Obama's Dog

Nirvana · 03-15-2009, 08:15 PM

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedi...0,288756.story

By Judith Lewis
March 15, 2009
In the first two months of his administration, President Obama signed an economic stimulus package into law, lifted restrictions on foreign family-planning clinics and drew up a plan for pulling troops out of Iraq.

But he has left one early promise unfulfilled: He has not yet acquired a family dog.
Late last month, the Obamas seemed closer to their goal when Michelle Obama told People magazine that, after studying which breeds were least likely to trigger daughter Malia's allergies, the family had settled on a Portuguese water dog. But the statement was almost immediately modified: The first lady had spoken too soon. The quest for a White House canine continues.

So what's the problem? Why has a task as simple as getting a dog eluded the Obamas for so long? Perhaps the answer can be divined in Michelle Obama's interview: She said she wanted not just any Portuguese water dog but a rescued one. An adult with a good temperament. Perhaps even house-trained.

Certainly that should satisfy the activists agitating for the Obamas to adopt a stray. The rescue-only crowd insists that every dog purchased from a breeder is a death sentence for a stray. They make no distinction between responsible breeders who nurture sound-tempered dogs and puppy-mill operators who crowd breeding bitches so tightly into cages that they chew off each other's legs.

Rescuing a dog is indeed a noble gesture, even if there will never be enough humans to save every abandoned dog. But for the health of their daughter, the Obamas want a purebred dog. And last time I checked, Portuguese water dogs weren't turning up at the pound with any regularity.

Most of the purebred dogs that end up in shelters come by way of reckless backyard breeders or puppy mills, where dogs are routinely inbred, bred so narrowly for looks that they can't breathe properly, or bred with no thought for their health at all. Responsible breeders track their puppies assiduously and take them back if they don't work out. They don't put their dogs up for rescue, they "re-home" them.

If the Obamas find a Portuguese water dog in need of re-homing, good for them -- no doubt it will be theirs for the asking. But that dog won't qualify as a rescue. And it shouldn't have to.

For the record, I rescue dogs. I rescue, in fact, the kinds of dogs that end up in shelters in droves: Yippie, wild-eyed terriers and the much-maligned American Staffordshire (pit) bull terriers. I take them in, train them and keep them with me for longer than a decade; I work through their tendencies to bolt or their fears of men in baseball caps until they accept the compromises of life with humans. I am well set up for the task: My tolerant, dog-loving husband and I have no children; I love dogs that would drive sane women mad; and I have the tenacity to work with them.

But I also love purebred dogs and the whole notion that we humans have bred dogs for certain tasks. I love Newfoundlands that save drowning children, border collies that live to herd, brave terriers driven to hunt rats. And I despair that we may be heading into a world in which breeding dogs to do what dogs do -- work with, and beside, and indeed even for, human beings -- is considered, by some crooked measure, cruelty to animals.

There is something far worse than a family acquiring a dog from a conscientious breeder, and that's a family rescuing a dog that turns out to be fundamentally unstable or just plain unsuited to life with a family.

Childhood dogs shape attitudes toward animals for life; they can make kids lifelong advocates for animal welfare or create in them an ineluctable fear. A family that adopts a dog that incorrigibly nips children's hands, eats expensive furniture or lunges at other animals might at best end up investing in an expensive trainer. At worst, the dog ends up back in the shelter or on the street, leaving a family forever wary of canines.

In January, one month after the death of a beloved pit bull I rescued from the pound 13 years ago, I took in a 5-month old American Staffordshire named Tabitha. She is, from what we can tell, sane and hearty, a natural retriever, psychologically stable enough that neither ear-pulling nor toe-fondling nor the taunts of her Cairn terrier housemate, Thomas, faze her.

But Tabitha is still a puppy, and having lived with dogs -- seven in total -- nearly all my life, I know that puppies harbor secrets in their DNA. What we know about Tabitha is all good, but we could scribble it on a sheet of notebook paper. What we don't know could fill volumes.

