lefty's random dog thread.

[lefty]

Originally Posted by kever

What are the experts opinions on French Bulldogs and Whippets?? I really like English Bulldogs, but the health problems, short lifespan, and amount of daily cleaning needed are starting to scare me a bit. I also like Greyhounds, but they are a bit bigger than I want. Frenchies and Whippets seem to fit what I'm looking for a bit better, but i have no experience with either.

I know the body types are almost the complete opposite, but for some reason they both really interest me more so than any other breeds. From reading about them, they seem to have good temperments, health, lifespans, companionship, need limited grooming, can live in smaller spaces (with daily activity), etc. Anybody have experience with either breed and want to share thier thoughts/experiences??

Not sure if the French Bulldog is any healthier than the English. I have some friends with one who have spent 20K keeping him alive through hip and spine operations.

It's hard to recommend bull breeds as it's a miracle the some of the more extreme breeds can function at all, but for a small healthier bullie I would look at the SBT or a pit. The more it looks like a "dog" the less that can go wrong with it. Within reason.

The Whippet is much healthier, but I would look for a line/breeder that courses. Couple of Canadian organizations.

http://cararacing.tripod.com/

http://www.csfa.info/

You have more selection in the smaller gazehounds, especially the primitive breeds.

Basenji:

Cirneco dell Etna:

Pharoah Hound:

lefty

 

[dcg]

Am beginning intermediate obedience classes w/ my pup on the 12th, and there's a French Bulldog in the class. It'll be my first time meeting one, but I'll be happy to ask the owner about him/her if you don't mind the wait.

There are also apparently a couple of puggles in the class, and another tiny breed that I can't remember. Was hoping for some classmates that were more....robust.

 

[lefty]

Chanel, world's oldest dog dies at 21.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090901/...d_s_oldest_dog

lefty

 

[breakfasteatre]

Last saturday, Kina arrived in ontario after a 13 hour trip from Northern Quebec where we rescued her from a high kill rate pound. She is estimated to be a year old, is 46 pounds right now, and is an Alaskan Malamute

 

[lefty]

^ Great looking dog, but tiny Malamute.

Built for speed, no doubt.

lefty

 

[videocrew]

Originally Posted by kever

What are the experts opinions on French Bulldogs and Whippets?? I really like English Bulldogs, but the health problems, short lifespan, and amount of daily cleaning needed are starting to scare me a bit. I also like Greyhounds, but they are a bit bigger than I want. Frenchies and Whippets seem to fit what I'm looking for a bit better, but i have no experience with either.

I know the body types are almost the complete opposite, but for some reason they both really interest me more so than any other breeds. From reading about them, they seem to have good temperments, health, lifespans, companionship, need limited grooming, can live in smaller spaces (with daily activity), etc. Anybody have experience with either breed and want to share thier thoughts/experiences??

I have a lab/whippet mix. Absolutely phenomenal dog. Incredibly low-key, very shy, almost 0 grooming, lives happily in my apartment, content to just be by my side, gets along well with other dogs, needs daily exercise obviously, but very cool dog.

French bulldogs have always seemed like a lot more trouble than they're worth. They're so stupidly overbred into weirdness that they can't even mate on their own. Have to be artificially inseminated.

 

[JLibourel]

Originally Posted by lefty

^ Great looking dog, but tiny Malamute.

Built for speed, no doubt.

lefty

Undoubtedly a much sounder dog than those gigantic Wakon-line Mals. I kind of wonder if she could be something more on the order of a Canadian Inuit Dog than a true Malamute. Now there's a true working northern breed--very tough, very primitive. A friend of mine ran a team of them for awhile. He was always afraid if he fell down in their midst, they would kill him.

 

[lefty]

To my eye he looks like what would be called an Alaskan Husky, which is not a breed but a working descriptor for the preferred speed puller. That's why I said, "built for speed."

I doubt Seppala Siberian (the other breed he could resemble) as they are too valued and rarely get out of breeders hands. He does have typical Mal ears, but then there's the coat.

