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Man's best friend

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by jardinier

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A friend (who has four dogs) just sent me this and it HAS to be shared.

Anecdotes about your pet or pets are most welcome.

The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue.
-Anonymous

Don't accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful.
-Ann Landers

If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.
-Will Rogers

There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.
-Ben Williams

A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.
-Josh Billings

The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.
-Andy Rooney

We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare. And in return, dogs give us their all. It's the best deal man has ever made.
-M. Acklam

Dogs love their friends and bite their enemies, quite unlike people, who are incapable of pure love and always have to mix love and hate.
-Sigmund Freud

I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult.
-Rita Rudner

A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three
times before lying down.
-Robert Benchley

Anybody who doesn't know what soap tastes like never washed a dog.
-Franklin P. Jones

If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have
known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons.
-James Thurber

If your dog is fat, you aren't getting enough exercise.
-Unknown

My dog is worried about the economy because Alpo is up to $3.00 a can. That's almost $21.00 in dog money.
-Joe Weinstein

Ever consider what our dogs must think of us? I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul -- chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth!
-Anne Tyler

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man.
-Mark Twain

You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give you a look that says, 'Wow, you're right! I never would've thought of that!'
- Dave Barry

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.
-Roger Caras

If you think dogs can't count, try putting three dog biscuits in your pocket and then give him only two of them.
-Phil Pastoret

My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am.

27 replies

by Member 25348569

and personal feelings.

I have to say, I'm not a pet person. I do have some tropical freshwater fish but they are not really pets, just animated wallpaper. They don't have names and are much too small for anything except fishpaste. I have eaten carp (caught by me) which is the same species as goldfish and it tastes [b]awful[/b] - just like the bottom of a swamp. No, I would not eat goldfish again.

The nicest, friendliest pet that any of my friends have had - ever - was a small pig called Steaky. Much more intelligent than any dog and just as friendly and far, far nicer than any cat. If I ever get a "companion animal", it will be a pig! I would still eat bacon sandwiches, though, and would probably eat my pet if it died.

The only reason why we don't eat dogs is - well, why don't we? It is still one of my foodie ambitions to visit Korea and eat some dog in revege for all of the dogshit that I have stepped in over the last 50 years.

I dislike cats. They do not rub against [b]my[/b] legs and scent-mark [b]me[/b]. I would much rather we had half as many cats as there are in the UK and twice as many songbirds. I could happily nosh on, say, tabby tandoori twice a week if it would help.

When I see the "animal-loving" dog and cat owners with their tins of rabbit-flavoured pet food...

So, Jules, what about rabbits? A pest, a pet and a food animal in one furry little body over here. I bet it's not regarded as a pet where you are!

Guinea pigs are a Peruvian food animal (Cuy). Cultural conditioning again. Yes, I'd eat them in the Peruvian manner, fried with chili, spices and potato. sounds rather good.

Canaries are just too small.

Sorry, Jules. I have absolutely no shame.

Neil :D :p

All this has made me hungry. I'm off to lunch.

by maecuff

I don't DISLIKE animals. I just don't want to take care of any. I have a hard enough time taking care of myself and my kids. We do have a goldfish named Mr. Pink. He's not all that intrusive, his food is cheap and he doesn't smell too bad.

by jardinier

Well you sure got that one wrong in a big way Neil.

Many, many years ago rabbits were in such plague proportions that we introduced a disease called mixematosis to wipe them out. Additionally long rabbit-proof fences were installed along the boundaries between portions of some states.

Currently because of a prolonged drought, kangaroos are in plague proportions because they can thrive in the drier conditions that are natural to Australia. They eat the fodder which is intended for sheep.

Yes I know all about guinea pigs and Peru -- I should have given that one a miss.

And I also am aware that pigs make nice pets.

However I eat lamb and beef and drink milk and eat other dairy products but I would not like a cow, a bull or a sheep for a pet.

So it's not JUST cultural. There are practical considerations as well.

Some time you should ask Oz to tell you about his cat Felix. You would see a whole different side to the guy. He described Felix as "The greatest love of my life."

