HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: whooper@oakhill.sps.mot.com (William Hooper)
Subject: Akitas
Organization: Motorola Inc.  Austin, Tx.
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 21:50:13 GMT

I am thinking about getting an Akita sometime in the
unspecified future, and have a couple of questions.
First, does anyone happen to know how you say "bear"
in Japanese?  My wife and I thought Bear might be a
good name for an Akita, but was wondering how it would
sound in Japanese (seems to make sense for a Jap. dog).

Also, what are net.people's experiences with Akitas
(good, bad, and indifferent)?  The dogs that the breeder
I know has seem to like people very much and are not
too dog aggressive.  I already have 2 female Shelties, so
I was thinking about a male Akita (supposed to keep tensions
down some).  Anyway, feel free to post or e-mail replies,
I will watch the newsgroup to make sure I don't miss any.
Thanks in advance.

-- 
--William Hooper                  | whooper@howler.sps.mot.com
  High End Systems Design         |"I dare you to be real
  Microprocessor Products Group   | To touch, to touch the flickering flame"
  Motorola, Inc.                  |  -- bauhaus
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
From: X005CB@tamvm1.tamu.edu (Chris Barnes)
Subject: Re: Training vs. gentics (was Re: The Great Lab Debate)
Organization: Texas A&M University
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 14:04:12 GMT

In article <1992Aug27.141033.28158@sierra.com>
   jhill@sierra.com (Julie Hill) writes:
 
>>The same cannot be said of retrievers.
>>Even San Jaquin Honcho (sp?) would have been worthless in a duck blind
>>without training.
>
>So what your saying is that it is not instinctive for retrievers to retrieve.
>That they must be trained to retrieve.  Therefore, "birdiness" is not something
>that can be bred into or out of dogs. Right?  Go ahead, flame me! :)
 
No, that's not what I'm saying at all.  Just as San Jaquin Honcho would
have been worthless without training, Libby (my first lab) also would
have been worthless even if I had spent thousands of $$ on professional
training.  Labs require BOTH, the genetic basis for a good hunting dog,
and the training required to bring it out.
 
      ----------------------------------------------
Chris Barnes            |
x005cb@tamvm1.tamu.edu  |  Only 5 more days until the start of
(409) 846-3273 (home)   |           hunting season (in Texas)
(409) 845-8454 (work)   |
From: tittle@ics.uci.edu (Cindy Tittle Moore)
Subject: Re: non-competitive shows (was Re: Show points and the )
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
Reply-To: tittle@ics.uci.edu (Cindy Tittle Moore)
Organization: ICS Dept., UC Irvine
Date: 2 Sep 92 21:31:19 GMT

In <5124.83.uupcb@cutting.hou.tx.us> kathleen.brewer@cutting.hou.tx.us (Kathleen Brewer) writes:

>TO: X005CB@tamvm1.tamu.edu


>CB>See?  This is what I was talking about when I suggested a non-
>CB>competitive conformation ring.  It just wouldn't happen.

>What would be the point? Why would we even bother to show our dogs, if
>there was no chance of winning? If we just want to show people our dog,
>we could go to the park.
>As I have said before there is good and bad in anything you do,
>including dog shows. Fortunatly, there are more good people showing dogs
>than there are bad!

No, actually, I see Chris' point.  Picture obedience trials...say you
set up something similar where each dog scores a certain number of
points.  You might say that it can qualify for 1 point to its title if
it got greater than X points in the show (take the standard, cut it
up, assign points to each part, and stipulate that the dog must get at
least half the points on each part and at least 75% of the total
points).  If it got among the top three scores, it's point could go to
two points.  That kind of thing.  And you might have something like:
10pts, standard dog, 20 points, standard dog excellent, and 30+ points
standard champion.  But any dog that has at least 10pts meets the
conformation standard.  (Or play with the numbers to suit yourself.)
The point is the dogs would compete against the standard rather than
other dogs so much.  I don't advocate (and I don't believe Chris does
either) doing away with the current show set up.  But I think it would
be nice to set up a "standards" trial.  So you'd have obedience, show,
field, and standards trials.  BTW, something like this could provide
invaluable feedback to owners on the strengths and weaknesses of their
dogs.

Actually, I've heard of something called "Field Trial Class" which
sounds like a conformation class restricted to dogs that are
field-type dogs.  This was in Dorothy Howe's _Labradors_ book, but I
couldn't tell exactly what it was talking about.

