Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans in disarray!

Optimism opens the door to great things.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Be a traveling stable for those who can’t find room at the inn.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Joe Biden can go out like FDR, not by dying in office, but by crushing the fascists.

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

Fuck that bum, let’s go Joe!

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Glad to see john eastman going through some things.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

American History and Black History can not be separated.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Dog Blogging / O Come Let Us Adore Him

Reader Interactions

266Comments

  6. 6.

    Yarrow

    Ohhhhhh! So cute my teeth ache! That is the most adorable puppy. I bet he’s a terror when he wakes up, though. Get ready!

  9. 9.

    tobie

    That dog is so cute! Wishing you oodles of fun with the adorable Badger McMurtry and a happy early anniversary, too.

  10. 10.

    JPL

    Happy Anniversary and what a wonderful gift. I look forward to lots of pup pictures in the future.

  11. 11.

    spudgun

    Ohmigosh, he is so cute!! Wonderful news, Betty – congratulations on the newest member of the Cracker family!!?

  24. 24.

    WaterGirl

    So adorable!

    Betty, was he a SURPRISE anniversary gift, or did you guys do this together? Awesome either way, but inquiring minds want to know.

  25. 25.

    WaterGirl

    @Omnes Omnibus: I know! The first dog I ever loved was a boxer (two boxers actually) who were customers in our family tavern. I got to walk them! (Though they really walked me.)

    But I have never seen a baby boxer until now. Also, the coloring is new to me in a boxer, also. Just adorable.

  35. 35.

    Aleta

    I can tell he’s a thinker. And he thinks outside the box!

    eta what a beauty he is too

  37. 37.

    Shell

    Awww, Betty, that is so great. Congrats!
    Sorry for the stupid question, but I thought Boston terrier too. Is it a Boxer pup?

    Man, between the Lily crisis and new puppies on display; this blog is breaking my heart!

  38. 38.

    bluefish

    These are impossible levels of cuteness. Adoration has begun and is at highest throttle. Have mercy — and congrats! The sweetness burns!

  40. 40.

    Yarrow

    We need more information about the new puppy! How old is he? Where did he come from? Was he a surprise from Mr. Cracker or did you pick him out together? What sort of breed is he? Is he home with the Cracker family yet? So many questions!

  41. 41.

    CaseyL

    Love his expression in the 2nd photo. Not so much like he’s sleeping, more like he’s staring/squinting into the sun.

    … My first thought was “Boston terrier,” too. Is he a Boston or a Boxer?

  45. 45.

    Wolvesvalley

    What a total sweetie! And what a wonderful anniversary present. May he celebrate many with you!

  46. 46.

    EBT

    Whoo got a tip inside an hour of posting my newest story. If I could just stop getting distracted by my own scenarios I could legitimately write these things in an hour each.

  48. 48.

    la caterina

    Mazel Tov! So adorbs- we’ll now need a Badger pic along with a Lily pic EVERY DARN DAY. Just sayin’.

  49. 49.

    Geeno

    Aaaaaagggghhhhhhh! The cute – it burns.
    Is he a Boston Terrier? OMG what a handsome wee fellow.
    That’s the kind of anniversary gift I want (May 28 – Murmeltier, my love)

  53. 53.

    Mnemosyne

    So cute! If our best cat Keaton were a boxer puppy, he would look like that — same coloring.

  54. 54.

    Mnemosyne

    Our youngest cat Annie had to get a lion cut today because her fur got too matted while she was sick. She seems to feel a lot better already, but we are Not. Forgiven.

    I’m still trying to get a good picture.

  55. 55.

    HumboldtBlue

    And he’s got two big sisters to annoy, pester, tease and exasperate. Li’l guy is going places.

  58. 58.

    Miss Bianca

    Oh, that little face. “Badger” fits him beautifully.

    Meanwhile, on Mount Woebegon, the little stray pup who wandered into our lives Wednesday morning seems to have made himself right at home. He is crashed out in Luna’s crate, and the squeee factor is pretty intense over here, too! (I will send some photos to Anne Laurie for those of you who asked after him – it’s quite a story!).

