What pets do you have? Feel free to post pics!

[Chicken Little]

It's showing up for me???

[goofynina]

All i see is a white square with a red X in the middle of it    I wanna see BINGO!!! :p

[Sluff]

The reason Bingo is not showing up on some browsers is because it in the wrong format. Chicken little you need to down load the picture to your computer and then when you post it  you need to use the additional options link and then browse your computer to then click on Bingos picture  resize to 640x480 res then save.  Should work. 

[Chicken Little]

Thanks!  I think it's fixed.   

[Falkenbach]

Oh, goofynina - Jane is stunning!

[goofynina]

Thanks!  I think it's fixed.   

Ooh, yeah, you sure did Chicken Little, that's one cutie of a dog you have there, she looks like one of those farming dogs.  She is a cutie, thank you so much for fixing it, tell Bingo hi for me, Jane and Xena   oh, and of course Sam too    

Thank you very much Cycobully,  she is a big one huh?  lol,  i feel so protected with her 

[Chicken Little]

Yep, he's a border collie and my personal stalker.  He never takes his eyes off me and is none too happy when any person or animal comes near me, including my husband.      The only thing he get to herd though are his stuffed animals.

  to your furbabies too. 

[goofynina]

By any possible chance did you ever watch a show called Pet Star?  It was hosted by that scrumdiddlyumptious Mario Lopez?    Anyways, there was a dog on there that i will never forget in my life, his name was Skid Boot, I think he was the same as Bingo but shorthair,  that dog was amazing, i used to watch that show and cry cuz i was amazed what those owners taught their animals, and their animals loved them enough to do it, and a majority of those dogs  were rescued from the shelter or found abandoned somewhere, i think that was all included with me crying all the time   I just love happy endings, for both the dog and their owners 

[Sluff]

Thanks Chicken Little. 

[Chicken Little]

Yeah, they are scary smart.  People always ask how I train him to do things, he's an awesome frisbee dog and does a lot of tricks, and I really only have to show him once or twice and he's mastered it.   He makes me look good.    He also is very tuned in to my blood sugars and has alerted my husband during several nighttime low blood sugar episodes.

[Falkenbach]

i was amazed what those owners taught their animals, and their animals loved them enough to do it,

Tricks look very impressive, but many are not as difficult to teach as you would imagine. Consistency, treats and lots of patience are all that's required. Being an impatient person, I don't tend to bother  but I was in the process at one stage - inspired after one of the many training seminars I went to - of teaching my largest bull terrier Dorothy to collect a flower and take it to the person I nominated. It was really a simple retrieve exercise. But I got bored (as I said, one of the key ingredients is PATIENCE  )

Therefore, the only trick Dorothy does is to stand on her hind legs when I say "up!". Other than that, all my dogs must do a sit/stay for their dinner, and when I put it in front of them they're not allowed to touch it until I say "eat". But that's just some basic obedience to me, not a trick. It's better than having excited dogs jumping on you at dinner time.

Having said all this - I am not intending to detract AT ALL from the amazing training that such people do, especially with rescued dogs that must have all kinds of trust and fear issues and who knows what else type of baggage.

[ILOVEFLUID]

I just wanted to share more pics of my beautiful pitbulls.  The first one is Rufus, with his gorgeous big brown eyes.  How can anyone resist that face?  The second is of Rufus and rocky looking adorable as usual.

HMMM...  I guess the pics are too large...I don't know how to make them smaller

[RichardMEL]

Nina when will we get more pics of Xena? please

[goofynina]

I just wanted to share more pics of my beautiful pitbulls.  The first one is Rufus, with his gorgeous big brown eyes.  How can anyone resist that face?  The second is of Rufus and rocky looking adorable as usual.

HMMM...  I guess the pics are too large...I don't know how to make them smaller

Hi ILoveFluid,  Please go ahead and put the pics in and as soon as i can i will resize them for you   (now that i know how)    I cant wait to see them 

Hi RichardMel,  as soon as i can get her to stay in one place, lol, she is so crazy, i will definetly be posting more pics, ohhhh will i    Thank you so much for requesting them   

[charee]

I just wanted to share more pics of my beautiful pitbulls.  The first one is Rufus, with his gorgeous big brown eyes.  How can anyone resist that face?  The second is of Rufus and rocky looking adorable as usual.

HMMM...  I guess the pics are too large...I don't know how to make them smaller

Try this link i would love to see more pics of your dogs.

http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=1297.0

[Falkenbach]

I would love to see them too. Much <3 for APBTs.