We don't, for instance, know what her parents were like. We don't know if she harbors the gene for a debilitating neurological condition called ataxia that is common in her breed. Will she continue to put up with our ambushing cats? With the squeals of our friends' children? We think so, and we will work with her no matter what. If we had children to worry about, however, it might be different.

Symbolically, it would be nice if the Obamas could rescue a dog. But to insist that the only good dog is a rescued dog is to relegate our future with the canine species to random relationships in which humans are forced to settle for whatever renegade breeders produce and fail to care for.

And let it be said that the reason there exists such a thing as a Portuguese water dog at all, or any dog with a hypoallergenic coat and a game temperament, is not a happy accident but a triumph of the selective breeding humans have been practicing with canines for millenniums -- the very practice so many people who claim to care about dogs would prefer to see turned into a crime.

Judith Lewis is an environmental journalist and contributing editor to High Country News.

jinx · 03-15-2009, 08:23 PM

Right on.

TGRR · 03-15-2009, 08:24 PM

Oh, crap! IMPEACH NOW!

Undertoad · 03-15-2009, 08:30 PM

Another Portuguese water dog, taking a job from an American water dog.

Shawnee123 · 03-15-2009, 08:34 PM

This "issue" is a joke, right? Right?

TheMercenary · 03-16-2009, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Undertoad

Another Portuguese water dog, taking a job from an American water dog.

classicman · 03-15-2009, 08:44 PM

like I could give 1/2 a shit about him having a dog. I do think it would be nice if he rescued one instead of getting one from a breeder though. Its a great lesson as a parent and a great stance as a leader. Aside from that ... non-issue along the lines of anything that Paris Hilton, Britney or Lindsey is doing.

Nirvana · 03-16-2009, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by classicman

like I could give 1/2 a shit about him having a dog. I do think it would be nice if he rescued one instead of getting one from a breeder though. Its a great lesson as a parent and a great stance as a leader. Aside from that ... non-issue along the lines of anything that Paris Hilton, Britney or Lindsey is doing.

Did you read the article CM? A rescue is a bad idea for a family pet. Usually rescue dogs have problems that go beyond an amateur's knowledge of care. A good breeder is always the best place to get a family pet. Knowing the difference between a good breeder and a back yard pet miller is what makes the difference. Anyone can call themselves a breeder but it takes more than putting a canine penis with another canine vagina.

Shawnee123 · 03-15-2009, 08:49 PM

Yeah, can we get a breakdown on all the dogs owned by every president and compare the breeds, prices, familiarity, compatibility with humans...or can we just say "who the fuck gives a shit?"

I need numbers.

omg...

Glinda · 03-16-2009, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shawnee123

Yeah, can we get a breakdown on all the dogs owned by every president and compare the breeds, prices, familiarity, compatibility with humans...or can we just say "who the fuck gives a shit?"

I need numbers.

omg...

True, it is an arcane subject, but not entirely uninteresting. *Glinda whips out her favorite reference book "Facts About the Presidents"*

For example, did you know that:

Quote:

At one time or another, the White House sheltered nearly everything that can walk, crawl, swim, or fly. Zebras, coyotes, badgers, guinea pigs, hyenas, alligators, lizards, snakes, turtles, tropical fish, and birds - not to mention innumerable horses and ponies, and of course cats and dogs - have shared the Executive Mansion and its manicured grounds.

Dolley Madison had a macaw, John Quincy Adams raised silkworms, Andrew Johnson kept white mice, and Theodore Roosevelt had a young lion and several bear cubs. During the Taft administration, a cow, Pauline Wayne, grazed on the White House lawn, which was periodically patrolled by Enoch Gander. McKinley kept a Mexican yellow parrot and briefly, roosters, to the consternation of the other White House residents.

wolf · 03-15-2009, 09:38 PM

The last I heard, the dog had been selected from a breeder in Berks County who was instructed to train the dog and the Secret Service would be back for it in six months (This was from someone who claims to know the breeder).

ZenGum · 03-15-2009, 09:48 PM

Was that someone you met through work?

Mind you if the Secret Service "train" the dog, do you think that would include bomb detection and taking a bullet for the big guy?

wolf · 03-15-2009, 11:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZenGum

Was that someone you met through work?