    O2, I am tempted to dispute you on the “cutest puppy being a Cocker” assertion, just because the little guy here seems to be either a purebred Lab or a high-ratio Lab mix, and I am pretty sure I’ve never seen a cuter puppy than this one.

    OK, Badger is up there, too. Betty, much joy of your new little guy! I hope Daisy takes to him as you have!

  60. 60.

    PST

    Wow! That is maximum cute. Seeing a dog post made me think of something really weird that happened yesterday. I was out walking Bernie (who turned one year old last Saturday) unusually early, in twilight, about 5:30 a.m. At that hour there is almost no one on the street, but as a lone bicycle approached, Bernie began barking furiously at it, which just isn’t like her. As it got close, I could see it was one of those cargo bikes with an extended rear deck, and on that deck, in a cage, was a full grown hog. This was no Babe or Arnold Ziffel, and no miniature potbelly pet. It was 300 pounds at least, and perfectly calm.. Perhaps Bernie caught a whiff. I certainly didn’t hear any grunting.

  62. 62.

    HumboldtBlue

    Fella posted a list of band names he and his family have come up with on the reddit r/bandnames sub, it’s sort of a thing with his family, they write down the name down when they think they have one that works, and while most of the names on the list worked better as album names there was a really good band name — The Royal We.

  63. 63.

    debbie

    @Miss Bianca:

    I am pretty sure I’ve never seen a cuter puppy than this one.

    I know overly bred dogs aren’t popular here, but I award the cutest prize to Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. Plus, they never lose their puppy cuteness.

  67. 67.

    ixnay

    Aww, BC , Bostons are my favoritest evar! Our grand-dog is a Boston. (Not writing the ending of terr… because maybe not pc or moderation.) Now I get to go back and read the thread.

  68. 68.

    Shell

    Meanwhile, on Mount Woebegon, the little stray pup who wandered into our lives Wednesday

    I missed this story. Miss Bianca, what are the details?

  70. 70.

    Mary G

    Add me to the crowd of admirers – that face! The white socks! Congratulations and second the request for a daily picture so we can watch him grow up with you.

    @Miss Bianca: Yes, pictures please! Are you going to keep him? Have you named him? Could they tell how he got all the bites?

  73. 73.

    Gelfling 545

    In further dog news, Flora is home after a stay at my sister’s while I was recovering. I’m told that Milo the Daschund led her astray & she ate a bird – my sister’s back yard bird population is enormous). I found it improbable ubtil I heard that Milo did the actual dispatching & de-pluming, then shared the prey. Pugs are great at hunting down dog biscuits or bits of dropped human food but beyond that are content to have their meals presented to them. Daschunds, otoh, despite their comical appearance – nature, red in tooth and claw..

  74. 74.

    Joy in FL

    Oh, the sweetness : ) Of course we will need photos frequently, please. Badger is a lucky puppy to land in your home.
    Also, Happy Anniversary!

  75. 75.

    dmsilev

    @Gelfling 545:

    Daschunds, otoh, despite their comical appearance – nature, red in tooth and claw.

    Well, that’s what they were originally bred for, to go after badgers and other hole-dwelling pests (like Hobbits).

  78. 78.

    Shell

    Daschunds, otoh, despite their comical appearance – nature, red in tooth and claw..

    Remembering my daschund. She was not the greatest predator.About the only backyard critters she caught were moles; probably cause they’re both deaf and blind.

  80. 80.

