Why do we get so attached to animals.

[Fliteright]

Women can very manipulative when they chose to hiding behind the veil of the fairer sex! Society (especially in the divorce courts) always lean towards the female during a bust up, just the way it is & some guys haven't got a chance! Been there done that, my ex witch did me a favor in the long term, that's the best way to look at it!

[nomadpete]

Back to topic..... bet you didn't expect that.......

The more I see of people, the more I like my dog.

 

I can't explain why. And it isn't because of feeling some sort of misplaced superiority over my furry mate.

[facthunter]

A dog will love anyone as long as you are consistent Any dog I've seen from the pound shows obvious signs of abuse by the way they react till they learn to trust you and then it's good. Crazy dogs get it from crazy masters except Border Collies which just cannot sit still. Dogs like me and can pick R soles. It's about eye contact. (Same as when driving in France) Nev

[Marty_d]

18 minutes ago, facthunter said:

A dog will love anyone as long as you are consistent Any dog I've seen from the pound shows obvious signs of abuse by the way they react till they learn to trust you and then it's good. Crazy dogs get it from crazy masters except Border Collies which just cannot sit still. Dogs like me and can pick R soles. It's about eye contact. (Same as when driving in France) Nev

I was with you all the way up until the last sentence.  I've driven in France, not quite sure what eye contact had to do with it!  (Possibly because I was too busy trying to stay on the right side of the road and working out what to do at roundabouts.)

[facthunter]

The locals told me about it so "50 million Frenchmen can't be wrong " 'IT's about negotiating a give way situation." where ONE has to go first by agreement.  France is much about the" nuances" of the situation and the faux pas.  I  remember   asking a group of Aeroformation chaps 'How does one find a parking spot here? ' and the reply was "monsieur.. you do not FIND a parking spot... You MAKE one" .  Nev

[nomadpete]

49 minutes ago, facthunter said:

dog will love anyone as long as you are consistent

I disagree, Nev. Our dogs are very particular when choosing who to like. And they have long memories. It's not simply a matter of who feeds them treats. Some people don't 'connect' with a dog (yes partly eye contact or lack of). Dogs have likes and dislikes and we don't always know why. But I agree that dogs usually identify a-holes even from a distance, quicker than I do!

[facthunter]

Dogs love a lot of people who don't deserve it and get used to and accept a normal till something better shows up. They know whinging will not get them anywhere and will attract a predator. You get a friend on the cheap when you acquire a dog . The poor things rely on us in their domesticated state. Nev.

[nomadpete]

2 minutes ago, facthunter said:

Dogs love a lot of people who don't deserve it and get used to and accept a normal till something better shows up.

Hey, that's a bit harsh. My dog enjoys my company. Whether you think I deserve it or not. Maybe you've met some dumb dogs, but ours is very particular who to trust.

 

Dogs are popular because most of us recognise they have similar traits to humans. Like humans, some dogs are dumb as dawgshyte. Some are alert and some not. Some are aggressive, some not. Some are loyal, some are not. Not every dog is man's best friend, not every man can be a dogs best friend.

[Dax]

Thanks everyone, had some pretty challenging things happen in my life, but this has thrown me for a loop and I can't even fly. As for dogs, mine realise something is wrong and they are very quiet and sympathetic, unlike how they are normally. Put part of that down to the lose of their friend Argus and the distress his paddock mate Myrtle is undergoing, so this place is a bit down at the moment and just when I feel better another wave of regret flows through me. To make matters worse., we've had almost constant rain for the last 3 days and it doesn't look like letting up for days, only been able to sharpen the chainsaws, bit to wet to cut. The dogs don't like going out in the rain and even though they can just walk out the door, they remain waiting for the rain to stop.

 

As for their ability to discern the character of people, many times I rely upon my dogs to give me an indication of what the person is like when I first meet them. Most times the dogs are playful and gentle with new people, but there are times when they have no interest in getting close to some, they have been inclined to growl some times and down the track, they are vindicated by the actions of that particular person.

