Tell me they are kidding!!!

[schippsmom]

:Dog_run:

I cannot believe what I just heard on TV. The National Geographic Channel will be airing a program on Sunday at 9:00pm, I think, maybe 8:00 called Designer Dogs. I have heard about it but didn't think much of it, after all they are making what we all know are mutts. I've owned several mutts and they are wonderful but now they are glorifying it and calling them Designer Dogs. Sounds like potential puppy mill fuel. This is so wrong!!!! I am mad they would air something like that :x

Paula & Re-Run

[__crazy_canine__]

OH! I heard that too! I also think its wrong! I mean its great they are trying to help people to have a 'good' pet but what really is a good pet anyway? THe whole thing sounds like an experiment and thats wrong to do something like that on a living thing! :evil: I dont know maybe I have it all wrong but it sounds like they are just adding to the population, like you said, a puppy mill! Why cant people just give the dogs living right now a chance instead of replacing them with the 'perfect' dog?!? :roll: Oh I will NEVER understand humans, even though I am one... some are just such a disgrace!!!!

[Guest Anonymous]

I haven't herd that yet, but i'm sure if they do come out with it, that they will get ALOT of hate mail !!

[StarFox]

Oh I thought I was going mad! I was half asleep when I thought I heard a comercial for that program. It kinda sounds like they are going to glamorize it and make it sounds like Designer breeds are good. :evil: :x I swear I'm going to write a letter to them if I don't like what I see.

[Queen Bitch]

Ugh I saw this yesterday. I was actually sitting there yelling at the people on the tv. And then got on the computer and vented to my boyfriend.
They had the "labradoodle". The kennel was , I believe in Austraila.(I missed the first 5 minutes). They made a big deal about being hypoallergenic. Grrrrrrr. But oooooh folks they come in 3 sizes now! So um yeah, why not just get a poodle? Oh yeah there is a "fussy, frilly" stigma on them. Grrrrr.

They also had the Caucasian. The guy they showed was litterally gettting dragged on the ground, INTO the street by his 180lb dog that was trying to attack a car! Um training anyone?
Next up was the wolfdog. One woman had 8 of them illegally and they had a guy who ran a wolf dog sanctuary. He had a great quote. "For anyone interested in getting a wolf hybrid, don't. If you want a "wolfdog" get a GSD or a husky or some other dog that looks like a wolf, not one that actually is. Hybrids aren't like dogs."
They also had the Alaskan Klee Kai. I saw a huge discrepency between the types. ( Toy, Mini and Stnadard.) Theoretically they are made from American Eskimos, Siberian HUskies , Schipperkes and Alaskan Huskies.
The toy ones looked like weird Chihuahua/Huskies.

They had a bunch of various flyball supermutt mixes. Border Collie/Border Terrier, BC/Jack Russel, BC/ Staffie etc. For some reason I wasn't quite as appalled by these dogs as I was by the others.

[Horsefeathers!]

hillside napisał(a):

They also had the Caucasian. The guy they showed was litterally gettting dragged on the ground, INTO the street by his 180lb dog that was trying to attack a car! Um training anyone?

I saw that! My poor husband thought he was going to have to sit on me to keep me from flinging something through the television.

It couldn't have a thing to do with the BREEDER who advertised those dogs as being as "effective as a .45 calibre slug" at stopping someone. This guy lived in what appeared to be a pretty tight community. He said it was worth it to him to have "that level of security." What is he, the neighborhood dope man?? THAT level of security? I didn't see where he had THAT much to worry about securing. Ooooohhhh, that made me so angry. So what happens when this dog gets hold of someone? The man obviously couldn't control him... the dog just dragged him along. He seemed so proud that this dog was so (what's the word I'm looking for here?) "tough." This is definitely a person who has no business with that kind of dog. He's in way over his head.

[mouseatthebusstop]

:evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

[Queen Bitch]

And to top it off HF, he said he had expierence with protection dogs. Wouldn't he know then that they need to be extremely well trained? At the VERY least he's looking at personal injury from being dragged around.

[courtnek]

I agree, and NO ONE without a certain level of wolf expertise should own a "wolfdog"....wolves are not domesticated pets. Hell, most people cant handle their truly domesticated dogs using pack rules, since they dont know they exist or dont believe they are necessary...how do you train a dog that's half wolf without pack rules? It appalls me. Did you know that something as simple as a suitcase sitting in the middle of a kitchen floor could cause a wolf to panic? A dog would ignore it, or check it out. A wolf might see it as blocking his escape, panic and bite....this is just SOOOOO wrong.....and with some of the things people dont train their dogs, with the lack of general doggie knowledge, these people want a WOLF?????

I dont care that it's crossed with a dog....the instincts in half of these animals will be those of a wolf....and you wont know which one you got until the animal matures....

:o :evil: :o :evil:

[schippsmom]

:Dog_run:

I missed it!! I was busy watching a play off game and only saw the last 10 minutes of it. Apparently I missed alot. From the sounds of it they thought nothing wrong with breeding all these new mutts (no offense, I loved all my mutts very much).