Do you believe that animals go to heaven? Perhaps you should wish that they do so that you will never be bothered by them when you die.

Now here is a serious question. You are cynical about religion and you are cynical about pets. Are you a full-time cynic or do you just have your favourite areas?

by Member 25348569

You've just hit on the two areas where I probably come over as one to you.

We'll leave religion out of this discussion as I'm simply an unbeliever (as I keep telling you) so the question "Do animals go to heaven?" gets the aswer "Unh???" from me.

As for animals as pets or food? Well. I tend not to anthropomorphise. I think we read far too much into complex interpretations of simple behaviour patterns for simple wish-fulfilment. You might "love" a cat but it's my honest belief that the cat in no way whatsoever "loves" you back. Dogs? Pack behaviour but I do like dogs more than cats (dislike less than cats?). Our family dog was a prime example of "love" in that it would snap ferociously at my father's hand (or mine) if he made any sort of gesture towards my mother. I've seen that behaviour repeated with most dogs.

As for other people's pets, we have, as an example, my Aunt Winifred's dog only last week:

Grrrr! Grrrr! YapYapYapYapYapYapYapYapYap!
Ah, bless him. He's talking to you. He's wishing you Happy Christmas.
Yes, Aunt Win. (No he f**king isn't, you stupid old bat! And if he keeps it up there'll be dog crap on the toe of my shoe and dog snot on the ceiling the moment you're out of the room!)

My behaviour is probably a little overreaction but at least I'm honest about it. The dog, by the way, never left her side so it's probably more intelligent than I give it credit.

Hmmmm. Thank you. Jules. I've just come to the conclusion that my reaction to some "animal lovers" is probably the same as my reaction to the religious for the same reason. The desire for there to be "something more" despite what rational thought would tell you is [b]really[/b] happening.

So, I will eat anything but I have to know where it came from. I don't mind something beeing killed so I can eat it but I hate the thought of unnecessary pain (except for Aunt Win's dog but that's just payback) or other suffering. I only eat organic meat from local farms when I'm cooking and I'd never chow down on a family pet. Probably.

Neil :p

For lunch, I had smoked mackerel pat?. Caught, killed (humanely), smoked and pat?ed by my own fair hands. Oh, but if I'd been offered a couple of legs from the neighbours bird-eating, garden ruining crapmachine tabby...

mmmmmmmmm! ]:)

What I really like is children

But I can rarely manage a whole one...

by jardinier

You're losing your grip, Neil, if you didn't see that was a DELIBERATE joke aimed at your well-known atheism.

As for whether dogs and cats REALLY love you, then I suppose that would depend on your experience with particular animals. As you don't like pets, then presumably you have never bothered to develop a close relationship with an animal.

As my family always had dogs and/or cats, it is my experience that yes in fact SOME pets HAVE loved me.

But then I belief in "God" in my own peculiar way, and so following your logic I have only "imagined" that certain pets did love me.

by Member 25348569

As far as my research showed me - and I do always check my posts in case Maxwell is prowling - rabbits are still a severe environmental problem in Oz. The fact that the Roos are worse suggests that you - Aussies - aren't eating enough of them. I've eaten kangaroo and it wasn't bad at all.

Myxematosis has long since run it's course. You and the NZeds are now employing Rabbit Haemorragic Disease and developing some sterilising viruses - none of which will work for long.

My point was - and is - that the rabbit is pet to some, food animal to some, fur animal to others and pest to most Aussies. How the rabbit is perceived is simply a matter of circumstance and culture.

Thus it is with all animals.

Neil

Roff Rabbits: I've just been talking to my old Mum - she's 81 - and she reckons that during WWII rationing in Britain, cats were commonly eaten in the larger cities. she was a country girl so I thought that it may just have been a rumour, so I checked further and it seems that they were called "roof-rabbit" and were quite popular as a way of keeping down abandoned pets when families were bombed and their houses destroyed. There was a surplus of homeless cats living off of vermin and very little other meat to be had.

by jardinier

Yes indeed we should be eating kangaroos.

The owner of a takeaway who explained the special qualities of roo meat encouraged me to try some, but I never got around to it (set in my ways).