 

Because dogs see so differently to us in perspective and colour, at a distance unless they can catch your scent, they may become defensive. My number 1, sometimes gets embarrassed when he is lying somewhere and sees me coming dressed differently and gives a warning bark, only to suddenly realise he's made a mistake and instantly goes into grovel mode. Something that always gives me a laugh. 

Edited October 4, 2021 by Dax

[facthunter]

Maybe his sight is failing, DAX? They sometimes growl at people they should know when that happens.. I rely on dogs too to detect  bastards or maybe I look for reinforcement of my belief they do So far it's never been wrong.

 Hey PETE. I'm NOT saying YOU are a bad owner, but I've seen them who are.  Yes some dogs ARE pretty dumb and pretty predictable. The ones I'm not fussed with are the small ones that yap at everything. It seems the smaller the dog the more yappy it is..Nev

      

[nomadpete]

Dax, you'll 'get' this anecdote.....

 

When I first met my real wife-to-be' parents,(not first time around for either of us), I was a bit nervous. Her dad had a reputation for having little tolerance of fools. I was already of two minds whether I was a fool for lining up for another marriage. Anyway HE always referred to her ex husband as 'that dickead'. So it's Sunday for roast dinner. Hopefully not just to be roasted. So I am greeted by their dogs at the gate. I said 'hello' to them and then was met at the door and politely invited in for the obligatory cuppa. During a pause in the standard chat, HE looks me in the eye......, 

"So. It looks like you passed the test."

Worried, I ask "Test? What test?"

"Well, the dogs didn't bite you. Every time dickead came here, the dogs would be biting him under the table."

 

True story. And it turned out the dogs chose wisely. We've been together 17 years now and I'm still waiting for our first argument. Guess I'm still in the honeymoon phase.

[facthunter]

Well That's just great Pete..   I had TWO good mother in Laws out of two. How about that.? so anything's possible.  I'd NEVER give advice on relationships. Once I might have thought I was capable but I'm not.. A mate of mine reckons wives turn into Your Mother. The caring turns into knowing what you are going to say before you. do.  People used to tell me you can't live without them and you can't live with them. I don't have the answers and I can live with THAT. Another "All women are bitches and all men are bastards. My current wife of about 50 years is ZERO% Bitch. I can't believe it. Never seen anyone like her. Her deal with me was I would have to teach her to ride a motorbike which I did a thorough job of. She had to be as good as the blokes she would have to ride with and she was better than many/ most. Of course many say she's too good for me but they wouldn't know would they?  Nev

[Dax]

51 minutes ago, facthunter said:

Maybe his sight is failing, DAX? They sometimes growl at people they should know when that happens..

They all do it, it could have something to do with me walking down the drive which is tree lined so lots of shadows broken by sunlight and they only see in what I would call, dull colours. Maybe the shading changes could throw them off, or they can't really focus under those conditions from a 100m away. Wind blowing the shadows of the trees around, sun angles, cloud cover, a bush background and the colour of my clothes. But I'm just guessing, don't have a clue.

[Dax]

1 hour ago, nomadpete said:

True story. And it turned out the dogs chose wisely. We've been together 17 years now and I'm still waiting for our first argument. Guess I'm still in the honeymoon phase.

Can understand that, they are uncannily accurate and have seen it myself at times. I worked with my ex's father, he was a bricklayer, I the builder and we always got on even after the divorce. My marriage lasted 25 years, her mother hated me from the start, to lower class in her pommy mind and an Australian. She came from a pig farm and it showed. Had no idea when my ex left, had an inkling when learnt what had been said between her and women friends when the kids were small. But dismissed it over the years because our relationship was so good, I thought. Then one day she walked out and that was it.

[Bruce Tuncks]

I can finally stop feeling guilty about feeling more pleased than sad when the news of most deaths reaches me. Old and sick people are finally out of pain, what's wrong with that? Nasty guys in power over you no longer have to be accommodated.