I had to laugh, in our paper today I saw an ad for purebred labrodoodles starting at $1,500. Purebred? Is that possible?

I also saw somewhere that AKC is going to recognize the breed soon. They apparently want the membership fees. I am so glad that I didn't send in Re-Runs papers, I knew that he would be neutered so why bother. Now I'm glad I have no connection to AKC, they can keep their meaningless piece of paper and get money from someone else. :evil: :evil: :evil:

Paula & Paperless Re-Run

[__crazy_canine__]

I missed it also. I kinda wanted to see it just to know what they are really doing becuase I WILL complain about it if its bad. Does anyone know if its on again and what time?

[abker17]

UGH don't even get me started on the AKC! I've had it with them, they've become all about money! :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

And as for the show, it sounds sickening and I know I'll just get upset if I watch it so I think I'll steer clear.

[kendalyn]

I saw the show. The Caucasion segment bothered me. I didn't see any people who owned them who I thought really had control of them. In one shot they were allowing people on the street to come up and pet him. One was a very small infant that was sitting on the ground next to it. I'm sure that baby's parents had no idea how dangerous that dog was. If the parents were educated about the dogs, than fine. But I doubt they knew. I don't think that's right. And nobody should own a dog that pulls them down the road trying to attack a car.

I thought the segment about the family from Pennsylvania that bought a labradoodle from the breeder in Australia was odd. They got the "hypoallergenic" labradoodle (again, what's wrong with a poodle or another non shedding breed?) because the mom was allergic to dogs. But when they got the dog they didn't really know if the mom would have an allergic reaction to it. They kept saying that they hoped it would work out. So what were they going to do if she was allergic? Why couldn't they have checked out a breeder here to save the puppy a long taumatic trip back to Australia in the event it didn't work out? And why would the breeder not have the mom check out her allergies with other labradoodles before she shipped one? That just seems unnecessary.

Maybe it's just me and my not very competitive genes, but I thought those flyball people were going WAY WAY overboard to win and post the fastest times. If you can no longer compete with anything other than a border/border or a jack/border than what's the point?

[Guest Mutts4Me]

[quote name='kendalyn']The Caucasion segment bothered me. I didn't see any people who owned them who I thought really had control of them. In one shot they were allowing people on the street to come up and pet him. One was a very small infant that was sitting on the ground next to it.

I don't get the NGC, so I can't see the show, but I'm confused about the Caucasian? I had to look the breed up and all I could find was a big fuzzy dog. The thing that confuses me is that usually, when people get dogs for "protection" (whether real or for show) they want tough looking dogs, whether tough or not. But there was nothing tough looking about the Caucasians I found on my brief internet search. So to just about anyone walking down the street, myself included, some guy walking (or trying to walk) a great big teddy bear is not going to set my alarms off. I'm going to think it's cute.

My point is so not coming across... I'm not trying to say "what's the attraction" to the Caucasian itself, because I'm sure they're the perfect match for the right people. But why are people attracted to these teddy bear looking dogs for "security," to look tough in front of people? Are all Caucasians not as cute and fuzzy as the ones I'm seeing online? Or do they assume that people are going to know what these dogs are (I didn't).

There are some dogs who look "tough" to the public, but may not be tough at all, at least not towards humans (APBT), and they serve their job as "security" merely by existing. People think pits are tough, so they see someone with a pit, and they don't mess with them because they assume the pit is tough. Then there are dogs that do have the potential to be human aggressive, but look cute and cuddly (my fav, the Akita), so people may get it because it's cute, without being aware of its potential. Of course, some people may full well know an Akita's history of being guard dogs, and may get them for that purpose, but they're not as intimidating to your average member of society because they don't have the "tough" image. My impression is that this Caucasian dog kind of fits in the latter category.

Geez, I'm so sleepy, and this probably didn't make sense, and even if it did it still doesn't really have a point. Just that society is so dang backwards...

[Horsefeathers!]

M4m, I'm certainly no expert on Caucasians, but I'll relay basically my interpretation.

Just based on that show, Caucasians are supposed to be inherently human aggressive. Apparently they can weigh close to 200 lbs. The breeder they chose to provide air time to was demonstrating how she tests their aggression(?) at only a few weeks of age. She placed these dogs in ads and stated that they were "as effective as a .45 calibre bullet" at stopping someone. They are, according to that segment, supposed to be extremely human aggressive. No, they don't look mean, but if you'd been able to see how this one man's dog was dragging him pitifully down the street chasing and lunging at cars. Literally dragging the man. The man was off his feet and just sliding on his back while the dog charged ahead. I have a problem with the idea of someone who has such a lack of control having a dog that demanding and in what appears to be such a tightly knit community (rows of houses placed closely together, children out and about, people pushing baby strollers down the street).

