Finally graduated from Divinity School and moved..... we made the trip from Boston to North Carolina in a record 12 hours in a very large moving truck.
Anyway finally settled and I can start working on new tunes now that we have furnature and cars (been shopping all week- how's that for helping the economy!) Its pretty here but I think both me and my partner are in city shock- As we were on the highway he said to me "where's the buildings? All I see are trees." Our new apartment is in the middle of the Duke forest and it is lovely- birds everywhere and other little critters.
Anyway two questions: does anyone here go to the Pinecone beginner sessions in Raleigh? and the second- cat or dog? My partner and I have been debating the virtues of a small dog (nothing over 50 lbs) versus a cat- I'm the cat person, he's the dog person, we defiently want a pet besides my two tanks of fish. A cat would be easier with less training but a dog is more interactive... we are thinking if we get a dog we want something mellow- maybe a corgi or dauschund.... any suggestions?
-Angela
OT dogs vs cats
-
StewySmoot
- Posts: 735
- Joined: Mon Jul 02, 2001 6:00 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: NYC
-
Pat Cannady
- Posts: 1217
- Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2001 6:00 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 10
- Location: Chicago
-
Flyingcursor
- Posts: 6573
- Joined: Tue Jul 30, 2002 6:00 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
- Tell us something.: This is the first sentence. This is the second of the recommended sentences intended to thwart spam its. This is a third, bonus sentence!
- Location: Portsmouth, VA1, "the States"
-
mvhplank
- Posts: 1061
- Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2002 6:00 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 12
- Location: Gettysburg
- Contact:
I have cats and dogs--preferring the cats for company, as I find dogs sycophantic as opposed to interactive.
But my next dog (some time after the passing of my current dogs, a Shepherd mix and a papered Mini Schnauzer) will be a retired racing greyhound.
However, they exceed your weight limit. On the other hand, they generally get along with cats, require regular walks but not anything like a training regimen and seem to be happy to snooze on the couch instead of ripping around the place. They arrive crate-trained and adapt quickly to an indoor (they MUST be indoors) life.
The kicker for me was that my veterinarian said he'd never met a mean greyhound.
But back to your question--my sisters have both had dachsunds with mixed experience. The sister who is an RN had a dog that became paralized, which may be too common in the breed. My other sister has one under a year old who is getting along just fine with the family.
Much as I love my mini schnauzer, now 14 years old, another dog of that breed may be too demanding for me at this point.
M
But my next dog (some time after the passing of my current dogs, a Shepherd mix and a papered Mini Schnauzer) will be a retired racing greyhound.
However, they exceed your weight limit. On the other hand, they generally get along with cats, require regular walks but not anything like a training regimen and seem to be happy to snooze on the couch instead of ripping around the place. They arrive crate-trained and adapt quickly to an indoor (they MUST be indoors) life.
The kicker for me was that my veterinarian said he'd never met a mean greyhound.
But back to your question--my sisters have both had dachsunds with mixed experience. The sister who is an RN had a dog that became paralized, which may be too common in the breed. My other sister has one under a year old who is getting along just fine with the family.
Much as I love my mini schnauzer, now 14 years old, another dog of that breed may be too demanding for me at this point.
M
Marguerite
Gettysburg
Gettysburg
-
RoyalGoldReps
- Posts: 43
- Joined: Sat May 03, 2003 4:43 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
Cats are evil, EVIL I tell you. If you have to choose between the two go with the dog.
Me, personally, I am a reptile guy. I have leopard geckos and they are very nice. Stay in one place as long as you close the cage, don't bark at all hours of the day, don't scratch the funiture, don't demand that YOU come to them...... the list goes on. The only negative for a lot of people is their food: insects, mainly crickets and meal worms. I think they are cool, actually and have my own meal worm colony going too.
And to think I am interested in playing the whistle too, go figger.
Steven
Me, personally, I am a reptile guy. I have leopard geckos and they are very nice. Stay in one place as long as you close the cage, don't bark at all hours of the day, don't scratch the funiture, don't demand that YOU come to them...... the list goes on. The only negative for a lot of people is their food: insects, mainly crickets and meal worms. I think they are cool, actually and have my own meal worm colony going too.
And to think I am interested in playing the whistle too, go figger.
Steven
-
spittin_in_the_wind
- Posts: 1187
- Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 6:00 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: Massachusetts
-
StewySmoot
- Posts: 735
- Joined: Mon Jul 02, 2001 6:00 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: NYC
Have you thought about getting a retired service dog?
Lemme relate a story I wrote some years ago...
As many of you know, my wife Andi is an animal lover, has groomed pets for 20 years as a hobby and offers our home as a pet hotel to our friends. You have heard me regale you with stories of Bogard the wired-haired terrier who has developed a crush on my leg, and Click and Clack, the twin sheltie puppies who drove me nuts trying to walk them on a leash, but Rudy tops them all.
