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I think you're way underestimating the cost of having seven dogs. She'd easily have the extra $2k/month w/o them.
https://www.akc.org/expert-adv...

Did you know that there are actually standards which define terms like "chihuahua"? That's because dog breeds are marketing terms, not descriptions of phenomena found in nature.

Speak for yourself.

If you use selective breeding to try and produce better and better dogs with each generation, you could end up with a better product in the end.

The AKC believes that the term guardian may in fact reduce the legal status and value of dogs as property and thereby restrict the rights of owners, veterinarians, and government agencies to protect and care for dogs.

Little surprise to anyone who has trained dogs, specially retrievers. They have very good sight recall and of course even better smell recall/use. Retriever hunt tests test a dog's sight memory. With no training, many dogs will reason their way to a fallen bird by going around areas of tall grass, brush, etc. Silly humans, though, then train and grade them on their ability to blindly push their way through these things in order to keep a straight line.

Free whippets for all blood donors! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I wonder how many people could get off of their anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds if they just got regular exercise.

My personal favorite is road biking. Low impact, saves gas, produces its own breeze and there's the added excitement of being chased by snarling dogs (there are a pair of black and tan coonhounds that can keep up for a short while and one magnificent-looking german short haired pointer that can even catch me from behind).

I wonder how many people could get off of their anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds if they just got regular exercise.

My personal favorite is road biking. Low impact, saves gas, produces its own breeze and there's the added excitement of being chased by snarling dogs (there are a pair of black and tan coonhounds that can keep up for a short while and one magnificent-looking german short haired pointer that can even catch me from behind).

There are even several breeds of dogs called pointers which specialise in this.

At Market District newcomer MOTO, the show starts with waitstaff dressed in black lab coats, ...

Dude, somebody call PETA quick!

You use the K9 search method.

> Once you get to understanding the relationship dogs have
> with their pack leader -- whether two- or four-legged -- then
> it all makes sense.

That was a really good post.

It's very difficult to interpret the behavior of an animal that can't talk. Many of us would like to perform a Turing test on the person in the cube next to us, so how could we expect to easily answer the question of whether dogs are intelligent?

People who like dogs are going to interpret their intelligent-seeming behaviors positively and people who don't like dogs are going to interpret those same behaviors neutrally.

I've had dogs all my life -- first Sheltland Sheepdogs and now Collies (despite the AKC links, our two Collies are from Collie Rescue; we don't breed or show).

With my experience, I tend to agree with the idea that dogs are intelligent and far from "a program". Part of that comes from the fact that all of my dogs have had very different personalities. Yes, dogs are often driven by their instincts (marking trees, etc), but so are people. That doesn't make them bereft of intelligence.

As for outfitting our dogs with electronic gear, I guess I'll be a luddite. We've tagged our dogs with the electronic chip (in case they get lost), but I'm not sure watching a dog-produced web cam will be more than a novelty for most people.

> Once you get to understanding the relationship dogs have
> with their pack leader -- whether two- or four-legged -- then
> it all makes sense.

That was a really good post.

It's very difficult to interpret the behavior of an animal that can't talk. Many of us would like to perform a Turing test on the person in the cube next to us, so how could we expect to easily answer the question of whether dogs are intelligent?

People who like dogs are going to interpret their intelligent-seeming behaviors positively and people who don't like dogs are going to interpret those same behaviors neutrally.

I've had dogs all my life -- first Sheltland Sheepdogs and now Collies (despite the AKC links, our two Collies are from Collie Rescue; we don't breed or show).

With my experience, I tend to agree with the idea that dogs are intelligent and far from "a program". Part of that comes from the fact that all of my dogs have had very different personalities. Yes, dogs are often driven by their instincts (marking trees, etc), but so are people. That doesn't make them bereft of intelligence.

As for outfitting our dogs with electronic gear, I guess I'll be a luddite. We've tagged our dogs with the electronic chip (in case they get lost), but I'm not sure watching a dog-produced web cam will be more than a novelty for most people.

In fact, that's why, when I got a Standard Schnauzer, I named him "Evil" Montgomery Burns!

