I've really enjoyed reading the last several threads on man's best friend. No matter how you slice it, it's pretty tough not to love a dog.
That being said...my wife has what is called a "hybrid" dog. I didn't know what those where...but it's one of these little "designer dogs." My wife's dog is a cross between a Maltese and a Poodle and is called a Maltipoo. Hmmm. I've always called mixes like this "mutts," but I guess that's not what they're called now. They're "hybrid dogs".
Anyway, I've never owned a lap dog before. And, I still don't for that matter. It's my wife's dog.
But, I have a couple good dogs that travel with me in the back of the pickup. One is a Border Collie. The other is my latest project...Iris.
Iris is a 10-month old Plott Hound. I've had her since she was 8 weeks old. We're in the process of training Iris as a "scent" hound. In other words, we lead her to a spot, give her something to smell, either a track or article of clothing, and then tell her to "Go find it!"
She's still a pup, but she's picking it up pretty quickly. Eventually, we want to work into trailing cougars, but we'll see how she comes along. Right now, we're content to let her sniff out the grandkids while they hide from her.
She's a hound though, in every sense of the word. She's as hard-headed as they come. Once she gets on a scent, she wants to unravel it all the way before she quits. When we play her little "tracking games," we keep her on a harness. Again, we'll see how she works out.
Wish me luck.
Iris.
That being said...my wife has what is called a "hybrid" dog. I didn't know what those where...but it's one of these little "designer dogs." My wife's dog is a cross between a Maltese and a Poodle and is called a Maltipoo. Hmmm. I've always called mixes like this "mutts," but I guess that's not what they're called now. They're "hybrid dogs".
Anyway, I've never owned a lap dog before. And, I still don't for that matter. It's my wife's dog.
But, I have a couple good dogs that travel with me in the back of the pickup. One is a Border Collie. The other is my latest project...Iris.
Iris is a 10-month old Plott Hound. I've had her since she was 8 weeks old. We're in the process of training Iris as a "scent" hound. In other words, we lead her to a spot, give her something to smell, either a track or article of clothing, and then tell her to "Go find it!"
She's still a pup, but she's picking it up pretty quickly. Eventually, we want to work into trailing cougars, but we'll see how she comes along. Right now, we're content to let her sniff out the grandkids while they hide from her.
She's a hound though, in every sense of the word. She's as hard-headed as they come. Once she gets on a scent, she wants to unravel it all the way before she quits. When we play her little "tracking games," we keep her on a harness. Again, we'll see how she works out.
Wish me luck.
Iris.
