Thinking about buying a dog...

[Slater]

Oh good Lord...a PETA person....I didn't see you there when I posted, O' Tree Hugger of Infinite Wisdom.

:: Rolls over and dies of an overdose of environMENTALism ::

bweh? o.O who are you adressing?

[Maledicte]

Better not methinks, pet overpopulation is already a very large problem in the cities without delibrately adding to it - the pounds would definately be the best bet. To be sure, those puppy mill scum don't know the first thing about "humane" in the least, it's just more of the application of the cold dehumanizing (for it cuts both ways) industrial process to victimize everyone involved. By no means go to a pet store for your dog, fpr if you contributed to the collapse of the puppy mills, it would be a joyous day indeed, much better to save one from the reluctant canine concentration camps, the pounds who are forced to do violent cleanup of our senseless decadence.

That's...what I was saying, to NOT buy from puppy mills.

[GhostontheNet]

That's...what I was saying, to NOT buy from puppy mills.

And so I agreed with you on that one, and wrote so. I complain that on the sum of all consequences the combination of puppy mills, dog breeders, failure to spay and neuter, pet abandonment, and the like contribute to a "pet" (for such a term is no appropriate term for the strays) overpopulation which the shelters must, against their will very often solve with lethal measures with consistency in an organized system. The pounds are not themselves bad or evil for doing this, but rather, they are stuck in a less than ideal cleanup of a system which is still maintaining a distorted stability due to these factors outside of their control. For this reason, I advised against even the use of a breeder to avoid playing a hand in the problem on the micro-scale. On the larger scale, my complaints of decadence and waste is an indictment of the tendency in industrial societies like ours to both produce and purchase more goods than we can actually need or can use, with vast surpluses of waste left over to cause harm one way or another - not for no reason had I previously cited the unrelated example of textiles and used clothes in Africa, itself caused by on a few steps up the chain by a codified overproduction in our own clothing industries. I do indeed think far too many things of our industrial way of life are all too highly questionable from their beginnings in history to the present, and I cannot help but wonder about the lengths of longsuffering of God for all our nations' abominations and greed and selfishness and opressions and sacrilege within and exported.

I have been criticised by a certain 'psychologist', for alleged insanity and membership in PETA. For the record, I will declare I have no interest in joining PETA and that I eat meat with frequency. However, my love for the entirety of God's very good creation lends me to a respect for the entirety of it, but I know that the price of my own living is the death, and very often the bloodshed of other creatures. I believe that the rightfulness or wrongfulness in an animal's death at our hands consists of whether or not that death actually served any good or whether it went to waste. Because we are mandated by the New Testament to prayer and thanksgiving before God to stay in tune with God's creational purposes like the Old Testament law itself was writen to do to avoid defilement in the new step of being able to eat all manner of things, I thank God for delivering a portion of that creation into my hands for the purposes of my continual survival, which I pray that with the hand of God upon me that it has sufficient value to redeem the resources I used in my life. In general though, to the liberal, I am conservative, to the conservative, I am liberal, I am all banes to all men, because few understand Yeshua Christ's kingdom of God politics.

[shooraijin]

I think we're getting a little further afield than we should with this topic. Any other specific recommendations for the original poster?

[Heart of Sword]

(I just poked in here to check PMs and figured I'd post here)

My neighbor has a beagle. It makes the most horrendous noise. "BYAAAAAAA! BYOOOOOOOO! BYAAAAAA! BYOOOOOO!" like a broken siren for hours on end. So if you don't like noise, don't get a beagle. And if you have neighbors...please spare them.

I got my dog from the pound. I saved her life. Yes, pups from breeders need homes too, but you can find purebred dogs, even puppies, at pounds.

[Slater]

WHOA IT'S HOS, UNBANNED

Yeah, as far as where you adopt a dog from... uhm... I don't know. My last 2 dogs I saved from certain death, one found near dead on the road and the other from the pound. As far as I truly care... it doesn't matter. A pet to love is a pet to love for me.

[USSRGirl]

Slater, not you. I was refering to Ghostonthenet.

[USSRGirl]

Question for all enviornmentalist: What do you do when an endangered animal is eating an endangered plant? :0\

[Slater]

uhm... that's really offtopic...

[Heart of Sword]

WHOA IT'S HOS, UNBANNED

I was banned by request. I'm not "back" but I figured I'd post my little Beagle-experience here.

Question for all enviornmentalist: What do you do when an endangered animal is eating an endangered plant? :0\

Let nature take its course. By the way, I don't really appreciate your flaming of people because they have different values than you do. But your question has been answered, so...back on topic.

