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Me Myself & Riggins

~ The activities and adventures of Riggins and me!

Me Myself & Riggins

Tag Archives: samoyed

Stop Dog Racisim

15 Thursday May 2014

Posted by wendynewell in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Adoption, Back in Black, Best Friends Animal Society, Dog, dogs, german shorthair pointer, Riggins, samoyed

[Parts of the details of this story have been withheld to protect the innocent.]

Riggins

Riggins

One evening I was at a dinner party with my darling Riggins.  At the time he was young and spoiled (now he is old and spoiled) which meant he was better off sitting next to me while we ate dinner vs. forcing him outside where he would bark like a crazy person wanting to come in to be with his human friends.  Some would say that it is rude to allow your dog to watch you eat at the dinner table with non-dog people and even sneak him scraps while no one is looking.  I would even suggest those people are right … I would also suggest I don’t care.  So there I was sitting with Riggins at my side when the following conversation happened:

Woman:  What’s that dog’s name?

Wendy:  Riggins.

Woman:  Reagan?  Like after the president?

Wendy:  No Riggins.  He was actually named after a football player.

Woman:  Why?  Because he is a n… [insert n word]

Wendy: Actually Riggins was a white gentleman …. so no.

Women (in response to shock and awe at the table):  What?  The dog is a n….

Wendy:  True enough.

Sam

Sam

Riggins is a beautiful black with a white/black spotted chest and paws.  He was one of two (or three … I forget) black dogs in his litter.  His mom was a German Shorthair Pointer while his dad was a Samoyed so most of the pups where a white and or white/cream/brown color combination.  When I saw the pups there were only two of the them without homes.  I knew I wanted a male dog and that meant my only option was Riggins, the “giant black one” of the litter.  They had named him Gigantor.  I’m so lucky I Gigantor was the one left …. as he obviously was meant to belong to me!

I bring this up because there is a phenomenon among adoptable animals called “BDS” or “Black Dog Syndrome.”   Although I suppose I should be a good fake journalist and admit it is a debatable “syndrome,” if you talk to (and/or google information) shelter folks they will tell you black animals tend to stay in shelters much longer than their light-colored companions.  There are lots of suggestions on why this is but here are my thoughts:

Hank

Hank

* Good pictures of black dogs (this is true for cats and other adoptable animals so assume I mean all of them in the future when I say “dogs.”) are hard to get.  Ask any black dog mom/dad and she/he will show you a thousand photos of black blobs for that one good pic of their baby.  Many shelters are getting help (or hiring) from professional photographers to get great pictures of the adoptable pets to post online so hopefully this will help in the future.  In the meantime poorly lit kennels and black dogs equal crappy photos that don’t show the dogs loving personality.

* It’s sometimes hard to see a black dogs eyes.  I recently trained to volunteer in a local no-kill animal shelter and was VERY CAREFUL not to make eye contact with the dogs.  That’s how they get you.  You are just minding your own business and BAM their soulful eyes pull you in and tell you that they need you.  Next thing you know you have a new buddy in your life.  Unfortunately black dogs usually have a darker eye color which makes it hard to make that connection with them.

Huxley

Huxley

* Black dogs are mean.  Of course this isn’t true but it is what people think.  I told a story in a previous blog how, when on a hike, people were afraid of “the black dog.”  It happened this morning.  People were afraid of the black dog when it was the cute little cream-colored cocker spaniel mix that tried to eat a chihuahua whole.  Some folks think that it is because “bad” dogs in movies are often black in color.  I just think we associate the black dog color with aggression …. because we are stupid humans.

Many shelters will have a “black dog awareness month” or day or week and offer special adoption rates during that time.  Right now some of the Best Friend locations have their Back in Black special during the month of May.   If you are looking to adopt give the dark dudes and dudettes a shot.  I can guarantee they are love bugs!

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Not a Lab

20 Wednesday Mar 2013

Posted by wendynewell in Riggins, Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

dogs, german shorthair pointer, lab, Riggins, samoyed, Vet

I feel like I’ve written about this before but a quick search proved me wrong.  So here we go …

image (4)Yesterday I was looking at Riggins vet bill, from his accident, and realized they labeled him a Retriever, Labrador Mix.  To be fair Riggins has been to this emergency vet before so it is possible this was the label they original gave him on our first visit when I was sobbing and unable to speak.  You have no idea how much it chaps my hide when people demand Riggins is part lab.  He isn’t.  If you look at him he doesn’t even look like a lab.  It’s his color that throws people.  Big black dog = lab, to people.  That’s just not correct.

Riggins mommy was a German Shorthair Pointer while his dad was a Samoyed.  This blows

Source: http://tinyurl.com/cwl7oep and http://tinyurl.com/caksspc

Source: http://tinyurl.com/cwl7oep
and http://tinyurl.com/caksspc

people’s minds to the point that they don’t believe me and argue that fact.  Which leads me to the statement, “I saw his mom and dad in person.  Did you?”  Grrrrrrrrrr.  Riggins body type is straight from his mommy while his hair (including the fact that both are big sheeders) and personality is a mix of both breeds.  You can watch videos of what is typical for each breed at the Animal Channel link that is found on the breed pictures here.  If you watch the video you will learn that German Shorthair Pointers are a hybrid of many dogs including dalmatians which means black, instead of brown, is one of their colors.  In fact, there is a black dog in the German Shorthair Pointer video that looks a lot like Riggins.

So there you go.  That’s the answer of what Riggins is.  Now if you were someone I met on the street and/orsomeone I was on a first date with you would now tell me I was wrong and fight with me about it.  Don’t fight with me about him not being part Lab.  First of all you are wrong and secondly it’s like you have never seen a lab before.  Of the two of us I’m the dog expert here so back off!

Speaking of the vet and Riggins accident I wanted to give a shout out to the people thaimage (8)t helped us.  First of all the Eagle Rock Emergency Pet Clinic was amazing (minus the whole lab thing).  I imagine it’s a horrible job.  The graveyard shift at a place where only really sick and hurt animals go?  No thanks!  The 4 people I came in contact with including the front desk woman, two vet assistants and the vet herself, which were all not only professional but super kind.  The vet in particular put me at ease due to her knowledge and her wiliness to give me as much information as I wanted and needed.

Secondly, I need to give a shout out to Dogvacay.com.  This is the site where my dog sitting profile is located.  When I informed them of the problem I had on a meet and great they were appropriately horrified.  I had actually written the CEO and he answered personally and quickly.  Their insurance woman was incredibly nice and all seemed to be very worried about Riggins.  If you need a doggie daycare and/or somewhere to keep your puppers overnight check them out.  If you use the promo code IHEARTRIGGINS the first time you book an appointment you will get $10 off.

image (5)Since I didn’t want Riggins off leash with other dogs while he is still healing we skipped Runyon and the dog park today and instead went for a walk around the Rose Bowl.  It was torture for Riggins as he kept trying to stop every human and make him/her pet him.  He was also tortured by the gang of mom’s and their strollers since many children were riding along eating snacks.  Snacks at nose height for Riggins.  No snacks and everyone was too busy exercising to pet him??????  Horrible!

(Still haven’t forgotten about number 39 Act of Kindness.  It’s coming.)

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