Rudy's owner uses Rudy as a service dog to assist her with her daily tasks. He even has one of them signs saying he is a service dog which gives him essentially a free pass on Metro. Well, Rudy's owner decided she wanted to go on a trip with someone special and of course Andi offers to take Rudy for the weekend. Needless to say, I forgot about this arrangement and upon coming home yesterday, in addition to the usual managerie which greets me every night, am welcomed by this huge grinning grey thing bounding down the steps with his collar tags a-jangling.
Problem is Rudy dearly misses his owner and whines and howls a bit. This, unfortunately, is his first trip away from home without his "Master". Normally Andi or I would take a dog for a walk, cuddle it, or play fetch the pig-ear to make the dog feel more at ease. But Rudy wasnt comfortable with this. He is, after all, a trained service dog.
So how do you keep a service dog happy? Andi drop a quarter on the floor, asked Rudy to pick it up and hand it to her. He complied. She asked him to fetch a book, and he retrieved it with minimal slobber. Andi then tied a piece of rope to the bedroom door-knob and Rudy opened it. I asked Rudy to get me the remote control and, sure enough, he did it without complaint. Andi then tells me Rudy can open the refrigerator and get things.
This is better than owning a monkey, I thought!
Meanwhile, I am looking at my dogs, Buster and Heather, and they are not at all pleased. They are looking at Rudy as if he is blowing the whistle on the entire raisson d'etre of owning a pet. This is fine with me; they are starting to look like free-loading deadbeats by now.
"Roll over!"; Indeed!
Tonight Rudy and I have a date with a rented DVD, a pizza deliveryman, a 6-pack in the icebox, and a bag of Cheet-Os.
.
I am quite sure it will be a most relaxing evening.
Lemme relate a story I wrote some years ago...
As many of you know, my wife Andi is an animal lover, has groomed pets for 20 years as a hobby and offers our home as a pet hotel to our friends. You have heard me regale you with stories of Bogard the wired-haired terrier who has developed a crush on my leg, and Click and Clack, the twin sheltie puppies who drove me nuts trying to walk them on a leash, but Rudy tops them all.
Rudy's owner uses Rudy as a service dog to assist her with her daily tasks. He even has one of them signs saying he is a service dog which gives him essentially a free pass on Metro. Well, Rudy's owner decided she wanted to go on a trip with someone special and of course Andi offers to take Rudy for the weekend. Needless to say, I forgot about this arrangement and upon coming home yesterday, in addition to the usual managerie which greets me every night, am welcomed by this huge grinning grey thing bounding down the steps with his collar tags a-jangling.
Problem is Rudy dearly misses his owner and whines and howls a bit. This, unfortunately, is his first trip away from home without his "Master". Normally Andi or I would take a dog for a walk, cuddle it, or play fetch the pig-ear to make the dog feel more at ease. But Rudy wasnt comfortable with this. He is, after all, a trained service dog.
So how do you keep a service dog happy? Andi drop a quarter on the floor, asked Rudy to pick it up and hand it to her. He complied. She asked him to fetch a book, and he retrieved it with minimal slobber. Andi then tied a piece of rope to the bedroom door-knob and Rudy opened it. I asked Rudy to get me the remote control and, sure enough, he did it without complaint. Andi then tells me Rudy can open the refrigerator and get things.
This is better than owning a monkey, I thought!
Meanwhile, I am looking at my dogs, Buster and Heather, and they are not at all pleased. They are looking at Rudy as if he is blowing the whistle on the entire raisson d'etre of owning a pet. This is fine with me; they are starting to look like free-loading deadbeats by now.
"Roll over!"; Indeed!
Tonight Rudy and I have a date with a rented DVD, a pizza deliveryman, a 6-pack in the icebox, and a bag of Cheet-Os.
.
I am quite sure it will be a most relaxing evening.
<a href="http://www.whistletotheworld.com/" target="_blank"> Whistle to the World</a>
Helping underprivileged kids learn music via the Irish Whistle.
Helping underprivileged kids learn music via the Irish Whistle.
-
Redwolf
- Posts: 6051
- Joined: Tue May 28, 2002 6:00 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 10
- Location: Somewhere in the Western Hemisphere
Duke Forest! Not far from my old stomping grounds! How lovely!
I know what you mean...when my hubby first flew out to interview in Chapel Hill, he called me and said "this is wonderful...Chapel Hill is a forest! Our house (near Jordan High School in Durham) had a huge wooded yard...lots of old oaks, hickories, dogwoods, etc. Wait until spring...you'll think you've landed in a fairy wood!