You're looking in the wrong crowd. :)

My wife is one such person. She used to groom dogs, and she worked at a pet shop and at a local chapter of the Humane Society. So she's familiar with the results of poor breeding.

It's not so much that breeding for a particular trait is bad, as much as doing so at the detriment of other important traits.

The AKC is pure evil. The fact that they have "specs" for registerable breeds and that they allow "line breeding" and inbreeding is proof (in my mind, at least). See this link for evidence. This can result in bad traits. Two well-known examples are that Dalmations are often deaf (though, to be fair, it's more common in any purebred dog than a mutt), and that German Shepherds often develop bad hips.

It may be an American (capitalistic make-money-fast) kind of thing. Appearently, the original shepherd lines from Germany were execllent dogs. It wasn't until they were bred for AKC specs that they went downhill. Again, German Angora rabbits are excellent dual-purpose meat and wool animals (we've researched this, as we raise own own rabbits for meat as well as wool), but the Americanized version -- the "show quality" one -- is lacking in both traits, but it looks prettier.

Silly breeders. :)

You're looking in the wrong crowd. :)

My wife is one such person. She used to groom dogs, and she worked at a pet shop and at a local chapter of the Humane Society. So she's familiar with the results of poor breeding.

It's not so much that breeding for a particular trait is bad, as much as doing so at the detriment of other important traits.

The AKC is pure evil. The fact that they have "specs" for registerable breeds and that they allow "line breeding" and inbreeding is proof (in my mind, at least). See this link for evidence. This can result in bad traits. Two well-known examples are that Dalmations are often deaf (though, to be fair, it's more common in any purebred dog than a mutt), and that German Shepherds often develop bad hips.

It may be an American (capitalistic make-money-fast) kind of thing. Appearently, the original shepherd lines from Germany were execllent dogs. It wasn't until they were bred for AKC specs that they went downhill. Again, German Angora rabbits are excellent dual-purpose meat and wool animals (we've researched this, as we raise own own rabbits for meat as well as wool), but the Americanized version -- the "show quality" one -- is lacking in both traits, but it looks prettier.

Silly breeders. :)

Mice were the ones to build this planet.
Be nice to your lab rats.

Eh? WHY? They're RATS, not MICE.

On the other hand, be nice to any Lab *Mice* you might have the honor of associating with.

On the Gripping Hand (anyone remember that one?) my first thought was "Lab x Rat ? What traits were they trying to achieve with *that* selective crossbreeding?"

This would serve much like a Tauntan in Empire Strikes Back.

That said, I honestly would hate to see any life shed, so robots would reduce that risk.

Another St. Louisan here. Don't forget the many unique places that make StL um...stand out.

Then again, there are bunches of genuinely cool places and events that make the town with the easy-carry handle worth living in.

UM-St. Louis also produces a seriously good literary magazine and has a strong creative writing program.

I forsee an abduction of our beloved Salukis. Don't worry; the cops in Carbondale have plenty of riot gear and tear gas and soon will have the situation under control. The city and the university have been trying for a decade to change its "party" reputation for nearly a decade. I doubt this is what they have in mind for a new image.

is much better first line home defense than a gun under the pillow.

I sleep well all night knowing that anyone trying to get in is going to meet not just the sound but the teeth of my alarm.

PS the risk of accidental discharge pretty much went away after the first 4 months, though the risk of "accidental" garbage can tipping is still around %5.

Hip dysplasia actually became common in the US in the 1930's. Yet it was quite rare in Australia until the 1970's and 1980's. That's not evidence for a genetic issue, but it does correlate quite effectively with when commercial (cooked, processed, etc.) dog foods came on the scene.

If you feed your dog the BARF (Bones And Raw Food) diet, odds are they'll be a ton healthier. Research has shown that dogs from lines raised on the BARF diet tend to have near-zero incidence of dysplasia when their litters also use the BARF diet (see the books on the above site for details).

Many breeders are coming to realize this - the problem is primarily intake not primarily genetics. This has been quite effective for our giant-breed dog, a Great Pyrenees. He's over 11 years old and still quite spry, without a trace of dysplasia.

Besides the humor value, interesting in that we're creating another species with qualities that suit humans but unsuitable for life on its own.

I agree. Breeding animals to suit human whim is totally wrong.