girlwriter

Well, I agree wholeheartedly, of course. But you should know that if you ever seriously consider getting one, they are not the dog for everyone. Please, please, please, if you ever consider it: do a lot of research on dog breeds to find the right one for your lifestyle. Ridgies are exceedinly stubborn and can be very difficult to train - especially if you try to use the wrong techniqies. They're very sensative, very dominant, and not interested in doing stuff unless there's a payoff for them (and "it'll make mom happy if I do this," is not a payoff as far as Ridgies are concerned,) so traditional coersive trianing is not very effective.

Anyway, that's my soapbox. Apologies if you knew this already, but it feels like mu duty to the breed to discourage ownership based on thier disarming looks alone.

girlwriter

If she's that intellegent, then she probably is part Ridgie, but she must get the 'easy-going part from some other breed!

Viti

Siberian Huskies are exactly the same way...you want tractability get a Lab or a Golden. Huskies scream like you're killing them if you even suggest they do something they don't want to do (embarassing at an obedience class or in public.) We were getting ready to leave the dog park the other day and I approached Aurora with the leash in my hand and she acted like the hounds of hell were after her...I am sure some people there thought I beat her regularly with the leash

pescifish

Lab mixes help cut other breed personality issues, too. My 10.5 yr old 'pup' is a black dalmation: mother was purebred dalmation, father was purebred labrador. He is still rather hyper but the labrador stability seemed to kick in somewhere around the age of 5 when things finally 'clicked' for him.

I love all the multiple dog photos. If age doesn't matter in the definition of 'puppy', can I sneak in another species?

Daleth

These first two are Casey as she looked when I met her. The marks on her face are rat bites. She'd recently had a litter and nursed the pups, but the pups were nowhere to be found.





That's Casey today. I am hyper-aware of her cuteness because she was so damned ugly when I met her. There's nothing like watching a dog learn to act doggishly.



And this is Murphy, eating a sock and wrecking my bed.

If you want a pure-bred dog for a pet rather than show, please look at the breed-specific rescue organizations (they only handle purebreds, and there's one for every breed) or put your name on a waiting list for a specific breed at a shelter. There are dogs of all breeds that need homes. If you just want a pal and aren't so worried about the breed, please adopt a mutt. They're being killed by the millions every day.

Dal
(who had to sort through stacks of hundreds of photos of rescued animals to find pics of her own)

Viti

I also ask everyone to adopt if possible. Aurora is a purebred, show quality Siberian Husky found on the streets as a skinny stray.

Daleth

Y'know, it just occurred to me when I was coming back to read LadyShea's reply that posting my "before" pictires of Casey might have upset people and come across as some sort of PITA-esque shock tactic. I didn't mean it that way. I always show people those because I'm so proud of how far my girl has come. She's been with me for several years now and she's still making improvements all the time. It can still make me cry just to see her act happy and goofy, 'cause she was so withdrawn and miserable for so long.

So sorry to all if I seemed heavy-handed.

LadyShea, this is Romeo, one of the strays I placed. Ain't he handsome? He now has an actual house to live in and I'm very jealous.



Dal

girlwriter

Yeah, stubborn dogs are so much fun. But actually, Zahra is very obedient, as long as I don't expect her to do things like fetch. Her response? "you threw it, clearly you don't want it." But she's a real exception to the Ridgeback rule. (as far as obedience, not on the fetching thing) I spent a LOT of time training her, and found a really effective technique. (Clicker training) I don't see how I could have done it with traditional training techniques.

Daleth: Casey is so lovely! She looks like she might have a bit of Ridgie in her too.

Daleth

Thanks, girlwriter. I have no idea about what beeds may be in her. I see Doberman a bit, but that's it.

Murphy is spotted black and white in patterns like a cow. Every once in a while someone will ask me what breed she is, so I say Holstein.

Dal

girlwriter

Nice!