    Mary G

    I’ve been looking at dogs almost every day on petfinder.com, and have almost filled out a couple of applications before stopping myself, because we need to have a meeting about it and the 14-year-old has to stop being grounded so he can help with walks. Here are today’s favorites:

    https://www.petfinder.com/dog/cooper-41463664/ca/corona-del-mar/lovebugs-rescue-ca1760/
    https://www.petfinder.com/dog/preston-41268039/ca/rancho-santa-margarita/i-dot-ca-dot-re-dog-rescue-ca1916/
    https://www.petfinder.com/dog/oreo-41417760/ca/newport-beach/pet-match-rescue-ca1789/

    plus this guy, but it would be completely insane:

    https://www.petfinder.com/dog/emerald-41384698/ca/rancho-santa-margarita/i-dot-ca-dot-re-dog-rescue-ca1916/

  81. 81.

    Miss Bianca

    Hi, all – for some reason this computer isn’t allowing me to respond to individual comments, so to Mnem I’ll say, I definitely think some dog spirit sent the little dude to us after Stella’s passing. (Luna is still with me, and she has been remarkably chill about the puppy invading her space. What a relief!) To Yarrow et al, photos will be forthcoming! My friend D. has taken some, and I’ve tried but he gets right up into my face and then all I see is nose and then I start laughing too hard. Oh, the trials!

    Yes, he’s acquired a name…which I’ll reveal when I send in the photos. MWAA HA HA! (Actually, “Badger” was on the long list, because we were trying to find star-themed names for the little guy in honor of Stella. This search extended to D’s and my favorite space operas, so from “Firefly”, under consideration were: Malcolm, Monty, Simon, Wash, Badger, and of course…Jayne. “Jayne! The pup they called…Jayne!”)

  82. 82.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Completely OT: The Packers drafted Equanimeous Tristan Imhotep J St. Brown, a WR from Notre Dame. It made my day. If he makes the 53 man roster, I will buy a jersey.

  85. 85.

    Miss Bianca

    @Omnes Omnibus: OK, now I can respond to individual comments for some reason, where I couldn’t before. I will magnanimously concede that spaniel puppies have a built-in advantage over others, what with the curly ears and all.

  90. 90.

    Ruckus

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    My favorite dog of all time was my cocker. By a bunch of miles. But I’ve got to be honest that old fart was not the cutest dog ever. But then I’ve liked how a lot of different dogs look and it’s never by brand, always by individual. And pups and babies always look cute. Or at least cuter than when they grow up. Maybe it’s the wide eyed innocence, the newness of it all. Like Badger here.

  96. 96.

    Anne Laurie

    @Gelfling 545:

    Pugs are great at hunting down dog biscuits or bits of dropped human food but beyond that are content to have their meals presented to them.

    When I got my first Papillon, and my friends were entering their Labs and Dachshunds in working-dog trials, I had a whole comic riff about developing an official AKC Working Toy Dog competition — dogs to be judged on scenting food scraps in the most unlikely places, pointing donut shops & drive-thrus from the car (Gally was a genius at that), persistence in pursuing a single kibble ‘lost’ under the couch cushions…

    On the other hand, every six months or so a misguided vole wanders out of the backyard and gets caught by our cat Piper. Piper hasn’t been an outdoor cat since, as a kitten of no more than six weeks of age, he ran up to former BJ front-pager Hilary Rettig and introduced himself… unlike our *other* cat, who spent at least a few weeks as an adult foraging for himself (around mall dumpster bins). But poor Piper’s prize is invariably stolen by either Rocky-cat or our alpha rescue Pap cross Gloria — neither of whom can figure out what to do with it!

    Gloria will try to eat anything — we had to switch to liquid soap because she kept stealing the bar kind — but she CANNOT FIGURE OUT how to eat a thumb-sized vole. She just carries the sad little corpse around, drooling, until I can trade it for something more attractive (has to be *really* high-value, like a Bonie or a chunk of cheese). It’s kind of hilarious, if I didn’t have to dispose of the body…

  97. 97.

    Ruckus

    @Mary G:
    Oreo has an interesting face, he looks older/wiser than his age?
    Would the cattle dog eat you and your neighbors out of house and home? Plus require an acre or two to play around in……

  99. 99.

    WaterGirl

    @Yutsano: I haven’t had a chance yet to congratulate you on your new implant.

