size, in case you want to be Ms Hilton and carry your dog as a fashion accessory. I am not a pom person, but they don't look like most poms I meet. It gets better.. you guessed it, she breeds designer dogs. She takes dogs like Rowdy here, who is supposed to be a chi (who cares he looks nothing like a chi, he is a cool colour!) and cross them to something like Fantasy who looks like a bazillion other dogs sitting in a shelter hoping for a home but likely to get the needle. Ugg!

And of course she takes paypal, and many credit cards including VISA, Master Card, The Discover Card and American Express. She seems to be all about getting the money. PEOPLE there are dogs JUST like these ones in your local shelter, who need homes.

Wow readership!

Huge thanks to Fugly, just noticed that we are featured on FOTD. Now I feel pressure to continue to blog, as if exams aren't enough (jk I like blogging)

Some people shouldn't even own goldfish.

This is a rant. And to be honest I am as mad at myself as I am at the idiots who got the dog. This is Joey. He was picked up by AC and deemed to aggressive for adoption by the humane society. JRTRO grabbed him before he was PTS and he came here to be assessed. HE was great. I could take food and toys away from him, I could come up behind him and 'nab' him, with no issues. He was a very happy 6 month old Jack Russell terrier. These people applied to adopt him. (it is very hard to adopt from the JRTRO, they are awesome at rigorously screening people.) They sounded great on the application, their references checked out etc etc. As the foster mom I talked to them on the phone. They sounded ideal. I was estatic when I heard that they had a daughter who wanted to get into dog sports as was willing to take lessons with their new dog. Joey was a very bright and active pup, even by JRT standards. They were approved. The day comes for them to pick him up. They know they are coming to a farm to pick up an adolescent JRT, so I would assume they would know not to wear your sunday best.

They pull up. Joey runs up and jumps on the mom. I smile and tell her just to say "off". She makes a big production of wiping the non existant paw prints off her pants. All the time saying "down, down, down." In case she didn't hear me in the excitement of meeting her new puppy (to be honest, I would likely be so excited I would not notice a human when meeting my new dog) I repeated he was trained to not jump up with the cue "off" She still would say "down, down, down." And spend 30 seconds brushing off her pants, which thrilled Joey, he liked this new game. Great. The daughter is mentally challenged. I have nothing against mentally children working with dogs, but don't saddle the poor kid with an over the top JRT puppy. The dad seemed decent. I did not feel this was a good ideaT but they liked Joey and decided to take him home. I should have said no. But at the time I did not know a foster home could veto the adoption process. I did find that out when I went in the house and promptly called the rescue co ordinator and told her I thought they were a bad fit.

Fast forward a year. They took him to someone for training, that I know. He was a mess, and they didn't stick with the training.

Fast forward almost another year. He is now biting people. The daughter is too afraid to enter her room if he is on the bed. So what do they do? They dump the dog back on rescue. I get a phone call asking if I can foster him because as usual the rescue is short on foster homes. So of course I said yes.

Really he wants to be a good dog, just all this nonesense has been working for him. *sigh. He has been here a month or so now, and is doing much better. I am hoping a new foster home opens up soon though, as he as to spend waayyy to much time in a crate right now.

Its not just the designer dog breeders that are idiots

There are many byb who breed purebred dogs, and do it very badly.

Take this stellar example. Not only do they breed very out of standard dogs, in all sorts of 'designer colours' Cocker Spaniels should not come in. (really colour should not be a primary reason you pick a dog) They also sell, suprise suprise, crossbred dogs.

"We also breed Cocker mixes, and you may see pictures of our Bologco pups, which are a mix of one part Bichon Bolognese and one part small Cocker Spaniel, at our Bologco website." Great, breeding their funky Cockers to to likely equally funky Bichons.

They no longer do dews and tails (which is fine, its obvious none of these dogs will EVER enter the show ring or field) but its their reasoning that scares me.

"And please note that all of the puppies in these litters will come with their tails and dewclaws fully intact, as we no longer have these surgical procedures done on our day old puppies due to losses to MSRA staph infections from these surgeries--all done in a vet's office--in the past."

My breed has dews and tails done. What kind of vet does them on day old pups (standard is 3 days) and what kind of after care are these pups receiving?

You can see what is important with this breeder. This is the entire paragraph descriping one of the dogs:

"Our other merle litter will be from our beautiful little blue merle tri girl named SunCatcher's ZuZarra (call name Zarra), shown above as a young girl, to better show off her fabulous merle tri markings, and our handsome red and white male named Beau, and we do expect all sorts of colors and markings from this litter, including blacks, chocolates, reds, silvers, sables and merles--in both partis and tris."

