9 year old. Armed robbery. Carjacking. WTFs?

[regexcellent]

I've never seen high school cheerleaders in 10 square inches of clothing, only short skirts.

[Sava]

cheerleaders

wales

I can't name a single thing Wales or a Welshman has ever done to contribute to humanity... except being something we can all point and laugh at.

[MichaeltheGreat]

cheerleaders

wales

I can't name a single thing Wales or a Welshman has ever done to contribute to humanity... except being something we can all point and laugh at.

Corgis.

[Hauldren Collider]

I want to convince my parents to buy a dog, here's the line of argument I plan to take:

1. Your house is empty now and you could use companionship
2. I would come home as often as possible if you had a dog
3. Dogs are awesome

Thoughts?

[onodera]

I want to convince my parents to buy a dog, here's the line of argument I plan to take:

1. Your house is empty now and you could use companionship
2. I would come home as often as possible if you had a dog
3. Dogs are awesome

Thoughts?

Corgis

[MichaeltheGreat]

I want to convince my parents to buy a dog, here's the line of argument I plan to take:

1. Your house is empty now and you could use companionship
2. I would come home as often as possible if you had a dog
3. Dogs are awesome

Thoughts?

I'm a proponent of rescues, for a few reasons. If you/they want a specific breed, there are breed-specific rescues all over the US. My parents are in their mid-80s, so they don't want young, high energy dogs, and they were never big dog people anyway. They've worked out deals with a few breed rescues where they'll take senior dogs that nobody else wants. They got one a few months ago, an older poodle that had some medical problems, and was triaged for immediate euthanasia, but the county shelter (like most in decent size states) is connected with various rescues, so the dog went from a death sentence in Yuma, AZ, to a new home in the space of less than a week to transport her and get some prelim vet work done. Turns out after the major gingivitis infection was dealt with, the dog is otherwise in awesome condition and has a great personality.

The corgi in that photo came from a breed rescue - he'd been in a funky situation with an old woman who didn't know what she was doing, got a puppy from a breeder as "company" for her older dog (who was so old all it did was sleep). Then the old dog dies, the woman has a stroke and needs a walker, then goes into assisted living. Meanwhile, young dog is untrained, never socialized, apparently locked in a closet when the cleaning people clean the place with the old woman, so he gets nervous and scared ****less of everything, and never goes outside except on a small fenced in yard where he's kept for hours. Then the poor guy develops a grass contact allergy, and his paws and underbelly erupt, then the itching gets so bad he rubs all the hair from around his eyes and muzzle.

Pretty bad case, so it's iffy, but he meets Zoe (other dog in the pic, also a rescue mix of a black lab/German wirehair pointer mix and redbone coonhound. ****ing AWESOME dog - she's got the obsessive traits of the lab mixed with the stubborn/good ol' girl Kraut/southern traits. At first, she took on Cody like a mom with a puppy, but they've gotten more brother and sister now. When he first met Zoe, she was a near full-size puppy, about nine months. They're meeting at a dog park, and a couple of big blond labs come running up to Cody, and he doesn't know what to do with big dogs, so he starts shaking and pissing himself. Zoe tears after the two labs (each outweighed her by 30 lbs).

Now, Cody is completely fearless of other dogs and most everything else except sudden loud noises. He herds and plays with other dogs (never learned how), and is pretty well-adjusted. Grass allergy is managed by rubbing him down with a wet towel after the dog park, and dipping his feet in a vinegar-water solution at the end. So he went from a mess to a great dog, just by proper training and handling and having another mentally well-adjusted dog to learn from. A year from pissing himself when two labs come after him, now he tears after full-grown ridgebacks and pits when they get rambunctious in the dog park, and they listen to him.

As far as suggestions go:

Avoid a puppy unless they're going to also get an older dog as a mentor dog, or have a neighbor or friends they hang out with who has a well-behaved adult dog at least three years old.

Definitely want to walk the dog - running around in a yard isn't enough to burn off their mental energy, and the walk gives them structure and it's a reward, since it's something they do with their people.

