Wordless Wednesday #160 (Tuesday Edition): Sadie

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"You're Kidding Me, Right?"
Raleigh, NC - May 2003 (Click to embiggen)

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Photo Hunt #60: "Lick"

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"Tuff"
Raleigh, NC - June 2003 (Click to embiggen)
Next Week's Challenge: "Bulky"

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I'm a Pissed Off White Boy

Looking for today's Thematic Photographic? No worries, it's here

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Six days until Bloggin' the Square '08

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This is what I get for calling myself "Rottiesaver" on Match.com. About once or twice a quarter I get an email from somebody that isn't a reply to one I wrote (sad, I know). The most recent of these came from a woman in Greenville, NC not 8 hours after my Thematic Photographic post with the puppy in it went live at midnight on Sunday. It's important to note the day and time, because it gives you an idea of just how impossible what she's asking for is.

my friend has to move this week and has to get rid of her rottie he is about 4 years old. Do you have any suggestions? Her last ditch plan is to take him to the pound tomorrow Monday? It never hurts to ask, her number is [I-really-should-leave-this-in-but-I-won't]. Thanks for your time.

Now I'm not ticked off because this is a dating site, not a rescue referral site. I'll go to the mat for a dog just about anytime, anywhere. But seriously, what the hell did you think I could accomplish in less than 24 hours?? I cannot begin to list all the things wrong with this. Greenville, you can't really have thought I could save this dog with that kind of time constraint could you?

First of all, I only do referral work now -- and not much of that. Mainly for the safety and well-being of people like your friend. Far too many idiotic humans came far too close to being bitch slapped far too hard when I was a full-on active volunteer. No humans were actually harmed in the making of that movie, but it was a very near thing.

Second, the "I'm-moving-and-can't-take-my-dog" excuse for giving up your pet is b*llsh*t. Even if you've been evicted, you have to be given notice -- at least 30 days, and more in some states/localities. Here's a suggestion: move somewhere your dog can live too!. With a Rottie, that's not always so easy. Because other stupid humans like you have given them a reputation for being a "bad" breed. But reputation notwithstanding, there are apartment communities and landlords that don't discriminate against them.

More likely, Greenville's friend found herself faced with more torque and horsepower than she could handle. Which is why one of my very favorite rants is "research the breed before you get the dog!". I love me some Rottweilers. They're beautiful, they're keenly intelligent, they're clean and they're loyal to a fault.

But I do not have one.

The reason I do not have one is that my current living situation and lifestyle are completely wrong for that breed. This is a working dog, and I don't really have a job for him to do. This is the same reason I don't have a German Shepherd Dog, Siberian Husky, Alaskan Malamute, or any of the other big, powerful, majestic dogs I love so much. It's the reason I don't have a Border Collie or Australian Shepherd. These are dogs that need a job to do. And if you don't give them one, they're going to find one for themselves. And the chances are extremely good that you will not like the job they pick.

Working breeds are a joy for those who have the time and the energy available to keep them employed, and for those who are assertive enough to be in charge. Think what you want, but in a relationship with a Rottweiler, one of you is going to be in charge. And if you're not willing or able to be the one, the dog will take th ejob from you. And that can't happen. Ever. Because then you have 100+ pounds of muscle and teeth run amok, and you've just made it incrementally harder on the responsible Rottie parents by virtue of your stupidity.

I've heard just about every excuse there is for giving up a dog. And there are one or two circumstances where even I would concede that there's no other viable option. But it pisses me off to no end when a little bit of research up front could have prevented the situation. Working breeds in general -- and Rottweilers in particular -- are the wrong dog for a lot more people than they're right for. I can't count the dogs that I've seen that were adopted or bought by people for the wrong reasons, with little or no forethought and were either trained inappropriately or -- more often -- never trained at all. These are the dogs that came to the rescue I worked with. These were the dogs on death row in the county shelters.

And Greenville's friend's dog is in all likelihood going to die in the Pitt County Animal Shelter, and I have to accept that there's not a damn thing I can do to change that.

Which makes me one very angry, very frustrated white boy today.Stumble This!