    Do you watch Black Lightning? Because a character on that show has a whole series of visible metal pieces along his spine, on the outside, of course. I know it’s silly, but that was the image that popped into my head when I read about your implant. He turned into a bad guy, though I don’t predict that with you. :-)

    I hope this turns out to be every bit as helpful as your previous test indicated it would be. I cannot imagine living with pain all the time, and you are still good-natured!

  106. 106.

    Ruckus

    That first picture, Badger looks like he’s thinking of trouble he can get into when he gets just a bit older, like in 2 weeks or so.

  109. 109.

    Gelfling 545

    @dmsilev: Apparently this is also the reason they can be pretty stubborn about training. Their purpose was solo hunting, not hunting in the company of humans. They can be pretty, ah, inner directed. They can understand perfectly what you want them to do. It just isn’t on their agenda at the moment.

  110. 110.

    Anne Laurie

    @Mary G: My pick for you, sight unseen, would be Oreo — Paps are *very* devoted, while still being good about other dogs, cats, housemates, strangers, etc. (Yes, I am prejudiced.) Preston & Cooper also seem like they’d be good candidates.

    You know you don’t *really* want to commit to raising a puppy, of course. Especially an ACD / Blue Heeler… they are lovely dogs, but very smart & very active, and crafty to boot. Imagine a cross between a border collie & a terrier — all the brains, half the ‘willingness’. That little girl is indeed adorable, and she’ll have no trouble finding an active home with a family that can deal with the puppy-crazies squared or cubed…

  113. 113.

    ixnay

    @Ruckus: When I was a much younger vet, cockers were thought to be biters. I am still very careful. That ‘butter wouldn’t melt’ look can be deceptive.

  117. 117.

    JPL

    Last year I had a little sparrow or house finch build a next in a watering can that was soon abandoned. This year they build the nest about ten inches off the ground in a nearby rose bush. I was concerned that a snake would eat the eggs, but at least I knew it safe from hawks . Anyway the mutt Finch found it. Moral of the story, don’t name your dog after a bird.
    Last year the eggs appeared to be a house finch. sad

  119. 119.

    Yutsano

    @Omnes Omnibus: @WaterGirl: The stimulator itself is doing amazing. But there was a snafu around the pain meds that is putting me in some pretty bad incision pain. Mom noticed an immediate difference when I sat up on the edge of the bed. Once the wound heals this will be brilliant.

  122. 122.

    Sab

    @Omnes Omnibus: My parents’ cocker used to pick fights with the Newfoundland around the corner. Its head was bigger than the whole cocker, and its owner was a psychopath.

  123. 123.

    Anne Laurie

    @Gelfling 545:

    They can understand perfectly what you want them to do. It just isn’t on their agenda at the moment.

    Don’t know what eventually happened, but Dachsie friends of mine were working on the first AKC rules for scenting-dachshund trials some 25 years ago. It tickled me that they were debating separate infractions for dogs in a brace (couple) where one dog ‘loafed’ & let the other dog do all the work; for a dog who pretended to be following a scent trail where no trail existed; and for the opposite, a dog who pretended they couldn’t perceive the scent of a lure within arm’s length of their lying little pointy nose…

  124. 124.

    Spanky

    “Badger”? As in “Honey Badger don’t give a shit!” memery? Time will tell, although mischief seems inevitable with that pug mug.

    Congrats, Betty & Mr. Betty! All will be joy for you and Badger!

  127. 127.

    debbie

    @ixnay:

    My cousins had a cocker spaniel who went apeshit at the sight of uniforms, to the point where the mail carrier refused to deliver the mail. When it got to be a real threat, Maggie found a home in the country.

  128. 128.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Sab: Our Nikki is really mellow; Conni, the YorkiePom, will pick fights with other dogs. After the unfortunate incident a few weeks ago*, I keep the doggie door closed at night. She has no fear.

    *We had 2 coyote’s in the front yard that killed one of the stray cats.

  129. 129.

