Dogs are better than many people:o

[Back in the fold1]

Sorry to hear about your ordeal last summer. Generally, though …..such attacks (sadly imho) are more of a reflection on how they’ve been treated by man as opposed to being just mean.

Yes , I’ve heard that from people many times and I believe it . The whole ordeal changed my head and it doesn’t make sense . I know “ most “ dogs are okay but I still freeze when I see a dog , any dog , and I’m actually mad that what happened did THAT to me .

 

[GaryE]

I'm a dog lover, but I don't automatically love every dog. I think there are mean, bad dogs, by nature. Why not, when there are mean, bad people as well? That said, I've seen pit bulls trained for dog fighting, which like a lot of illegal things still exists in the shadows. The dogs are chosen to be like their owners and brutalized by them. Both are to be avoided. I've seen the same breed as lovely pets.

We've co-evolved with dogs, and we've genetically manipulated and shaped them for different purposes and agendas. Not all of them fit with our current needs. We're very similar as animals - sometimes predators, sometimes scavengers, sometimes smart, sometimes not, and always complicated. And sometimes straight up unlucky, as back in the fold was with that uncontrolled pack.

I taught thousands of students, and a only handful worried me deeply. Some of that few could either be serial killers or CEOs (a friend who taught Grade one had a kid who grew up to become a serial killer). Some would steal your teeth if they saw them in a smile, or abuse power if they ever got a uniform. But it's a tiny percentage who have no empathy. That doesn't help when you meet them on their terms though. People. dogs, honey badgers...

 

[bgarthe35 53]

Yes…..there such things as bad/mean dogs, just like humans. But…..I’d bet that there are fewer bad/mean dogs than there are bad/mean humans. I, too, taught 1000s of kids (in my 3+ decades of teaching jr. high biology) and agree that a few did give me concern.

 

[anewbie]

My dad was a huge fan of collies and when we were kids he got our first one - she was one wicked smart monster. All the kids in the neighborhood thought she was lassie and spoiled her rotten (i learned this years later when a class mate talked about how she would come around daily and they would ride her and give her extrra food). My sister bred her and oddly one of her off spring from both litter was a tri colour (full size); sadly the second male was one of the new long nose idiots they make these days and most of the off springs took after him and not the mother who was a sly little sweet devil. We kept one of the pups of the 2nd liter.

to be honest i prefer cats to dogs and our third cat was a wickedly sweet female that lived to 20+ years. She was technically my sister cat when cat #2 caught feline lukema (an orange tabby) and we had to put him down as it was contagious and he refused to become an indoor cat.

When we were in college i had to baby sit the cat one year and we 'bonded'. She really was extremely smart but unlike the orange tabby she used her 'smartness' to find ways to be very sweet and playful. Oh well memories suck and are best forgotten.

 

[Uberhoust]

I love dogs in general, all animals really. I never had a dog as a child but have since had 8 as an adult over a large number of years (2 poodles, 3 shelties, 2 goldens, 1 aussie). I currently have a bi black sheltie who is very friendly. I suspect my sheltie, Obbi, might be my last because if he dies after a normal dog lifespan, I may be too old to get another, I don't want to re-home any of my pets if possible (Fish included).

I like the structure the dog brings, walking, feeding, grooming... I also like to see his joy when I come home. When I am stressed from work, he pokes me in the leg with his nose and says, "you will be much better off if you took me for a walk", and usually I am.

For me my dogs are my adventure companions, they have been with me in most activities including caving and mountaineering in the past. My current pup mostly does hikes and walks with us, and he was just recently, and successfully, introduced to canoeing last weekend. He is the least adventurous dog I have owned but right now that suits me just fine.

 

[GaryE]

@Uberhoust - that point about dogs pushing us to be more active is important. The need to structure to be able to take proper care of a dog is good for us. The walks are important, and enrich my life. I figure lifespan wise, I may be down to a dog's life, and my current dog and I may go out at around the same time. I don't expect to have more dogs after her, though I can't imagine life without one. There are a number of things I couldn't imagine happening as I age!

I like cats too, and I think the team cat and team dog disagreements are a bit false. I'm an animal person, and those two species are different. I have no cats because I like birds, but I like cats indoors well enough. They're easier to have around because they don't need a walk when it's cold and snowing and the sun just came up, but it's good for me to get moving on those days, since I want to experience many more of them. If I go for long walks with my dog, I'm walking. We're both happy animals.

If you're a person who wakes up and bounces down the hall singing, then maybe a dog is less important. I get up very early, stick my snout in good coffee and read. The dog gets me moving. Give me a choice between watching the TV or walking the dog, and I know which is better for me.

 

[Uberhoust]

I like cats too, and I think the team cat and team dog disagreements are a bit false.