There is no comment about health, temperament, structure, type etc-just colour.

They even admit they are breeding dogs with no hunting drive:

"We do not object to hunting at all--or to hunting with field strains of Cockers who retain hunting instincts. But we are not producing dogs for hunting, but only adorable companion pets."

Wow. So this breeder doesn't like the look of cocker spaniels (needs to make them come in new designer colours) and doesn't like the correct temperament of the Cocker Spaniel. They adamantly don't want their dogs to do anything other than sit on a couch and look 'interesting'. Wow again. They are not allowed to do anything not suitable for the breed.

To give this breeder credit they do require puppy buyers to sign s/n contracts. And also states that they are not to sell or rehome the puppy without contact the breeder. At least in this respect they are ethical.


An example of a breeder with no ethical responsibility towards the pups they produce. (this was passed along to me) WOW is all I have to say. The person who forwarded this to me said it better than I:

Quote:

My objective as a breeder is to provide the best possible quality puppies that are well-cared for and well-socialized without obligation to spay or neuter. I leave the decision to breed to new owners - the responsibility of determining whether a puppy is of breeding quality will be theirs.

I love how the very first sentence on the site says that spay/neuter is not mandatory. And since when is the average pet owner knowledgeable enough to decide if a dog is worthy of being bred?!

Quote:

I own three Corgis -- they are all beloved family pets...first and foremost...and they are the only dogs I own. I have never entered my dogs in a conformation show or had them evaluated for "show" potential. They are AKC registered.

Wahoo, let's brag about never having breeding dogs in a show.

Quote:

Scout (AKA Ditto's Lil Miss Scout About) is our newest family member. She is my 12 year old son's dog. Her complete care, feeding, and grooming is handled by him. When I retired Sunny from breeding two years ago, the kids begged and begged me not to. They just LOVED having the puppies around. I stood fast -- saying that Sunny & I were both tired. Then, when my son approached me about him becoming a breeder...I reconsidered. I am his mentor and provide all the guidance and experience. He gets the work part. He worked at several business ventures (selling farm fresh eggs & vending machine snacks) to acquire the funds to purchase Scout and finance this endeavor. She joined our family last fall.

Aww...how sweet. A 12 year old breeder!

now a few comments of my own..
They even say that champion dogs are very distant in the pedigree. Now I am not a fan of conformation shows as being the sole way of determining merit when it comes to breeding. But any dog that is being bred should have SOMETHING extraordinary about them. There are countless great dogs in shelters, why produce more dogs, unless you are doing it for the betterment of your chosen breed. These dogs have done nothing, and there is nothing recent in their pedigrees to merit reproducing. Simply looking on petfinder any one can see that there are lots of corgis in need of homes.

Puggles, doodles, and jugs Oh My!

A designer dog sounds cool, the term seems to denote its better than a 'generic' pure breed. People will tell me they have a pure bred puggle, or cockapoo, or labradoodle etc etc. I try really hard not to laugh at them.

No to start off with, I am all for the intelligent creation of new breeds. I am not one of those people who say 'all the breeds we have today are all the breeds we should ever have'. But the creation of a new breed is not simply the crossing of two badly bred dogs, coming up with a catchy name and starting up. Silken Windhounds are a new breed. They very carefully bred dogs together with a specific aim in mind. They bred only healthy mentally sound dogs together. They didn't keep just breeding two breeds together, mangling the names of both breeds, and selling the pups in the local flea market.

So why do people cross breed dogs? Very simply, because idiots buy them. Pure and simple. If people would do their research. Then these people would stop doing it.

Myths about designer dogs:

Hybrid vigour- this only applies to actual crossbreeding of species, not within the species. You are just as likely to get the genetic diseases of both breeds, as the dogs used in creating these pups are NOT from good sound breed standard breeding stock.

That the breeder can tell you what the pup will grow up to be like -this is just not true. It takes many generations to predict type. Even top show breeders who spend much time and effort to producing dogs off all the dame type, will get variations.

Crossing breeds insures you get the best of both breeds- you are just as likely to get the worst of both breed traits.

Make better pets than purebreds-picking the right dog is the key to having a great pet. Show breeds, or working breeders will have dogs in their litters for what ever reason don't have what it takes to become a working dog or a show dog, but does have what it takes to make someone a loving pet.

Designer dogs are rare-shelters are full of cross bred dogs.


You will notice on these sites they only show puppies. All puppies are adorable. Take puggle puppies, they are very adorable, but google them. Most are hideous as adults. 99.99% of the websites I have came across that offer pups for sale over the internet. The contracts are silly or non existent. The health of these pups is never guaranteed. There is no stipulation that if the new owners cannot keep the pups that the breeder will take them back. These breeders are as bad as millers.

