wordinista | (no subject)

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dogs,
health

(no subject)

Whoo. Okay.

So, a lot of y'all might remember the night Tora-kun worked until 2:30 am. It was also the Night of Much Swearing.

Well, we started talking about that, and how it was going to look like if he stays working for this company, about one week a month is going to have insanely late hours. And me? I'm not really comfortable with that. I know my mother lives next door, but still -- I'm here, and... yeah. It's not cool.

So... I'm not even sure how it came up, but we started talking about the possibility of getting a puppy. We've got a pretty good sized house, and a decent sized yard, so space isn't an issue for a small-to-medium sized dog. So I started researching. As it happens, my dream breed, the Australian Shepherd, looks like it'd be a perfect fit. I have the time to devote to training and discipline, which is usually the biggest problem when it comes to dogs. You don't train it well, or give it enough to do, it's going to get into trouble.

All right, so I start researching breeders in the area, because breeders are people too, and people can be unscrupulous. It's not as easy as I'd thought, and there are a lot of dead links out there. And a LOT of breeders' websites are hosted on Geocities/Yahoo. *headshake*

And a frighteningly large number of them? Have no concept of site design whatsoever. Particularly:

http://www.paradigmcanines.com/

and...

http://www.angelfire.com/fl3/wildwindaussies/

Okay, the unfortunate thing is, these two places might have the Best Dogs Evar. It's possible. But their splash pages make me want to choke. Especially that second one. Lawd. I just... words fail me. Really.

Of course, all of this research is for naught if our landlord says no. Mrr. I hope he doesn't say no. *crosses fingers* We were tossing around names tonight, and if we pick one of the ones we were tossing around,

evilpuppy is going to be vastly amused.

In other news, Tora-kun and I watched Super Size Me tonight, and ... you know, I don't think I'll ever be able to eat at a fast food restaurant ever again. Ever. Ever-ever. OMG GROSS. It took two months of a vegan diet to undo one month of fast-food eating. I'm pretty sure I'm too much of a wuss to go vegan -- or vegetarian, for that matter (and I have the utmost respect for anyone who can manage it), but it'll be a damn long time before I ever order pizza and wings again. I told Tora-kun that movie made me want to run to Wild Oats and shop there forever and ever, amen. And I don't eat fast food that much (okay, ordering pizza -- and that's so stopping ASAFP), but I was seriously disgusted. *shudder*

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If you look on www.akc.org they have breeder listing that you can narrow down to your state, maybe more, not sure.

Yeah, that was one of the first places I looked. One of the problems I'm finding is that a lot of the sites don't specify whether they deal solely in champions, or if they offer household pets, too. I'm not going to show or breed it -- I just want to ~~spoil it rotten~~ keep it as a pet.

*laughs* A woman after my own heart. *looks over at the Lab sprawled across her bed* Yap, worthless.

But really, they probably sell a mix because not every puppy can be a champion. It's that whole genetic crap shoot thing. You might also try talking to Del, she breeds Shelties and can probably give you some pointers on what to look for.

Yes, Bronte and Kisa are spoiled as hell. The only thing we can't let them do yet is sleep in our room, because they're very much nocturnal, and when we leave the door open, they come in and jump on my head. (Yes, just mine.)

You're right -- I'm sure all of them do sell a mix of pets and show-dogs, but they don't SPECIFY, and that's the frustrating thing. Only one site I found did specify, and they're relatively nearby. I'm trying to find out how reputable THEY are. (I've been in touch with that breeder already, and if all goes well, we'll be visiting the facility sometime after the new year.)

I've found a few lists of "questions to ask your breeder" on various sites -- one of them the American Australian Shepherd Club site, so I'm trying to do my homework and be smart about this. I know that a puppy that's overly shy or timid is a bad sign -- George's mother used to breed miniature Dauschaunds (dunno if I spelled that right, but you get the idea), and they have three dogs now (a Doberman, a Bassett, and a Boxer mix).

Daisy has to sleep on the bed at night, she's got seperation anxiaty and will distroy the house if we leave her alone.

I haven't ever really looked to a breeder for an animal of any kind, all of mine are rescues.

Just from what I've read here from you is enough to reinforce my desire to stay away from fast foods. I haven't touched anything like McDonald's, Arby's or KFC in probably a year now. I can't remember where it was I read what the fat grams and stuff are in a Big Mac or chicken sandwich but it made me feel sick to know I was putting that stuff in my body. The only thing I occasionally splurge on is pizza. Which is usually a once a month thing for us on a Family Night. Though we did have Leeann Chin's the other night because the kids wanted it. I remembered too why I don't eat that anymore either. Good gods!

Maybe I'll have to see this movie to give me a constant reminder of why I stay away from that stuff.

