Dog lovers aren’t animal lovers

[Namechanger1993]

I’ve been lurking in various dog related threads recently and it’s become abundantly clear how few dog owners on MN actually love animals. Not all. But lots.

Posters not caring about health tests on parents, or the breeders experience or ability or what happens to the bitch (mother of the pups) after as their desire for expensive mix outweighs their ethics about puppy farming or dogs being born in pain with chronic health issues as a result of bad breeding. Posters admitting their dogs have soiled themselves for a year before they put their dog to sleep. No matter which way you look at it (and believe me, I understand how hard it is to say goodbye), people who love their dogs don’t let them sleep in their shit for a year. Posters not exercising their dog sufficiently or not giving it mental stimulation and then wondering why its badly behaved.

Time and time again I’ve seen posters put their desire for a dog above any morals they might have about animal welfare (including their own dogs). welfare. Honestly, it’s quite shocking how little so many posters care about their dogs, or indeed the dogs use to produce their cute puppy.

Because dogs are being bred deliberately in some places in order that we can ‘rescue’ them for several hundred pounds.
Its nothing more than a business venture in many cases. (Not all obviously, before I get given grief)
Plus many,many ex street dogs are placed in suburban households not even remotely suited to their needs

Just as well.

I'm absolutely with you on overseas "rescues" being bred deliberately - a lot of these dogs are also livestock guardian mixes which is equally insane, really.

You don't say 😆

😆 🤣

😂I wish we still had the laugh reaction!

All my pets, dogs included, have been rescues. I dont give a monkeys what breed they are as long as they are healthy and given a second chance at life. I only have one cat and one dog now but both of them were rescued and have the best life ever. Monthly worming and flea treatment, top notch food and treats, daily walks (dog), vets every 6 months for check ups and vaccines etc.

I think a lot of people get dogs from breeders as a fashion statement, I know I've seen it a lot with some of my friends and it makes me so sad.

Totally agree. I have a LGD breed myself and these are not dogs for novice owners to adopt as a pet. They are rugged, outdoor, working dogs and are unbelievably strong, with a tendency to ignore commands. The importation of rescue crossbreeds and street dogs needs to cease.

I’ve got two choccies and had two litters so 18 more choccies in the world. I’m not sure what the OP is on about. Mine have never slept in poo unless I missed a bit of fox poo.

Yeah, the number of people I've seen online with livestock guardians/mixes is worrying, really. There was a lady on TikTok with a Caucasian Shepherd (I think) that had bitten multiple people and eventually bit her son before she had it put to sleep. She should never have owned it to begin with, let alone had it around her child.

Aww, lovely. Oh yes, the dreaded fox poo! I bought a dog freshening spray, that smells just like baby talcolm powder. It always comes out when they've had a roll in the grass!

You could say the same thing about children, and people who choose to have them 🙈🙈🙈

I have a bottle of dog shampoo called 'Fox Poo' which is for those times when they have a roll.
Failing that, ketchup works well too.

If they're not properly handled and well socialised from birth they are highly dangerous. This is what concerns a lot of us who are long term owners of this type of dog that is to say, the Livestock Guarding Breeds. It is becoming a trend and it could have catastrophic consequences for us. We know this. Our own breed could end up having to be muzzled in public, or be added to the dangerous dogs list, simply because of irresponsible backstreet breeders jumping on the trend for the importing of dogs being labelled as "wolf killers" on YouTube.

@tumblingdowntherabbithole - there's someone near me (young lad, early 20s) who has a Caucasian Shepherd. It's an accident waiting to happen. And the dog has clearly been bought as a status symbol - it's grossly overweight (you can tell, even through the fur) and very aggressive and has been since it was a puppy. As @CoubousAndTourmalet proves time and time again, LGBs are lovely lovely dogs in the right hands - it's just that those 'right hands' are rare.

Not every person is equipped to deal with every dog breed. But overseas rescues seem to care very little about that and in fact seem to almost go out of their way to sell to the worst possible owner.

Fox Poo shampoo 😂thanks for that tip re the ketchup. You can see how that smell would overpower the poo!

@LandSharksAnonymous and @CoubousAndTourmalet I'm with you both, it's scary. Those dogs are huge and can be fatal in the wrong hands - yet so many people buy them and keep them in homes with small children, and don't have a clue how to handle them. It makes me shudder.

I love my dog and my cat. I don't love other people's animals. The same way I love my children, I don't love other people's children. Perhaps your right people shouldn't use the term animal lover when really they mean they like animals. You can't really love anything unless you have a personal relationship with it. This is why we can quite happily eat a KFC burger with no guilt. If it was my chicken of course I wouldn't chop it up and eat it as I'd have a relationship with it. One that's been in a farm I've never met I have no connection with I can eat guilt free. It's not hard to understand. Humans are meant to eat animals weather you like it or not. You don't have to if you so choose but the rest of us really aren't interested in your opinions on our diets. Go off and enjoy some spinach.

I see what you mean. There are some legitimate overseas rescues. Many are sent here first to adoptive parents then they know who the dog is suited to in a home environment. I believe my friend paid £200 to cover some of the costs of bringing her over. When adopting people do need to do their research on the charity they are getting the dogs from. The issue is many people want to adopt in the uk but rules are very tight, we wanted to but as we had a child they wouldn't adopt to family's with kids under ten this was two different shelters. I'm sure some of those dogs would have made lovely family pets but it was a blanket rule. I do understand why they say this but I imagine that's why people go to shelters abroad instead, thinking it's more kind than getting a puppy and encouraging breeders.

I cannot understand that @Whippetlovely .
It's the Adopt Don't Shop supporters that are unwittingly supporting puppy farming/backstreet breeding in the first place, by getting these overseas "rescues". To me it's reverse logic. They castigate those of us who choose to buy a purebred puppy from a reputable breeder, telling us "breeding is immoral", then they turn around and get a dog from a puppy farm. It makes no sense.

I know quite a few people who liked the idea of how they imagined a certain breed of dog would make them look, they have all these ideas of how cool they would look walking their husky or xl bully or how cute some dog would look in their home or on their socials.

People live in fantasy land and are impulsive so they get an expensive dog with little care about if it came from a puppy farm and no idea of what that entails and then a year or so later they have a large dog that hasn't been trained or socialised properly, that is aggressive or destructive or neurotic and possessive. They leave it home alone all day barking or they don't exercise it enough. Some will then rehome or surrender the dog.

There is one very aggressive pit mix in my street that has had a few attempts at rehoming but he always ends up back with them because he's so aggressive. I had one very narrow escape from him myself and now he is always muzzled when out. He was bought by the son but he leaves his parents to deal with the dog.

I really think dog ownership should be made much harder as so many people like the idea of a dog and perhaps the idea of something that will love them unconditionally but so few are equipped to be good dog owners.

whilst I agree that it’s good you get regular vet checks, and you clearly love your dog, but dogs are naturally clean animals so I do think the is an element of how fair it is to the dog when it has little or no control over its bowels or bladder.
I’m not criticising you, I don’t know your situation, your vet or your dog. I just wonder about the reasoning of this being fine when it’s not nice or indeed normal for the dog.

Yes.

How about we invest in technology to develop a better alternative. Imagine how far we'd have come if we hadn't ploughed all that money into dogs.

If we are meant to eat animals, how on earth are all the vegans alive?