But this year, I lost my two best mates of all time and while I was not pleased I was not very sad either. They are both better off asleep.

I was much more sad taking my old Border Collie to the vet...  she trusted me so completely that she never knew I was taking her to be put down.

 

[Bruce Tuncks]

I have a flying mate who is a vet in real life. After humanely putting a very old and sick dog down for me, I said that Auntie Pat needed it too...

He said he wasn't allowed to do people...  what a wimp huh.

[old man emu]

How do you cope when you have to put down a perfectly healthy dog who shows you affection, but has a bad trait of attacking other dogs if he can escape the yard? I've got to get that done this afternoon, but I myself can't take him to have it done. I feel so bad, and I can't even look at him. It's breaking my heart.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Heart goes out to you on that one. No easy answer. Is it a court order or similar? Is there not, is there a residential type re-training organisation that can help?

[Marty_d]

7 hours ago, old man emu said:

How do you cope when you have to put down a perfectly healthy dog who shows you affection, but has a bad trait of attacking other dogs if he can escape the yard? I've got to get that done this afternoon, but I myself can't take him to have it done. I feel so bad, and I can't even look at him. It's breaking my heart.

Sorry to hear that OME.  Can you not make the yard escape proof?

[old man emu]

The Council would have had him declared a Dangerous Dog. I had to make the decision to put him down, which was done this afternoon. The silver lining in the darkest of clouds was that he was able to donate a kidney to save the life of another family's pet. I'm still flying blind in the darkest cloud. I couldn't do it and had to burden my son with the horrible job of taking him to the Vet's who were at least sympathetic to my son and to my dog. If only I had not been thinking about getting the gear out to do the grass, then I would have remembered to close the garage door and he would not have got into the dogfight that was his death warrant.

[Old Koreelah]

On 18/11/2021 at 1:46 PM, old man emu said:

How do you cope when you have to put down a perfectly healthy dog who shows you affection, but has a bad trait of attacking other dogs if he can escape the yard? I've got to get that done this afternoon, but I myself can't take him to have it done. I feel so bad, and I can't even look at him. It's breaking my heart.

It’s a tought one, OME. How lucky we are these days to have other people to do it for us. I have a vivid memory of my dad taking my own pup for a short walk after he took a liking to our chooks. A few years later he had me shoot my little brother’s dog.

I must have been tougher then.

[Marty_d]

I've never had to shoot a dog and glad of that.  We thought we might have to get our last old dog put down, but she died peacefully in her sleep.

[red750]

It's hard to decide which was the most heartbreaking, having to take our little black spoodle to the vet to be put down when her lymphomas were too much for her, and she had gone blind, or when we took our golden retriever to the animal hospital to be operated on for a stomach problem and she died on the operating table. I'm sure she knew she wasn't coming out of that hospital, because she refused to get out of the car, and had to be lifted out and put on a trolley. We expected to bring her home the next day, but it was not to be. At least we got to stay with the spoodle until the needle took effect, so she wasn't with strangers. 

[facthunter]

Don't beat yourself up, OME  The rules are there for everybody and may not be perfect, and the circumstances just panned out the way they did . Be comforted by the knowledge that he would have just gone to sleep and would feel nothing. I've seen vets do it and I would be happy to go that way when the time comes. Nev

[old man emu]

7 hours ago, facthunter said:

I've seen vets do it and I would be happy to go that way when the time comes

Fair enough, but that would be a decision you make about your gift of Life, but when you make the decision to end the life of another organism you bear the consequences. The Council had already slapped and "aggressive dog" label on him temporarily, so I couldn't even take him to my sister who lives on a farm. The worst part of the labelling was that he was not aggressive to people. Most of the time he had a "couldn't care less" attitude to the extent that he probably wouldn't have uttered an utter if a thief broke into the house.