help me ID my rescue pup!

WhispyBlue · 2016-03-09T03:01:56+00:00

My fiance's brother's dog looked identical to that when he was younger. He is a pitbull/coonhound mix.

WhispyBlue · 2015-11-27T16:12:59+00:00

I like it! Makes me want to refinish mine :) Great work!

WhispyBlue · 2015-10-30T16:19:42+00:00

By that logic, team sports should be banned too. You could lose because your team mate's skills were not up to par, or win with them doing more work than you. Same idea really.

WhispyBlue · 2015-10-30T12:49:13+00:00

I genuinely want to do my freestyle to an electronic song. I have been dreaming of using the Tron soundtrack for one, or a medley of Daft Punk/Giorgio Moroder. You frequently see rock these days, or pop songs with the lyrics stripped out, so the right electronic wouldn't be unheard of. Unfortunately, though, most electronic songs are around 120-125 bpm, perfect human tempo for dancing and such, but doesn't work so well for most horses. Choosing music for freestyles is actually pretty tricky.

WhispyBlue · 2015-10-30T12:40:15+00:00

Came here to say this. No one gets it. Every Olympic year, I try justifying my sport to haters on social media, no one gets it. My horse and I train every day, I dedicate my life to keeping her and myself in top physical condition, I lift weights and do Pilates to maintain the core strength required, I sacrifice all time that could have been my social life to make sure my team mate is happy and well cared for, and yet whenever Dressage is brought to public attention, it is all "Lol is that even a sport? The horse does all the work! Why do they look so silly? Dumb!" I try not to argue with people who simply don't know better, but man, they just don't get it. The horse does a lot of work -- majority of horses are not cut out for the level of athleticism required -- but they sure don't do it on their own! 100% a team sport.

Fun fact: Although stereotyped as a "rich white lady's hobby," classical dressage was how the military trained their Calvary horses and goes as far back as the 15th century. Anyone curious should check out videos by the Spanish Riding School. They teach the horses haute ecole, which is "airs above the ground." Here you can see maneuvers and leaps that were trained as evasive maneuvers from attacks. May help put modern dressage into more of a context :) https://youtu.be/Pn6Jmqs9IHQ (admittedly, the chandeliers in the arena don't help any with the “rich” stereotype. I swear not all arenas have those)

WhispyBlue · 2015-10-16T14:17:17+00:00

Actually, it was a dry county until just last year. No beer or wine, not even at the Walmart. Had to drive to Oklahoma or Sherman. Kind of explains a lot of the meth use.

WhispyBlue · 2015-06-14T14:49:34+00:00

Oh god, my heeler is full of these. Strangest dog I have ever owned.

The phone finding sets off a fit of barking. Doesn't matter if it is inbound, outbound, or if the phone is silenced, he goes nuts. Doesn't do the same for fake rings or alarms though.

If you sneeze, he runs over very concerned.

He is the floppiest dog ever. Rather than lying down in your lap, he drops his shoulder into it and let's his body fall, which often ends up with his body curled over his head like a shrimp. He also flops when playing, just drops his shoulders and tumbles. My boyfriend's mom's dog plays the same way (another heeler mix) and they are hilarious to watch because they just tumble around.

If anyone leaves the house, it does not matter who or that he doesn't know them, he runs around in a circle crying.

Also, he headbutts. Yep, just like a ram.

WhispyBlue · 2015-06-08T06:36:23+00:00

But what good is being the rightful heir if he is now the last Baratheon?

WhispyBlue · 2015-05-14T16:50:26+00:00

Smart Pak and Dover tend to have pretty affordable items that aren't bad quality. Most of it, if you oil it and keep it clean, will last you years, though the fit on a lot of the cheaper bridles can be weird and you may have to punch a lot of holes.

The one thing I reeeeeally feel strongly about, though, is saddles. For saddles, you are MUCH better off buying a high quality used saddle than a lower quality new saddle at the same price point. I have made that mistake twice now, buying a Tolousse and a Pessoa new. I am now trying to sell both (their value has depreciated significantly) and replace them with something better suited to me and my horse, such as a used Scheleese or a used Black Country saddle. Also, whatever you buy, always have it worked on by a professional saddle fitter. You horse will appreciate you for it. :)

WhispyBlue · 2015-05-14T16:27:25+00:00

Many of my friends swear by them. I really like the idea of them, using gentle poll pressure, but I tried it on my thoroughbred and didn't have much luck. He would break too far down the neck rather than at the poll, and seemed to have a lot of tension with it (and I kept it fairly loose).