--Cindy
--
Cindy Tittle Moore

Terrell's Chocolate Deduction--Hershe (Labrador Retriever)

The rec.pets.dogs FAQ -- all eight parts -- is available via ftp to
pit-manager.mit.edu under pub/usenet/news.answers/dogs-faq/*.  There
is a mail server, email me for details.

In loving memory of Betsy: 4-10-92 to 8-19-92...
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
From: crs@beta.lanl.gov (Charlie Sorsby)
Subject: Re: SHOCK COLLARS (go ahead flame ME!!)
Keywords: shock collars unnecessary
Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 18:46:39 GMT

Hi, Terry, et al.

Just another $0.02 from me...

In article <17dl9sINN4ro@moe.ksu.ksu.edu> terry@eece.ksu.edu (Terry Hull) writes:
= I find them hard to use personally.  It takes a lot of thought and
= consideration for me to assure myself that the correction is
= appropriate for the transgression and the dog will understand what is
= being requested.  After all, the shock collar correction does not have
= any built-in indication of what the dog is supposed to do, unlike a
= tug on a leash.  It is easy for a dog to understand that placing him
= in a sitting position means that he should sit.  It is not so easy for
= the dog to understand that a bite on the neck (shock) means 'sit.'
= This is very similar to the throw-chain example that r hardin gives
= below.  The throw chain may mean down or come or sit or . . .  The dog
= must have prior understanding as to what is being requested before the
= correction makes sense to him.  

But that's the very point--and, a point that you made very well in
your earlier post about your Rott charging cars.

Just as one doesn't (normally) use a saw to pound nails, one
doesn't use an electronic training collar (or any other tool) for
every situation.

It is *not* used to teach; it is used to correct.  The dog must
*first* know what is expected.  It must, as in your earlier
example, know what it *should* do but be willfully disobeying.
That is probably one of the most common applications of the shock
collar and it could be the tool that will ultimately save your
dog's life (again I use your car-charging example).

Less well known, perhaps, is the technique called (I believe)
avoidance training by people such as Steve Rafe.  For this, the
training collar must have selectable intensities and the intensity
is set to the lowest level that the dog will notice.  It is used to
polish the dog's performance.  The command is given, the collar is
buzzed, and, as soon as the dog responds, the collar is stopped.
The dog is said to rapidly learn that as soon as it responds the
collar will stop tickling and that by responding quickly enough, it
can be avoided altogether--thus the name.

My view is that many believe that these collars are cruel or
inhumane because they don't understand them.  Electronics is, after
all, magic.  As you and I have both pointed out, electronic
training collars, choke chains, etc. are merely tools--tools that
can be used or misused.  A "trainier" who will misuse an electronic
collar will likely also misuse a choke chain.


-- 
Best,

Charlie "Older than dirt" Sorsby				"I'm the NRA!"
	  crs@lanl.gov
From: mjohnson@stake.DaytonOH.NCR.COM (Marget Johnson)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
Subject: Re: Inexpensive and safe puppy toys
Date: 27 Aug 92 14:13:26 GMT
Reply-To: mjohnson@stake.DaytonOH.NCR.COM (Marget Johnson)
Organization: Stakeholder Relations, NCR Corp in Dayton,OH

Sandra: Inexpensive toys for baby pupppies that I've found to be safe and fun:

Heavy cotton socks, knotted. Great tug toys & can be washed.

Stitch up a teddy bear (or bone or dragon or...) from fake lambswool and stuff
with polyster or cotton batting. Make a big one for them to cuddle with when
Mom is out of the box, and smaller ones for the pups to carry around. Pop in
the washer to clean.

By the time the pups are big enough to do some serious playing, they'll be out
of the box and in the yard. A plastic milk or fruit juice container, with a
few pebbles inside and the lid screwed or duct-taped on tight, makes a noisy
and fun play toy. The pups can carry it around by the handle.

If I think of any more, I'll let you know.
*****************************************
Marget Johnson
--
From: maurercj@ucbeh.san.uc.edu
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
Subject: Dog Cages???
Date: 2 Sep 92 18:42:24 EST
Distribution: world
Organization: Univ. of Cincinnati

  Recently I was given a cage for my dog, I thought it would be a 
good idea to have one for traveling being my SO is planning on getting 
a truck.  However, as I set the cage up, Sekmhet (my dog) sat there and 
watched me, she didn't seem to thrilled so, when I was finnished I 
motioned for her to get on in and try it out.  She looked at it and then 
hung her head, I tryed again (real cheerful) and she put one paw in took 
it out real fast hung her head and made a "wimpering" sound then layed 
down on the floor and looked at me with that "sad puppy" look.  I thought 
she would love it after reading how many other dog owners on the net say 
their dogs love the cages.  What is wrong here?  I feel real badly about 
it (she gave me a seriously sad look)?  Can anyone give me any ideas on
why she reacted this way?  She still wont go anywhere near the cage.

