Archive for the ‘Dogs’ Category

Belgrade Dog Show 2008

Tuesday, November 4th, 2008

I was at my first dog show at Sunday trying to figure out how to get into the breeding/show dog business

I came like 90 minutes late so I missed Dogo Argentino’s, German Shepherds and American Staffordshire Terriers

but I got to see other interesting breeds

my favorite breed is Cane Corso because it is strong, mastiff, calm, smart and obedient
and it’s really easy to show him, he will patiently wait for his turn to go to the show ring and you wouldn’t need any help showing him to the referee

but there’s one big problem with Cane Corso… drooling
I mean, a LOT of drooling
which is really bad because it’s such a great breed

I saw this one Cane Corso that was 11 months old, I guess some people from Zagreb own him
he was HUGE
really HUGE!
and he stood from all the other dogs in his age group, all of them were smaller and not his quality

but the problem was, the owners were nervous, since it was both their and the dogs first show
so they made a couple of mistakes handling the dog, trying to switch guides, calling the dog while he was running… that kind of stuff
and they lost :(
I was really pulling for them to win the show

so, I can easily breed Cane Corso and show him but drooling is a big negative

I’ve missed Dogo Argentino show but I got to see the dogs around the show ring and they were impressive in size and demeanor. All of them were calm except for one Dogo that was really aggressive and was caged.
they weren’t drooling which was a big + when you think about Cane Corso
but I somehow have the impression that they are not really smart
sure they’re nice, obedient but I want to see some Dogo obedience, tricks etc.

now let me talk about Rottweilers
I consider rotties my favorite breed right now
they are strong, smart, calm, trainable
they don’t drool much although I guess they drool some but nothing like Cane Corso

but they also tend to overeat (I would fix that ;) ), can show people agression (I would influence that), and they’ve got REALLY strong prey drive
I mean they lock on to something and they are REALLY focused on that
and that’s something I think is misused at the dog shows, or at least this one

rotties had the entire ring, a huge ring, just for themselves for the whole duration of the dog show
what I didn’t like were people clowning themselves with toys so that the dog would stand focused on the toy and the ref could see the dog better
now, the ref didn’t ask those people to goof around
some of them were running outside the ring while the dogs were running in the ring circle, calling the dogs, playing funny sounds from using dog toys etc.
I REALLY didn’t like that

from what I’ve seen, it’s really tough to show a rottie
you need to have someone to occupy dog’s attention while you’re with him in the ring
that means either taking someone with you (wife, friend, cousin) that will loose the day with you or paying someone for the goofing job

Doberman Pinschers were a bit easier to show than rotties but not that easy
you still need to have someone to goof around with dog toys so that the dog would focus on the toys
but the ring is smaller, the dogs are not as aggressive as rotties, and dobbies don’t have such strong drives as rotties
or at least that’s what I saw
dobbies looked impressive with their athletic build and size
they looked great without tail and with cropped ears but I guess it’s cruel to the dogs
but on the other hand, how does a dobbie with a tail and natural ears look like? nothing much? I guess so

rotties have ugly, curled tails but I wouldn’t cut the tail from my rottie
I guess I’d have to if I was in a breeding job because people wan’t them without the tail

I guess I’ll learn more at my next dog show
but from what I hear, next show wouldn’t be until spring :-/

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Pedigree Dogs Exposed

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008

this has been an eye opening documentary about the misuse of dogs

it talks about the British Kennel Club and the inbreeding health problems of the dogs

inbreeding makes dogs that conform more to the breed standard but health problems are not really taken into account

most common issues include hip, elbow problems, cancer (usually bone or brain tumor), heart, breathing problems, shorter life span etc.

