Pets

[Philia]

I can't stand cats, I have had bad experiences with them

Here is a pic of my Dogs Linus (the Boston Terrier/ Pug) and Leda (the Siberian Husky), they love eachother which is nice. But they both have changed there roles, Linus is the "big bad macho" dog, and Leda is the err..."little" dog

Linus is 2 and about 7 lbs. He enjoys chewing on socks.

Leda is 5 and enjoys sleeping on my bed, and sitting on MY couch....she weighs alot!

[Andúril]

Okay, I've jut gone through all the pics on this thread, and I have determined that my dog is the cutest in the universe.

[Aeryn]

Philia, your dogs are ADORABLE! My dog is cuter though...and my cat...but I mean I LOVE huskies! and malamutes, but their coats are alot of work!

[Silverstripe]

I have two dogs, a Samoyed (Ivan) and a border-collie cross (Scott), both male, both less than a year old. They are both very nice dogs.

Scott? I haven't had him for long, so I can't describe his personality that well yet. He's a rescue dog, and so far has been quite timid, though very loving, smart, and obedient.

Samoyeds (northern breed, sled dog, looks a little like a Spitz but bigger) are absolutely beautiful dogs, but you have to be addicted to own one and not go crazy. They are sweet dogs -- but very good at problem solving, incredibly intelligent, and not all that obedient.
When I ask Ivan to do something he doesn't want to do, he has this habit of *grinning* at me, shaking his head a little, and giving me a perplexed look, as if to say "I don't understand what you're talking about."
Also Samoyeds are quite destructive. Ivan hasn't eaten anything big so far, but the Sammy I owned before Ivan ate the turntable in the microwave, the linoleum floor in the kitchen and utility room, and nearly destroyed the dryer. He also raided the fridge more than once; the second time, he and our other dog (a golden retriever) ate an entire Christmas ham.
So Samoyeds are certainly not for everyone. Personally, I'm addicted to the breed. I have never in my life been without a dog, and only gone three years without a Sammy.
Their playful grin, their rather brilliant imitations of other dogs, humans, and even cats (Ivan saw a boxer "box," now he's doing it), and even some of their often-annoying traits all combine to make Samoyeds like Ivan very special to me.


Anybody else here love Samoyeds?

[Sicirus]

I love Samoyeds. My moms friend has one named Lexie. Big white and fluffy. And very shy.
My dog use to eat bread and cakes when we left them out to cool on the table after cooking them. My dog even ate a whole stick of butter. That probably explains why he was getting so fat. He is skinny now though.

[Silverstripe]

My very first Samoyed ate nearly an entire bag of uncooked rice, so of course it swelled in his stomach, poor guy. It nearly killed him! But I bet he'd have done it again if he'd had the opportunity.

[BeardofPants]

Actually, Samoyeds are amongst some of the dumber dog breeds.

[Silverstripe]

No ... believe me, mine have all been quite intelligent, especially at problem solving. They are also considered to be fast learners. I can see how people would THINK Samoyeds are dumb, because they eat up things they shouldn't and annoy their people. They figure out how to open fridges, locks, gates (even when we put a latch at the top of the gate in the yard, one of my Samoyeds was seen studying the gate as if trying to figure out how it worked.
Where did you get your information, BoP? Everything I've read, even by people who dislike Samoyeds, says they are quite intelligent (and these books are by people who spend their lives studying dogs). In fact some consider this, combined with poor obedience level, to be a serious flaw.

[cassiopeia]

Border Collies are meant to be the smartest dogs. But I like to believe that there are no dumb dogs, only dumb owners.

[Miranda]

The two dogs I have lived with prove that dogs ain't as stupid as they look. My first dog pixie was a jack russel and a sweet little thing who had mad half hours round the front room- don't ask. The funny thing bout her was, when we got my current dog Gunner who's an Airedale, she was half the size of him as a pup. Being male and HUGE we thought Gunner would come in and be dominant but he was soon put in his place by fiesty little Pixie. The sweetest moment was when we had the half Pixie put doan because she had cancer. Told Gunner to say goodbye because Pixie wasn't coming home and he did- he didn't bounce about and bark like he'd do normal if she was on her leash and he wasn't. They just kinda looked at eachother and said goodbye. He still looks for her at times- if we mention her name he looks for her in the place where her basket used to be. Gunner's very intelligent though. He can get into anything and even tries to hide under coats so he can sneak up to you and nick food. You can see him working things out before he does them. I did have one stupid pet though- a budgie with an attitude problem! He used to love Madness- the band- and would head bang to it, beat up his mirror and sit in his seed box- daft old bird! Bit like me- Mx

[BeardofPants]

Firstly, I do think it was to do with obedience. My mother used to be a dog obedience instructor, and she had a guarantee that if in 12 weeks the dog wasn't trained, she do another course for free. She only had to do it once, and it was with a samoyed. BUT: my information isn't based on this, it's based on some list I read once, which placed border collies at number one, and samoyeds came last on the list. I admit that this was some years ago, and probably not the best citation.