Get a dog that matches their energy level and is compatible with their temperament. If they're sedentary, you don't want a Viszla or Borzoi. If they're high strung, you don't want a high-strung or overly sensitive or overly independent dog. So no poodles, chihuahuas, dalmations, aussie cattle dogs, etc.

Most breeds tend to have pain in the ass characteristics as well as health issues and positive characteristics. Whether it's excess energy, high strung, clingy, whatever - most breeds have personality traits that can be positive or negative depending on your specific situation.

If you get a working or herding dog, or a hound or most terriers, they want to do what they're bred for, or a good substitute (in the dog's brain), otehrwise they get all frustrated and high-strung.

The nice thing about rescues and mixed breeds is that with rescues, you can get a lot of a sense of how they are temperamentally just from spending a little time with them. The mutt advantage is that they tend to dilute and mix those characteristics that can make the underlying breeds such a pain in the ass if they're not exactly what you're looking for. In my experience (50 years of having dogs, 40 years of rescue and training minus deployment times), mixed breed dogs have better overall temperament and make for better companion animals than breeds do, unless your lifestyle and living environment is really geared to a specifif breed. They also tend to live longer and have less acute health issues than many breeds.

The other thing to do is go to some basic training and behavior classes - learning to do it right makes a big difference.

As far as training goes, positive reinforcement is definitely way more effective - it's not just a hippie-dippie don't hurt the dog thing. Two reasons. Dogs are, ultimately, about as sharp as a bowling ball. They associate things immediately, but not if there is some time separation. Positive training lets you work with that, because you can use a clicker or praise word to give immediate feedback, then follow up with a treat. By the time you react with negative reinforcement, something else has usually happened, and the dog isn't sure what you're reacting to. They may also not see you're reacting to them, and instead think you're reacting to something else in the environment (that other dog, the baby, that evil cat), and instead of correcting their behavior, you end up cueing a hostile reaction to whatever the dog thinks got you worked up.

Dogs are also simply better wired to respond favorably to good stuff. "This got me fed and praised, so I should do it again." The only way I'd use negative reinforcement (typically a remote shock collar) is with specialized training, like an MWD, security dog, or specific hunting dog types. I'd use negative reinforcement only as a failsafe backup to positive reinforcement, or for dual control training - for example, you want a security or police dog to chase down a subject and restrain him, but not rip his throat out unless the subject attacks the dog. Same thing with a retriever - you want it to go out and get the duck if it can, but not kill itself or get stuck trying to get a duck that dropped in in unaccessible area.

[Sava]

holy ****ing TLDR batman

[Hauldren Collider]

Uh, I meant like, "how do I get my parents to buy a dog", not "what dog should my parents get". Thanks for the advice, though--will definitely keep that in mind when I eventually get a dog.

[MichaeltheGreat]

You gotta get 'em after the right kind of dog. Dogs do a good job of selling themselves. You just want to make sure they don't get the wrong type of dog so they unload it when they figure it's not a good match.

Also rescues (even breed rescues) are much cheaper, so you don't have the sticker shock that comes with buying a papered dog from a breeder.

[MichaeltheGreat]

holy ****ing TLDR batman

Ignorance is bliss, huh?

[Sava]

Ignorance is bliss, huh?

No offense. There just wasn't any information in that post that was useful to me.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Get a dawg. It's good for ya. Not one of those ****ing foo-foo things someone like MOBY's boyfriend would have, or one of those little ankle-biters, but a real dawg.

[Sava]

I'm too lazy to even clean out the catbox to my cats' liking, let alone put in the effort necessary to care for an animal that deserves a lot more attention than I can provide.

I like dogs... just can't take care of one.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Dogs cure laziness.

Sun is finally out, so I'm off to the cathedral to celebrate mass in the Church of Dog.

[Sava]

Dogs cure laziness.

Vagina is the only remedy I've found. Even then, I develop a tolerance and need to be weaned off before resuming treatment.