Yeah, don't buy from a puppy mill; PETA is right about puppy mills (no I am not a "PETA person" but I do believe that we should be good stewards of what we have dominion over). There's a lot of abuse going on at puppy mills, so I don't think it's right to support them...anyway, there's a really good chance that a dog you buy at the pet store will have something wrong with it due to diseases at puppy mills and improper care.

[USSRGirl]

Ok, ok. I understand this isn't a political board so I shall silence my wrath for now and simply content myself with kicking trees on my front lawn.

Puppy mills are terrible and often the litters will be sick. You don't want to support that, and most people (besides radical tree-huggers) don't buy from puppy mills/commercial pet stores.

[Heart of Sword]

Okay then...

Check the classifieds of your newspaper. I'm sure someone else has already mentioned that.

[shooraijin]

Question for all enviornmentalist: What do you do when an endangered animal is eating an endangered plant? :0\

Seriously, let's not continue in this vein, please (you either, HoS).

To the OP, any decision reached?

[Heart of Sword]

If you want a dog that's playful and not too big, you can try a boxer (some boxers, especially females, are fairly small dogs). Boxers are wonderful dogs...they're extremely loyal and friendly, but are extremely protective and are excellent guard dogs. However my uncle had one who bit his friend, and bit me, because we were jumping in the swimming pool and he wanted to rescue us (he was afraid we were going to drown if we jumped in). So they don't really know their own strength. But they are good dogs, aside from the slobber. He was also an UNneutered dog, but he never, ever, ever rode on our legs. He was quite a gentleman of a dog.

[mitsuki lover]

Always start with people you know,friends and family members,as they are sure to know more about what you are looking for than a complete stranger.

[Heart of Sword]

And by the way, if you go to a breeder, ASK TO SEE ONE OF THE PARENTS. Both if you can. If you're not allowed to see the mother (or father), don't buy a dog from them. You have to interact with the parents to see what their temperaments are like, especially if you're getting a big dog (like a German Shepherd) that could kill you.

[Alice]

We have a Golden Retriever, and she's great. But they're not all as nice as she is. I know a girl whose family has a Golden that's really wild. Ours is extremely calm.

[heero yuy 95]

Go with a mutt! they are the coolest and you get interesting combinations! ^_^

All the way! and mutts often don't have the health problems that purebreds are plagued by.

[Heart of Sword]

We have a Golden Retriever, and she's great. But they're not all as nice as she is. I know a girl whose family has a Golden that's really wild. Ours is extremely calm.

Agh, so does my friend. Her Golden is insane...she kills EVERY small animal she can get her jaws on (including my friend's birds) and leaps up on everyone who walks in the door. I actually suffered from bruises and bloody scratches from that dog's "hugs"...x__x

[HwaRang777]

um...yeah... hi it's me, the original poster. I don't want to get political (and I won't) but keep in mind that this thread is about what kind of dog to get and where to get it from. Plus, I've done debates on PETA. I'm not going to say that they're evil or saviors for animals, but I will say this: Do your own research. If you think it's all that great (or bad) from sites that are pro-PETA or con-PETA, then look at the opposite side of the spectrum.

There, I'm done

I just hope this thread doesn't get locked...

Oh and by the way, no, we still haven't come up with a decision, I might just get one once I have my own place or something

[Stephen]

Why would you bring up a debate that had already been silenced by a mod? Don't try to throw gas on a fire while yelling "no fires" If the whole PETA thing is mentioned in one more single post, the thread will be locked. Now, continue dog discussion please.

[mitsuki lover]

The perfect dog ought to fit your personality.

[rocklobster]

Don't buy a pit bull. I've heard too many horror stories and I believe there is NO way to get rid of their killer instinct.

[desperado]

From experience I will say do not buy a purebreed, mutts are much better personality wise for the most part and disease wise (purebreed dogs tend to get personality and genetic defects breed into them...)

[Heart of Sword]

Don't buy a pit bull. I've heard too many horror stories and I believe there is NO way to get rid of their killer instinct.

Actually, I know a family with a wonderful pit bull. Nikki guards their toddler with her life and is very playful with the little girl. The girl is almost 2 now and they're best friends.

I've also heard horror stories about St. Bernards, and Huskies, and Malamutes, and German Shepherds. No dog breed is dangerous in general, and no dog breed is always safe.


As for Great Pyreness (sp?), they're great dogs, but major drool machines. They're also ENORMOUS.