A Blue Heeler. I will name him Jack Kirby. Or some sort of racial slur. Preferably one about Italians or Samoans.

You could name him “Whitewash Jones” and kill two birds with one stone. (That is, a racist slur of a character created by Jack Kirby. But that was the 1940s, I guess.)

Update: still pondering it.

The universe might implode into a singularity if something loved you unconditionally, Jason.

What’s the status on the dog? You can’t leave us hanging.

How about some kind of hairless dog?

Is that a bald joke?

Once again you accuse me of nastiness. Where are the mods?

I don’t know about you, but I prefer animals who shed less than I do.

Mr. Yuck - 09 July 2008 10:19 AM

Once again you accuse me of nastiness. Where are the mods?

I thought it was a bald joke, too.

OK, it was.

So sorry.

Steve Shanafelt - 09 July 2008 09:50 AM

What’s the status on the dog? You can’t leave us hanging.

This again. I demand answers.

boston terriers are the best dogs in the world ...

http://boston-terrier-blog.blogspot.com/

i’ve always been a pound puppy person who hates the idea of supporting breeders. my first boston was a gift and my second was to feed my boston addiction ...

i still adopt pound puppies to soothe my conscience for indulging myself in bostons, but i’ll always have a BT ... they are the funniest, smartest, most loving and loyal dogs i’ve ever had ...

I own a pure-bred too and I make no apologies. If you stick to a breed over the course of your life, you will find that your dogs just get smarter and smarter because you have a better idea of how to train them.

If you like the idea of being able to say “Go upstairs and bark when the pizza gets here,” get a large poodle. I’m on number 3. They are hypo-allergenic, don’t shed, and have such an ear for language that they are being used in communication research. They can both tree a bear and get you a roll of toilet paper. What more can you ask of a dog?

They also make good “practice children”. But you will never find one in a pound.

Mr. Yuck - 09 July 2008 05:14 PM

I own a pure-bred too and I make no apologies. If you stick to a breed over the course of your life, you will find that your dogs just get smarter and smarter because you have a better idea of how to train them.

If you like the idea of being able to say “Go upstairs and bark when the pizza gets here,” get a large poodle. I’m on number 3. They are hypo-allergenic, don’t shed, and have such an ear for language that they are being used in communication research. They can both tree a bear and get you a roll of toilet paper. What more can you ask of a dog?

They also make good “practice children”. But you will never find one in a pound.

I own a purebred, AKC-certified English Bulldog, and I wouldn’t trade her in for a random pound puppy. Nothing against pound-hounds — we’ll likely get our next dog from one — but you don’t get to shop for traits like you do with breeds. If I wanted a second relatively lazy, slightly dim, stubborn to a comedic fault, snoring, charmingly clownish, total attention-whore of a dog again, I’d go with another bulldog in a flash. They are expensive, sure, but you get what you pay for.

The only downside with getting a purebred dog, at least as far as I’ve seen, is the tendency towards genetic disorders. We lucked out with ours — she’s free of most of the breed’s problems (although she does have a touch of entropion) — but with many breeds it’s always something of a gamble.

I guess there’s always the problem with purebred puppy farms. I’d never knowingly buy a dog from one. Thankfully, bulldogs are generally too difficult and expensive to breed (most have to be delivered by c-section) for this to be a huge problem.

Helen and i went thru Animal Compassion to get Bailey, our completely generic dog.  Actually, she’s closest to a ‘Carolina’ dog or ‘American Dingo’ than anything else with maybe some Chow thrown in.  Her nature is perfect for us - she is patient and not an early riser, expects what we give her regularly (2 walks/day plus umpteen love) and keeps herself fed reasonably from the dog bowl.  She came trained, fixed and with an ID implant.  We couldn’t be happier, and - we think - neither could she.

if one likes a breed and feels a pang for the social conscience aspect of it, there’s also breed rescue. breed rescue organizations save dogs who are adopted by idiots and then abused or neglected ... they are still rescues and have the pedigree (traits) you’re seeking ...

don’t be thinking of breeding them or showing them, though, as they typically must be sterilized before placement and don’t typically come with papers.

there are breed rescue organizations for most every breed and give you the best of both approaches to adoption ...