As far as the dog vs. cat question goes...a lot depends on how often you will be home. Dogs are pack animals, and really need LOTS of regular interaction for their psychological well-being. It's not just a matter of regular walks or playtime...they're happiest when their pack is around ALL the time (and while, realistically, that's not possible even if one of you was home most of the day, the more time they have with you the happier they will be). If you get a dog, and both of you are at school or working, you should really consider getting two...or even a dog AND a cat...for the dog's mental well-being. There's also, as you mentioned, the training issue. Even if you start with an adult dog, there's going to be a house-training and obedience-training learning curve that you may or may not have time to deal with.
That said, I'm a dog person, and can't imagine life without a dog or two. We got our current dog, a miniature poodle, when we were newly married, both working, and living in an apartment with a "one pet only" clause. It worked out very well for us, but mainly because we knew about the challenges ahead of time and prepared for them. I took two weeks off to get the puppy used to our routine and to begin housetraining. After that, I got in the habit of coming home every day at noon to play with him and take him out. When my husband got home in the afternoon, the first thing he'd do was take Cedar out to play fetch (using a long flexi-lead)...then I'd come home and we'd go for a walk. Our evenings were built around the dog...because we weren't home as much as he'd like during the day, we made sure we were around as much as possible at night. That's a lot to go through if you're not a dedicated dog person...for us it was worth it, but for you it may or may not be...only you can know for sure.
I love cats too, and they do often make good apartment pets. They relish interaction with you too, but as naturally solitary creatures, they don't suffer as much as dogs do if you're not home much during the day. You don't have potty training issues, but you do have to work with the cat to train him not to claw the furniture or carpets, so there's still something of a learning curve. If your schedule is likely to be a busy one, a cat might be the better choice for you for now. You can always get a dog later, when things settle down a bit (cats do learn to tolerate dogs in their world, especially if you get a young dog, or an older one who is well-behaved with cats).
There are lots of dog breeds that do well in apartments (and they aren't all small breeds, believe it or not), but that shouldn't be your only consideration. The amount of exercise you can give the dog is another consideration (some small breed have very high exercise requirements...the poodle being a case in point), as well as how much time you have to spend on training, how much grooming you are willing and able to do, etc. Every breed has its plusses and minuses (even mixed breeds...remember, they're all mixtures of SOMETHING, and often certain breed characteristics will predominate). Dachshunds are nice, but can be barky and tend to have back problems...they will also often attack smaller pets (realistically, they're terriers, even though the AKC has, for some crazy reason known only to themselves, seen fit to put them in the hound group) and can be snappy around children if they're not well socialized. Every breed will have a list of potential good and bad points, and if you do plan to get a dog, you will want to look long and hard at the possiblities before making a choice, even if you opt to adopt a mixed breed from the shelter.
If you have specific dog questions, I highly recommend you visit http://www.vegsource.com/animal/dogs/index.html ...aka "The Canine Club." I am a moderator there (I post as "Audrey"). There are lots of people there with a wealth of dog experience to share...people involved with specific breeds, as well as people who do rescue. It's a nice, friendly bunch of folks, and we're always willing to help a potential dog person get off on the right foot.
If you're looking for a vet in the area, I HIGHLY recommend Timberlyne Animal Hospital in Chapel Hill...they were our vets for 10 years, and among the best we've ever had.
Enjoy Durham! It's a great place to live! And feel free to pm or email me if you have questions...about Durham or about critters.
Redwolf
I know what you mean...when my hubby first flew out to interview in Chapel Hill, he called me and said "this is wonderful...Chapel Hill is a forest! Our house (near Jordan High School in Durham) had a huge wooded yard...lots of old oaks, hickories, dogwoods, etc. Wait until spring...you'll think you've landed in a fairy wood!
As far as the dog vs. cat question goes...a lot depends on how often you will be home. Dogs are pack animals, and really need LOTS of regular interaction for their psychological well-being. It's not just a matter of regular walks or playtime...they're happiest when their pack is around ALL the time (and while, realistically, that's not possible even if one of you was home most of the day, the more time they have with you the happier they will be). If you get a dog, and both of you are at school or working, you should really consider getting two...or even a dog AND a cat...for the dog's mental well-being. There's also, as you mentioned, the training issue. Even if you start with an adult dog, there's going to be a house-training and obedience-training learning curve that you may or may not have time to deal with.
That said, I'm a dog person, and can't imagine life without a dog or two. We got our current dog, a miniature poodle, when we were newly married, both working, and living in an apartment with a "one pet only" clause. It worked out very well for us, but mainly because we knew about the challenges ahead of time and prepared for them. I took two weeks off to get the puppy used to our routine and to begin housetraining. After that, I got in the habit of coming home every day at noon to play with him and take him out. When my husband got home in the afternoon, the first thing he'd do was take Cedar out to play fetch (using a long flexi-lead)...then I'd come home and we'd go for a walk. Our evenings were built around the dog...because we weren't home as much as he'd like during the day, we made sure we were around as much as possible at night. That's a lot to go through if you're not a dedicated dog person...for us it was worth it, but for you it may or may not be...only you can know for sure.
