Seewalds 29: Still Marketing Cute Kids

[Alisamer]

I adore cats. I am OK with dogs, but I'd never have one myself. All the ones I've ever known were way too needy for me to handle - a cat is OK alone for a while, but the boss has two poodles who come to work with him who FREAK OUT the entire time he is out of the building. They are so cute, and I like them a lot, but they are so needy. Luckily they are small - big dogs that jump on me are a bit scary. Not to mention the walking. I'd rather scoop a litter box. I am not in a good place to have a cat right now, but I know I was a much happier and more productive person when my cat was living. A good friend of mine is much more a dog person, and that's cool. I like seeing her dog almost as much as I like seeing our other friend's cats. Though he is a big guy and I have to sometimes tell him he's not a lap dog!

Also, our airport has a group of people with therapy dogs who bring them in for travelers to meet and pet, and I know others do too, so watch out for doggies in "pet me" vests when you travel!

[karen77]

1 hour ago, LegHumperBibleThumper said:

Years ago I was in a friend's wedding and all the bridesmaids spent the night at her mother's house the night before the wedding. Her mother had a middle-aged African Gray named Morris that my friend couldn't stand. I didn't know this at the time but as a young girl, whenever the bird would get loud she would yell "SHUT UP MORRIS!" and eventually the bird learned how to mimic her. 

After the wedding was over, all of us maids had to go back to her mother's house to pick up our belongings. I walked into the finished basement where Morris had a perch and I hear my friend exclaim "SHUT UP MORRIS!" I was absolutely terrified because I had just watched my friend drive off into the sunset to her honeymoon. I knew that many parrots could speak but I had no clue that they could mimic an actual voice! I wish I had more time getting to know him.

Only a few species (African Grey's being one of them) can mimic the voice, most just mimic the words

[Cleopatra7]

I’ve been afraid of dogs for as long as I can remember and one of my pet peeves is people who bring obviously non-service dogs into public places where dogs don’t belong (eg coffee shops, grocery stores, mass transit). Please note that I don’t “hate dogs” in the sense of wishing harm upon them. What I do hate is when a dog owner will defend their decision to bring their dog into a human space by saying, “Oh, he/she is friendly.” That’s not the point. If dogs are your thing, more power to you, but please respect that not everyone wants your dog to be up in their cornbread when they’re trying to do human activities. Some people are also very allergic to dogs and bringing them into a public space where they don’t belong means driving these humans out. 

[LegHumperBibleThumper]

5 minutes ago, Cleopatra7 said:

 up in their cornbread 

 never heard this one before!

[nvmbr02]

17 minutes ago, Cleopatra7 said:

I’ve been afraid of dogs for as long as I can remember and one of my pet peeves is people who bring obviously non-service dogs into public places where dogs don’t belong (eg coffee shops, grocery stores, mass transit). Please note that I don’t “hate dogs” in the sense of wishing harm upon them. What I do hate is when a dog owner will defend their decision to bring their dog into a human space by saying, “Oh, he/she is friendly.” That’s not the point. If dogs are your thing, more power to you, but please respect that not everyone wants your dog to be up in their cornbread when they’re trying to do human activities. Some people are also very allergic to dogs and bringing them into a public space where they don’t belong means driving these humans out. 

I love dogs (well all animals really) and I agree completely. It is one thing if a cafe or wherever is marketing itself as dog friendly but it is another thing entirely if it is a typical grocery store, etc... For example there is a small coffee shop near us that gives out free dog treats if you bring your dog and they also have water bowls out and it is clearly a space meant for dogs and humans. On the other hand, my husband and I often walk to the grocery store if we only need a few items. When we go we typically bring the dog with us. BUT one of us stays outside with her, well away from the normal foot traffic path so that she isn't in the way and people aren't forced to be anywhere near her if they don't choose to be. Often, we have people that go out of their way to see her, because she is pretty and not a typical breed found in this area. Plus she doesn't jump and is trained to sit when a person approaches her. But we never assume that people will love her and/want to be near her. I know there are plenty of people that don't.

Really, it is the same with kids. I love my children. I generally love other children. That doesn't mean that they belong or are welcome everywhere. 

[Percy]

We have new neighbors over the back fence.

