Pet Thread

[shafnutz05]

If you're frozen alive, you're not truly dead.

[dodint]

You go first.

[Lemon Berry Lobster]

Cartman did it

[mac5155]

9 lives

[Ad@m]

Speaking of the WKC agility competition in the randomness thread, this is “Verb” the Border Collie.

https://www.foxsports.com/westminster-k ... 0363075604

This is “Pink” I just love their focus and excitement.

https://www.foxsports.com/westminster-k ... 0339523792

[CBear3]

I could watch way too much of them.
We had a Collie, and she was spunky and pretty athletic, but nothing like our current BC/AS puppy. He'll clear from the couch to the ottoman and into the dining room without touching the floor. It's like two jumps totally 16 feet. He also can nearly stand on his hind legs unassisted. And I've realized I need to get more pictures of him for this thread.

[meow]

Our groomer has a half door - it’s about nipple height - for customers to write checks on and so customers can talk to he groomers while keeping the dogs contained. The first time I went to pick our Aussie up, the groomer let her out of her cage and she jumped the half door. Not like landed on it then jumped down. Like totally cleared it. The groomer looks at me totally astonished and said “I’ve had this place 19 years and no dog has ever jumped that door let alone clear it.”

[willeyeam]

Kangaroo mix?

[CBear3]

Our groomer has a half door - it’s about nipple height - for customers to write checks on and so customers can talk to he groomers while keeping the dogs contained. The first time I went to pick our Aussie up, the groomer let her out of her cage and she jumped the half door. Not like landed on it then jumped down. Like totally cleared it. The groomer looks at me totally astonished and said “I’ve had this place 19 years and no dog has ever jumped that door let alone clear it.”

YES!!! I can only imagine how wide the groomer’s eyes got.
That’s the ol’ “I’m not even mad...”

[tifosi77]

I love stories about doggies being awesome.

[Freddy Rumsen]

Probably my favorite thing about my dog is the way she tries to stop me from getting dressed every morning.

It's like she's trying to stop me from leaving forever.

[Shyster]

Yet more dog agility:



It's sorta like watching someone show up at a race track with a dump truck.

[tifosi77]

One of my favorite dog park memories is Carlin leading a pack of half a dozen or dogs on a game of "Chase Me I'm A Beagle", back and forth, all around..... and trailing about 5-6 seconds behind the group was a very determined and raspy English bulldog. Every time they'd crisscross the park.... *zoom left*..... 5 seconds later *huff*huff*huff*huff* would come the bulldog waddling along...... *zoom right*...... the bulldog would slowly turn around and *huff*huff*huff* back the other way in his bulldog waddle. It was hysterical.

[NTP66]

Westminster Dog Show without dogs: https://i.imgur.com/vteytfm.gifv

[RonnieFranchise]

How the hell did my dogs evolve from wolves to being afraid of the clothes basket?

Suck it Darwin.

[Willie Kool]

How the hell did my dogs evolve from wolves to being afraid of the clothes basket?

Because humans. Dogs didn't evolve naturally, they are a devolution from wolves.

[dodint]

Whip it. Into shape.

[redwill]

Because humans. Dogs didn't evolve naturally, they are a devolution from wolves.

IMO there is no such thing as "devolution." Not biologically, anyway. Culturally, economically, politically, maybe. But not biologically. There is only evolution. Adapt to an environment or die. Moreover, there is no unnatural type of evolution. Humans aid in natural selection, but we're natural, too.

In this context, dogs are vastly more successful than wolves. Sure, dogs have had human help, but that's their strategy, so to speak. It's brilliant.

BTW, wolves depend on human aid, too. Without our help, there would be no more wolves in North America. We are kindly allowing them to survive by not killing them. They could not survive without our tolerance and support.

It's one of the things that gets me: these commercials which tout something like "Your dog has the soul of a wolf! Descended from wild hunters. Feed your dog what a wolf eats!" ... Nevermind that dogs have been domesticated for a thousand generations and they have been eating what WE eat. But, whatever. Go ahead and pay three times as much to feed your dog what they say a wolf eats. Like a wolf hunts down a bag of Blue Buffalo dog food ...

[Freddy Rumsen]

My dog flourishes on half eaten PBJ sandwiches.

And loves it. She also sleeps indoors.

I'm pretty sure I'd call that evolution.

[count2infinity]

Btw... the local pet store doesn’t even carry blue buffalo because of the sh*t ton of recalls they’ve had on their food over the years.

[shafnutz05]

We feed our dog Taste of the Wild. We change up the flavor every bag just so she can have some variety.

[Willie Kool]

Because humans. Dogs didn't evolve naturally, they are a devolution from wolves.

IMO there is no such thing as "devolution." Not biologically, anyway. Culturally, economically, politically, maybe. But not biologically. There is only evolution. Adapt to an environment or die. Moreover, there is no unnatural type of evolution. Humans aid in natural selection, but we're natural, too.

Meh. Devolution is defined as a degeneration - a lowering of effective power, vitality, or essential quality to an enfeebled and worsened kind or state. I don't think you can argue honestly that dogs are superior to wolves in any of these ways. Traits have been chosen that only benefit the dog because they are pleasing to humans, not because they are any true evolutionary advantage.

By definition something man-made is unnatural. Dog breeding is a man-made construct and therefore unnatural. Allowing a dog to mate only with another dog chosen by humans is not natural. Not allowing dogs with 'undesirable' traits to breed at all is not natural.

It's one of the things that gets me: these commercials which tout something like "Your dog has the soul of a wolf! Descended from wild hunters. Feed your dog what a wolf eats!" ... Nevermind that dogs have been domesticated for a thousand generations and they have been eating what WE eat. But, whatever. Go ahead and pay three times as much to feed your dog what they say a wolf eats. Like a wolf hunts down a bag of Blue Buffalo dog food ...

Yeah, pretty much just a marketing gimmick for dogs.

Cats, however, are true obligate carnivores who should only be eating meat. We switched to zero carb, 100% meat based food several months ago and our cats are noticeably better for it.

[tifosi77]

You're thinking about it too literally in a 1:1 comparison, which isn't the correct metric imo. Evolution is change in heritable traits over generations in response to environmental pressures, whether those pressures are natural or deliberate (aka selective breeding). Evolution does not necessarily mean 'better', it just means that species responded quickly to that pressure. When it happens in the wild, you get competition and possible extinction. When it happens in the camp, you get housepets.

Would a pack of beagles be able to survive in the wild as effectively as a pack of wolves? No, probably not. Would a pack of wolves be useful to me as hunting companions? No, because they'd eat me. But they shouldn't be qualitatively stack ranked against each other, because they aren't responding to the same evolutionary pressures.

Similarly, I wouldn't bet on the average urbanized human (like, say, me) to last 5 days in the wild. But that human is clearly evolutionary superior to erectus. Likewise, insert your favorite Caveman Lawyer gag here.

[Willie Kool]

I'm not hating on dogs here. I like dogs. While devolution can be argued, the extreme selective breeding that has resulted in modern dogs is unnatural and certainly not natural selection.

[tifosi77]

Yeah, in a way that's also why I'm not super keen on the current trend of people freaking out of GMO food.