Stupid things pet owners do!

Subject: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Rasener
Date: 28 Jul 07 - 04:32 AM

I was just remembering the time my wife took the dog out on a freezing winters evening.
At the time we were living in village on the outskirts of Amsterdam.
It was dark and my wife had let the dog off the lead and he went hell for leather at the ducks who were on the icy canal. Anyway the dog tried to come to a halt by one of the bridges but couldnt stop. There was no ice under the bridge and the dog went hurtling into the water and couldn't get out.
There was nobody around to help, so my wife went onto the ice and rescued the dog. She could have so easily gone in as well and could possibly had died.

Have you ever done anything like that?

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Rasener
Date: 28 Jul 07 - 04:33 AM

Sorry forgot to put this in the BS section. Any elfs around to move it please :-)

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 28 Jul 07 - 04:49 AM

Well done her, it's instinct isn't it, afterwards you realise how much danger you put yourself in.
To drift sideways immediately. My greatest complaint about pet owners is the ones who treat them like surrogate children, usually to the detriment of the dog. You know the thing, overfed, under exercised, not under control, on the furniture IN the owners bed, YEEEUCH.
I love my dog, but she belongs on the floor, and in her own bed, and the tongue that licks her arse and other private parts, shall never lick my face thank you!
Giok

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: GUEST,IBO
Date: 28 Jul 07 - 05:27 AM

well said Giok.Some owners are seriosly mentally ill.Ive heard people say MY DOGS ARE MY BABIES.They should be stuck in a cell with padded walls.I was eating at a friends house once and after the meal the dogs were eating leftovers out of the pans.Isnt that somehow unhygenic knowing that their tongues lick shit?

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Blowzabella
Date: 28 Jul 07 - 06:48 AM

You know, it always puzzles me when people say dogs are filthy creatures who lick their bits - ermm .... at least, apart from sniffing, they generally stick to their own bits!!

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: kendall
Date: 28 Jul 07 - 07:41 AM

Left over dog saliva is no worse than left over food. If the dishes are washed in a dishwasher in water that no bare hand could tolerate, what's the problem?

My dog is never allowed to lick my face,or get on my bed or sofa.
Seems to me it's mostly single old women who make fools of their pets and themselves by treating animals like they were human.
You see them all the time, little useless Pugs, Beagles, other small breeds so over fed they look like bowling balls with legs, huffing and puffing along with their over fed human keepers.

A frend of mine says he had company once that stayed a bit too long, and one night after dinner, he put all the plates on the floor for Fido to lick clean. After the dog was done, he took the plates and stacked them up in the cupboard. Next morning, the company left, and he took the plates down and washed them.
Now, that's creative problem solving!

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Becca72
Date: 28 Jul 07 - 08:06 AM

Sorry, I like my cats more than I like most people's children....

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 28 Jul 07 - 08:41 AM

Not just single women Kendall, I think it's more like people without enough love in their life, who need the undemanding love a pet gives, without any conditions attached. Still it's a compensatory thing though as you say.
Giok

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 28 Jul 07 - 08:46 AM

Nothing wrong with Beagles. Little hard nuts most of them. Good working breed.

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Leadfingers
Date: 28 Jul 07 - 09:51 AM

There's not a lot wrong with all the small breeds , IF they are allowed to be 'Normal Dogs' ! Though Miniature poodles dont seem to be normal any way ! LOL

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: katlaughing
Date: 28 Jul 07 - 09:53 AM

My sisters are childless and overly-indulge their dogs, but the dogs bring a lot of joy and love into their lives. Seems to me people are a little harsh to judge in this thread. The dogs are not overweight and they do get taken on walks and they are their "chldren." I shudder to think what the world would be like if lonely folks didn't have a pet or two.

That said, some of the above stories remind me of an old joke. A new preacher came to town and made the rounds, visiting each parishioner for supper as time went on. One time he found himself out on an old farm with its two old lady spinster owners. After supper, each time he offered to help with the dishes, they would wave him off, saying there was nothing a little soap and water wouldn't take care of. Eventually, he took his leave and began to drive off. As they faded from sight, he saw two dogs come loping up in response to their calls, "Soap! Water!"

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: kendall
Date: 28 Jul 07 - 11:16 AM

I have no problem with people who favor small dogs. It's the way so many treat those dogs that gets up my nose. I have a strong preference for big dogs, and those little yappers have no place in my space.
Becca72, I like your cats more than most children, and I've never met your cats.
Of course. my own kids are an exception, and my brother's Llasa Apso,and my daughter's Pugs. Sounds like a Monty Python skit coming on...