OMG, yes. I haven't eaten McDonalds in ages, but I'm sure most of the fast food places are equally bad. The last time we had any fast food was actually a couple of weeks ago, stopping at a local place called Whattaburger, because due to circumstances beyond our control, our eating pattern for the day got royally screwed and I was too tired to cook.

By the time he was done his experiment, he'd consumed THIRTY POUNDS OF SUGAR, and had gained twelve pounds of fat. It took eight weeks of a vegan diet to get his numbers back to normal. It was seriously fucking up his liver, too. *shudder*

Our big vices here are pizza and Chinese food. And that? Is getting SERIOUSLY CUT BACK.

I haven't seen Super Size Me yet, but I did read Fast Food Nation and...yeah. Disgusting. Fast Food Nation encompasses the entire process, from cattle and farming to employment and advertising and nutrition, and it's appalling. I just wish we had a good ol' In and Out Burger around here, or one of those organic fast food places that they have up in New England.

...why did I leave Boston? Someone, please, remind me.

Hopefully the organic fast food phase will spread.

I haven't read Fast Food Nation yet, and after seeing Super Size Me, I'm almost afraid to. One thing that SSM does is show that while McDonalds used to post the nutrition information in their stores, none of them do now. The guy (can't remember his name) kept asking in various stores where their nutritional information flyers were kept -- none of them had any on hand, except for one place, that had them behind a big-ass cardboard cut-out of Ronald & Co. (or something).

It also showed how the majority of school lunches are just as bad for you. Kids are going through the lunch line ordering french fries and swiss rolls FOR LUNCH. There was only one school they covered (and I can't remember where it was), where everything was, in fact, home-made, and nutritious. It didn't cost any MORE than the fast-food schools, which was what the explanation was first -- that it was a cost-effective. Basically it appears the lobbyists for the fast food companies are to blame, and I don't doubt it.

I still order pizza -- although I probably shouldn't -- but I didn't eat McDonald for WEEKS after seeing Super-Size Me. (And I've avoided reading Fast Food Nation because I don't want to read about the meat industry. I'm selfish.) But yeah... yuck. Did you see the extra footage where they tested how long it would take McDonald's fries to spoil?

The scariest part was how badly it fucked him up. I mean, cirrhosis? Good god.

Yeah, I know -- I informed Tora-kun that we? Would be ordering pizza a LOT less in the future. He looked just as disgusted as I was and nodded mutely.

Yeah, the cirrhosis was something else. I also thought it was grotesquely fascinating how the food basically caused mood swings. He felt like crap, except when he was eating.

And, dude, heart palpitations? Nothanks.

On the puppy front be careful. I have found that mailing the breeder and telling them what you want temper wise and otherwise. Talking to them is the best way to look for a puppy. I would also recommend seeing where the shows are in your area. This is the height of the show season for dogs and cats. So there should be one in your area somewhere meeting who your puppy's Mom is will give you a heads up on what it will be like when you get it.

Of course you are going for a breed that sometimes is smarter than their owners. One of my rules is no dogs smarter than I am.

Yeah, I've sent a few emails out to a few different breeders. I really want something smart and loyal, and even tempered. (And as active as the breed is, we're thinking it'll help Tora-kun get off his butt and be more active as well.)

There aren't really many shows in my immediate area -- the down-side of living in the backwater 'burbs. But a lot of the breeders I've emailed have the dams on site, so I'd definitely ask to meet the mama.

Awww, I think part of the charm is that they're so damned smart. I tried teaching my mom's Cairn Terrier some things, but she's so stubborn that I had to hand off the task to my mom. Of course, Mom has been able to teach Zoe some nifty tricks, and Zoe's smart as anything -- but, like I said, stubborn. From what i've read about the Aussies, they're quick to learn, but if you're not careful, they can manipulate their owners.

I really hope the landlord says yes...

Somthing else you might do if your worried about disreputable breeders is to talk to your local Humane Society or SPCA. A lot of times they can tell you if there have been any complaints about that breeder. The breed clubs are excellent sources for information. They tend to only post links to breeders they consider good.

As far as the pet/show thing goes. If the breeder you're looking at has their contract on-line, you might look it over. A lot of them offer limited registration (which means you can't show for comformation) for a pet and joint registration (which means they own part of the dog with you, along with some other restrictions that vary from breeder to breeder) for show dogs. I went through this a little bit ago when I was looking for my Standard Poodle, so I can understand your frustration with some websites.

Aussies are awesome dogs. Just be prepared for lots of energy.

Laters,
Patch

Going to the kennel is a wise thing to do, That way you know it isn't a puppy mill.

Knowing how enthusiatic those dogs are. I am sure it will help you get out and about more. if jsut to burn off some of the energy so you can get some rest. Toys and dog parks are your friends. and swith those you might want to think of some fun challanges. They are fun dogs I admit, my friend has one that I go spoil at least twice a year. She swears it takes a month to get her back to normal after I watch her.

I hope your land lord lets you.

*runs away from sites screaming* scary O_O

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