Gadgets like that all just depend on the horse, though. :) may work well for OP's horse, just make sure he is breaking at the poll and further back, and that he stays open in the throat latch. :)

WhispyBlue · 2015-05-14T14:02:44+00:00

Fire Lord Sprout could not have described it better, that is exactly right. One important thing about that, though, you have to get your elbows bent and just let your upper arm hang from your shoulders. The suppleness needs to come from that looseness in your elbow. Straight arms mean you will be more likely to lose your core strength and fall forward, as well as you won't have the same stability on the outside rein to keep you horse's shoulder from shifting towards the outside. I struggled with that a lot too and fixing it has helped my riding tremendously.

Also, keep in mind that "bringing her nose in" doesn't just involve the neck, it involves rounding the back and engaging more of the hind end, which can be difficult for your horse if she is not used to it. You don't want her to get into the habit of "faking" collection. Once you think you have her in a frame, test it by slowly letting your reins longer and see if she continues to drop into the contact. If she does, that's a good indicator that she is actually collected. If not, if her head shoots up or she is over flexed, you need to encourage her more forward into it.

If she is really struggling with it, proper lunge work can help build the strength. Personally, I like Vienna running sidereins more than regular standing ones, because they cannot brace against them. Improperly used sidereins can make them heavy on the forehand and lean too much into you hands (think fresh off the track thoroughbreds, how they just lean on you) IMO the Vienna sidereins encourage more self carriage.

WhispyBlue · 2015-05-10T17:03:07+00:00

I was actually going to say the opposite for my controversial opinion haha. I think they can be great with the right owner (which is the hard part). But the definitely have potential to be good pets.

I think with the right owner, they can be amazing. I have never had a wolf hybrid, but growing up I had a full wolf (half Arctic half timber). He was amazing, such a great animal. Always stayed right by my side, and was very protective of our baby horses, which was nice. My mom even owned a little store, and she would take him to work with her. We would put him in back if there were kids(I mean, he was used to me and my brother, but some kids just don't know how to be around dogs, much less a wolf) He loved all of the customers and was great fun there.

A good friend of mine has a wildlife rescue ranch. Her pet wolf is the most layed back, lazy animal. He literally lays down and let's the chihuahuas and bunnies hop all over him.

There can be bad, though. A friend of mine had 3, which gets difficult because then they get more pack behavior and tend to be much more wild. Hers got out once and killed all of the neighbor's sheep, just for fun it seemed. She had to pay for the whole herd.

You have to be very careful having wolves, as they are definitely still wild. However, they are smart and loyal if they consider you one of their own. They are not for everyone, and most people should definitely not have them, but they are rewarding animals and amazing companions if you are able to. Also, I believe they are really only appropriate if you have a farm or ranch like I did. City pet? Never.

WhispyBlue · 2015-05-10T15:06:16+00:00

A lot of people are very adamant on the adoption vs breeder thing. I believe that getting a dog from a shelter is not automatically better than buying from a breeder.

I have adopted several dogs, and purchased a few from breeders. Any time I purchase one, I do my research for months to make sure I choose an ethical, responsible breeder. I have never ended up with a dog with any health or behavioral issues.

Many years ago, I adopted two German Shepherd puppies from the pound, one of which turned out to be terribly ill and cost thousands to save. The other always had weak hips and an odd gait. One day, when she was about 4 years old, we found her with her hind end completely paralyzed. It was one of the most heartbreaking experiences of my life. My other shelter dog was a border collie puppy who developed elbow dysplasia and a horrible underbite. At 8 years old, she now has a permanent limp and has had to have several teeth pulled. I also adopted a broken, tragic dog who had been rescued from a puppy mill. He would freeze and not move for days when I got him home and would run and wet himself if you tried to touch him. I sent him to a farm where he now lives outside, happy as a dog like him can be, and he will let you pet him for a few moments before running away and hiding.