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: SINSULL
Date: 28 Jul 07 - 11:35 AM

Seamus is allowed on my furniture. So are the cats. If Alice had known how you feel about that, Giok, she would have marked you. Or did she????

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 28 Jul 07 - 11:52 AM

I said dogs Mary Sunshine, even I wouldn't be so stupid as to try and keep cats off the furniture :)
Giok

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Becca72
Date: 28 Jul 07 - 11:57 AM

That's like trying to nail Jello to a tree....

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Rasener
Date: 28 Jul 07 - 12:32 PM

What I find dangerour, is the dog owners taht allow their dogs to jump all around the car whilst they are driving. Never understood that.

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Rasener
Date: 28 Jul 07 - 12:32 PM

dangerous

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Jul 07 - 12:51 PM

Back to the original question, my vet told me about a stupid thing some dog owners did to animals they used to bring to him. They took their dogs for a walk (on pavement) in the middle of the day in one of our Texas 100-degree-plus heat waves. Dogs absorb and release a lot of heat through their feet. These two smallish dogs collapsed some time into the walk, and the owners took them home and made matters worse by icing the whole dogs down. They died at his office after they brought them in because their internal organs were bleeding, the vet said.

"Don't ever walk dogs in the heat like that to begin with, and if they get hot, just put cool water on their feet. The ice shocked them too much" and contributed to their death, he said.

My dogs live outside. They sometimes come inside the back door to eat if it is raining out, but they sleep in the garage. They have a "spa" (a child's wading pool--don't tell them it wasn't manufactured specifically for dogs) and several buckets of water scattered around the yard. They're confined to a large back yard where they have lots of shade. They're great dogs and I spend a lot of time with them because I work in the yard a lot and I walk them frequently, early or late when it is hot out.

SRS

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Jul 07 - 01:45 PM

My mother has spent a great deal of her life agonizing about whether her little doggies will wander off the property and get hit by a passing car. She eventually went through great expense putting in one of those invisible electronic fences that is buried underground. It gives the dog a shock if he attempts to cross the perimeter through a radio receiver thing he wears around his neck. The result? Valdy, who is the most neurotic dog I have ever seen, received his first shock at the property line...panicked...and refused to go outside at all anymore, opting to henceforth perform all his bodily functions indoors where it's "safe"!

The electronic fence failed utterly in achieving its purpose and was left to rot. Valdy eventually was persuaded, with much difficulty, to venture outdoors again, not wearing his receiver.

The end of another expensive exercise in total futility.

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Megan L
Date: 28 Jul 07 - 02:21 PM

Those electric fences are a great idea all husbands should be fitted with receivers it would solve a lot of problems. ;-)

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Jul 07 - 02:24 PM

Yes, instead of putting it around their neck, you could tie it around their _______. Guaranteed to keep your man in line at all times.

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Ebbie
Date: 28 Jul 07 - 02:26 PM

I'm of two - or more - minds here. On the one hand it takes me aback when someone says to the dog, Come to Mommy or Go to Daddy or whatever. Or when they hold a birthday party for their pets. And I don't do either of those things.

My local pet shelter has a new slogan: "Pets are People too". No. They are not. I have no doubt that if their house was burning down, parents who also happened to have a beloved pet or five, would have no hesitation when it came to which they were going to save first.

However I also realize that often their pet is the most intimate friend in some people's lives and who am I to say how they should treat them?

How about a thread on 'Stupid things parents do'? I have a number of observations on that!

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: kendall
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 08:29 AM

One thing that always irritates me is to see a dog in a car with the windows down just a crack. If it is hot it's a cruel way to get rid of your pet.
Is it not generally known that a dog's natural temperatrure is 100 degrees to start with?

If I have to leave my dog in the car to go into a store, I leave the engine running with the A/C on full bore. A spare key in the wallet lets me back in.

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 08:40 AM

It's illegal in the UK to leave your car running on a public road, with nobody in it.
G

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Rasener
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 09:01 AM

What do you mean John, the dog was in it. The dog has probably driven Kendall home on many an occasion. :-)

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 09:03 AM

I will avoid that remark like the plague mate.
G.

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: goatfell
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 10:02 AM

I can't undewrstand these dog owners keep saying to their dogs, come and see daddy or comeand see mummy, does that mean they have sex with the dog and the dog is their son or daughter, or if they go and visited a friend, their friend has a dog and their dog sniffs their crouch and their friend then says oh they must smell my dog, does that mean that to have being having sex with their dog as well

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Jeri
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 10:39 AM

"come and see daddy or come and see mummy, does that mean they have sex with the dog and the dog is their son or daughter"
Arran, that's just not right...
Your relationship with your parents is not that common.

Kendall, if Seamus' feet reached the pedals, you wouldn't want to leave him in the car with the keys in it. This is why I think a slightly not current country hit is pretty funny. Hang on...

He was driving to the store, and he was looking for
A bigger hammer, a job to complete
There was no one at home, he couldn't leave the dog alone
He was sittin' in the back seat
He was in the parking lot, but it was really hot
Well, it was that time of year

He had a hammer on his mind and I guess he wasn't thinkin'
He left the car and the air conditioner on
When he came back both the car and dog were gone
He could not believe his eyes
Oh, what a cruel surprise
He was so mad, he threw his fists up in the air

Seamus took the wheel
He took it in his paws
I didn't know that he could drive
Where would he go?
He's breaking lots of laws
I'll kill him if he's still alive
Seamus took the wheel...

Jesus, Take the Wheel
(James/Lindsey/Sampson)

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Sorcha
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 10:46 AM

Drive around in a pick up with an unsecured dog in the bed. Leave dogs in pick up bed, parked in HOT sun for hours. No shade, water, etc. Not to mention burning metal of the pick up bed.

Chain dogs up all day.

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Rasener
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 11:27 AM

This isn't Kendall - is it ?

Dog driving car

LOL :-)

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 11:51 AM

That's exactly what most dogs would do if they could drive...

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 12:04 PM

My dogs have the Invisible Fence. There is a lot of training that goes with it. They need to learn, by seeing flags, what their boundaries are and they don't go in the yard without being on the leash and you there to reinforce the flag boundaries.

Once they're used to that, you move up to the sound component of the collar. They wear them and have a rubber tip over the probes so they only hear the beep, don't feel the shock. Again, they're not in the yard without you, and you teach them that the appropriate response is to jump back if they get too close and hear the beep.

When the rubber tips come off each dog has to experience the shock, and because I have two dogs we had to take them one at a time to the front yard so they wouldn't see the other dog get the shock or they wouldn't both get it. They do learn from each other in this way. Anyway, once they figure out the shock and the noise and the flags are all related, they do contract the space they'll travel in to avoid the fence, choosing to stay in the middle of the yard. That's when you have to continue working with them, letting them learn that they have all of the yard except those edges. If you saw how my two race around the yard full-out chasing each other you'd know they have those boundaries down. They race straight for the fence but always veer off with a few feet to spare. They get the full use of the space they are allowed now.

SRS

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Sorcha
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 01:30 PM

So do ours. It's called a fence. 4' high chain link. Other dogs can't get in either.

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 01:33 PM

Good explanation of the training procedure, Stilly.

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Sorcha
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 01:42 PM

It is, and I mean no disrespect, Stilly, but I've known dogs who quickly figured out that a few seconds of discomfort means freedom!!! One was a Malamute/wolf hybrid and nothing would stop that dog except a high fence.

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: SINSULL
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 01:45 PM

Unfortunately, two scenarios are possible. A bigger, nastier dog comes into the space and your dog is trapped. Or something chases your dog out of the invisible fence and now he can't get back in without getting a shock.
I have seen both - my neighbor has an invisible fence.

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: SharonA
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 08:56 PM

I'm watching a bandmate and his wife do something that doesn't seem "stupid" (unwise, perhaps...) but the wife's logic baffles me. Her mother has gone into an assisted-living situation and couldn't take her cat, so bandmate's wife took it in. They had three cats at home already, two of which are littermates (brother and sister)... and the new arrival is a littermate (sister) of these two. The two siblings at home hadn't seen the other one since they were kittens some four years ago. The two siblings at home are mellow, while the lone girl is high-strung and aggressive, habitually attacking people's feet. (The fourth cat in this scenario is a foundling unrelated to the others, and he's somewhat nervous himself.)

For some reason, bandmate's wife thought that all she had to do was show the new arrival to her old littermates, and then they would all have a family reunion and they would all get along fine. I don't know why the wife expected her cats to recognize their sister.

