We Sell Dogs, Not robots: Stories from the Kennel Business

[Pagan]

Hey Captain Kennedy! (Are you one of the Kennedys? )

Ok I get some of the questions that you see that you listed.

Yeah, asking question is great, but....

Each time she sent a new email with about forty more questions that were easily answered by looking at our web-site I would reply, answering a few questions while, once again, urging her to contact us via telephone in order to answer all her questions in one sitting.

It is actually not bizarre; I have noticed this is a common reaction of cats to those who are allergic to them. Most cats have a malicious streak, and this is one way to indulge it.

The do it to people that don't like cats, too! My mom hates cats, yet, when they go over to my step-grandmothers and step-aunts, who is the person that the cat beelines for?

[Soulstealer]

slightly off topic but it is about kitties, I am very allergic to them and yet they love to flock to me for some bizarre reason.

End of the off topicness

It's the eye contact and general behavior toward the cat. They don't like it when you're in their face the second you meet them.

[iradney]

I can't believe the people that literally imprisoned their puppy...
I wish the same could be done to them so they can feel what it's like! I've never crated the Hops (it's not really done here in SA) but I have a feeling he'd be ok with it for all of 30 seconds, and then start whining pitifully. My puppy's so spoilt, he has TWO beds

[Peppergirl]

The do it to people that don't like cats, too! My mom hates cats, yet, when they go over to my step-grandmothers and step-aunts, who is the person that the cat beelines for?

That's funny because my dad is a self-professed cat hater and my cats flock to him.

I discovered the last time he was at my house, though - that he secretly plays with them and talks to them when he thinks no one is looking.

[portia911]

The scary thing is these people are also allowed to breed bloody children. It makes you wonder what kind of treatment they get. Mind you i've always like dogs better than kids anyway.

I'd like to stuff them in a crate and only let them out to munch on a few dry biscuts

[Evil Queen]

I'm with EQ, my family has also always done the rescued animals, my mother prefers the ASPCA, I prefer the Humane Society... and this will sound sick and twisted, but it is true, the rescued animals, particularly the ones that were neglected are the most loving and perfect pets ever... because if all they have known is abuse and neglect treat them properly and they will latch onto you for life. My mom has a dog who was abused before being rescued, and even in his old age I don't doubt that he would go to the death to protect my mother if need be because he knows that she saved him.

I get my pets from the Humane Society as well. Afterall, those pets all need homes! They'll be put down if they don't.

IIRC, I believe all my dogs were neglected before becoming part of my family. Sasha (Shasha to my 2 year old brain; Alaskan Malamute, I think.) had her front legs broken by a previous owner. And she was AKC registered!

Sam (Yellow Lab/Chow Chow mix) was beaten, I think. Something was up. I also believe that he thought "Sam" wasn't his name (he rarely, if ever, came when called).

K.C. was dumped at a local dump in South Carolina with her brother, but he would up with Cage Rage so we couldn't get him. But KC was a sweet loving baby. Only problem was she had mites, but those washed away after a few weeks.

I'm looking at adopting a young dog right now. Just don't know what sort of breed to get.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

13. Are your labs well-mannered?

Is the Pope Lutheran?

Labs are not well-mannered, sit-on-your-lap-and-look-adorable dogs. They are extremely enthusiastic, hyperactive, garbage disposal units who will eat anything.

Such as for example cheez doodles (gives new meaning to the term "labradoodle" doesn't it?) and almost an entire batch of freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies.

Yeah, my lab did that and spent the next two days puking. I know she'd do the same again. Seriously, I don't know any other dogs that get quite as excited about being fed as labs do. I used to have an English springer spaniel and she wouldn't touch her food for a while after it was put in her dish. My lab will be done with her food in 30 seconds or less.

[Dark Psion]

We’ve shipped dogs (and one horse, oddly enough) overseas to France and England.

Really?

How did you get it in the envelope?

[Captain Kennedy]

Really?

How did you get it in the envelope?

We make very small dogs

We have shipped dogs all over the country and canada. We ship them in crates through American Airlines. The horse we shipped to France was an interesting incident. However, this isn't the time for that story. The customer was actually very nice!

Labs are not well-mannered, sit-on-your-lap-and-look-adorable dogs. They are extremely enthusiastic, hyperactive, garbage disposal units who will eat anything.

