Oliver, a three-year-old Tibetan Mastiff, witnessed his human family brutally murdered by their son. The son holed up in a standoff with SWAT in his mother’s home where Oliver remained. The SWAT team shot tear gas into the house and blew the front door off with explosives. Somehow, Oliver survived this ordeal only to find himself as a surrender in a kill shelter.
By Caroline Coile Part of the joy of owning a dog is the chance to take a trip together, whether it be for a competition, vacation or just an excuse to cruise with your best buddy. You dog can be the best co-pilot you ever had: he never argues about the radio station and he […]
or far too long the AR people have defined dog fanciers to the general public, and it has not been a pretty picture. They’ve convinced many people that we are cruel users of animal flesh – people who abuse dogs for our own glory and sport. And we’ve been complicit, whether we know it or not, because we tend to be a pretty insular, elite group who carefully monitor the quality of homes/people our puppies are allowed to go.
One Lakeland Terrier expert sent me some opinions on Lakelands especially in comparison with the Wire Fox Terrier and the Welsh Terrier breeds. I found them interesting and helpful and so I am sharing them here.
Like many of you, I spend quite a bit of time on the road driving to one dog show or another. Living in southern New England, a “long drive” for me is an enviable three or four hours, but it’s still enough time that I am constantly buying audio books.
“Rescue is the Best Breed!” proclaimed the sign. Another proclaimed, “Adoption is the Best Option.” Several mixes paraded about with harnesses that read “Adopt Me!” or “Rescue Me!” There was a “Kiss-a-Bull” pit bull rescue kissing booth—-yeah, that’s not a lawsuit waiting to happen. Many families were walking around trying to outdo one another with their rescue’s sad tale with the dogs in question at the end of their leads. We were at the Houston World Series of Dog Shows last week.
Most of us can pretty easily define “kennel blind.” We think of the people who post little snippets of their breed standard along with a photo of their dog who objectively does not meet the description. But, more and more, it seems like there is a trend towards another kind of kennel blindness: those people who will happily tell you what they would like to improve in their own dogs, but are completely incapable of seeing the good in other people’s dogs.
We asked experienced AKC judges two questions about current issues affecting our sport.
Here’s what they had to say…
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has made the news quite a bit these days. Contrary to recent reports, they don’t spend all their time on the headline stuff. In fact, one of the biggest developments these days is…well, if you’re reading about it here, obviously it’s dog-related JFK, North America’s busiest international travel hub, also ranks as the number one international air freight gateway.
Many years ago Long Island, New York was the Gold Coast of top-notch dog kennels, dog clubs and exceptional breeders. Fanciers with momore than sufficient funds housed many, many of their chosen breed together and they had the kennel help to manage such large endeavors. Those major operations are virtually gone now. Michael might have been the last of the “exclusive kennel managers” of this type. I’m not sure who houses 30-50 dogs with a full staff in what is now a highly urban area.