That was several weeks ago. Predictably, the house has been in an uproar ever since, because the hierarchy of the cats' pecking order has been challenged. The brother cat, the alpha male who had been the most mellow, is now quite agitated and is on occasion attacking even the two cats he was used to living with peaceably (probably to reassert or reinforce his authority). The new arrival must be kept separated from the rest, and let out when the rest are shut away. The unrelated cat is becoming more and more friendly toward me when I'm there (maybe he thinks he can convince me to take him away from all this!).

Someday they might all just get along, but it'll be a long hard road. Wife doesn't want to give away the new cat because she sees the beast as a connection to her mother. My bandmate is not happy but is soldiering on as best he can with his mother-in-law's cat living with him. Now that's true love!

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Grab
Date: 30 Jul 07 - 12:31 PM

If pets are people, I suggest telling the shelter it's in violation of any number of laws. Is the dog registered for its SSN? When did they last fill out a tax return for it? Hell, most dogs are under the age of 18 and some of those purebreeds are farmed out to stud or litter - that's *got* to be illegal...

Graham.

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Rasener
Date: 30 Jul 07 - 01:05 PM

hey thats an idea. Have a council tax (UK) for all animals that people have. So if somebody has a family of 4 and 10 animals, then tax them for 14. Hmmm must send this to Brown.

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Ebbie
Date: 30 Jul 07 - 02:24 PM

Frankly, I suspect they didn't make it up themselves. Is there a national movement that insists "Pets are People too"?

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Crystal
Date: 31 Jul 07 - 09:42 AM

The stupid, and even downright cruel thing that some pet owners do is to feed their cat soya protein insted of meat. Cats digestive systems can't handle plant protein, and they can't absorb all the amino acids they need and eventually can starve to death on three meals a day! Fortunatly the habit of most cats to find several other "owners" in the local area means that they may be OK!

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Sorcha
Date: 31 Jul 07 - 03:35 PM

We are saying 'people'.....NOT human.

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 31 Jul 07 - 03:39 PM

People

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 31 Jul 07 - 04:00 PM

What you are trying to say is that pets have personalities. That is not the same thing as to say that they are people. People are humans.

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Rasener
Date: 31 Jul 07 - 04:18 PM

The people of Folk

Threshers

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Sorcha
Date: 31 Jul 07 - 05:38 PM

Pedants.

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Bee
Date: 31 Jul 07 - 08:54 PM

Villan, I did something very similar to your wife's adventure. Gave me a cold shiver just reading your post. Several years ago I took the dog for a walk across the frozen bog, went further than usual, came over a little rise to find the dog (long hair, 75 pounds) in a broad deep stream that was half frozen over. The banks were vertical; she couldn't climb them, and the ice broke when she tried to crawl up on it. Someone had once put a corduroy bridge across; what was left of it was hanging from the bank and sunk in the stream half way.

I am a weighty woman, but I crawled out on those rotting frozen sticks, caught the dog by the scruff and hauled her out. It was damn stupid, but I don't think I could have lived with letting her drown that way. I reasoned (ha!)I could probably climb out if I did fall in, being taller than the dog and having those ever so useful opposable thumbs.

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: bobad
Date: 31 Jul 07 - 09:48 PM

I let my dog on my bed, I let him lick my face and mouth, I've had dogs for 38 years and have let them all do the same, I bet I'm just as healthy, if not healthier than you who don't - I also have a background in immunology.

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Sorcha
Date: 31 Jul 07 - 10:07 PM

Thank you, bobad. I let the dogs on the furniture including beds, allow some minor face licking, do 'rumbles' on the floor...but! They don't eat human food, ie, table scraps, the cats are NOT allowed on the tables or counters (nor the dogs either, even if they could).

Regarding the word 'people'. IF someday, sentient alien species are found elsewhere in the Universe, will they be 'people' to you????

Great apes, whales, dolphins, and quite a few other animals are sentient, use tools, etc. Does that make them 'people' or not?

So long and thanks for all the fish.

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Ebbie
Date: 31 Jul 07 - 10:45 PM

Sentience is not what makes people human. homo sapien is the technical term. :)

Subject: RE: Stupid things pet owners do!
From: Rasener
Date: 01 Aug 07 - 02:16 AM

Bee - I suupose its understandable to reacte the way you did, butas you say, it has a chilling effect when you look back at it.