IrishAyes
IrishAyes's JournalI can tell you something else, too
The religious right sees red when you say or wear a tee shirt announcing "Jesus Was A Community Organizer!" They seem to think he was a Kock Bros. prototype or something Randian.
Absolutely gorgeous!
I'm jealous. He could've served as a model for the "Chow Likker License" tee I bought.
Give him a big hug from me.
Always love to meet another Chow person
I would've gone for another set when I found myself dogless, but I'm getting old enough to worry about what might happen to any such furkids if tragedy struck me. Around here they'd be put down for sure. The vet loves them but he can't foster every orphaned dog he encounters, especially the big eaters he knows would be unlikely to get adopted and almost certain to eat him out of house and home.
So my thought was to get much smaller dogs that might stand a snowball's chance if I left before they did. Molly Maguire, a mini beagle/pom mix, and Brigid, a stray puppy who looks purebred Jack Russell, are the sweetest little dogs in the world even though they will bark at least in greeting when anyone approaches. All I really need is a reliable alarm system, not guard dogs anymore. The whole town acts daffy over them, perhaps in relief because I didn't get more chows. And the rescue activist who brought them to me is well dug in here, so she should be around if needed further; and she's half my age, so I expect she'll outlive me too.
Well, the author
is apparently a bigtime vet and tv personality w/his own show, so I expected better from him than the average man on the street. It's especially disturbing when prominent professionals dole out such twaddle. BTW, congratulations on your BC's. They're ideally suited to agility trials.
Normally I don't waste time on threads with the word 'royal' in the title
But I try to read all your stuff.
How wonderful that the rich were able to swing this!
A Gentle Defense of Chows
Here's the text of what I consider a polite email I sent to the author of a fine book, The New Encyclopedia of Dogs.
................................................................................
Dear Dr. Fogle,
Stranded in a tiny remote village in northeast ****, USA, where I retired for financial reasons, I don't get much tv. I could afford a satellite dish, but then I couldn't afford to care for my dogs who are far more important. However, I have no doubt I'd love your tv show as well as I do the cancelled dog encyclopedia I bought at a library sale today. The information and photography are wonders to behold.
However, please forgive me that I must take slight issue with your description of the ChowChow on page 181, where you write that he seldom pays attention to anyone but himself.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. I've lived with these dogs, really the best in the world, for much of my life so although not a professional, I do have room to offer correction on that one matter. I'll admit that they tend to be what might be called 'energy efficient', but they still watch everything that goes on around them with great care.
My last two, littermate sisters Joy and Freedom, lived the first eight years of their lives on an isolated horse farm in Arizona where they excelled in hunting, both individually and together. They killed snakes and any vermin. One would start to dig at the entrance to a prairie dog burrow while the other waited at the exit, ready to pounce. When I finally retired and moved to this flyspeck town in *****, I put up a fence around the entire property so they could be outdoors as much as they wanted, when they wanted - which was most of the time. They tried their best to catch a squirrel, though I don't think they ever quite managed.
Most of all, they quietly kept close watch on neighborhood comings and goings. Okay, they did fake sleep a lot, but if anyone slowed down in front of the house or so much as touched the front gate, Joy and Freedom leapt into action and raced over to 'greet' them with a warning stare, followed by bared teeth if the first hint failed.
Last June 15 I finally had to have them put down when they were well into their 16th year, and it nearly killed me. But I never even bothered to lock my doors or windows at night, knowing they were in the house with me and nothing could stir outside their knowledge. Best of all, the alpha, Freedom, would give me her nightly report (or something) as soon as I announced bedtime. She'd stand next to me and bark sociably at least 5 minutes without fail. Since I stick to landline phones, I even had to keep them well out of her reach; otherwise she'd knock the receiver off and bark sociably at it, probably trying to rouse the person who was supposed to be on the other end of the line. She never did grasp dialing, I'll admit.
Just because Chows are quiet and observant, decorous though lavish with their affection, does not mean "they seldom pay attention to anything but themselves." That sentence, dear Doctor, is unworthy of you."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hope I didn't sound like a crank. But I couldn't let that misinformation go unchallenged.
Slow to get to this thread but bookmarked it
And so glad I did. I need to write Wild Bill a fan letter. Precious kid!
And God forbid if the police
were not laid back and casual enough to suit someone else that they were being polite enough. If you've had any experience with emergencies and crowd control, you know command pitch is called for.
Working in healthcare for quite a few years, I saw some emergencies myself, and people usually told me later that they had no idea I could bark orders like a drill sergeant, because I'm a tiny little woman and usually so soft spoken. But honey doesn't work in those situations. You have to command and mean it, not give contrarians time to stand around and quibble until all is lost.
Oh, now I get it, MONSTER
If you wobble around and someone calls you to attention, they're guilty of evasion for not agreeing with you. Thanks dear for explaining it to me. I was sooo confused.
And exactly how do you know
If it wouldn't be safer for someone perhaps being held hostage in the basement or attic if it looked like the homeowners were forced out? Whether they were or not. If they appeared to be cooperating, any potential hostage(s) could be shot in a fit of rage.
Profile Information
Gender: FemaleHome country: US
Current location: retired to MidWest
Member since: Mon Feb 18, 2013, 10:15 PM
Number of posts: 6,151
