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[Agdune]

(Except when they poop, even animals dont like it when people watch them do their business)

Wanna bet? Ours are totally happy to wait untill someone is outside with them before they do it right in front of us. Usually cheerfully staring at us...

Though it COULD be because the Dog likes him despite the fact that he sheds no ounce of affection back at the dog.

That's a pretty common thing with both cats and dogs, it's supposed to come from their pack animal origins (Though how that applies to cats specfically, I'm not sure. They're more loners than the big cats). The dominant animals in a group don't worry themselves with the existence of those of lower rank than them, unless it's to knock them back into their place. The ones who have the lower place expect it and ooze love and compassion for their glorious leader (unless they're trying to take over leader's place). There's nothing concrete that this is based off but it's the basis of most modern dog training and it gets fantastic results, so it must have some merit.

[Ohaeri]

There's nothing concrete that this is based off but it's the basis of most modern dog training and it gets fantastic results, so it must have some merit.

If you want to see this in action, look up some episodes of The Dog Whisperer with Cesar Milan. I love that show.

[Neonivek]

Well I pretty much know why the dog likes my brother, he just treats it as a sign of stupidity.

As for House Cats

They life in Colonies but are for the most part solitary. It is kinda pack I guess but it is a pack where no one really has to be associated.

[Battlefrank]

I saw this documentary, "Pedigree Dogs Exposed" on my local TV channel last night.

It broke my heart. I cried after I saw that poor cavalier crying in agony, wriggling uncontrollably on the floor. Selective breeding made its skull too small for its brain (size-10 foot shoved inside a size-6 shoe), leading to brain/nerve damage.

The documentary exposed a trend in some show breeders that used extreme inbreeding (mother-and-son, bother-and-sister) to "fix" desirable traits, traits that are set as a breed's standards by the Kennel Club UK, traits that only concerns with very exaggerated features and not the dogs' health.

To those irresponsible, ignorant (and refuse to change) or totally-in-denial show dog breeders: You are going to hell and hell hounds are going feast on your flesh and bone in the same fashion as Prometheus' punishment.

Kudos to BBC and all organizations cutting their ties with Crufts. Kennel Club must try harder to reverse the damage it has done/encouraged breeders to do for all these years.

You can watch the show here on MySpace. It's about an hour in length.

Well, at least they aren't doing that to me.

[Maggarg - Eater of chicke]

My uncle had some kind of hellhound.
I think it was some kind of mess of big, stupid breeds and he ended up with a gigantic black dog.
However, it thought it was a puppy, and as such would happily run under tables and knock them over.
He'd jump up at me, again thinking he was a puppy, when he actually weighed about 10 stone and was about 6'2 if he put his forelegs on my shoulders.
Despite being a bit thick, he was a pretty normal and healthy dog.

[Darkwind3]

I currently have a dog that has, in fact, mastered the art of closing doors. He's a giant Rottweiler mutt (we think, we never could figure out what his parents were, but he's really, really big for a Rottweiler, which means he is huge). Of course, he never figured out how to open doors. He'd just sidle behind the bathroom door, paw it closed, and sit down to stare at whoever opened the door to get him out. He also has a wound on his leg that he won't stop chewing (we had to put a giant collar sort of thing around his head so the wouldn't).

I also have another dog, a german-shepherd-ish thing. He sheds everywhere and has a sort of sad history. As I remember, he was given to a shelter as a pup because its owner couldn't stand the dog constantly peeing on the keyboard or something like that, I can't remember. This episode (and a good kick my dad gave him the day he peed on his bed) have turned him into a paranoid, snappy dog.

So yes. A giant Rottweiler with a chewing problem and a paranoid German Shepherd who growls at anything and anything and manages to get fog fur in our toothpaste (or probably has, anyways).

[G-Flex]

Selective breeding is okay and great as long as you're selecting for something that makes sense. That's how we got grain crops and working dogs.

You breed dogs to be good at actually performing a task and you won't wind up with deformed sickly things because you'll be selecting AGAINST things that would make them ill or infirm.

The problem with breed standards and show dogs is that they're bred to very arbitrary specifications, usually cosmetic, and nobody cares what happens as a side effect.

[ousire]

3. We don't like history channel.

I do

I'l just assume your trolling, because nobody likes the history channel.

i love the history channel. seriously. the whole reason i wanted on demand: to watch discovery channel and history channel.

[Ampersand]

I think what Strife and Rilder were trying to get at is the alarming frequency of bullshit on both channels.

[ousire]

I think what Strife and Rilder were trying to get at is the alarming frequency of bullshit on both channels.

pfft. they'r just afraid of educational programing

[Ampersand]

Because pointless uninvestigated ghost story 're'-enactments and endless Nostrodamus documentaries are 'educational'.

[Jude]

The whole idea of breeding animals for pets is kind of fucked up, if you ask me. It's one thing to make a dog that's good at herding sheep; it has a purpose. But when you breed them just to be goofy looking and friendly and then keep them in a house in a city where they only get to go out a couple times a day? I'm sure never going to own pets.

For those of you who don't live in the Western world, do people in your cultures have pets? One of my friends observed that he thinks it's a western thing, since our society places less value on close extended family relationships than some...people just want something to pet to keep them company, since they aren't around people as much. It seems to ring true in some places I've been (Japan, Egypt, Jordan, West Bank, Israel) but not others (Germany). Then again, Germany's culturally closer to America than those other places...

[Neonivek]

Well I know that Japan and China have pets. (China from research. Dogs even though they are banned as pets are often bought Blackmarket)

England and France have pets. France is much more Liberal with pets in the sense that Restaurants allow well behaved pets.

You know what lets not beat around the bush. It isn't a Western Thing and some scientists believe that Dog Breeding originated in Asia.

Id be curious to hear about Africa and pets. I know I can't generalise about Africa since it is a continent with diverse culture.

[Ampersand]

Pets are somewhat common in Africa. If I recall correctly, the predecessor of the Greyhound originates in North Africa.

I don't think breeding animals for pets is necessarily wrong; it's when we're to the point, as we are now, that most dog breeds tend to be horrible genetic mutants that it becomes a problem. Could ANY of these pedigree dogs survive without human support maintaining them? A few could, ones that are still purpose bred rather than aesthetics bred, but very, very many of them would not.

[Neonivek]

Some dogs are specifically bred with serious flaws because they look nice.

There are dogs who can't breathe correctly because of their nose structure. The solution? Well Lets make their noses even worse!