Kiger

I'm not sure if I should ask what Bovril is. :o

[quote name='K']Can I have it with anchovies instead? :o :lol:[/quote] What? No Marmite? [img]http://mywebpages.comcast.net/blancm3/images/icon_crazy.gif[/img]

You have a Kato too? The only other Kato I've seen has been a cat. Oh yeah, and that OJ guy - but we don't speak of him. :wink:

That's why I switched to Imodium liquid. Kato would do the Pepto shake where everything including me would get covered in pink dots - everywhere but in his mouth. He likes the cherry flavored Imodium so there's no fighting.

I made the grossest meal for Kato last night. He got rehydrated freeze-dried "BARF" mixed with sardines, plain yogurt, and canned pumpkin (he's had a bought of the dog show runs). It looked like real barf, but he hoovered it up like it was chateaubriand. Nasty. Can you imagine eating sardines and yogurt? (Oh yeah, and the pumpkin worked.)

I'm curious how you trained him to stay with you offlead. I wouldn't trust Kato for an instant. He sees a bug and that's all it takes for him to zone out and forget I exist. (Grasshoppers are a favorite.)

I was home sick last week so I got to see a lot of That's My Baby. I noted that the shows were focused more on zoos, assistance dogs, farm animals, and there was one purebred cat breeder who seemed to be doing it to better the breed. Maybe the days of showing backyard breeders birthing puppies and kittens "cuz all our friends want one" are over. One can only hope. (Although, I did think they bred the heck out of one assistance dog who was 6 and was on her 6th litter.)

Did you like the guy with the Ridgeback who's "idiosyncracies" included unprovoked biting? Same dog jumps up on grandma and knocks her down - a known problem but hasn't dealt with it. :o That thread is here: [url]http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=180554[/url]

[quote name='Cheetah']"well it was crapping all over the house and it wouldn't shut up at night, and it chased my little sister... they obviously did no research on the breed[/quote] Or ANY breed! Puppies that poop and cry and chew on things? Unheard of! :roll: I was talking to Kato's breeder the other day and she said she had to entertain a bunch of people who wanted what she described as a stuffed animal - perfect little puppies they could pay attention to when they had the time. Sheesh, my husband missed most of football season last year because he was constantly following little Kato around the house and supervising him. (He likes to keep reminding me about how he sacrificed his TV time.)

Yeah, I saw that too, and she probably is from a petshop. They are showing up more and more there because they are very cute puppies and sell like hotcakes. I've seen them showing up more as breeding stock on miller auction lists too. There are a lot of very, very bad Shibas out there now - most don't even resemble the standard and/or have nasty temperments. My old Schnauzer has luxating patellas and it didn't really affect her until she was 12 years old. I wonder how bad this dog's knees are.

Check out why this Shiba was dumped: [url]http://www.petfinder.org/pet.cgi?action=2&pet=1629719&adTarget=468doggeneral&SessionID=3eaec06d63958414-app1&display=&preview=1&row=0[/url] [quote]Sheeba was surrendered to us by her owners after they realized she required more time and training than they expected. She developed a habit of dashing through doors in an attempt to follow after four very young children.[/quote] Time? Training? What's that? FOUR small children?! What a disaster. Ok, I know I'm being judgemental, but this really ticks me off. Anyone who does 2 seconds worth of Googling can come up with dozens of websites that tell you flat out that Shibas can be stubborn, take a lot of training, and will squeeze their fuzzy little body through the door as soon as it opens at least half an inch. It's also a bad habit that can be fixed easily in a very short period of time. But they dumped the dog instead. :evil: I wish I could take her.

And slight hijack, but does anyone else think "Puggles" are the ugliest new mix? If you scroll down the page on the site I linked to in my above post, you can see the adult.