[Varda Oiolosseo]

I've always wanted a dog and a cat!!
I used to have two pet rats!! They were really sweet but they died last year!! I've got two fish and we might be getting another rat!!!

[BeardofPants]

I used to breed rats. Cute little buggers aren't they?

[Coney]

Originally posted by BeardofPants
I used to breed rats. Cute little buggers aren't they?

They are ........ I had a pet rat (named Rahthausen) in my early teens (long, long, time ago ) great little so an' so's they are (mine smelled of baby talc for some strange reason) more intelligent than most give 'em credit for as well

Re thick canines: if ya want a thick (and I mean thick) breed of dog, go for a Saluki.......the one I owned years ago was numb as cocaine (although he was a very devoted animal, he had a tendancy not to realise that fences, gates etc could not be ran straight through.......he used to cost me a fortune in vets bills )

[BeardofPants]

Well, I had the two females, Goldie and Gem (eh, what can I say? I was 11.) They were really affectionate and "chatty." And then I had the males: Pixie (my brother named him, not me...) who was dumb as a nut, but very friendly, Patches, who hated cuddles and kisses, and could rival houdini - one time I caught him climbing up the curtain... and Flash, who used to cart peas around in his gob. Ah, memories!

I'd like to own a ferrit one day. It should be interesting... Wonder who would out-bite whom?

[Coney]

A ferret outbites most things (they are after-all just domesticated pole-cats).........they can be quite affectionate tho .......but they are not house-pets (they crap like a cat but cannot be litter-trained).

Never owned one myself but a few of my friends have........thing is they are hunters and if they are not worked (rabbiting etc) regularly they become complacent

I want a new rat now .......... but I don't think my cats woudl agree to the idea

[Silverstripe]

I once bought a "male" mouse, and soon after I got "him" home, "he" became rounder and rounder and finally had a litter of eleven pinkies. Quite ugly then, but cute too in a way. When they were first born, I didn't want to touch them, as Mama Mouse (Oreo) might smell "human" on the babies and eat them. When their fur grew, (in which time Oreo had NOT eaten any of them) I did take them out of their cage each day and hold them.
Vivid memory: sitting in a chair with all eleven baby mice in my lap, trying to keep them from crawling away and falling (they were still blind).
Then the adorable "fuzzies" grew to become "hoppers" (they run very fast, hop in the air, have fur, can see and hear). Anyone who's ever raised mice will know that's an -- um, "exciting" time. I had two escape attempts, once by a little white female, the other time by a black-and-white male. Fortunately I was able to recover both mice, though there was a rather bad scare in the case of the male. He had jumped into the fireplace (no fire)!
Finally I wound up giving 9 of them to a pet shop that DID NOT SELL SNAKES, keeping Oreo and two of her daughters.
Those three were fun to watch, they were. It's been over two years since I got Oreo though, so of course all my mice are gone now.
*sigh* I miss the little critters.

[Sicirus]

Not to start fights but Unfortunatly to my beleif poodles are pretty much the smartest dogs. Though I really don't like how some people do their hair cuts. poodles were originaly cut like that because they did swiming and all their fur prevented them from going fast. So people would cut their fur in certain places so they would have a faster swim yet they are protected by fur on certaing parts of their body. (I know confusing)
This thread is starting to make me jealouse. I miss my greyhound . He was a great friend to talk to. My other dog is still here though. he sleeps all the time. Then when he goes under the deck he won't come out. So I have to bribe him with food to get him inside the house.

[Silverstripe]

Originally posted by Sicirus
Not to start fights but Unfortunatly to my beleif poodles are pretty much the smartest dogs.

I agree. I'm certainly not saying Samoyeds are the most intelligent dogs out there.

[Ërendil]

I have a dog called Della, and she is an English Springer spaniel. She is really sweet and freindly but hates the post man and the letter box. She is meant to be a hunting dog breed, but is terrible of finding things. If you thow a stick and she doesn't see where it goes, she moans and whines until you thow another one.