Roo meat has been the standard food for domestic animals for yonks.

So why don't we eat more roo meat? Perhaps it's a combination of economic and cultural factors.

As they don't have to be grazed or herded, a move from beef to roo would impact on beef producers.

Thank you for the update on rabbit control.

by tony hopkinson

My dog always knows how many biscuits there are in my pocket. One more, he gets so down when he gets it wrong I just have to fill it up again. Course he's not always a giggle, the day he ate a bottle of cooking oil (1.5 litres !) was far from amusing.
Normally you'd think a dog doing an impression of a squid would be worth at least a smile.

by jdclyde

great companions.

The dog is a great guardian for my boys, as NO one can touch them while that dog is around, including me.

They both follow me around (no, I don't smell like steak!).

The dog is at my feet and cat is on my lap when I am on the computer.

I do understand what neil is saying about it just being a culture thing. In the civilized world we don't eat "cute" animals. If they are ugly it is ok to turn them into shoes and a burger.

I laugh that the pathetic "vegitarians" that still eat fish. Fish is still an animal, and is still meat. You eat meat or you don't eat meat. :^O

If we weren't suppose to eat animals, they wouldn't be made of meat! :D

What is the difference between meat and fish? If you beat your fish it dies! B-)

by old guy

I have some great recipes for cats...Just kidding! I don't eat them but cats can be walled really well.

by jardinier

I don't know how you arrived at the notion that vegetarians eat fish. Perhaps it is based on a small personal sampling.

I have had a lot of contact with vegetarians (as well as being one myself for a large portion of my life) and fish is regarded as MEAT and is not consumed.

"Vegans" go two steps further. They will not eat dairy products and in many cases will not wear garments and accessories made from animal skins.

I don't know whether the adjective "pathetic" is aimed at the notion of vegetarianism in general, or at the fact that some you have met eat fish.

I know plenty of people who have lived a long, healthy life on either a vegetarian or vegan diet.

Hindus and Buddhists seem to have managed quite well on a vegetarian diet for a couple of millennia at least.

by Member 25348569

Without a suitable vitamin supplement, most vegans would be extremely unhealthy. Without the modern world's transport of fresh foodstuffs out of season, most temperate climate vegans would be unhealthy.

There is no vegetable source for B12.

A dietary regime that is reliant on artificial vitamin enhancement and routinely results in the slower physical and mental development of children doesn't necessarily qualify for the adjective "pathetic" but it comes pretty damned close. Veganism is just another religion.

Oh dear. We seem to be disagreeing a lot lately, Jules.

Neil

by jdclyde

If you chose not eat meat, that is find and dandy. (more for me!) It is SPECIFICALLY the ones that claim to vegitarians but DO eat the fish and eggs. And of course the nice leather shoes and belt are a nice touch too.

Sure, I laugh at the comedians that make fun of the vegheads, but have no problem with them myself (unless I get stuck on an elevator with one! :D )

So yes, consistancy and honesty is good.

by Member 25348569

if that is what it was. We know each other better than that.

Love from animals? I suppose that you'll have to define the term before I could even begin to agree with you.

Dogs and cats are very, very different. Truth be known, I really quite like some dogs though I don't have one of my own because I couldn't commit to giving it enough time. Their pack instincts do make them good, loyal companions but it's not "love", though, in any of the ways that I define the word. Not even in a small way.

As for being "loved" by a cat? No way! If there was ever a can-opener that could be used by paws, our entire species would be abandoned without a backward glance.

I suspect we'll continue to go our separate ways. Feel free to offer me sympathy for my lack...

Neil

by jardinier

Until I know how you define love, I cannot make any comparison with the experience I have had with animals.

I started this thread in the first place because I can readily relate to every item listed. Most are humorous, but apt nonetheless.

by Member 25348569

[b]You[/b] define it.

You, after all, are the one who maintains that animals possess the ability to love.

I am simply someone who covers them in barbecue sauce...

by jardinier

"an intense feeling of deep affection or fondness for a person or thing; great liking." (Oxford dictionary)

But of course animals cannot possess feeling because they are only potential food.