They have a dog that crys a lot during the daytime. I have discovered this as I have been on annual leave for the last 2 weeks.

I don’t know if they are aware of the dog crying.  I feel like leaving a note saying ‘get your dog a friend ‘.

[SapphireSlytherin]

4 hours ago, Cleopatra7 said:

one of my pet peeves is people who bring obviously non-service dogs into public places where dogs don’t belong (eg coffee shops, grocery stores, mass transit)

Today:  Target. Three random dogs with their owners. Not a service dog vest in sight - not even a fake one.

[VelociRapture]

1 hour ago, Percy said:

We have new neighbors over the back fence.

They have a dog that crys a lot during the daytime. I have discovered this as I have been on annual leave for the last 2 weeks.

I don’t know if they are aware of the dog crying.  I feel like leaving a note saying ‘get your dog a friend ‘.

If they aren’t home they may not be aware. My sister and her husband didn’t know their (then) beagle puppy was crying during the day until a neighbor politely mentioned it. If you feel comfortable mentioning something then I’d suggest either leaving a note or politely telling them in person that their dog has been crying a lot during the day - you’re more likely to get a positive response from them that way then leaving a note telling them to get the dog a friend (which, depending on the dog, may actually make things worse.)

3 minutes ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

Today:  Target. Three random dogs with their owners. Not a service dog vest in sight - not even a fake one.

Where do you live?! I’m in Connecticut and I rarely see people dragging their dogs into Target or other inappropriate places. I know it definitely happens, I just haven’t witnessed it in person yet. 

[LilMissMetaphor]

I have two pet peeves combined into one: it's when owners yell at their dog to "Go lay down!" which is not only grammatically incorrect, but then the damn dog doesn't listen, and keeps trying to jump up and lick your face/cornbread/balls/what have you...

[Elvis Presby]

7 hours ago, karen77 said:

All these dogs and cats, but where are my parrot people??? lol

We don't have a bird, but I would love to!  Years ago I would take care of a friend's birds when she went out of town.  She had a parakeet, it was pretty useless, but easy to care for.  The blue crown conure stole my heart!  He was 32 and was just barely younger than I was at the time.  I loved that bird and carried him around on my shoulder like a pirate when I was home.  He said the funniest shit!  When I wanted him to shut up, I put a sheet over his cage.  My husband says he doesn't want a bird because they are so messy.  I'm all like they are in a cage.  We have dogs and they get on the furniture when we aren't looking, but he says that they are dogs and that's what they do.  Birds are better, IMHO.

We have 2 dogs now.  They are good dogs.  They bug me to death.  I can't get a moment to myself without them bugging the piss out of me.  They are so needy.  SO NEEDY.

We used to have a cat.  She was the best!  We could go 3 or 4 days without interacting at all.  Bliss!

 

6 hours ago, karen77 said:

Only a few species (African Grey's being one of them) can mimic the voice, most just mimic the words

I saw Einstein, the African Grey, at the Knoxville Zoo.  If I wasn't already so old, I would get an African Grey.

[BecausePrayer]

As a rottweiler owner the idea that an entire dog breed should be seen as aggressive is really frustrating. My rottweiler would never attack anyone unless they were hurting me or someone else in my family. We do stay very aware of other's perceptions of her and also of her strength however. We are very careful with who and when people pet her. We've taken her on a walk and had children who, with their parent's permission, were told they could pet her stick their whole hand across her mouth instead. Thankfully our dog is more likely to lick than to bite, but her teeth are sharp and even being scratched by them lightly can hurt and our biggest fear is that she will lightly nip at someone for something like this and we'll be accused of having a violent dog and have our neighborhood force us to get rid of her.

That being said we are also especially careful of keeping her away from people who don't want to be around her. A very friendly, very large dog who will come up to you looking for attention is not everyone's idea of fun and we take that very seriously.

[choochoo]

14 minutes ago, Elvis Presby said:

I saw Einstein, the African Grey, at the Knoxville Zoo.  If I wasn't already so old, I would get an African Grey.

