My Dog and Me

[emmabeth]

When I read and hear all the things our dogs are not 'supposed' to do because if they do they will think they are above us in the pack... I wonder sometimes why we even have them.

I got dogs because I love them... I love sharing my sofa, my bed, my living room, my kitchen (ok not loving the Deerhound sized bites out of things I've inadvertently left unattended ).. with my dogs.

If having dogs meant they had to live shut away from me, at floor level only, or even permanently outside - I wouldnt own them. Id have cats.

So no, its not wrong to want your dog on the bed if thats what you like, or on the sofa.. (for some people and some dogs its not wrong to have them outside or not in the living room... just not right for me and MY dogs).

Your house, your dog, you make the rules. They can be any rules you like, it doesnt matter - as long as they are consistent and something within a dogs capabilities to understand, you can have whatever rules suit you.

Whats not fair and a lot of people do this, is rules dogs cant understand - such as 'dogs must not take food left unattended'. Thats not kind, and whilst some dogs wont take food they are not specifically given, most will so to expect them not to is unkind.

[Ulrike]

emmabeth: Thank you sooo much for your reply. It took many worries away from me.

Aaron prefers to bite in black shoes and socks.

How old is your Greyhound? How long he has been mistreated?

I dont understand how people can mistreat pets, such a behaviour makes me angry! I am vegetarian, I can´t even eat animals!

[Ulrike]

emmabeth and Mattie: Thank you sooo much for your reply. It took many worries away from me.

Aaron prefers to bite in black shoes and socks.

@ Mattie: How old is your Greyhound? How long he has been mistreated?

I dont understand how people can mistreat pets, such a behaviour makes me angry! I am vegetarian, I can´t even eat animals!

Had to edit my post .

[Mattie]

Merlin my Greyhound, was racing from a year old to nearly 3 years old, he was born, trained and raced in Northern Ireland were Greyhounds are a comodity like a TV etc but doesn't have they same loving attention that men have for their cars.

If a dog doesn't run faster enough, they get beaten to run faster, they live in kennels, many not heated, sometimes in groups and these are permanently muzzled unless eating. They don't have an loveing care, stroking etc. it is all do this do that and a beating or kick.

This was taken 2 days before I got him, just after he came across from Northern Ireland. He was in the best condition of the 4 Greyhounds that came across that day



This is him now, getting into mischief as normal .

[Ulrike]

My english is not good enough to express my feelings and thoughts, so I try to use easy english: thanks the universe, god, whatever for people like you repecting nature and its animals. Poor then and lucky Merlin now.

Aaron was much too thin. The preowner let Aaron starve for 23 (twentythree) days. He told me to give him not more than 200 gramms of chickenstomach inclusive garlic, some sort of grain, carrots and olive oil a day.
He eats 700 to 800gramm of really exclusive canned food (vet-concept - - to get only from the manufacturer or by the veterinarian) now. He has now achieved his perfect weight of 15 kilo.