Mind you if the Secret Service "train" the dog, do you think that would include bomb detection and taking a bullet for the big guy?

It was someone with keys.

Although I have every expectation that for security purposes dogs will be ordered and paid for from multiple breeders around the country.

Shawnee123 · 03-16-2009, 07:24 AM

If I were an editorial cartoonist, the logical cartoon would be "Obama's Dog Owes Back Taxes."

ZenGum · 03-16-2009, 07:29 AM

03-15-2009, 08:15 PM	#1
Nirvana Back in 10 Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 3,684	Obama's Dog http://www.latimes.com/news/printedi...0,288756.story By Judith Lewis March 15, 2009 In the first two months of his administration, President Obama signed an economic stimulus package into law, lifted restrictions on foreign family-planning clinics and drew up a plan for pulling troops out of Iraq. But he has left one early promise unfulfilled: He has not yet acquired a family dog. Late last month, the Obamas seemed closer to their goal when Michelle Obama told People magazine that, after studying which breeds were least likely to trigger daughter Malia's allergies, the family had settled on a Portuguese water dog. But the statement was almost immediately modified: The first lady had spoken too soon. The quest for a White House canine continues. So what's the problem? Why has a task as simple as getting a dog eluded the Obamas for so long? Perhaps the answer can be divined in Michelle Obama's interview: She said she wanted not just any Portuguese water dog but a rescued one. An adult with a good temperament. Perhaps even house-trained. Certainly that should satisfy the activists agitating for the Obamas to adopt a stray. The rescue-only crowd insists that every dog purchased from a breeder is a death sentence for a stray. They make no distinction between responsible breeders who nurture sound-tempered dogs and puppy-mill operators who crowd breeding bitches so tightly into cages that they chew off each other's legs. Rescuing a dog is indeed a noble gesture, even if there will never be enough humans to save every abandoned dog. But for the health of their daughter, the Obamas want a purebred dog. And last time I checked, Portuguese water dogs weren't turning up at the pound with any regularity. Most of the purebred dogs that end up in shelters come by way of reckless backyard breeders or puppy mills, where dogs are routinely inbred, bred so narrowly for looks that they can't breathe properly, or bred with no thought for their health at all. Responsible breeders track their puppies assiduously and take them back if they don't work out. They don't put their dogs up for rescue, they "re-home" them. If the Obamas find a Portuguese water dog in need of re-homing, good for them -- no doubt it will be theirs for the asking. But that dog won't qualify as a rescue. And it shouldn't have to. For the record, I rescue dogs. I rescue, in fact, the kinds of dogs that end up in shelters in droves: Yippie, wild-eyed terriers and the much-maligned American Staffordshire (pit) bull terriers. I take them in, train them and keep them with me for longer than a decade; I work through their tendencies to bolt or their fears of men in baseball caps until they accept the compromises of life with humans. I am well set up for the task: My tolerant, dog-loving husband and I have no children; I love dogs that would drive sane women mad; and I have the tenacity to work with them. But I also love purebred dogs and the whole notion that we humans have bred dogs for certain tasks. I love Newfoundlands that save drowning children, border collies that live to herd, brave terriers driven to hunt rats. And I despair that we may be heading into a world in which breeding dogs to do what dogs do -- work with, and beside, and indeed even for, human beings -- is considered, by some crooked measure, cruelty to animals. There is something far worse than a family acquiring a dog from a conscientious breeder, and that's a family rescuing a dog that turns out to be fundamentally unstable or just plain unsuited to life with a family. Childhood dogs shape attitudes toward animals for life; they can make kids lifelong advocates for animal welfare or create in them an ineluctable fear. A family that adopts a dog that incorrigibly nips children's hands, eats expensive furniture or lunges at other animals might at best end up investing in an expensive trainer. At worst, the dog ends up back in the shelter or on the street, leaving a family forever wary of canines. In January, one month after the death of a beloved pit bull I rescued from the pound 13 years ago, I took in a 5-month old American Staffordshire named Tabitha. She is, from what we can tell, sane and hearty, a natural retriever, psychologically stable enough that neither ear-pulling nor toe-fondling nor the taunts of her Cairn terrier housemate, Thomas, faze her. But Tabitha is still a puppy, and having lived with dogs -- seven in total -- nearly all my life, I know that puppies harbor secrets in their DNA. What we know about Tabitha is all good, but we could scribble it on a sheet of notebook paper. What we don't know could fill volumes. We don't, for instance, know what her parents were like. We don't know if she harbors the gene for a debilitating neurological condition called ataxia that is common in her breed. Will she continue to put up with our ambushing cats? With the squeals of our friends' children? We think so, and we will work with her no matter what. If we had children to worry about, however, it might be different. Symbolically, it would be nice if the Obamas could rescue a dog. But to insist that the only good dog is a rescued dog is to relegate our future with the canine species to random relationships in which humans are forced to settle for whatever renegade breeders produce and fail to care for. And let it be said that the reason there exists such a thing as a Portuguese water dog at all, or any dog with a hypoallergenic coat and a game temperament, is not a happy accident but a triumph of the selective breeding humans have been practicing with canines for millenniums -- the very practice so many people who claim to care about dogs would prefer to see turned into a crime. Judith Lewis is an environmental journalist and contributing editor to High Country News. __________________ Speaking simply... do not confuse this with having a simple mind.