Again, all this was just what was on the show. Other than that, I know nothing about the breed. It was the breeder who went on and on about how human aggressive they were and the knobhead man that bought one from her who stated he felt he needed "that level of protection." I agree that they are beautiful and look like big teddy bears. That's kind of scary to me... as mentioned above, people on that show would see these dogs in the street and assume they were friendly because they didn't LOOK dangerous and brought their children and infants over to pet them. I guess it just illustrates that you never know...

[bk_blue]

Re the Labradoodle puppies- I have heard of this particular kennel before (if it's the one I think the show is talking about). they are based in NSW and the "breeder" is, from memory, a vet. :x UGH is all I have to say about that. :evil:

[StarFox]

hillside napisał(a):

Ugh I saw this yesterday. I was actually sitting there yelling at the people on the tv.

Me too Hillside. My mom came in my room to see what was the matter and why I was yelling so much. I had to explain that I was watching tv. :oops:

Didn't it look like the woman who was breeding the Labradoodles was keeping them in a wearhouse? Stupid puppy mill.

Uh as for the woman who had the Caucasians..what can I say? I have seen one of her ads in the back of Dog Fancy magazine. And to be perfectly honest the dogs that they showed scared the beans out of me! Trying to attack a moving car? Pulling that guy off his feet? And they never showed that dog when it wasn't lunging at someone or something. The caucasian is HUGE and to me it does look "tough". But there was that one scene when they put that baby next to the dog. That dog did NOT look happy! I was just waiting for something horrible to happen.

Ahh well I'm happy to know that I wasn't the only one that was furious because of that show.

[Guest Mutts4Me]

Horsefeathers! napisał(a):

No, they don't look mean, but if you'd been able to see how this one man's dog was dragging him pitifully down the street chasing and lunging at cars. Literally dragging the man. The man was off his feet and just sliding on his back while the dog charged ahead.

Oh, I understand that... I guess there was never a question intended in my post, I was just sleepily ranting about how backward society is. I'm sure that Caucasians have the full potential to be aggressive animals, especially if they're encouraged at a young age to be that way by their breeder, as you mentioned.

I'm just amazed by the use of these dogs as protection in a society where so much is judged by looks. See a big fuzzy dog that in reality might be happy to bite your hand off, and smile at the teddy bear. See a little brindle dog that in reality might be happy to lick your face off, and dart to the opposite side of the street. Weird, weird, weird...

[Guest Anonymous]

Country of origin: Caucasian Republics, Russia
Date of origin: Middle Ages, probably much earlier
Other names: Caucasian Ovcharka, Shepherd or Sheepdog; Nagazi (Georgian Republic), Gampr (Armenia);Kawkasky Owtscharka; Kaukasische Schaferhund
Weight Range: 70-160lbs
Height Range: 26-32inches
Longevity: 10+ years
Color: Shades of agouti gray to fawn, patched, brindle, occasionally all white.
Description: Bear-like head, bluntly cropped ears, stocky, thick coat may be short, medium or long, regional variation, steppe and mountain types
Use: Livestock guardian, area/estate protection, companion, show.
Character: Protective, territorial, suspicious, alert, trainable and willing workers. Requires above average socialization and firm, inducive training. Family oriented, demonstrative, and gentle to well-mannered children with proper raising. Must be under control at all times - fence, leash and voice control. Can be noisy, unmanageable, owner dominant. A wonderful breed but not for everyone.


On another site I found it said the Caucasian can actually be put into three different breeds. They originated in the Caucasian Mountain Range. It is said Russia claimed the breed, much to the dismay of other countries, as its own.

[Guest Mutts4Me]

[quote name='Mei-Mei']Actually, after all the terrible things I've just said, I have to admit that Caucasian Ovcharkas are one of my favorite breeds. They are extremely loyal and intelligent. They are just the kind of dog that most people don't need to own.

Lol :) I do that with Akitas. They are my favorite breed, but I'm opposed to most people having them, and I'm doubtful that I'll ever be able to have one. So I'll go on and on about how aggressive they can be and why, but man, I love them. I've only seen two in person in my entire life, and I consider that a good thing, because most people don't need to have them.

Luckily, Akitas have been here long enough that there are breeding programs that are trying to curb that aggressiveness to make the Akita a family pet. I don't know if the same is true for Caucasians or not. There are also Akita breeders like the Caucasian breeder mentioned in this thread who try to keep their dogs aggressive, and value aggressiveness towards humans and animals alike.

There's just something about big, fuzzy dogs who were bred for aggressiveness that scare the #&%! out of me. Not necessarily the dogs themselves (though in the wrong hands, yes), but the fact that someone's going to see one and think it's the cutest thing ever and get one without knowing what they're getting.

Because...

...Aww!!! That is so cute! It reminds me a lot of Sasha when she puts her ears back (yes, I'm aware that dog's ears are cropped), and I see it and I think "I want one!" ... But fortunately, I'm big on research.

[Holz_Boomer]

:evil: :o I havent heard of this show and am certainly glad that i havent..i cant believe they would air something like that :evil: