Seriously, if all you can complain about these days is where the president got his dog, consider yourself lucky.
You haven’t lost a job.
You don’t have a kid fighting in the wars. (Note, that’s “wars,” not “war.”)
Consider it a good thing that Obama’s daughters get to have a dog. Every child should get to know a good dog. There’s nothing wrong with choosing a breed based upon shedding and temperament.
It’s just like how I would rather have my dogs easily trained and possessing of a very strong retrieving instinct. If I went to shelter, I could get a dog that had those characteristics. However, it won’t be exactly what I want. A retriever puppy has to be raised in the right environment for those traits to develop as they should. Further, the addition of one breed in that dog’s bloodline that doesn’t have the instinct or temperament could mean that this dog is not as good at it as the performance bred dog.
“But that’s ‘breedism.'”
Please take that somewhere else. Breeds vary in inherited behaviors and motor patterns. Dog breeds are not the same as human races. Human races aren’t that different from each other. Dog breeds are quite different from each other in too many way to elucidate here.
That’s one of the advantages dogs have. They vary so much that one can choose the breed or strain one wants.
Yes, it would be nice if there were no homeless dogs. It would be even nicer if stupid people didn’t breed them for stupid reasons. But the Obama dog wasn’t bred by a stupid person. That dog was bred by someone who TOOK BACK A DOG SHE BRED, as per the breed club’s bylaws and as per the contract on which the dog was sold.
What’s wrong with wanting a specific breed or strain of dog?
I could never live with a coonhound. I can’t stand the baying sound.
I could never live with a toy breed because coyotes like to eat toy breeds.
I like having more than one or two dogs, so virtually any breed of terrier or molosser is out.
I like a dog that can be trained really easily and at the highest levels, so sighthounds are out.
I like dogs that aren’t protective, so many herding and working breeds are out, as is the Chesapeake Bay retriever.
I like dogs that have retrieving instinct as part of their predatory motor patterns. There aren’t many breeds that are selectively bred for that motor pattern.
So I know what I want in a dog.
I probably can’t get that out of the shelter dog. I might be able to. I do know what I’m looking for, so I might be able to find it. I won’t be able to breed from it, though, and I have no way of finding a relatively renewable supply of such dogs.
I’m not saying that shelter dogs shouldn’t be considered as pets. However, if you want something specific, it’s better to deal with breeders. The only breeder to consider is a serious dog person who sometimes has a litter. That’s the reality of the situation.
So while it may make a certan demographic feel good about opposing the president’s choice for a dog, it really isn’t doing any good. We’re laughing at your self-righteous indignation. I hope that all of your dogs are rescues.
Most people welcome the choice. I was skeptical of the choice originally, because I was really worried about the Portuguese water dog’s genetic diversity and how that breed could withstand a popularity spike. Now, I see that the breed club has very strict rules for their breeders. Such strong rules might help keep this breed stable.
Of course, allowing outcrosses and doing away with strictly closed studbooks is something that will have to happen for this breed. However, I think the breed is unlikely to suffer greatly from mass-production as a result of this choice. In fact, the president set a good example by carefully selecting a breeder with the help of Senator Kennedy. He waited until his family became settled in their new digs, and he waited until his daughters were old enough to really appreciate a dog.
I hope this dog proves to be an excellent family pet for the Obamas. He’s already captured the nation’s imaginaton. Let’s hope this focused attention becomes a learning event for more responsible dog ownership.
And that’s where we should be focused– not whining with self-righteous bromides.
I’m very happy with the outcome of this. While there’s nothing wrong with shelter dogs, it really is better to go with a breeder if you want something specific. The Obamas had a limited choice due to their one daughter’s allergy. By going this route, they ensured they were getting a dog that was safe for her. Many of the hypoallergenic breeds just don’t end up in shelters often enough and being that Bo was being rehomed, it was like taking in a rescue. So when you stop to think about it, they did their part in helping an unwanted dog.
I, too, hope this helps raise the topic of responsible pet ownership.
This is a very well composed blog entry and I hope others will read it.
What? Adopted like Oprah? Because breeders are evil and adopting is morally superior? Enjoy your Parvo Oprah? Yeah, knocked you off your stupid horse, didn’t it.
Parvo is a serious thing that can affect just about any puppy — even breeder puppies! (I should know.)
Sometimes a person has a bad experience when they go through their first adoption. It was unfortunate that the puppies Oprah adopted had parvo, but at least one of them did survive and will now have a good home.
Even with vaccination, I had a pup come down with parvo, so it’s very important that the dogs be immunized and allowed to socialize only with other protected dogs.
Unless you have worked at a shelter or volunteer with a rescue group, you have no right to defend the Obamas on their poor choice of getting a puppy from a breeder. It was irresponsible, a poor example for America and he lied about his promise of adopting from a shelter/rescue group. It makes me sick!!! The Obamas and Bidens are the worst example to this country.
I do volunteer for a spay-neuter group.
You people need to get lives.
I do have a right because you people are a joke.
I’m sorry.
But Obama was responsible here.
He could not get a dog that was low shed at the shelter.
You people are whiners.
You like to lecture everyone about their choices.
And in my neck of the woods, when you say animal rights, they think of you people.
I guess you think Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, and Rush Limbaugh, who rescues cats–yes, he does!– are great examples to this country.
I personally don’t. I never heard you people when George W. bought a Scottish terrier. And then another one.
Do you think all breeders are puppy millers?
Seriously, you need to get a life.
Animal Rights people very often have what is known as an authoritarian personality.
It was originally postulated at the Uni of California at Berkley by some psychologists. It was methodologically flawed because they looked at only paranoid right-wingers. The truth is the left has this same personality traits. And I say this as someone who is quite left wing, as in more so than the typical American or French person.
Michelle Obama said they were rescuing. It was only when they started doing the research that they found that the perfect dog couldn’t be found at a rescue. Labradoodles and goldendoodle, especially the latter, do very often shed. Portuguese water dogs shed very little. This is a predictable trait.
Why did they choose a dog like this? Well, for one thing, they are neophytes when it comes to dogs. They don’t have all the skills to turn a shelter dog into a perfect pet. So they are better off getting a dog returned to a breeder, that’s kind of like a rescue, because that dog would have been turned over to the shelters if the breeder didn’t take it back.
It’s because you didn’t have control over what someone did that it bothers you.
I didn’t want him to get one of these dogs, either, because Portuguese water dogs have a very narrow gene pool and they may not survive a wave of popularity.
I’ve taken in several good mutts. I don’t have time to have more than one dog right now, but if I were a breeder, I would be doing breed rescue. I would require in any contract of sale that my puppies were returned to me.
But no, we all have to be martyrs out there. But I was always told that to be a martyr, someone has to give a fig.
Thanks for posting, I enjoyed.
Another good bit of commentary:
http://www.examiner.com/x-1993-DC-You-and-Your-Dog-Examiner~y2009m4d13-What-is-a-rescue-dog
Good lord! This is about 2 parents, their 2 little girls, and a dog. If you want a dog that is sound in temperament, you look for a suitable breed & reputable breeder. Add in the allergies & asthma, and you are quite limited.
All my Golden boys have had steady temperaments & been quite forgiving of toddlers. (Because I can’t watch other people’s kids every second!) I’m sure Obama’s daughters are old enough and well-behaved enough that they aren’t going to be tugging hard on Bo’s ears, though.
Nice to find out that my other 2 adopted dogs are not ‘legitimate rescues’ because I got them away from their owners before they starved them (in 1 case) or screwed them up any further.
Good point about the authoritarian ‘personality traits.’ I, too, am a lefty, but not the sort who believes in re-education camps & Maoist utopias. Especially not a Maoist dog-less utopia.
If one believes people should be able to have dogs that truly suit them in their lives–for companionship, or for sport, or for work–the logic of reputable breeding as an option towards ownership makes perfect sense.
If one believes dogs should be liberated from the oppression of ownership altogether, and spayed-neutered-fostered until every last one is dead, then the AR logic makes sense.
What’s insidious is when the AR folks manage to make convince others they have the best interests of dogs at heart, without making their ultimate agenda clear.
And Thank You, retrieverman, for not mincing your words!
OMFG — the Bushes were backyard-breeding right in the White House, not a peep.
The Obamas decline to permit the radical ARistas to dictate something so personal as where to get their kids’ pet, and suddenly the whole administration is damned to Hell.
“Alexandra,” where do you get off on dictating who has a right to say anything about anything? Anonymously, I note.
Here’s a news flash — many of us wicked BREEDERS are the cornerstones of RESCUE.
I’ve fostered and placed approximately the same number of dogs of my breed as I have bred and placed.
This does not count time on the phone doing pro bono behavior consults, time spent on a large-scale rescue project, evaluations, transports, pulling from the pounds, fundraising, etc.
None of my pups have ever been on the public dole or homeless.
Bite me, anonymous coward.
Huh, I hurt my back, badly, so my ebil breedin’ ways have been curtailed as of late, but the rescue “vacancy” sign is always lit. I would say at least two rescues cycle through for every one puppy or dog bred and sold.
I pull dogs for breed rescue. And they are not the “adoptable” type as far as most shelters are concerned. Instead they are the ill, the old, the un-socialized, the disabled.
“Alexandra” the best way to keep dogs in homes are to make sure that they are the right fit and to provide support for owners when and if difficulties arise. That is what RESPONSIBLE BREEDERS do. They also take back dogs at anytime if the owners cannot retain them. And they by and large ARE breed rescue in most places, often taking in dogs that your shelter would kill if we didn’t. I’ve had to BEG shelters to allow me to take dogs scheduled for the blue juice even though I’m part of a 501c3.
Has your shelter ever had a dog returned? Or given away or admitted to another shelter? Sometimes it happens. SUPPORT RESPONSIBLE BREEDERS and the dogs they breed will always have a safety net. And they will help YOU by taking dogs from less reputable sources from your runs and hen assume lifetime responsibility for them so they will not return to your shelter to add to your numbers.
Stop drinking the AR extremist a “breeder is a breeder is scum” kool-aid. We can get a lot more done together darling!
And for the love of god or dog or the what ever let the Obama’s enjoy their new puppy.
It seems many of these ‘whiners’ are probably also against ‘no-kill’ because, as it’s plain to see, they do not believe it’s truly a ‘rescue’ or ‘adoption’ unless the animal is snatched from imminent death in a county pound.
Without that constant threat of death hanging over the animal’s head, it’s just not really ‘saving’ them to give them a home. After reading the interview with the breeder of Bo, she had the pup returned to her because it’s new family didn’t feel it was working out. I guess she should have dumped it in a shelter for the Obama’s to adopt, instead of taking the rehoming responsibility herself.
It makes no sense, these people are completely irrational for blasting the breeder and the Obamas for doing what EVERY responsible pet owner and breeder SHOULD do — ensure the welfare of their animal WITHOUT dumping it on a shelter to do it for them.
I keep seeing comments about how it’s not ideal but sort of ok that the Obamas got their puppy from a breeder because that dog was being rehomed anyway so they really, like, rescued him.
Yes, rescued him from being returned from the responsible breeder who placed him and was welcoming him back with open arms because that’s what responsible breeders do when the homes they place puppies in don’t work out.
If I’m not careful, my eyes are going to get stuck rolled up in my head.
Personally I think it’s great that the Obamas found a dog who seems to suit their lives and their needs, and I hope they enjoy him.
“Alexandra”… I HAVE done private rescue of pits in my neighborhood and have assisted Keeshond Rescue on many occasions. I even helped a German Sheprherd in my neighborhood get into GSD Rescue when her owner could no longer keep her. In addition, my 14-year-old Keeshond, Wolf, was a private rescue from my neighbor who divorced and no longer wanted any of his dogs. I kept Wolf and made sure the other 2 dogs he had got into a local no-kill shelter. I also trap stray cats in my neighborhood and turn them over to Animal Control so they can be placed in area shelters to find loving homes. So as you can see, I’ve done my fair of rescue work over the years.
In my many years of doing rescue work, I must agree with Auntie Gramma. Many of those “wicked” breeders you speak of are the cornerstones of rescue and they should be commended for ALL of the work they do each and every day. Many of these breeders give their hearts to rescue and operate more in the red than they do the black. They may not have space at times either, but they make space. Personally, I think many of them don’t get the proper recognition they deserve 99.9% of the time. I really admire these people and so should you.