03-15-2009, 08:23 PM	#2
jinx Come on, cat. Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: general vicinity of Philadelphia area Posts: 7,013	Right on. __________________ Crying won't help you, praying won't do you no good.

03-15-2009, 08:24 PM	#3
TGRR Horrible Bastard Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: High Desert, Arizona Posts: 1,103	Oh, crap! IMPEACH NOW! __________________ What can we do to help you stop screaming?

03-15-2009, 08:34 PM	#5
Shawnee123 Why, you're a regular Alfred E Einstein, ain't ya? Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 21,206	This "issue" is a joke, right? Right? __________________ A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones who need the advice. --Bill Cosby

03-15-2009, 08:44 PM	#7
classicman barely disguised asshole, keeper of all that is holy. Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 23,401	like I could give 1/2 a shit about him having a dog. I do think it would be nice if he rescued one instead of getting one from a breeder though. Its a great lesson as a parent and a great stance as a leader. Aside from that ... non-issue along the lines of anything that Paris Hilton, Britney or Lindsey is doing. __________________ "like strapping a pillow on a bull in a china shop" Bullitt

03-15-2009, 08:30 PM	#4
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	Another Portuguese water dog, taking a job from an American water dog.

03-15-2009, 08:49 PM	#9
Shawnee123 Why, you're a regular Alfred E Einstein, ain't ya? Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 21,206	Yeah, can we get a breakdown on all the dogs owned by every president and compare the breeds, prices, familiarity, compatibility with humans...or can we just say "who the fuck gives a shit?" I need numbers. omg... __________________ A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones who need the advice. --Bill Cosby

03-15-2009, 09:38 PM	#11
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	The last I heard, the dog had been selected from a breeder in Berks County who was instructed to train the dog and the Secret Service would be back for it in six months (This was from someone who claims to know the breeder). __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

03-15-2009, 09:48 PM	#12
ZenGum Doctor Wtf Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Badelaide, Baustralia Posts: 12,861	Was that someone you met through work? Mind you if the Secret Service "train" the dog, do you think that would include bomb detection and taking a bullet for the big guy? __________________ Shut up and hug. MoreThanPretty, Nov 5, 2008. Just because I'm nominally polite, does not make me a pussy. Sundae Girl.

03-16-2009, 07:24 AM	#14
Shawnee123 Why, you're a regular Alfred E Einstein, ain't ya? Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 21,206	If I were an editorial cartoonist, the logical cartoon would be "Obama's Dog Owes Back Taxes." __________________ A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones who need the advice. --Bill Cosby

03-16-2009, 07:29 AM	#15
ZenGum Doctor Wtf Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Badelaide, Baustralia Posts: 12,861	__________________ Shut up and hug. MoreThanPretty, Nov 5, 2008. Just because I'm nominally polite, does not make me a pussy. Sundae Girl.

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