Siberian Husky:

Alaskan Malamute:

"Typical" Alaskan Husky:

Seppala Siberian:

And, of course, the rarest of the sled dogs, the Chinook:

History of the Chinook:

http://www.chinook-dogs.org/history.html

lefty

 

[Rambo]

Originally Posted by NakedYoga

He responds to a multitude of commands, but his best is, "Beer me!" Upon this command, Rodeo will walk to the refrigerator, open it (via a small dish rag tied to the handle), and bring you an adult beverage stored on the bottom rack of the refrigerator. If he opens the door too wide and it stays open, he will close it with his nose. He comes with us to parties, and he will do his most famous trick anywhere, as long as a rag is tied to the refrigerator door handle
That's awesome. Does he only bottles or can he do cans too?

Originally Posted by oman

 

[JLibourel]

Originally Posted by lefty

To my eye he looks like what would be called an Alaskan Husky, which is not a breed but a working descriptor for the preferred speed puller. That's why I said, "built for speed."

I doubt Seppala Siberian (the other breed he could resemble) as they are too valued and rarely get out of breeders hands. He does have typical Mal ears, but then there's the coat.

Siberian Husky:

Alaskan Malamute:

"Typical" Alaskan Husky:

Seppala Siberian:

And, of course, the rarest of the sled dogs, the Chinook:

History of the Chinook:

http://www.chinook-dogs.org/history.html

lefty

Lefty, usually you would be hard put to post a breed I hadn't heard of, but the Seppala was a new one on me. More of a strain than a breed properly speaking I gather. It looks like a much finer, hardier, more wolfish dog than the standard AKC show-pet-type Sibe, which has never done much for me. (But then I am not terribly into "northern"/lupoid dogs.) I just read on a Seppala website how, when it was proposed that fresh stock be acquired from Siberia for Siberian Husky bloodlines, the AKC forbade it. How I detest and despise the whole dog show subculture!

Whatever the virtues of the Chinook--I can recall reading one of those Susan Conant dog mysteries that centered around a Chinook--they just look too damn much like something you would find in any animal shelter. (Which I know is bloody inconsistent of me considering what I just said about the show dog subculture.)

 

[lefty]

That's interesting in that the AKC allowed new Basenji stock into the studbook. Twice, I believe. Jeffrey Bragg (Seppala breeder) wrote a reasonable argument for the addition of new blood into established breeds that are fading, but I think he has few champions at the major registries. Purebred Dog Breeds into the Twenty-First Century -- Achieving Genetic Health for Our Dogs Now I feel challenged to find another breed you've never heard of. Top of my head, Rampur? lefty P.S. I assume we're not counting rare and regional French hunting breeds of which there are a million or so.

 

[JLibourel]

^Rampur is an Indian greyhound, is it not? (And I wouldn't cheat and look it up on the web, being a sportsman.)

I should think most of those innummerable French hunting breeds--Grand blu de Gascogne, Billy, Poitevin, etc., etc.--show up in the more comprehensive all-breed dog books.

 

[lefty]

Massive Indian gazehound or so the legends went. I'm mentally tapped out and we've probably discussed every favourite breed of mine in this or the "gay/not gay" dog threads. I was going to say Trigg, but I believe that's a Am Foxhound strain. Blue Lacy? Feist? Huntaway? One of the many regional Curs? I remember Naroditsky trying to sell me a Tunnel Terrier, but I'm not convinced they're a viable breed. Got it! Olde Red English:

lefty

 

[A.K.A.]

Originally Posted by lefty

Don't screw with the livestock in Turkey.

lefty

lefty,
The Anatolian is a bad ass when provoked by a perceived threat, but this is how they are in the house and most of the time:

That is my boy Hannibal.

 

[robin]

Originally Posted by A.K.A.

lefty,
The Anatolian is a bad ass when provoked by a perceived threat, but this is how they are in the house and most of the time:

That is my boy Hannibal.
Like every other dog.