I love cats too, and they do often make good apartment pets. They relish interaction with you too, but as naturally solitary creatures, they don't suffer as much as dogs do if you're not home much during the day. You don't have potty training issues, but you do have to work with the cat to train him not to claw the furniture or carpets, so there's still something of a learning curve. If your schedule is likely to be a busy one, a cat might be the better choice for you for now. You can always get a dog later, when things settle down a bit (cats do learn to tolerate dogs in their world, especially if you get a young dog, or an older one who is well-behaved with cats).
There are lots of dog breeds that do well in apartments (and they aren't all small breeds, believe it or not), but that shouldn't be your only consideration. The amount of exercise you can give the dog is another consideration (some small breed have very high exercise requirements...the poodle being a case in point), as well as how much time you have to spend on training, how much grooming you are willing and able to do, etc. Every breed has its plusses and minuses (even mixed breeds...remember, they're all mixtures of SOMETHING, and often certain breed characteristics will predominate). Dachshunds are nice, but can be barky and tend to have back problems...they will also often attack smaller pets (realistically, they're terriers, even though the AKC has, for some crazy reason known only to themselves, seen fit to put them in the hound group) and can be snappy around children if they're not well socialized. Every breed will have a list of potential good and bad points, and if you do plan to get a dog, you will want to look long and hard at the possiblities before making a choice, even if you opt to adopt a mixed breed from the shelter.
If you have specific dog questions, I highly recommend you visit http://www.vegsource.com/animal/dogs/index.html ...aka "The Canine Club." I am a moderator there (I post as "Audrey"). There are lots of people there with a wealth of dog experience to share...people involved with specific breeds, as well as people who do rescue. It's a nice, friendly bunch of folks, and we're always willing to help a potential dog person get off on the right foot.
If you're looking for a vet in the area, I HIGHLY recommend Timberlyne Animal Hospital in Chapel Hill...they were our vets for 10 years, and among the best we've ever had.
Enjoy Durham! It's a great place to live! And feel free to pm or email me if you have questions...about Durham or about critters.
Redwolf
...agus déanfaidh mé do mholadh ar an gcruit a Dhia, a Dhia liom!
.-
TelegramSam
- Posts: 2258
- Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2001 6:00 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: Nashville, TN
- Contact:
turtles are cool. 
Anyhow, cats rule, and dogs drool.
To be honest, which animal makes the best pet depends on your personality and lifestyle. I like cats, they don't require me to pay attention to them 100% of the day but don't mind sitting on the couch with you for a cuddle once in a while either.
Anyhow, cats rule, and dogs drool.
To be honest, which animal makes the best pet depends on your personality and lifestyle. I like cats, they don't require me to pay attention to them 100% of the day but don't mind sitting on the couch with you for a cuddle once in a while either.
<i>The very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit their views. Which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that needs altering.</i>
-
mrosenlof
- Posts: 189
- Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2003 12:35 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: Louisville, Colorado, USA
You just graduated from *Divinity School* and then toss out this, which is basically like asking "which religion is better?" ??? ( of course )
I'm a cat person, but a while back met someone at a sidewalk coffee shop with a Papillon. (Isn't that French for butterfly?) It seemed like a very nice little dog.
of course )I'm a cat person, but a while back met someone at a sidewalk coffee shop with a Papillon. (Isn't that French for butterfly?) It seemed like a very nice little dog.
Dare I say it. . .get both.
Kittens and puppies that grow up together have really great relationships, and you rarely get the separation anxiety issue that you may have with a dog. We're a multi-species household, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Unfortunately we don't have the time for a dog, because the birds are so big a part of our lives. But as soon as one of us retires we'll probably get a mid=sized dog.
My personal advice on breeds, if you don't want to go with a mutt (the best of all dogs!) try a cairn terrier. Really spectacular personalities, and they can be very good apartment dogs if given daily exercise.
Kittens and puppies that grow up together have really great relationships, and you rarely get the separation anxiety issue that you may have with a dog. We're a multi-species household, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Unfortunately we don't have the time for a dog, because the birds are so big a part of our lives. But as soon as one of us retires we'll probably get a mid=sized dog.
My personal advice on breeds, if you don't want to go with a mutt (the best of all dogs!) try a cairn terrier. Really spectacular personalities, and they can be very good apartment dogs if given daily exercise.
Remember, you didn't get the tiger so it would do what you wanted. You got the tiger to see what it wanted to do. -- Colin McEnroe