Thanks,
 Cathy
From: userGS13@mts.ucs.UAlberta.CA (unknown)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
Subject: AIREDALES
Date: 4 Sep 92 06:23:44 GMT
Organization: MTS Univ of Alberta

I HEARD THAT THERE WAS A BIG AIREDALE SHOW IN SEATTLE SOMETIME IN
JULY '92. WAS ANYBODY THERE BY ANY CHANCE? HOW WAS IT?
THANKS GUYS!
MICHAEL.
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
From: srlee@beta.lanl.gov (Stephen R Lee)
Subject: Re: Feeding Dogs Veggies and Fruit?
Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 16:05:38 GMT

In article <17atdeINNmjc@gw.home.vix.com> shedevil@vix.com (Anne P. Mitchell JD) writes:
>Tazi will eat almost anything, so far..she loves raw baby carrots,
>slices of zucchini, you name it.
>
>I was talking to a fellow dog owner yesterday, however, and she
>related to me that her vet chastized her one day, upon discovering
>that both she and her dog had had cantalope with breakfast.  Her vet's
>philosophy is that dog food is all a dog should have, ever.
>
>This led me to wonder about my own practices.  I never give Tazi any
>'treat' unless she has already eaten her own meal..but I figured
>eating pieces of fresh veggies could only be good for her, or at least
>certainly not bad  [I've avoided high acid veggies, like tomatos].
>
>Any thoughts/input on this?

All of my dogs eat all sorts of vegetables and love them.  I dont't feed 
them onions, of course, but patato(e)s, carrots, lettuce, zuccini, and 
so on.  I see nothing wrong with them as treats, so long as they are 
getting also eating a high quality, balanced, dog food.

>
>
>-- 
>   LOOKING FOR:  David Widdicombe, Hobson Woodward, Lorna Taylor & JJ Lancey
>I am: Anne Mitchell, mom, & founder of the Fathers' Rights & Equality Exchange
>Ask me about FREE!  FREE files available via anonymous ftp 128.45.1.1; dir /pub
>		     TIBI GRATIAt AGIMUt QUOD NIHIL FUMAt


-- 
============================================================
Stephen R. Lee                 | 
OooWoo Racing Kennel           | I'd rather be driving sled
E-Mail: srlee@beta.lanl.gov    | dogs.
From: trimpe_b@wums.wustl.edu
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
Subject: TOUCH info
Date: 31 AUG 92 09:38:23 GMT
Organization: MIT PLASMA FUSION CENTER
NNTP-Posting-Host: msnews.wustl.edu


	Here's the local address for the TOUCH program in St. Louis.  I
dunno if it is national or what.  Within the next month I should find out
more as we will be having a few meetings.
	TOUCH, Div. of SUPPORT DOGS for the handicapped
	301 Sovereign Court, Suite 113
	St. Louis,  MO  63011
	(314) 394-6163
I will keep you all posted if there is enough interest.
Beverly
From: liz@medusa.med.utah.edu (Elizabeth S. Odekirk)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
Subject: Re: Newf story
Date: 2 Sep 92 23:26:58 GMT
	<1992Sep02.203017.27558@watson.ibm.com>
Organization: University of Utah

Mike Jones writes

>In article <1992Aug27.202041.5656@inel.gov> kte@INEL.GOV (Kathryn L Cook) writes:
>>In article <l9ndbgINNrr7@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM>, mooring@rikki.Eng.Sun.COM (Linda Mooring) writes:
>>|> 
>>|> I was at the book store the other day and something on women
>>|> and their dogs caught my eye.  It wasn't long.  Every
>>|> other page featured a picture of a woman and her dog, plus
>>|> a brief story about the two.
>>|> 
>>*FOUL*  Linda, you march right back into that bookstore and find
>>out the title and author *NOW* we W-A-N-T to know .
>> :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)
>>(is that enough smilies?)
>
>The title is "Women and Their Dogs" (or perhaps "Dogs and Their Women", my
>wife can't remember for sure). Can't recall the author, but it's a pretty
>common book. You should be able to get it at Waldenbooks or equivalent.
>

The book is "Dogs and Their Women" by Barbara Cohen and Louise Taylor,
and it's excellent.  I saw myself in a lot of the coments and stories.