[donnia]

I have 2 dogs and 1 cat.  I don't have a good picture of my cat but here are my dogs.  The big one is Reno.... he scares the crap out of people but he is a sweetheart.  He is a 6 year old 3/4 boxer 1/4 lab.  He is HUGE!  The other one is Siesta.  She is my baby!  She is now deaf and blind and it breaks my heart.  She is a 14 year old cocker spaniel.

Well shoot!  They are waaay tooooo large! I dont know why tho!  I'll try to resize them.

[Falkenbach]

Here's another recent pic, this is me with my youngest bull terrier, Dorothy. She is the one in my avatar - I think she was about 3 months old in the avatar pic, and she's 7.5 years now:

[Rerun]

Here's another recent pic, this is me with my youngest bull terrier, Dorothy. She is the one in my avatar - I think she was about 3 months old in the avatar pic, and she's 7.5 years now:

What is your take on Pitt Bulls?  Obviously, you love them.  I'm scared to death of them.  Don't trust them.  Too many news stories with graphic pictures.

Let's hear what an owner has to say?   

[Falkenbach]

My take on the American pit bull terrier - yes, you're correct. I love them. (Note the breed I have, in the photo above, is the bull terrier, a different breed).

I have owned a pit bull X in the past, have babysat other pitties and used to have a few regular pit bull clients when I was a dog groomer. I have done a lot of research on the bull breeds, dog behaviour and dog attacks.

I also used to be a member of the American Pit Bull Terrier Club of Australia and I was a founding member of the Endangered Dog Breeds Association of Australia (www.edba.org.au) which was set up to fight for responsible dog legislation for all owners, and to fight AGAINST breed specific legislation.

  Don't be frightened of the pit bull. However, DO be frightened of irresponsible dog owners. Regardless of what breed they get their hands on, they can make anything a dangerous dog. It's not the breed, it's the individual dog, the way it's bred and the way it's raised.

[Rerun]

My take on the American pit bull terrier - yes, you're correct. I love them. (Note the breed I have, in the photo above, is the bull terrier, a different breed).

I have owned a pit bull X in the past, have babysat other pitties and used to have a few regular pit bull clients when I was a dog groomer. I have done a lot of research on the bull breeds, dog behaviour and dog attacks.

I also used to be a member of the American Pit Bull Terrier Club of Australia and I was a founding member of the Endangered Dog Breeds Association of Australia (www.edba.org.au) which was set up to fight for responsible dog legislation for all owners, and to fight AGAINST breed specific legislation.

  Don't be frightened of the pit bull. However, DO be frightened of irresponsible dog owners. Regardless of what breed they get their hands on, they can make anything a dangerous dog. It's not the breed, it's the individual dog, the way it's bred and the way it's raised.

Be more specific.  I mean I don't hear of Miniature Pincher Attacks, or Boxer Attacks.  Why do the Pit Bulls get labled?

[Falkenbach]

There's a whole bunch of reasons, with 3 major ones I'd like to discuss.

Firstly, there are plenty of attacks involving all kinds of breeds - they just don't make front page news, because the media cannot sensationalise it the same way.

A large part of the reputation comes from the fact that the breed has a fighting history. This leads people to believe that they have uncontrolled aggression and want to attack anything that comes into sight. But if you put this in a much more logical manner - think about it like this - cats, by their nature, attack and kill birds and mice. Does this aggression extend to other living creatures? No. Just as a number of other dog breeds were bred for hunting, chasing or retrieving various animals - yet a dog that is bred for hunting, say, raccoons or badgers - are we frightened of them? Do we expect them to "hunt" humans? No we don't - because they don't. The behaviours are largely restricted to specific species, though you will occasionally still see working breeds "rounding up" people, or gun dogs "pointing", generally speaking, acts of what could be called aggressive instincts are species specific.

So yes, it is sadly true that they have a history of fighting, but that does not make them naturally human-aggressive. Quite the opposite. In fact, people who took part in this abhorrent activity of fighting had set rules about their fights, and it is extremely important to note that each "competitor" had to tend to the opponent's dog between rounds. This is a horrid fact to consider, but is also vitally important to the development of their temperament - here is a strong breed that had to be absolutely FLAWLESS in its temperamen toward man, as it had to be able to be approached AND handled by a stranger when injured and in pain. So what went wrong? Bad publicity, leading to more "tough guys" wanting them, leading to more being poorly bred and deliberately abused or trained to be dangerous. Gangsters are getting them, wanting them as guard dogs for themselves, their properties, their drug operations. And, more abhorrent than anything else, some sickoes still fight them, underground.

The third major factor is identity problems. The vast majority of people who are frightened of pit bulls (which I understand, btw) are not actually able to distinguish a pit bull from various other dogs. A number of bull-and-terrier breeds are frequently confused with one another, sometimes other bull breeds are also confused wiht bull-and-terrier breeds. Other times, they are not necessarily confused by deliberately lumped in together with the tag "pit bull" - this term, when used in this loose manner, can apply to ANY dog that has ANY amount of bull breed (of some description!) in it's background, so it's usually being used to label some complete cross-breed.

