by Michele Welton on September 13, 2010
Carrie Ann is a Shih Tzu cross available for adoption
Looking to adopt a new friend?
Hearts United For Animals is a Midwest-based rescue group that does long-distance adoptions. You don’t need to live in the Midwest to adopt one of their dogs, but you do need to meet other requirements and pass a “home visit”.
There is an element of trust here, where you either need to accept what HUA tells you about your new prospective pet, or you need to fly or drive there to look at the dogs yourself.
But if you’ve been looking in your own area for some time and haven’t found the right dog for you, you should visit HUA’s website — you might just find your next best friend waiting there. They do have many small dogs, which can be hard to find.
by Michele Welton on September 6, 2010
Official State Dog of Alaska: Alaskan Malamute
I was so pleased to learn that 11 states actually have an official State Dog. This is exactly what our state legislators should be spending their time voting on, don’t you think?
Anyway, here’s the list:
Alaska: Alaskan Malamute. Big surprise there. 
Maryland: Chesapeake Bay Retriever
Pennsylvania: Great Dane (not because the breed hails from PA but simply because the state’s founder, William Penn, had a Great Dane). By the way, when Pennsylvania’s speaker of the House called for a vote to approve the Great Dane as the state’s dog, legislators responded with various barks. The “arfs” won.
Louisiana: Catahoula Leopard Dog (a hunting/ranch dog)
Massachusetts: Boston Terrier
New Hampshire: Chinook (a sled dog)
Virginia: American Foxhound
North Carolina: Plott Hound (a coonhound and big-game hunter)
Texas: Blue Lacy (more of a cross/mix “type” of hunting dog)
Wisconsin: American Water Spaniel
South Carolina: Boykin Spaniel (very similar to the American Water Spaniel and known as “the dog that doesn’t rock the boat.”)
by Michele Welton on August 28, 2010
A Yorkshire Terrier named Mandy is a current pet-in-need at IMOM, my favorite charity, which helps indigent pet owners raise money for their sick pet. IMOM screens and verifies financial status and sends all monies raised directly to the vet.
Mandy is a 14 year old Yorkshire Terrier. She has a mast cell tumor on her vulva. Her veterinarian says it has grown rapidly in the last 2 weeks, and without surgery Mandy may have to be euthanized.
Her owner says, “She’s been my very best friend. Now in her time of need, I want to do everything I can to see she gets the care she needs. Unfortunately, I can’t do this without help.”
If you’d like to donate toward Mandy’s surgery, visit her IMOM forum page.
UPDATE: All necessary funds have been raised for Mandy’s surgery. You can continue to follow her story here.
by Michele Welton on August 27, 2010
Gray sable is one of the less common colors in German Shepherd dogs.
Most people think of a German Shepherd Dog as black-and-tan, and indeed, black-and-tan is the most common color in the breed.
But by no means the only color!
German Shepherds come in a variety of other colors, including black-and-red, black-and- cream, and black-and-silver. These three colors, along with black-and-tan, can cover a German Shepherd Dog in one of three “patterns”:
Saddleback or blanketback pattern, where the black color overlays the German Shepherd’s back and both sides of his body (like a saddle, or more extensively, a blanket). The rest of the dog is some shade of tan, red, cream, or silver. Most German Shepherds also have a black mask on their face.
Bicolor pattern, where the the black color overlays almost the entire dog, with the tan, red, cream, or silver markings confined to his face, throat, chest, and legs. (Same pattern as a Doberman Pinscher or Rottweiler.)
Another German Shepherd color is solid black.
A less common German Shepherd color is sable, which is an overall shade of gray, reddish, or golden-ish, with black-tipped hairs so that the dog appears to be “dusted with black.” (For those of you interested in genetics, sable is actually the “dominant” color in German Shepherds.)
Even less common are two German Shepherd colors that are frowned upon by German Shepherd purists:blue and liver. Blue German Shepherds and liver German Shepherds have inherited a color-modifying gene that dilutes their black pigment into smoky gray or brown. Blue or liver can occur as solid colors, or in any of the patterns I described earlier.
Solid white is another German Shepherd color that’s not accepted by the mainstream German Shepherd clubs. But it’s popular, nevertheless. In fact, fanciers of white German Shepherds have formed their own club.
So….German Shepherd colors include black and tan, black and red, black and cream, black and silver, gray sable, red sable, golden sable, solid black, solid white, and the dilute colors of blue or liver.
by Michele Welton on August 24, 2010
Watch these dogs from Japan who can jump rope. All those wagging tails say they’re having a great time!
by Michele Welton on August 20, 2010
Here’s Kate (college student) and Gin (Border Collie) dancing together. They made it to the finals of the TV show “Britain’s Got Talent” — the same show on which Susan Boyle launched her singing career.
by Michele Welton on May 17, 2010
Dog breeds for children
“Which dog breeds are good with children?”
As a dog breed selection consultant, this is a question I get asked all the time. My short answer is, “There are no breeds guaranteed to be good with children.”
It’s sad but true, and I’ll tell you why.
Most dog breeds were developed for working purposes and “getting along with children” was not a trait that was considered useful for most types of work (hunting, herding, guarding livestock, pulling sleds, killing rats, etc.). So “getting along with children” is not an inherited (“hardwired”) trait of most breeds.
In fact, many breeds have inherited traits for aggression, or quick defensive reactions, or a self-focused boldness and pride that doesn’t tend to put up with any “nonsense.”
Still other breeds have inherited traits for physical or emotional sensitivity that makes them uncomfortable around boisterous or quick-moving children — which, honestly, describes virtually all small children!
Now, certainly some breeds have a good reputation for being consistently good-natured with children (good-natured with everyone, in fact). However, what you may not realizie is that even when a breed has a reputation for being good with children, there will be many individuals within that breed who are NOT.
It’s true. Purebred dogs don’t always inherit or display the behavioral genes you expect. Why they don’t is fully explained in my book, How To Buy a Good Dog. If you’re considering getting a dog and you have children, you really should read this book — it’s eye-opening, for sure.
Since all the individuals within a breed won’t necessarily be good with children, you shouldn’t just pick a breed and then run out and buy the first individual you find of that breed. You must carefully select the right individual puppy or dog within that breed. The temperament-testing chapter in How To Buy a Good Dog can help you with that.
Nor is selecting the right individual dog the end of it, either. Sorry! After selecting a sound-tempered individual dog, you must raise him to be respectful of children, and you must teach children how to be respectful around your dog. Even a good-natured dog may bite if provoked. The sad truth is that many children are bitten because they provoked a dog’s instincts to chase or grab or defend — even if completely unintentionally.
So when it comes to dogs and children, the long and the short of it is that any given dog, regardless of breed, may or may not be good with any given child.
Not a very satisfying reality, but reality it is.
