Friday, November 4, 2011

This is why I am not allowed to surf Petfinder.Com

She's the reason alright!

She won't tolerate another dog in the house, and since she's been with me for 10 years, her preference goes.

You see the thing is that every morning, I go through 170 web pages.  Yes, 170.  Another 200 on top of that on the weekend.  It's all to find a proper Project Management job that either telecommutes or is within 25 miles of my home in Wilton Manors Florida.

The 170 pages have about 20 or so "fun" pages in them including one that you click a button and give a cup of dog food to an organization.   The way I did it today, that page just happened to be the first one I found.

My girl is a "Mc Nab dog" and is a fairly rare breed.   They're smarter than the average dog, and as a breed are recognized as being smarter than a Border Collie, more "even tempered" and much more friendly around people.   On the down side, intelligent breeds end up at the shelters more per capita than the little bits of fluff that we call lap dogs.  It takes an even tempered owner that wants to form a deep bond with these intelligent dogs and if you allow it, you're in for the relationship of your life.

I should know, I have had mine for a decade.

So after the thank you page loaded, I noticed the link for www.petfinders.com and decided to see whether there were any McNabs out there.   You see, it is a breed that doesn't get out of the Western United States much, and I was lucky to find mine in Harrisburg PA when I did.  Part of that is they tend to get lumped in with the Border Collies, and that is a good crowd to be in.

However they are not Border Collies.  The temperament is slightly different.  There are some subtle physical differences like shorter fur (medium coat), webbed feet, and opera gloves on the legs.

If being called a Border Collie by the shelters means a McNab gets adopted faster then so be it.  Whatever works!

But I did spot this one McNab 200 miles North of me in a shelter near Deltona complete with a video.  This dog even looked like my Lettie and acted the way she did when I first got her.  Whoever gets that dog is in for a treat, she's already pre-Frisbee Dog Trained and who doesn't want a Frisbee Dog?

That's the danger of having an amazing dog like my Lettie.  You end up writing an article a week about them in your blog and tell people about how mindbendingly smart she is.  They nod and smile and mutter about you being the "crazy cat lady" even though you don't have cats (allergic) and decidedly am not a lady. 

After all, not everybody has an active lifestyle where there are no "small children" and can take the time to let your dog roam.  You see if you have small children in the house and they run around your McNab will herd them into the corner.

Good Girl! You herded the children into the corner!  Here!  Have a cookie!

Oh and about those cookies.  You see I trained her patience by balancing one on her nose and not letting her have it immediately.  First it was a minute, then five.  When I got to 30 minutes of her sitting there patiently concentrating on a cookie with crossed eyes and drooling on the floor I decided it was a bit over the top and just let her have the blasted thing.

Why?  Well one day I gave the cookie to Lettie, walked off.  When I came back, I slipped on the drool and ended up falling on my back on the tile floor.  

Silly human.   The dog wouldn't have done THAT!

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