    Ruckus

    @ixnay:
    My cocker was a rescue so I had no idea about his pedigree other than he looked and was sized right for a cocker. He had to be watched, a stray hand would be taken as an attack. Don’t know if that was his nature or the fact that he had lived on his own for a while. He had obviously been a well cared for pet at one time, he may have run away or his owner may not have been able to manage/care for him any longer. He was found by animal control and was in a kill shelter up to their last day when an org rescued him. Took him about 5-6 weeks to get used to me feeding him every day. Not that he wouldn’t scarf down everything in 5 seconds, he just didn’t warm to anyone really. Then one day he decided he could became my friend.

  133. 133.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Ruckus: Mine was a papered English Cocker with a long-ass official name that was easily shortened to Beau. He originally belonged to my aunt, who moved back in with her parents and brought Beau and her boyfriend with her. She moved out a bit later, taking the boyfriend but not the dog. My grandfather (who had four female dogs at the time) called my dad and asked if it was okay if he gave my brother and I a dog for x-mas. We got him when he was about 6 months old.

  134. 134.

    Ruckus

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:
    Mine was banned from 2 groomers and the vet wouldn’t groom him for any price. I had to muzzle him and sit on the ground with his back to me, his butt on the ground, one arm holding him for all I’m worth and rapidly just clipping what ever I could. He got an all over close cut, like it or not, pretty or not. He did not like to be touched any where below about 4 inches away from his backbone. Where most of the hair is.

  135. 135.

    Anne Laurie

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Conni, the YorkiePom, will pick fights with other dogs.

    Both Pomeranians and Yorkies, in my experience, tend to be Stupid Fearless. One reason their owners have a reputation for “coddling” the little beasts is that so many of them spend so much time swooping in to grab the little monster when its big yappy mouth writes checks its fuzzy little arse can’t cash.

    (Of course *all* toy dogs were invented, in part, as pre-industrial personal alarm systems — they have outsized voices to protect themselves & their person — but not all of them assume they’re immune to violence.)

  137. 137.

    Mary G

    @Anne Laurie: No, I know better than to do anything but admire her on the computer. The male members of the household want a big dog that they can run and wrestle with, but I am the one that’s home all day, so it’s small and grown we will be getting.

    Those four are almost certainly adopted with long waiting lists – they weren’t online yesterday and there is such a dearth of dogs to be rescued around here that the only things usually left are chihuahuas and pit bulls. Cute mixed-breed dogs that are “rescued” are all the rage out here; a certain type of rich person will look down their nose at people who buy purebreds.

    I’m not actually getting one from petfinder, I think. The WaPo had a horrible article a week or two ago that said that many people who used to run puppy mills now bring puppies to auctions where they are purchased for amounts up to $1,600 each by rescue groups who make it back plus more with donations. When we’re ready, I think we’ll go to a kill shelter in a poor area north of Tijuana or East LA where I can know the dog is definitely in danger.

  141. 141.

    Ruckus

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    We had a cocker when I was an infant, I know because I have pictures. I have no recollection of him at all, sisters did. Have no idea what happened to him. We got a golden puppy when I was 7. She was cute as the dickens and twice as dumb. When she was older she practiced her quite good retrieval skills on any animal of any size in the back yard. We lived about a 1/4 mile from the hills so there were always some kind of animals in the back yard plus my sister won a duckling that grew into a beautiful mallard at the city carnival. Her favorite animal to retrieve onto the back porch was skunks or the mallard. She never learned not to screw with the skunks. Not the sharpest dog. She could stalk and retrieve with the best of them though.

  144. 144.

    Mnemosyne

    @ruemara:

    I will send you and Major^4 a photo of Annie’s lion cut when she lets me take one. She’s not hiding, she’s just glaring in outrage from afar. But it was unavoidable.

  145. 145.

    Ruckus

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    Hey, they don’t get nothing, they get royally fucked by their benefactors. What do ours get for us? Not unreasonable healthcare insurance? Civil rights? Voting rights? Old age government pension? Old age health care insurance? A modicum of honesty? Better economy? And how does that count against getting Royally Fucked? Come on now!