I personally like dogs and have thought about getting a pure bred dog or two, maybe starting a breeding business but after seeing this I have doubts…

I guess working dogs and mixed dogs, those that aren’t bread for beauty, are much healthier and should be a choice when getting a dog

as one person said in a movie, if you punch a dog in the head with a stick and the dog develops head problems you’d probably get arrested or something but if you breed a good looking dog with visible genetic health problems and pass on those genes that replicate the problems to the puppies you are not held responsible

think about it…

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Doing It The Wrong Way

Sunday, June 22nd, 2008

If you’ve been watching Cesar Milan as I have you have probably seen people giving too much affection to their dogs because of one reason or another.

this makes the dog the alpha in the family and usually aggressive to other animals

in Cesar’s show you see all those people that finally see the problem they’ve created by giving too much affection and then they call Cesar to help them control the pet

now, I’m not Cesar Milan but today I met a family that spoiled their dog

it’s a great therapy for the family but poor dog…

I won’t go into details here about the dog but I will say that the owner walks the dog wearing a baseball bat

why?

well because the dog is aggressive (since it thinks it’s an alpha) and attacks other dogs

and instead of handling the dog the right way, the guys wears a baseball bat to kick the other dog in case of the fight ;)

now, he takes his dog on a leash but that’s not the reason to beat the other dog when his dog provokes the other dog

strange… ;)

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Human Behavior

Sunday, June 8th, 2008

you can learn a lot about humans by watching the mess they create with their dogs

I have a neighbor that has a dog his kid brought home

he keeps her on a leash because the dog digs in the yard

instead of telling the dog to stop digging and making a point of it he plans to let the dog walk somewhere away from home which will probably result in the dog starving and dying

these days, I’m watching Cesar Milan’s videos

there you can see all dog behavior problems are actually the problems with the people that don’t know how and why dogs act the way they do

they usually see the dogs as humans and nurture bad behavior by petting the dogs

and this revels things not so many people want to talk about

in many families the wife is the one leading the pack

instead of the wife and the husband doing it together

and more disturbingly

it shows the poor state the todays family is in, in regards to leadership

the authorities don’t do much to promote social values, correct behaviors, morals

and as a result you have broken families and dog troubles

families just don’t know how to handle owning a dog

and probably, families don’t know the right way to handle kids

or the relationship between the husband and the wife

in my opinion, both a guy and a girl feel a need to have sex (hormones kick in) so they do it and then they are usually stuck with a kid (unless they use protection)

and all kind of bad things happen from that point on

it’s really dumb

and the real problem is we just don’t have a plan as a society as to what is the best way to behave, to do in our lives

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Cesar’s Way

Tuesday, April 29th, 2008

finally, I have read a non computer related book ;)

this time it’s a book about the dogs called Cesar’s Way by Cesar Milan

and it’s not a dog training book as I thought, it’s a dog behavior book, a dog psychology book

my dog, Tony, is getting a bit old and I’m trying to use the few years he has left the best way I can

and prepare for a new dog…

now the good thing is that I am the calm assertive pack leader that book describes

I newer knew I should describe myself in those words (with English not being my native language) but that’s it

and that’s a good thing

Cesar advocates three things that are important for a dog, exercise, discipline and affection, in that exact order

well my dog has always had a big back yard but as I found out by reading that book that is not enough

I should have walked him

he’s got this problem with his neck, probably because he ate something years before, maybe a chicken or a fish bone

I took him to a veterinary but they were unable to find the source

because of that, he coughs when I put a leash on him

so I can’t really use leash to train him

he’s spent all his life in my back yard and walking the street in front of my house but he never got outside of that except for veterinary visits

I’ve been taking him lately with me in the car for a ride to get him used to the outdoors

the first time he threw up, but now he’s relaxed a bit

he got his discipline from the start, we’re like Cesar’s Mexican people, we tell the dog where his place is in our family

so, no problem with that

the kids, the neighbors, love him and bring him food

and he gets the affection

so he’s very obedient, a bit shy

anyway, Cesar’s book has helped me understand dogs better, understand how they work and how we should live with them

I recommend it :)

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