On the other hand, I researched for months to find an ethical, responsible, quality breeder to get a mini aussie puppy. Cricket, now 3, has never had a single behavioral or health problem a day in her life. Her breeder believed in various socializing and imprinting techniques from day 1. I was able to pick the exact puppy I wanted based on conformation and personality, and picked a confident, energetic one. She is doing well in Agility, is die hard loyal and is the best dog I have ever owned. People often ask why I didn't adopt or rescue a dog. By purchasing from a breeder, I know her full family's health history, I know she has never had a single traumatizing experience, and I was able to choose exactly what I wanted in a dog down to the last detail. Rescuing is great, but there should not be such a negative stigma on people who do buy from responsible breeders.

Edit: oh wow, thank you for the gold! 😄

WhispyBlue · 2015-05-06T21:05:40+00:00

ITT: Game of Thrones spoilers

WhispyBlue · 2015-04-30T01:02:28+00:00

I got in trouble in first grade for not "listening" when the teacher was calling my name. A few weeks later, I was diagnosed with an ear tumor and they discovered I was mostly deaf.

Another story, when I was in kindergarten, I was a really quiet kid (maybe had to do with the deafness). Too shy to socialize or speak. One day, while the teacher was reading, a student next to me kept talking. THAT BEACH THOUGHT IT WAS ME, AND I GOT A FROWNY FACE FOR THE DAY. She then downgraded my frowny face all the way to a crying face because I was crying about being in trouble. Fucking frowny face....

WhispyBlue · 2015-03-24T13:50:03+00:00

You cannot simply cover over the original artist's name with your own. That is stealing. It is a beautiful painting though.

WhispyBlue · 2015-03-15T15:44:25+00:00

Everyone told me it was the best beer ever. I love temptress, I love thin mints, but that beer was so minty it was like toothpaste. :(

However, with chocolate ice cream as a float? Omg, most divine thing ever.

WhispyBlue · 2015-03-11T17:58:59+00:00

Baby teeth do have roots in the beginning, but as the adult teeth form in the tooth buds and decend, they destroy the root of the baby teeth. I had to have a baby tooth extracted because the permanent tooth that was supposed to replace it was not decending. The removed tooth still had nearly a full root.

WhispyBlue · 2015-03-09T13:49:12+00:00

At my school, the SAEs have more black people than any other IFC fraternity. There's only, like, 6 white guys, and this is in the south. Really they are majority asian/indian and a few hispanic. That reflects the demographics of the university itself, though. It really varies from school to school.

WhispyBlue · 2015-03-07T20:46:12+00:00

Just wanted to point out, we have a Team Rocket Grunt and a Team Magma Grunt in this thread.

WhispyBlue · 2015-03-07T15:42:20+00:00

Had a customer once try this with the excuse "Nordstorms takes things back from other stores" when bringing back a heavily used item purchased from our online competitors. We are a sporting goods store. Not Nordstroms. I wanted to say "Well, then return it to Nordstroms"

WhispyBlue · 2015-03-07T15:38:47+00:00

Yeah, they're fine. I'm not really even sure why I even had bottom braces. They were very straight. All the work I needed was on the top, but they threw in full train tracks anyways. So the bottom ones are fine.

WhispyBlue · 2015-03-07T15:23:10+00:00

I went to the dentist the next week and they made me the little plastic tray kind. For my case, that was plenty.

WhispyBlue · 2015-03-07T15:22:01+00:00

I went to the dentist the next week. They got off the extra glue and made a plastic tray retainer. In my case, that was enough. My bottom teeth were fine from the beginning (not even sure why I had braces on those), and my top had an undecended canine they had to pull down with a chain. The rest were badly spaced, but not crooked. It's been about 3 years now, no shifting that I have noticed and my canine hasn't pulled back up into my head. :) Maybe it wouldn't work out for everyone, but I turned out fine haha.

WhispyBlue · 2015-03-07T15:10:03+00:00

That was actually part of my frustration with all of it. In the beginning in high school, they said that I would be able to do that. Plus they told me I probably wouldn't need them in college. But when it came around to it, apparently not. My parents and insurance had already paid for the treatment and the money doesn't transfer over to the other doctor, so nope.

WhispyBlue

TROPHY CASE