Neil, I am sickened and disgusted that your callous cynicism has turned what was intended to be a reasonable discussion into a parody.

I was starting to really respect you as sincere in your beliefs, but in this discussion I see that you are only here to make mischief.

May God have mercy on your wretched soul.

I participate in these discussions for the purpose of exchanging ideas and experiences in a civil atmosphere.

To you it is just a big game.

From my viewpoint your cynicism makes you a loser in this world where decent people try and make a positive input.

by jardinier

[b]religion (Oxford Dictionary).[/b]
1 the belief in a superhuman controlling power, esp. in a personal God or gods entitled to obedience and worship.
2 the expression of this in worship.
3 a particular system of faith and worship.
4 life under monastic vows (the way of religion).
5 a thing that one is devoted to (football is their religion).

Well I guess it might scrape into definition 5.

However it doesn't have nearly as many devotees as the Religion of Atheism.

by Member 25348569

Don't be so bloody judgemental and don't be so bloody pompous. You are quite at liberty to ignore my posts but if you choose to answer them - especially in the tone of the last one - then I reserve the right to come back swinging.

The OED definition serves [b]nothing[/b] in this discussion as it quite obviously refers to love as defined by and for [b]people[/b]. My point, which obviously flew past you again, was that not that humans can love their animals - as that is so obviously the case to, sometimes, quite appalling excess - but that love is not returned in any fashion that I would describe it with that word.

Read my damn posts properly.

If the "animal lovers" that make up the major part of western society choose to wallow in anthropomorphic sentiment about one animal and can still eat the products of modern farming then the hypocrisy is plain to see.

Me? I don't have a pet and I only eat meat from a source that I know is humanely reared and killed. Reckon that I'm happy with that.

by justathought

Neil there are many sources of B12 in plants , mushrooms is a good source and some pulses such as lentils and Soya products are also a high source of vitamin B12.
Those who eat dairy products have a very good source of B12, most vegetarians and vegans make a choice of food that we meet their daily requirements.

On the subjects of pets, one cannot really know unless they have allowed themselves to share part of their life with an animal and have learnt to interact and love.

We are all different, some people have developed a bond with dogs, cats, horses or any other species and benefited from such an interaction, I could tell you about dogs and cats for I share my life with a few, but I could not tell you about horses for example for I have not had the experience and thus know nothing, however I can relate to anyone who would tell me that they love such or such animal and how it has brought some joy into their life, I just would put myself in their shoes and try to understand, try to see their point of view and accept it just as worthy as mine, different but not any less correct.

One can never judge without knowing and one must always try to walk in other's 's shoes, for if we were like them perhaps we too would feel as they do.

We are all different with different views, different needs and goals and it is a blessing we have in the world such a variety, it is how we can enrich ourselves and be open minded as well as caring towards others.

by Member 25348569

I quote from the Vegetarian Society's web page - " The only reliable unfortified sources of vitamin B12 are meat, dairy products and eggs. There has been considerable research into possible plant food sources of B12. Fermented soya products, seaweeds and algae have all been proposed as possible sources of B12. However, analysis of fermented soya products, including tempeh, miso, shoyu and tamari, found no significant B12."

There probably are vegetable sources but it's necessary for the vegan to know all about nutrition to a quite ridiculous level that need not be addressed by "normal" vegetarians and omnivores who just eat a reasonable diet.

I still hold that a strict vegan diet is potentially extremely unhealthy and would be impossible to follow in the UK, at least, without an industrial society to bring in a range of foodstuffs.

As for pets, my original posts really referenced cats - which I simply don't like. Getting into an argument with jardinier usually makes me take an absolutely polar opposition to his points and this thread is no exception.

"walk in other's 's shoes". Why, particularly? Do I think that they should reciprocate? They rarely do...

Walk a mile in anothers shoes and, at the end of the time, you will have his shoes and be a mile away from him.

by montgomery gator

I need to try curry, sounds good. I am fond of using large quantities of Louisiana Hot Sauce, or Habanero Sauce. Similar effect as curry.

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