  147. 147.

    Mary G

    @Mnemosyne: Send it to AL so we can all see! My Sophie would be furious when I had that done and I’m sorry I didn’t get any photos.

  152. 152.

    Ruckus

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    They are cats. It’s impossible for cats to lose their dignity. Every once in a while they misplace it for a moment, but lose it? Never.

  153. 153.

    Sab

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: We just acquired my uncle’s cocker. I believe he is on permanent loan. He is adorable, and also sweet. Had his first grooming in a long time. They had to bathe him three times. He had burrs stuck in his toes. He came home a completely different color. The groomers loved him. Black and white parti colored, with a puppy cut although he is ten.

    The four cats like him. The 50 lb rottmix resents him but has stopped being a bitch about it. She misses her St Bernard bff that died last winter.

  154. 154.

    Ruckus

    @ruemara:
    Well, that’s longer than me. Of course I’m no longer allowed to stuff my face. Or eat stuff I crave. Or can taste. Oh well, more days ahead for all the fun and merriment.

  155. 155.

    Mnemosyne

    @Mary G:

    We probably held off too long, but the poor girl got behind on her grooming when she was sick and couldn’t get caught up. The groomers said that she started stretching as soon as the mats were cut off, so I think she was more uncomfortable than she was letting on.

    That doesn’t mean she’s not mad, though.

  156. 156.

    Ruckus

    @Sab:
    Had to take my cocker to the vet once to remove a bunch of burrs that I have no idea how or where he got them, he was never outside and not on a leash. Took two of them and they called me in to help and actually do the trimming because he was being himself.

  157. 157.

    Pluky

    @ixnay: Our first dog together was a cocker. Had a groomer ask ever so obliquely if she was “one of the good cockers, or one of the bad cockers” at our first visit. Don’t blame the dogs, blame the breeders. Post Checkers, cockers went through a popularity bubble that led to irresponsible overbreeding. Along the way some nasty behavioural traits got propgated. Things are much better now. Bottom line, if one wants a pure bred dog of any kind, go to a reputable breeder or rescue, NOT a puppy mill.

  159. 159.

    Sab

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Yeah, we have coyotes in Ohio too. We live down the street from a thousand acre metropark, and it’s full of coyotes. They wander the neighborhood at night, but I didn’t worry about them when we had the german shepherd and the labs. The cocker is a different story. Yard is fenced, but coyotes can jump.

    The rescued stray cats wouldn’t go outside if we removed all the doors.

    Why would anyone cross a pom with a yorkie? I assume it was the dogs’ idea?

  161. 161.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Sab:

    Why would anyone cross a pom with a yorkie? I assume it was the dogs’ idea?

    Don’t judge. Loving v. Virginia confirms that it is okay.

  163. 163.

    NotoriousJRT

    @Mary G: An embarrassment of riches! I was all for Oreo until I saw the Blue Heeler guy. Maybe still for Oreo. But, all cute!!

  164. 164.

    Gelfling 545

    @Omnes Omnibus: When I was you g – 5 to 6-ish – we had a female Cocker. We had home movies as one did then of my younger brother sitting in his little foot driven fire engine with the dog, front paws resting on the back of the vehicle, pushing him around the yard. In nice weather the parents, grand parents & others would sit in the yard & smoke. They’d throw the butts over onto the grass and she’d run over and stomp them out. Pretty sure she wasn’t very highly bred. No “papers” as they said, but smart as anything and great with the kids.

  165. 165.

    Sab

    @Ruckus: My parents’ cocker used to attack anyone in a uniform. He also attacked toddler grandchildren. He had that soft cocker mouth so he never did any damage, but he certainly had an attitude.

    I have had a dozen dogs over thirty years, and only twice been bitten. The first time I stupidly jumped between my two sister dogs in a food fight. The look of shock on the biter when she realized she had bitten me was priceless.