Elizabeth
From: jhill@sierra.com (Julie Hill)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
Subject: Re: Training vs. gentics (was Re: The Great Lab Debate)
Date: 27 Aug 92 14:10:33 GMT
Organization: Sierra Geophysics Inc.,  Kirkland, Wa

In article <1684EC08D.X005CB@tamvm1.tamu.edu> X005CB@tamvm1.tamu.edu (Chris Barnes) writes:
>In article <9208251351.AA00620@alw.nih.gov>
>    young@alw.nih.gov (Jeff Young) writes:
> 
>>Any competition level dog requires tremendous training.  Because I train
>>pointers, it is my opinion that it is more difficult to train a pointing dog than
>>it is to train a retriever.  I must say that a 200 yard directed retrieve is a
>>marvelous sight and that I have never trained a dog to do one.  I have
>>never dragged coon skins all over the woods in the middle of the night.
>>I have aided in the training of many dogs:  retrievers, flushers, pointers
>>and although I have my own pride bias, I would be more careful in using
>>blanket statements like those above.
> 
>The point of the statement was as a comparison of a "finished dog" of
>the various types of hunting breeds: ie.  how much of it is
>"intinctive" (for lack of a better word) and how much is must be
>trained?  From what I have read about hounds (since my experiance with
>them is very limited), even one that has very little training, but has
>a large measure of genetic material required to be a good hunter will
>still be a good hunting dog.  The same cannot be said of retrievers.
>Even San Jaquin Honcho (sp?) would have been worthless in a duck blind
>without training.  Again, from what I have read, pointers are
>somewhere between.  I did not mean to imply that training is not
>required for hounds (or pointers); it most certainly is.  As you say,
>to train any competition level dog does require a tremendous about of
>training.
> 
>      ----------------------------------------------
>Chris Barnes            |
>x005cb@tamvm1.tamu.edu  |  Only 7 more days until the start of
>(409) 846-3273 (home)   |           hunting season (in Texas)
>(409) 845-8454 (work)   |

So what your saying is that it is not instinctive for retrievers to retrieve.
That they must be trained to retrieve.  Therefore, "birdiness" is not something
that can be bred into or out of dogs. Right?  Go ahead, flame me! :)

Julie
-- 
********************************************************************************
*  Julie Hill              Sierra Geophysics, Inc.              Kirkland, WA   *
*  jhill@sierra.com
********************************************************************************
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
From: davids@gardener.lanl.gov (David Simmons)
Subject: Re: Are dogs color blind?
Originator: davids@feynman.lanl.gov
Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 17:38:07 GMT


In article <1992Aug26.162022.28132@cbnewsj.cb.att.com>, goc@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (joy.a.gochman) writes:
|> 
|> I happen to have a copy of an article on this subject:
|> 		
|> 		Canine:Color Vision
|> 		Gazette  - May 1991
|> 		By Dana Vaughan, PH.D.
|> 
|> The article explained the following about "color vision" in dogs/people:
|> 
|> Normal Human Color range - VIBGYOR(each letter is a color Violet->Red)
|> The normal ability to see this wide range of color is due
|> to the presence of three cone cell types:blue,green and red cones.
|> 
|> The range of colors seen by deuteranopic (green-blind) humans
|> and dogs are probably the same. Color Vision in the VIB portion
|> of the spectrum is normal. However, both deuteranopes and
|> dogs lack the green cones and thus have a color vision deficit in 
|> GYO portion of the spectrum. This means that blue-green appears white.
|> Colors more toward the Red (R) portion of the spectrum appears 
|> more and more yellowish. Red itself thus appears yellow.
|> 
|> Note how difficult it would be for a dog to distinguish between objects
|> which are green,yellow and orange.Note also that the colors red and 
|> orange would be hard for a dog to tell apart, but that "red" is
|> easily distinguished from blue.
|> 
|> 
|> End of quote.
|> 
|> From my own experience a yellow tennis ball laying still in the
|> green grass is hard for my dog to find. 
|> 

Thanks for clarifying this.  I wondered why McDuff could find some toys
in the yard, and not others (his orange "pluto" squeeky in the grass,
fer instance).  Also explains, if green is seen as white, why he can
so easily find his green frog on the brown carpet.

Now for another question:  Night vision.

