Pretty pit bulls, stray cat feeder, pet store prankster, and the elusive chevrotain, in today’s links.
Robopup
Artist Brings Recycled Materials Back To Life, 64 Incredible Sculptures
Bored Panda, via Andrew Y.
Seriously, you went shopping dressed like THAT?
Prankster Replaces Pet Names With New Labels In Local Pet Store
Sad and Useless, via John B.
Careful, they have fangs. Really.
Silver-Backed Chevrotain Photographed In Wild For First Time
NPR, via NTMTOM
And finally: Lemmie attem! Lemmie attem!
This sheepdog’s so eager he needs a brakeman! (via Murray C.)
Oh man, that artist who uses recycled materials… I don’t even have the words. Incredible!! And the guy who created new pet labels in the pet store – brilliant!! 👍
I must admit, I have mixed feelings about pit bulls. I feel bad that they’ve acquired such a terrible reputation (mostly through no fault of their own) but it’s obvious they have the capacity to inflict enormous damage. I’ve watched like a gazillion pitbull videos on The Dodo and it’s obvious they also have the capacity to be snuggly, gentle furballs. They used to be known as “nana” dogs because they were so good with kids. So, I am torn.
I have the same feelings about pitties, especially since an Internet cat I admired was killed by one.
Me, too, frankly. I was in Starbucks one morning and there was a guy there with his dog (not sure why he was allowed in the store but that’s neither here nor there) and the dog growled at me. Guy had him on a short leash and looked like he had a good handle on him, but still. There is an elderly man in my complex who I’ve seen walking his dog, which doesn’t seem aggressive, exactly, but also not friendly. I’m not convinced that if the dog went after someone this man would be able to hold him.
But one day I got someone else’s mail (same unit in a different building) so I decided to be nice and bring it to them. The woman answered the door and they had a huge pibble who seemed very sweet.
This is why I like small dogs. I don’t want to be outweighed by my pet.
Ummm, brakeman doesn’t seem to be very effective. Would that we could all approach our jobs with such eagerness!
A colleague once decided to get a pit bull, in part to prove that they aren’t such scary dogs. She got a puppy from a reputable breeder, and she worked really hard to do everything right, early visits with other dogs to socialize her, obedience courses and really working hard on that at home, and crate training. I met this dog on several occasions, and she was sweet, obedient, outgoing and utterly unthreatening to us.
But: she was so stressed by separation anxiety while they were at work that she destroyed crates and home furnishings and literally chewed through walls, resulting also in major vet bills; she could not be trained to be safe with other dogs at a dog park; and she greatly limited their housing options as renters. And a year later her breeder suddenly needed help finding homes on an emergency basis when one of his breeding females with pups at her side bit a trespasser who invaded his fenced and signed backyard–a righteous bite in my book, defending home and pups–and was put down without recourse by the city because she was a pittie. They took in a second pup who gave no trouble and could socialize safely with other dogs but rarely got the chance because pittie #1 couldn’t do that.
I know they can be great in context (their own home, their own people who know not to do scary/provoking things around them), and not all of them are neurotic or aggressive to the degree of my colleague’s dog, but some of that is bred in, and restrictive laws and worried landlords and homeowners’ insurance box you in, so much risk of heartbreak that I can’t see ever deliberately wanting to seek one out. This is not to say that well trained and mellow pitties should always languish in shelters–but I could never relax knowing my pet was at such risk if anyone else did something stupidly triggering.
Such a happy looking pup!
Will have to look at links later but I love that pibble smile.
[opinion]
I would trust a pitbull before I would trust a Doberman Pinscher. When I was a kid it was Dobermans that were trained to fight or be guard dogs. I had to pass a house on the way to and from school that had Dobermans and they always growled and barked. As an adult, I was shocked that the Obedience training teacher was using a ‘vicious’ Doberman to show proper training skills. Wasn’t she afraid that her dog would attack the other dogs or the people?
I’ve never outgrown the distrust of Dobermans, but I think I’ve outgrown the fear. The point is that any breed can be a “demon” breed and which breed is reviled changes over time. I’ve even heard that German Shepherds have been banned in some areas at one time or another. When you ban one breed, disreputable people will start training and/or inbreeding another dog breed so they can carry on making them fight. [end opinion]
I think pit bulls look like such loving and fun dogs and I am happy that people are trying to help them.
Those animal sculptures look amazing!
Love the sheepdog and his ‘brakeman’!
And yet the gentlest dog I’ve ever known was a female Doberman my grandmother owned. Strong, fit, loved to play and could play vigorously — not weak by any means — but never saw her do a mean thing. Very persistent when she wanted attention, but never scary. She’d just put her head down on your arm and look up at you. And you’d realize you couldn’t move your arm because she was so strong. But never opened her mouth or barked in anger. I guess the lesson is, as in most things, your results may vary. Every breed has mean and sweet examples — I’m sure there is such a thing as breed characteristics, and in deciding on a breed we have to go by those, but any individual can go against them.
As for the sheepdog video, I have never seen a dog do that to another dog’s tail, nor can I imagine a dog putting up with it being done to his tail. Bizarre.