Einstein is amazing. The entire bird show at the Knoxville Zoo is awesome.  One of the big birds that flies over the audience got a little too close and flapped me in the head one time. Lol

[Elvis Presby]

5 minutes ago, BecausePrayer said:

1 minute ago, choochoo said:

Einstein is amazing. The entire bird show at the Knoxville Zoo is awesome.  One of the big birds that flies over the audience got a little too close and flapped me in the head one time. Lol

She is still at the Knoxville Zoo, I just googled her.  My sister lives in Knoxville so hopefully I will get to see Einstein again when I visit Knoxville.  Sorry about the weird quote box…  ?

 

[Kittikatz]

On 08/01/2018 at 9:23 AM, Carm_88 said:

I am very much against animal abuse, that being said I have felt like kicking a dog. Why you ask? Because the damn thing peed on me as I stood at a redlight waiting to cross. Oh the owner? They found it hilarious and was quite put out when I told her to control her dog. I should have told her to go play in traffic. 

I would have kicked the owner. That's just the epitome of an asshat dog owner.

[albireo]

@Shadoewolf Ahhh, another snake person! My baby corn is adorable, and so easy; just the right kind of pet for where I am in life right now, haha. I'm surprised you said you could leave your cats for longer than you'd leave a snake though. Mine only needs his water checked daily and that's negotiable. I feed him every 5 days but could go longer.

My parents are dog people and just got a new puppy, who is also wonderful, though I'm surprised they were willing to take on that kind of responsibility close to retirement. He's pretty needy. I've had mice for an eighth grade science experiment; they were...cannibalistic. I've doted on my roommates' cats and would probably enjoy having rats, and I definitely would like more reptiles given the space/money. I think the only hard nos I would have would be anything super long-lived (like a turtle or parrot) or hamsters. In my experience hamsters are vicious.

On the subject of fake service dogs: there was an undergrad on our campus who became semi-famous for carrying her husky puppy to class with a vest that said "Service Dog in Training." Puppy was damned cute though.

[Cleopatra7]

42 minutes ago, Kittikatz said:

I would have kicked the owner. That's just the epitome of an asshat dog owner.

About two months ago, I was on a subway during rush hour, which meant that most people had to stand. However, the disabled and the elderly are supposed to get first dibs on seats in such a situation, especially the ones closest to the doors. A young woman was standing with her dog in a pet carrier in one of the seats that was supposed to be prioritized for the elderly and/or disabled. A very elderly woman who was having trouble walking got on the train and looked at the young woman like she was expecting her to remove her dog so she could sit down, but she didn’t.  The tension in the car was thick and you could tell that a lot of people wanted to say something but didn’t want to escalate the situation. Finally, a young guy offered the elderly woman his seat, so it worked out for her, but I and a lot of other people were super pissed that the young woman was more concerned about her dog (whom I doubt would have cared if his carrier was on the floor) than a fellow human with mobility issues. 

[kbuttons]

Any other bunny owners? Sweetest pets ever!! 

[Lovebug]

8 hours ago, kbuttons said:

Any other bunny owners? Sweetest pets ever!! 

My son has given two grand-bunnies - Sherlock and Houdini!!  They are amazing!  Top - Sherlock chilling at home.  Bottom, Houdini on adoption day!

[Knight of Ni]

Everyone talking about how they like cats because they are not so needy haven’t met my cat. The. Neediest. Animal. Ever. When I first adopted him he would freak out if I locked him out of the bathroom when I took a shower. He would sit on the toilet the entire time because he couldn’t stand to be alone. He always had to be in your lap or by you. It actually got really overwhelming at times. But I loved him. Unfortunately we had to give him to my parents because he didn’t react well to the new baby. He never cared for small children and I think he was really jealous of the baby. 

It was really strange that he was so friendly to adults but any child younger than about 10, hell no. 

[PsyD2013]

Cats can be very needy.  I have two Siamese.  They are constantly near "their respective person", chat nonstop, and demand to be worshiped.  My seal point cries unconsolably (the Siamese wail) when Psy D Jr goes to visit his dad.   They suffer from separation anxiety if we are gone for extended periods of time- like a weekend.   Thankfully my mom loves them as much as we do and will have them over for a visit when we travel.

