Dog breeds?

@savarin I agree. The PWD breed was 'recovered' from just 20 or so individuals at one point and again from a pool of less than 40. Because of this very careful genetics are required before breeding PWDs. PWDs were the first mammal to have its DNA fully sequenced.

Even so one expects hip dysplasia or other genetic complications later in life. Mine lasted 16.5 years, and succumbed to cancer, so we did very well indeed.
 
C-Bag said:
WOW. Interesting that we were just talking about this as my wife asked me about insurance the other day. I guess I’ve been lucky that my dogs didn’t need something like that. But for the first time in decades I’ve bought a puppy and with that investment comes more attention to “what if?”. Plus the insane $$ a vet bill can be.

My immediate fear was realized just last week. We have foxtails here and they are horrible on dogs. A dog just wants to run in grass and foxtails end up in their hair and if they ever penetrate the skin they are like a one way ratchet. Like if they go between the pads they can follow the bone until they come out on their shoulder.

Had a setter that would always crash after a run but this one time he just sat in front of me staring. When I asked what was wrong he lay on his back and held up his left front paw. In his armpit was this big pocket. Took him to the vet and the vet pulled 6 bloody foxtails out of the hole! Another time the other dog a little terrier mutt in the middle of a run out in a field came up and jumped one me. I didn’t allow the dogs to do that and shushed him away but he kept jumping up on me and when I looked at him he was staring at me even though he knew he was doing wrong. It was then I saw the last little tails of a foxtail embedded next to his eyeball. He stood very still and I plucked it out and he got all happy and ran off to find the setter.

So I’ve been paranoid of that 50yrs later. We have been diligently pulling all the weeds but still I would find a foxtail in Gus’s hair. i was getting ready to hit the shop and I noticed him pawing his face. And there it was, a foxtail completely buried in his tear duct next to his eyeball just like George all those years ago! Gus wasn’t anywhere near as cooperative but I finally got hold of it and pulled it out. Gus got totally happy about that but who knows if he’ll trust me like my dogs of the past. I
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That foxtail sounds like nasty stuff. We have a wild grass called foxtail here but the heads are fairly soft.
 
savarin said:
I am a firm believer that cross breeds are the best.
We have only owned one pure bred and he has cost us the most in vets bills (and still does)
We all know you dont marry your sister or cousins because of the problems in-breeding causes but we breed our dogs that way to "strengthen" their traits we deem necessary. Often for the cause of fashion.
Give me a mutt any day.
ps. keep the photos coming, I love em.
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Funny you should mention that as the rage here are “doodles”. Goldendoodle(golden+poodle), Labradoodle and on and on. I’m also a mutt lover depending on the mutt but because they are it, “doodles” are more expensive than a PWD! Most of the locals think Gus is a doodle but PWD’s and Barbet’s are the originals, predoodle if you will :). Barbet looks almost exactly like a PWD but is a French water dog that was used for water retrieving. They were almost wiped out during WWII by the Nazi’s as retribution for the French resistance according to a local owner. I learn a lot of cool dog stuff hanging in the local dogparks. Also see some breeds coming back I’ve not seen since I was in high school. And lots I’ve never heard of like the Barbet.
 
This is our pure breed, a long haired Weimaraner, not many of these around.
A loving dog but he has dementia, had three strokes, and his back legs are giving out.
charlie2.jpg
and heres his mate, a shepherd cross, intelligent and very friendly and never a day at the vets.
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They are inseparable still but we are not sure how much time the Weimaraner has left as he's 14 now.
 
I’ve never seen a long haired Weimaraner but the short hair is one of the dogs I saw at the dog park the other day. German Shorthair too. Both went through intense popularity in the ‘70’s and like so many other dogs ruined the breeds and disappeared for all these years. All hunting dogs are a hand full and are not for folks who just want to buy a puppy for a kid then abandon them in a backyard. Often those dogs end up in the pound as that’s an awful thing to do to a hyper pack animal. My sisters and my brother were guilty of that, along with my daughter. I was always the one who ended up caring for and walking the dogs. At the height of those abandonments my parents had a mini Schnauzer, Irish Setter,German Shepard mix, Black and Tan and Bluetick Walker coonhounds all in the same backyard :(
 
The Weimaraner was given to us by a breeder. He was the pet of their young boy.
They had a small farm with free range ducks and chickens and were out most of the day so the dog was left on his own and kept hunting the ducks and chooks so had to be caged all day.
The understanding was they would come round after a week and if they didnt like what they saw they would take him back.
He was laying on that couch when they came round and they said Hmm, doesnt look like he's coming back with us is he.
we said "I hope not" so he stayed.
 
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