Only dog owners/breeders may get this.....
Trixie's mom dropped her off last weekend for a week-long pajama party with my stud dog, Tyler. Trixie's mother is now suffering from Russell withdrawal and has to call me twice a day to check on her (she's fine and thinks she is a horse-barn dog now instead of a house dog).
Silly me, I have another dog here that is also in...ah....season that is a daughter of my stud so I have to keep them apart. I should have sent Dottie to live with Trixie's mom for a week --- it would have saved me having to do all these dog switches (which one gets to run free while the other is in the kennel) and it would have helped Trixie's mom get through the week without her Russell.
I have enough dogs. I may just make loaning them out a standard option for the owners who miss their children while their children are here.-- Susen, Oct 17 2001 Companion Dispenser http://www.halfbake...mpanion_20dispenserOriginally an idea for a way to get exercise and fun out of shelter animals, wouldn't be a far cry from a nurturing service for more high-bred animals. [reensure, Oct 17 2001] Hey, nice one. Well, since you know your own dogs, anyway...some sensitive cerebral types will try to find their way home from the house of their temporary keeper. My inlaws got a 3-year-old border collie and as soon as they opened the car door the dog took off. It returned after 3 days, and the assumption was that she gave up on finding her way back to her original home. Nice dog, though, very sweet-natured.-- Dog Ed, Oct 18 2001 I'm beginning to think that [changing hands, that is] this would drive a house bound dog nuts. Do you think that animals need a healthy dose of the outdoors to stay immune to the stress brought on by changes in location or companions?-- reensure, Oct 18 2001 I really want a dog, but I have to go over-seas for 3 or 4 months after Christmas, which prevents me from getting a dog right now. Could I borrow one of yours until I get back?-- mighty_cheese, Oct 18 2001 I find references to dogs as 'children' really creepy.-- hippo, Oct 18 2001 [UB] I know it's common - among people who don't have children. I still find it creepy though.-- hippo, Oct 18 2001 I find references to having "human children" creepy.... <snicker>
[reensure], Trixie is a house-dog with a fenced yard. She has taken to the freedom to roam and hunt on the farm with great joy. She is fascinated by horses and enjoyed the horse hoof trimmings the farrier left yesterday too. I do think my dogs maybe wouldn't take to being house dogs very well. They would miss their freedom. But, if it were only for a week, I think they'd adjust OK.
[mighty cheese], call me when you get back from overseas....sounds like you could use a puppy!
[blissmiss], if you lived closer, I would loan you a dog any day!-- Susen, Oct 18 2001 Great idea [Susen]! I'm a dog person, my wife's a cat person Therefore I own two cats and zero dogs. It might be fun to rent-a-dog occationaly. However, not being an animal husbandrist (?) I have two questions:
1) Won't the constant change of scenery mess with the dogs' heads? 2) Do you really have to separate related dogs when a bitch is in heat? (I thought animals had a natural, scent driven aversion to incest)-- phoenix, Oct 18 2001 [phoenix], the bad (or good) thing about Russells is that, while they love their "people", they tend to love all people if raised properly. Any stranger could drive onto my farm, open their car door, and say "Car Ride!" and my dogs would jump in and go. They aren't genetically programmed (read "selectively bred") for their guarding abilities. This may not be true of any other breed. I harbor no illusions that they really love me other than I give them love (they are affectionate!) and food. Russells are really more cat-like than dog-like.
We have a horse trainer that leaves his Russell here when he is out on the road going to racetracks in other states. His Russell loves it here. One of my females, Buttons, has adopted the old farmer down the road. He gives her truck rides and tractor rides....she now drops by here about every three days to sleep on the couch for a few hours and tell me she's OK and then she's gone again.
As for the incest problem...they have no clue. They are completely driven by hormones. We've stopped a few almost *accidents*. Same goes for horses, cows, sheep, rats, and cats.....all the animals with which I have personal experience.-- Susen, Oct 18 2001 Cool idea, Susen. I actually have a friend (cat-owner) who regularly walks my mongrel bitch during the day while I'm at work, not because I ask him to, and not for money, but because he likes taking her out to the park on a sunny day. Loves her to bits, and loves the sense of fun that dogs can infect their owners with.
BTW, hippo, if you think that owners referring to dogs as their children is creepy, you should hear my mate talking about Kore - calls her 'his girlfriend'. Man, that nearly got us lynched in a pub one time when he was asking how she was. Him: "How's my girlfriend?" Me: "Oh, she's fine." "Still sleeping up on the bed with you?" "Yeah." Interruption by woman sitting at next table: "How can you talk about your girlfriend that way? Your girlfriend sleeps with him? What kind of sickos are you?" "Huh? I mean, she sleeps on top of the bed. She's not under the covers or anything." "SHE WHAT?!?" "Um, but she's a dog." "HOW DARE YOU?!?!" "No, I mean she's a bitch." *apoplectic spluttering* "No, honestly... a real dog." <woman and friend start berating us as weird misogynist swinger freaks> "No, no. Covered in fur. Four legs and a tail."
Luckily, she finally got it before my mate and I ended up with drinks in our faces.-- Guy Fox, Oct 18 2001 I'd like this to be offered as a service in business-oriented hotels. "Away from home for a couple of weeks? Missing Rex? Why not try our Day-O-Dog service?" They'd provide a dog, a lead, and a list of dog-friendly parks to take it to.
Alternatively, for those missing feline company, the "Sleep-Over Kitty" service: simply order by phone or through the TV and a well-mannered cat is delivered to your room, spends the night sleeping on the foot of the bed, curls purring around your legs as you drink your morning coffee, and is picked up when the room is cleaned.-- JKew, Jun 02 2002 I always assumed dogs were more prone than humyns to separation anxiety.-- LoriZ, Aug 17 2010 That depends entirely on the dog, and its upbringing and experiences.
Some dogs will become distressed within minutes of being separated from their human.
Some will happily trot away with a new and more intersting human without even a backward glance. This is notable in Shih Tzu.-- 8th of 7, Aug 17 2010 random, halfbakery