[Glasgowghirl]

While some breeds of dogs are more likely to do more harm when they attack people that is usually down to them not being trained properly and being left unsupervised with young children, who may not know how to behave around pets. In the UK Pitbull's were one of the breeds banned in the early 90s and while personally am not a fan of the breed, I think the law was over the top. Any dog could attack someone if startled and kids and babies should never be left alone with a dog, bigger dogs are more likely to be bred as fighting dogs too so that is another reason why they have attacked more. It is unfair to label all of a breed the same, though I agree dogs should be kept on leads.

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

23 hours ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

Cats vs. dogs:

I've noticed that it's 100% "okay" or "fine" for people not to like cats, or hate cats, or want to kill (yes) cats.

But god help you if you don't like (or hate) dogs. 

OH yeah, I like dogs just fine, but I'll never own another one after ours dies.  Dogs are a pain in the ass to own IMO and we no longer want that responsibility. We love cats and have 3 right now and will own more. As @Shadoewolf said, they are pretty low maintenance and you can go away for the weekend without needing a pet sitter.

[Flossie]

We've had many kinds of pets over the years, but the comment on big dogs thinking they were lap dogs reminded me of a dog we had that was terrified of our ferrets.  He loved going to their cage and looking at them, but when they were let out he'd find the nearest lap and jump on it, quivering until we picked him up and put him outside.  He was a 40 lb dog.  The kids learned to warn us before they let the ferrets out.  The dog learned that the phrase "I'm going to let the ferrets out" meant it was time to go to the nearest door and whine to be let out.  The cats could easily get to high places or hiss to be left alone, but the dog never developed a strategy for getting rid of the little pests, and this was a dog that loved to go out in the field to hunt and eat mice.

One winter day the ferrets got out when no one was home.  I swear, we were only gone for a couple of hours.  But when we got back it looked like someone had come in and trashed the place.  Couch cushions thrown about, stuff knocked from shelves, beds mussed up.  We found the dog shaking on the tall dresser in the master bedroom.  He'd apparently jumped from our bed to the dresser, knocking everything off the dresser in the process.  The furries were happily playing on the bed, prancing and dooking around, having the time of their lives.  I'm pretty sure the little snots loved the idea of bullying a big ol' dog.

[kachuu]

1 hour ago, Flossie said:

We've had many kinds of pets over the years, but the comment on big dogs thinking they were lap dogs reminded me of a dog we had that was terrified of our ferrets.  He loved going to their cage and looking at them, but when they were let out he'd find the nearest lap and jump on it, quivering until we picked him up and put him outside.  He was a 40 lb dog.  The kids learned to warn us before they let the ferrets out.  The dog learned that the phrase "I'm going to let the ferrets out" meant it was time to go to the nearest door and whine to be let out.  The cats could easily get to high places or hiss to be left alone, but the dog never developed a strategy for getting rid of the little pests, and this was a dog that loved to go out in the field to hunt and eat mice.

One winter day the ferrets got out when no one was home.  I swear, we were only gone for a couple of hours.  But when we got back it looked like someone had come in and trashed the place.  Couch cushions thrown about, stuff knocked from shelves, beds mussed up.  We found the dog shaking on the tall dresser in the master bedroom.  He'd apparently jumped from our bed to the dresser, knocking everything off the dresser in the process.  The furries were happily playing on the bed, prancing and dooking around, having the time of their lives.  I'm pretty sure the little snots loved the idea of bullying a big ol' dog.

This is the best thing I've read in a while.

[LegHumperBibleThumper]

4 hours ago, Knight of Ni said:

Everyone talking about how they like cats because they are not so needy haven’t met my cat. The. Neediest. Animal. Ever. When I first adopted him he would freak out if I locked him out of the bathroom when I took a shower. He would sit on the toilet the entire time because he couldn’t stand to be alone. He always had to be in your lap or by you. It actually got really overwhelming at times. But I loved him. Unfortunately we had to give him to my parents because he didn’t react well to the new baby. He never cared for small children and I think he was really jealous of the baby. 

It was really strange that he was so friendly to adults but any child younger than about 10, hell no. 

This is why I said that perhaps I haven't met the right cat yet. This sounds just like the kind of cat I would enjoy. As @VelociRapture I prefer dogs because I don't have to work for their affection. A snuggly cat that wants to be around me sounds perfect.