[quote name='science_doc']For those of you who missed it(LOL), check this out: [url]http://www.discover.com/apr_03/featscienceof.html[/url] At the very least this is an interesting article in a fairly good science magazine (note, not a peer reviwed journal) I would love to debate this topic again :P[/quote] Interesting article which I agree with. Surprised? I really don't think there is much to debate though. I agree that there is such a thing as hybrid vigor - but not in most dogs. The reason [i]I[/i] think is because most mixed breed dogs are still the creation of humans and not natural selection which would weed out the unhealthy specimens. Just look at all the crosses popping up all over now that are the work of backyard breeders and millers. They aren't using healthy stock and mixing them isn't creating dogs that are any better off then their purebred parents. What I do agree with is that some of the purebreds could use a little refreshing of the gene pool (not gonna happen though), and I'd love to see show breeders stop going for the extreme. I think my main issue with hybrid vigor (and I probably won't explain this right again) is that the average person thinks it means mutt=healthy, purebred=bad. You can't really continue to think that way in light of all the irresponsible people purposely breeding mixes. I mean check out this site where they are selling all kinds of mutts for $500 and up: [url]http://www.pups4kids.com/pups_available.htm[/url] I don't think hybrid vigor is really going to save the unsuspecting public from getting an unhealthy dog from these kind of places.

[quote=Mary's Mama]I read this thinking from your statement he was going to talk about pet stores or some other unfortunate method of procurement. However, he was simply saying that if you just want a pet to adopt one that needs a home. What is wrong with that? Did I miss something? IMHO, there are other ways to get good pets than buying from show breeders.[/quote] No one ever said there wasn't, but he specifically told him to stay away from breeders period because they have all kinds of health issues - that was my beef, not that he recommended a shelter dog. It seems like nowadays most people think breeder = miller, so I was trying to put out the message about responsible breeders and how to find one if he decided to take that route. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree about hybrid vigor. I sure saw a ton of unhealthy mutts when I worked at the vet - mostly "poo-dogs".

They could use Shibas as dingoes - but I don't know how they'd get the curl out of their tails. :D

Argh! Won't this stupid "fact" die? Die! Die! Die! And check out the guy who says you should stay away from breeders unless you want a show dog: [url]http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=180562[/url] And may I also suggest the "Pit Bulls should be outlawed" thread: [url]http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=180566[/url] BTW, keep it civil or they will ban you although they do have a forum called The BBQ Pit if you must flame someone.

No major. Today he went Winners Dog and then the judge picked the two ugliest dogs - one got BOB and the oogly female got Best of Winners and Best of Opposite. They were pet quality but owned by friends of hers. :roll: Oh well, that's the way it goes sometimes...

Kato got his first points today and went Best of Winners! It was a miserable day. It poured and there was mud everywhere, but he was happy as a clam and it didn't phase him at all. Tomorrow we have one more show and then a 4 week break until the next bunch. And - no pictures because of the rain. :( Oh, and Roo - there were a bunch of cute Frenchies. I think I want one... (Hubby thinks they are weird looking.) :lol:

I would be happier if someone would do an independent study on BARF. Anecdotal evidence just isn't cutting it for me. Kato's diet is only about 1/2 kibble, but he doesn't have any of the problems like hotspots, poor coat quality, or bad breath. The whole idea behind giving my dog something he could swallow and either choke on or cause an impaction gives me the willies - but that could be the ex-vet tech in me. He does get some raw in a way, but it's the Wysong freeze dried kind.

Aw, cute babies! Congrats! :beerchug:

That's a Frenchie, right? A Frenchie won the group puppy class I was in, but I swear it had big bat ears - and yours don't. Did I see an "Americanized" version?

[quote name='HazelNutMeg']Wow, he really is small... how big are shibas usually?[/quote] He's only 20 lbs which is about average for a male. His father is 28 lbs, but he's at the upper size limit. I have another show next Thursday. Hope I don't lose again.

Kato got best puppy, but he didn't beat the breeder's other dog although it was apparently a very close decision - so no point. The other dog was more experienced and was free stacking a bit better, but I still think he should have won. Then we got to sit around ALL day for the puppy group. By the time we finally got in the ring, he was too tired to argue about stacking, but he was trotting with his head down. Still, he got a 3rd and one of the dogs he beat was the poodle - no one beats the poodle so I was happy. Here are some pics... Puppy class: [img]http://mywebpages.comcast.net/blancm3/images/apr5_2003.jpg[/img] [img]http://mywebpages.comcast.net/blancm3/images/apr5_2003_2.jpg[/img] Group puppy: [img]http://mywebpages.comcast.net/blancm3/images/apr5_2003_8.jpg[/img] [img]http://mywebpages.comcast.net/blancm3/images/apr5_2003_9.jpg[/img] Getting his ribbon: [img]http://mywebpages.comcast.net/blancm3/images/apr5_2003_10.jpg[/img]

What happens if you just leave it out? I have a picker and he only eats when he wants to.

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