Now there are breeders out there particularly with goldendoodles that are breeding F4 or higher goldendoodles. The problem is that a new breed needs a new name. No one is going to respect a new breed that is just the mangling of the old breed's names. A new breed needs a NEW name. Its only common sense.

Start up your own puppy mill!

This sad looking dane is for sale (yippie) This is either a male or a female. The male has a 'championship' bloodline. Not surprisingly the add fails to mention any names. Likely if there is anything with a ch. In front of its name in the pedigree you need a flashlight and a shovel to find it. I take it that no matter how far you dig you won't find any ch. in the female's pedigree. As it doesn't mention papers I would hazard a guess that you would need to use your imagination to see all danes in the girls family tree. Notice how they do not give you a conformation shot of either dogs?

They are selling these two young Danes as a breeding pair. No health certificates, barely a year old. Now the owner says they are nice dogs, but does that refer to their temperament? Or that they look nice? No reason is given to why such "nice dogs
', one with championship bloodlines are being offered for sale. They are to big to ship, darn they just won't fit in a UPS box. What are people thinking when they offer to ship dogs off like things bought on ebay!!?

Now why do I say start your own puppy mill? It is only common sense to look and see what other goodies this seller is trying to part with. Why they are parting with something they claim is a female Lhasa, ok I am sure it is female as it has had a litter. And they are selling breeding pairs. They don't make any claims to what these are, just breeding pairs. These are suppliers for wannabe puppymillers. These are the sort of people that sell 'start up' material.

These people are the bane of dog lovers everywhere. It is the product of these dogs that end up in pet stores, and ultimately in shelters and rescues. These dogs are not health tested, nor are the likely to be temperament tested. DON'T SUPPORT PUPPY MILLS and don't support people like these. It is only common sense.

New Blog....Intro

I feel there is a need for a blog like this. I can't find any dogblog out there that fills this niche. There is a fantastic horse blog (Fugly) if you haven't read it.. go read it now, even if you are not a horsey person. Great fun and educational too.

So this blog is to comment on, rip apart, and hopefully compliment dog owners, trainers, and breeders. Everything from puppy mills, to stupid pet owners.. if its about common sense and dogs, you can find it here.

If you have any websites you want me to look at, stories in the media, or in general any suggestions, please feel free to email me. I love comments. Agree, disagree, rip apart my posts if you want... a good discussion is a healthy thing.

So dogs don't come in enough colours already

Dogs all ready come in a large variety of colours and patterns. Common sense would tell us to leave well enough alone, right?

I was talking to a friend today, and dyeing dogs came up as a subject. She has a client who is a professional dog groomer, at a large portion of her business is dying dogs. People get their dogs dyed green for St Paddy's day, they get dyed the fave football team for the super bowl. So while this is good for the groomers bank account is it good for the dogs?

There is still a trend, I hear about it all the time on the dog forums, for people to get a dog as an accessory. Celebrities seem to be the worst for it, but I have seen my fair share of designer doggie fashion accessories around my little town. These dogs are often bought from pet stores (puppy mill puppies anyone?) or bybs. These are not healthy well adjusted dogs to begin with, and then being saddled with the job of being a real live beanie baby and being on par with a new pair of shoes. Hey and while you can dye shoes, you can really only do it once. Look fluffy can be a new colour every season!!

There are also others who want big 'tuff' dogs for protection, to look cool, or as status symbols. But these dogs don't usually get dyed, they just have to wear chains that would hold Clydesdale back (ok I know some are strong dogs.. but they are not THAT strong)

So common sense would tell us dying dogs is dumb and superficial right? Well I am sure it can be. But I have a confession to make. That little dog in the pic..ya the really cute Jack Russell Terrier. That's my dog, Dekka. Why is she pink? It was valentines day, I had some cherry kool aid and an idea. So after I dyed my dog, I got to thinking about it. Why did I do it? alien communication? subliminal messages on my Ipod? divine inspiration? Anyone who knows me at all, will agree I am not ever to be accused of following fashion trends. If its clean and it covers me, its good. I wondered if I lived in the middle of the woods up north, and no one would see Dekka but me, would I still have turned her mohawk pink? I decided yes, yes I would.

I think this is an integral and significant difference in why good and caring dog owners will do something that seems as superficial as a Paris Hilton publicity stunt. It can be fun to dye/dress up dogs. Some people do it to boost their image. Others just want to include their dog, make sure fuffy isn't left out of the festivities. No one gets upset if they see a baby wearing elf sleepers at Xmas... Dyeing dogs could be a show of love, of our desire to include these non humans in every detail of our lives, and stem from wanting to show others how important our dogs are to us.

So what do you think?