We have had a number of cats too. They always seem to get along with the dogs. My last cat would use my dog as a bed when sunny himself. We don't keep cats anymore for the same reason you don't, they are too hard on the bird population.

 

[GaryE]

My next door neighbour has two cats that they let out every night except in the dead of winter. And every morning, they find birds and mice on their front steps. These cats know how to provide.

The mice, I don't mind because I'm culturally biased (and they always want to get into my garage, and into my house if they could). We had a hoarder on the other side, and the clean out of her house caused a flood of mice into the surrounding area - poor desperate mice at that. The cats slaughtered them. That should be completely calmed down soon.

I sometimes wonder if I should take down my bird feeder because of the cats. I'm told they rarely bring home chickadees or finches, which is about 90% of the traffic back there. Their main prey is robins, blue jays and other mid sized birds. And predictably, they don't eat them.

 

[anewbie]

My next door neighbour has two cats that they let out every night except in the dead of winter. And every morning, they find birds and mice on their front steps. These cats know how to provide.

The mice, I don't mind because I'm culturally biased (and they always want to get into my garage, and into my house if they could). We had a hoarder on the other side, and the clean out of her house caused a flood of mice into the surrounding area - poor desperate mice at that. The cats slaughtered them. That should be completely calmed down soon.

I sometimes wonder if I should take down my bird feeder because of the cats. I'm told they rarely bring home chickadees or finches, which is about 90% of the traffic back there. Their main prey is robins, blue jays and other mid sized birds. And predictably, they don't eat them.

Yes but my sister cat would bring back LIVE food; usually chipmunk and boy did my sister do a squeeling dance on the picknic table the first time she (the cat) offered it to her. Sadly in the hand off the chipmunk took off as several others did when we refused to let the cat in-side with her catch. Still she forgave us (the cat; my sister never forgave me laughing at her).

 

[simonas]

Saying dogs are better than humans is pretty much my favourite saying. I have two now as I lost one a couple of years ago at 5 to cancer. Our kids are older now and I suppose dogs become like your kids . We have a labradoodle and a staffordshire terrier called Frank who is my favourite thing in the world. It scares me how much love I have for him
Theyre just ace to spend time with , loving, genuine and honest and I swear if you work with the general public the longer you do it the more you realise I would rather spend that time with my dogs.

 

[anewbie]

When see the picture of your dog i think of this scene in garden state with portman and braff and the problem they had with lipstick coming out.

 

[seangee8 1]

My next door neighbour has two cats that they let out every night except in the dead of winter. And every morning, they find birds and mice on their front steps. These cats know how to provide.

The mice, I don't mind because I'm culturally biased (and they always want to get into my garage, and into my house if they could). We had a hoarder on the other side, and the clean out of her house caused a flood of mice into the surrounding area - poor desperate mice at that. The cats slaughtered them. That should be completely calmed down soon.

I sometimes wonder if I should take down my bird feeder because of the cats. I'm told they rarely bring home chickadees or finches, which is about 90% of the traffic back there. Their main prey is robins, blue jays and other mid sized birds. And predictably, they don't eat them.

Bird feeders can contribute to mice too. We used to have one at our lodge in a very rural aree. That is until we noticed rabbit sized rats coming to feed on whatever the birds dropped on the ground.

 

[anewbie]

The only thing we get with bird feeders are squirrels. If they can't climb the post they climb the nearest tree and take a leap. One way or another they always manage to end up in them.

 

[Back in the fold1]

@GaryE That crack about maybe being down to a dogs life yourself unnerved me . Lately I dwell on the shortness of life now that I’ve turned 70 . A dog’s life is what , seven years ? That’s the upper limit of what I’ve given myself based on guys I’ve known that have gone before me . @bgarthe So you were a junior high biology teacher huh ? My greatest life mentor was my junior high biology teacher and I learned the skills of life and mountaineering from him . He was a wilderness guide with Paul Petzoldt’s famed National Outdoor Leadership School ( NOLS ) in Lander Wyoming during summer breaks . He took me and a few others under his wing back in those halcyon days and forged us into men . I’ll never forget him . He’s passed on now but I still occasionally speak his name so his memory does not die . Douglas W . Woltersdorf .

 

[GaryE]

@Back in the fold - I'm an optimist on dog's lives. Our previous dog made it to 4 months short of 15. That would put me at the average here, 83. The only man in my family history who beat 70 was an Uncle who was handicapped, and who couldn't join everyone else working in industries that killed them.... as a teacher, my main danger was paper cuts, and I only spent 2 years in steel dust.

So it isn't dire.

Every morning I walk my dog in the graveyard across the road, beside the sea. Today, I noticed the headstone of a guy who died in the 1970s, when medical care wasn't what it is now. He made it to 106. If he kept his marbles, good for him. He's an inspiration.