I don't actually like labs that much. Not my favorite breed of dog. I have a 90 pound labradoodle (freakishly huge for the breed, God bless him) that's somewhere around the house as I speak. Wonderful breed. Extremely smart, nice, and an extremely cute dog. I'm a little biased, though. GSPs and Labradoodles are my favorite breeds.

But in any case, I digress.

I'll update the list of stories when I get more or remember more.

[depechemodefan]

It ran straight into my arms. Crawled up into my lap, stared up at me with big swollen eyes and weakly wagged its tail.

AWWw! *sniffle*

Violent and malicious dog, yes. Horrid dog, oh yes. They were absolutely correct. The poor dog was emaciated as well. It was so skinny I was really close to giving them a peace of my mind. However, I did better and didn’t give them any of their money back. I told them that we would give them another puppy if they wanted one, but since there is nothing structurally wrong with the dog they would not be getting one penny of their money back.

I'm surprised you offered another dog.

Working at the library, we get some pet questions. Yesterday some guy called, and besides saying something about "rotweiler-pit bull mix", I really didn't get his question. He didn't even say, "I need to know about...", which in itself might mean "I want to know about people being attacked by them" or the care of them. But he finally asked the question of "what they eat? how they act?" Google wasn't any help, since really, dogs don't fit in some neat box (ok, a lab is different from a beagle, yes, there is differences between breeds), one pit-bull mix might act diff. from another. Anyway, not really a sucky question, just annoying that the person had no idea how to ask his question till maybe 10 sentences latter.

[Catwoman2965]

Is the Pope Lutheran?

Labs are not well-mannered, sit-on-your-lap-and-look-adorable dogs. They are extremely enthusiastic, hyperactive, garbage disposal units who will eat anything.

Such as for example cheez doodles (gives new meaning to the term "labradoodle" doesn't it?) and almost an entire batch of freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies.

Yeah, my lab did that and spent the next two days puking. I know she'd do the same again. Seriously, I don't know any other dogs that get quite as excited about being fed as labs do. I used to have an English springer spaniel and she wouldn't touch her food for a while after it was put in her dish. My lab will be done with her food in 30 seconds or less.

Heh...I dogsit for a friend who has a lab, and he is the biggest chowhound I've ever seen! When I stay there, and am cooking...he FOLLOWS me back and forth, from the stove, to the counter, to the fridge. etc. And then when I'm eating, he sits right by me, staring at my food! Funny thing; one time I was there, and was leaving as they were coming back...so I was cleaning stuff out of the fridge...including some foil with a few potatoes and onions I had grilled. They came back, and the dogs beds used to be right by the kitchen table. They noticed he had something hidden, and it was the foil! he had snuck it out of the trash, and i gues they came home before he could get into it! And when you feed him - he inhales his food in seconds it seems! While the other dog eats slowly and daintily!

[Ghengis51]

My wife and I have three kitties, two from the humane society and one was my supervisor's that we took when he couldn't keep her anymore. We love our fuzzballs with their three distinct personalities. We keep having to fight the urge to get a 4th one since our youngest one is full grown now and we like kitties.

[jerkface11]

About a month ago some asshat dumped a kitten about 4 weeks old in our drivethru at work. No one else would take him so I put him in a box in the break room till I got off work then gave him to my grandpa.

[blas]

Not all labs are naughty.

Bear is half lab, half golden retriever. I will admit that when she was a puppy, she was psycho hyper and digging in the garbage and digging holes to China in the backyard, but at about age 5 or so, she really started mellowing out. Now she's so lazy it makes me sad.

Maybe it's the retriever that made her mellow out so young...

[protege]

You had a deaf kitty? Cool.

Yeah, Snow was completely deaf. That's actually common in white cats. Something in their genes. Other than that, she was fine. Very sweet, in fact. However, I had to tell people not to touch her if she was sleeping--she'd get startled and freak out. Much easier to gently touch her blankie, and she'd awaken.

...and now for a doggie story. My aunt has a springer spaniel named Murphy. Murph just loves to play with everyone. For quite awhile, one of his favorite things was to take small items and hide them. He got into trouble one night...when he got into the kitchen, stole a bag of rolls...and hid them all over the house. Annoyed the hell out of my aunt, because she was finding them for months. Murph got the last laugh when my cousin moved out. As they were moving her bed...a roll fell out. It was rock-solid