Does anyone have any info (it needn't be as good as the above, but it
would be nice ;-)) on the accuracy of canine night vision?  McDuff
can't see beans at night--even with his >300 watt flood light system
that I installed in the back yard (he thought he was god the first
time he walked out the back door and the whole world lit up!). With
the lights off, he bumbles around well enough, but he can't find
*anything*.

Thanks.
-- 

David G. Simmons
davids@lanl.gov

If I said it, LANL didn't... 

-- 

David G. Simmons
davids@lanl.gov

Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
From: kathy_buetow@QMS1.life.uiuc.edu (Kathy Buetow)
Subject: Re: miniature greyhounds
Followup-To: rec.pets.dogs
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1992 13:01:39 GMT

In article <1992Sep02.193139.27836@ecst.csuchico.edu>,
rgoldstone@OAVAX.CSUCHICO.EDU (Robin, Girl Wonder) wrote:
> 
> At lunchtime today I was walking across campus when I saw the neatest dog!
> A crowd of people had gathered to watch this tiny little dog, running 
> FAST FAST FAST around the lawn.  The dog was a miniature greyhound.  He was
> so neat looking!  The owner told me his breed, but I didn't get a chance
> to ask her any more questions.  Can someone tell me about this breed?  Are
> they rare?  I have never seen a discussion of them here before.  Do they
> race these dogs like they race the big ones?  If so, is ther a rescue
> organization for them?  I'd love to have one of these dogs!
> 
> Any info is appreciated.
> -Robin
> 

What you  saw was either a Whippet  or an Italian Greyhound.
A Whippet is sort-of a medium sized dog whereas an IG is a 
toy breed (quite small).  Whippets are raced but IGs are not.  

There are now several rescue organizations for placing retired 
racing Greyhounds, but I have not heard about a rescue organization 
for retired racing Whippets......perhaps someone in one of the states 
where they race dogs knows of an organization like this.



***********************************************************************
> Robin Goldstone, Systems Software Specialist
> California State University, Chico  Computing Services
> rgoldstone@oavax.csuchico.edu

Kathy
---------------------
Katwala Australian Cattle Dogs
Kathy_Buetow@QMS1.life.uiuc.edu
"Australian Cattle Dogs are not just a breed....they're a way of life !!!"
From: crs@beta.lanl.gov (Charlie Sorsby)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
Subject: Re: CHD is not Hip Dysplaysia!!!!!!!!!!
Date: 26 Aug 92 19:00:21 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory

In article <19651@drutx.ATT.COM> mlhb@mammoth.dr.att.com (Sky Warrior) writes:
= 
= When one checks for hip dysplaysia, the X-rays are OFA certified.  (I believe it
= stands for Orthopedic Foundation of America)  I have never read of CHD in

		Orthopedic Foundation for Animals

= reference to dysplaysia except in terms of Chrondodysplaysia, which is the
= Malamute "dwarfism", except in this newsgroup.

First, I will be surprised if this or any other abbreviation is
unique.

If we are to put any stock in what OFA uses, the abbreviation, CHD,
for canine hip dysplasia is defined in the first sentence of their
booklet.  While "HD" is also sometimes used, "CHD" is specific to
canines and is, thus, of interest in this group.  Other species,
including humans, can have dysplastic hips.  Indeed, early funding
for CHD research was in the effort to learn more about the problem
as it applies to humans.

= If someone has some hard and fast evidence that proves otherwise, I suggest
= the terms be used properly.

As I said earlier, it is simply an abbreviation.  I will be very
surprised if the two meanings in question here are the only two.
Abbreviations are rarely unique; why should be expect this one to
be?



-- 
Best,

Charlie "Older than dirt" Sorsby				"I'm the NRA!"
	  crs@lanl.gov
From: mjohnson@stake.DaytonOH.NCR.COM (Marget Johnson)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
Subject: Rare Breed Show in Detroit
Date: 1 Sep 92 15:28:45 GMT
Reply-To: mjohnson@stake.DaytonOH.NCR.COM (Marget Johnson)
Distribution: na
Organization: Stakeholder Relations, NCR Corp in Dayton,OH

(As promised in an earlier post re: Leonbergers) A Rare Breed dog show will be
held in Detroit at Cobo Hall on March 12, 1993, the day before the Detroit
Kennel Club's AKC show at the same site. As of this writing, 6 rare breeds
will be holding specialty shows at Cobo. As more information becomes
available, I will post to the net (a bit closer to the date!).
************************************
Marget Johnson
--