My local council wanted, not so long ago, to ban the top 6 breeds responsible for the most serious attacks on children. In order to get these statistics, they had to go to the local children's hospital. You  know what they found? Right up near the top of the list was Jack Russel terriers. So it DOES happen with other (small) breeds, and it happens frequently and severely. But it's apparently not newsworthy.

I'd really like this noted - The APBT has been around since the 19th century and was once a revered American icon. There was never any media hype about them before the 1980's - what does that tell you?

[Chicken Little]

I was never afraid of any breed until a Boxer jumped its 5 ft fence to attack my Border Collie.  Then a year later, another Boxer attacked us at a dog park.   I guess Boxers REALLY do not like Border Collies.    

I am pretty cautious of Boxers, Pitts and other aggressive breeds now.  We stopped going to our local dog park after several Pit Bull incidents.  I agree that owners bear the responsibility for their dogs, unfortunately, there seem to be fewer and fewer responsible owners.  I'm a firm believer that no one should own a dog that they cannot themselves physically overpower and control.

[carson]

I too have an American Staffordshire Terrier (aka American Pitbull Terrier) He's the sweetest guy ever imaginable yet due to the breed ban in Ontario he must wear a muzzle when in public. Fine, he does and he hates it. Yet, how many times have we been walking (on leash) when some dog comes ripping out of his yard, snarling and barking at my dog? How many times have dogs come over the fence after my muzzled dog? What does this muzzle do? It gives him terrific anxiety because he's got unfamiliar dogs coming to him and he can't do a damn thing about it. Luckily there hasn't been a problem YET but one day I'm sure it'll be the wrong dog and who'll will be worse off? MY dog who can't defend himself. I've had Rotties, Golden Retrievers, Chows, Labs and Jack Russells come after him. People need to be more responsible.

He's typically dog friendly (I take him to doggy daycare for socializing) but what if it's not a dog friendly dog that approaches us?

I feel bad for my dog. He's never done anything. Why is he being punished? Isn't it supposed to be innocent before guilty?

the media has hurt this breed very much by their lack of accuracy when reporting bites. If it has floppy ears and a tail and short hair, it must be a pitbull. It makes me sick.

Cycobully had an EXCELLENT post. She knows her stuff.

My parents have a very vicious Eskimo Spitz. He bites. He barks. He chases. He's what, 25 pounds? Nothing to be afraid of? HA! I hate him.

The only difference between a pitbull bite and his bite is the strength. My dog could probably crush a brick with his bite and the Spitz maybe a squirrel.

I could go on and on and on about this. I'm so enraged by the ignorance of people and their trust in the media. They believe the crap about the war in Iraq, why we can't have electric cars, and why pitbulls are evil. STUPID STUPID PEOPLE!

[Falkenbach]

The issue of bite strength is also an excellent point, I'm glad you brought that up.

One Doctor Brisbin did a study on the skulls of deceased pit bulls to test the "lock jaw" myth (no doubt you've all heard this at some point and it turns out it's just that - a myth. There is NO locking mechanism to the jaw of the pit bull.

Also, the oft reported "X-amount" of PSI (pounds per square inch, I think that stands for) which pit bulls supposedly have is also nonsense. It's a claim that has even been published in books, but when challenged to produce the evidence or research to back up this claim, no one has been able to do so).

Some books I have also cover case studies, and there is one that springs to mind of a newborn baby that was killed by a pack of chihuahuas. Not to mention a child who was killed in California just a few years ago by a pomeranian type dog. So when people say to me "oh say what you like about any breeds being capable of being aggressive, but I'd rather be bitten by a pomeranian than a pit bull!" it might sound like a valid point. Indeed, if I had to choose, I'd choose the pomeranian bite myself. BUT never fall into the trap of thinking such small dogs cannot hurt or do damage. Believe me, I used to be a dog groomer!!

The other reason the above argument is invalid is that there are plenty of other breeds the same size or larger than a pit bull which are viewed as friendly and unaggressive, but could easily bite just as hard if they had the inclination - and some of them do, but again I emphasise the media just doesn't report it. (The pit bull is, in fact, a small-ish breed, traditionally, though muscly.)

There is a much more important factor than bite strength however - it is bite inhibition. I can't stress enough how important this is. And this comes down to traininng and socialising. It is also one of the reasons the muzzling laws Carson refers to are in themselves a danger. As pups, a dog learns his bite inhibition largely through play with litter mates and socialisation with other dogs - how can a muzzled dog socialise properly?