    The second time I was dogsitting a friend’s mutt who unfortunately had rage syndrome. I don’t think he ever even realized he’d bitten me after he came out of the seizure, but boy did that bite hurt, for days.

  166. 166.

    Amir Khalid

    Badger is just adorable. Idle question: How is it that humans respond to baby animals pretty much as we respond to baby humans? Is there something inherent to babyish looks, or to the fact of babyness, that prompts our nurturing instincts?

    A newbie gitarista observation: Eddie Cochran’s Summertime Blues seems to prefer The Girl to Sister. Hmm.

  174. 174.

    Anne Laurie

    @Pluky:

    Post Checkers, cockers went through a popularity bubble that led to irresponsible overbreeding.

    Consumer pro tip: English Cockers (like OO’s beloved Beau) and American Cockers have really diverged over the last 40 years. The modern American version has, unfortunately, been strongly selected for snub noses (with bad side effects on both their breathing & their brains) and length of coat — not for temperament. Even 25 years ago, dog people were joking about the ‘new’ cockers as ‘American shi-tzus, emphasis on the shi-t’ (not to knock actual shi-tzus, who tended to be not-aggressive).

    If you want a “real” cocker spaniel, like the ones you remember / read about in novels, go the extra mile and find an English Cocker to get a friendly, trainable dog who’s less liable to have come up threes & deuces on the genetic cards. Or if you prefer a rescue dog, be sure to meet your prospective pet *before* you make a commitment — don’t rule out cocker crosses, some of the smartest cutest dogs I’ve known have been cocker/poodle or cocker/poodle/schnauzer (schnickerdoodle) crosses!

  175. 175.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Sab: I live in a duplex behind a main house and it’s fenced in. I think the cat was out by the street when the coyotes say it and it ran under the gate for safety. The coyotes jumped over the gate and killed it the yard in front of my place. The cocker was on on the bed and saw them, I got a very bright headlamp and shined it on them and they left and saw the dead cat. They came back later and retrieved the cat(I’ve got a infrared camera looking at my front yard).

    ETA: Just saw the rest of your comment, YorkiePoms are known as “designer dogs” and they fetch quite a bit of money. We got ours from a friend of my wife’s who was moving and also the dog is black which reduces the desirability.

  176. 176.

    raven

    @Pluky: We’re pretty sure Lil Bit was a pound pup who outlived her usefulness so they dumped her in a box on our vets step. She’s the sweetest dog ever.

  177. 177.

    Mike in NC

    This thread title could also apply to tonight’s Trump rally. It also is how every cabinet meeting begins.

  178. 178.

    ixnay

    @Ruckus: When I was a much younger vet, cockers were thought to be biters. I am still very careful. That ‘butter wouldn’t melt’ look can be deceptive.@Pluky: All true. Plus, any breed in a movie is likely to be ruined for a number of years.

  179. 179.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Anne Laurie:

    Consumer pro tip: English Cockers (like OO’s beloved Beau) and American Cockers have really diverged over the last 40 years.

    It is known.

  181. 181.

    Anne Laurie

    @Amir Khalid:

    How is it that humans respond to baby animals pretty much as we respond to baby humans? Is there something inherent to babyish looks, or to the fact of babyness, that prompts our nurturing instincts?

    Yep, humans respond ‘instinctively’ to a face with bigger eyes & a smaller mouth/nose — I believe it’s called neoteny bias.

    Stephen Jay Gould, IIRC, had a chapter about this in one of his early books, specifically on how ‘Mickey Mouse’ grew progressively more ‘neotenic’ (baby-like) as Disney commercialized its early, most successful star.

  183. 183.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @raven: That pic shows the long snout of the English Cocker not the shortened one of the American. So, real Cocker, yes.

  186. 186.

    Anne Laurie

    @raven:

    Neither of mine have had one problem with that. None of my dogs ever has.

    You’re a good pet companion. And also lucky — a gift never to be underestimated!

  187. 187.

    Aleta

    @Ruckus: @Omnes Omnibus: @Gelfling 545: My parents and older sister had an English Cocker Spaniel. I don’t remember her, but they talked about her their entire lives until they died. They could not mention another dog without moving on to speak of her.

    Actually, I realize now that I do have strong childhood memories of this dog: the look on their faces and sound of their voices when they said her name. They did this frequently for at least the first 10 years after she died, and I can still hear her name and the emotion in the way they said it.

  188. 188.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Sab: Lived in C-bus from 1993-2008. Also, like Tyrion Lannister, I drink and I know things. I am quite a bit taller though.

  190. 190.

    Sab

    @Omnes Omnibus: You can ‘ t judge. My parents’ chomping cocker was an English, supposed to be nice. My uncle’s sweetie is American, supposed to bite.

    Each dog has its own disposition.

  195. 195.

    Aleta

    @Yutsano: I was interested to hear about your surgery, as someone in my family has stenosis.

    Glad you’re home and already better and healing.

  198. 198.

    Gretchen

    I just met a dog today who was from Safe Harbor Prison Dogs: http://www.safeharborprisondogs.com/about-us
    The prison in Lansing, KS has a program where inmates train and socialize dogs from high-kill shelters so they are adoptable. The dog I met today was the sweetest dog I’ve ever met, including my golden retrievers.

  199. 199.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Sab: If Beau had thumbs, he would have cut any dog that looked at him funny. He was wonderful with his people though.

  203. 203.

    Anne Laurie

    @raven:

    We’re pretty sure Lil Bit was a pound pup who outlived her usefulness so they dumped her in a box on our vets step.

    I’ve known professional groomers who would only work with ‘pound puppies’ from breeds considered to be potential biters (chow chows, dobermans, german shepherds). Their theory was that a ‘bred as livestock’ dog with a bad temperament — neurotic or nasty — would be euthanized, but someone who’d spent hundreds or thousands of dollars on a ‘purebred’ with a long pedigree would be liable to make excuses for the dog’s bad behavior.

    Some dogs, like some people, are just born with a glitch. One of the scarier dogs of my acquaintance was birthed by reputable people & raised in luxury, but he was still fearful about an ever-growing list of random items: strangers, people wearing hats, people in uniform, hats not being worn by people, loud noises, horses, strange cats, other dogs (even ones he’d met amicably before). Another person, watching him freak out at a dog show, asked his owner ‘Is that a [Flaming Idiot] grandson? — no, it’s not his luxuriant coat, *all* of that [top prize-winning stud’s] second-generation male descendents are crazy.’ He mellowed out some, after many years of hard work by my friend. But IIRC his male littermates all ended up being euthanized young, in at least one case because the dog injured himself so badly attempting to “escape” from a totally non-existent threat.

  205. 205.

    Sab

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: A @Omnes Omnibus: I am so sorry for you. I lived one year in Col’s. Didn’t like it. My sister lives there, which is why she spends half of every year in China.

    My grandmother was from Wisconsin. Got a a job in Ohio as a technical librarian because she could speak German (being from Wisconsin) although her family was Irish and Scottish.

  208. 208.

    Aleta

    @Omnes Omnibus: My sister never did either. After she died I travelled out to her house; on the bedroom wall was a framed picture she’d colored as a child of her dog. I’d found the drawing when I went through my mother’s house, 10 years earlier, and had given it to her. Apparently she had it framed and hung it.

  209. 209.

    raven

    @Anne Laurie: Lil Bit has plenty of “glitches”. Immune-Mediated Hemolytic Anemia, bladder stones, acl surgery, cataract surgery, 7 meds twice a day in her eyes for 10 years and now laryngeal paralysis. She’s such a sweet pup and I know that the warm weather is not going to be kind to her. The big boy is nearly 14 and he’s still doing pretty well so we’re just trying to do the best we can by them both.

  210. 210.

    Amir Khalid

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    Yeah, So does Brian Setzer. Gretsches do have that rockabilly-defining jangle to them, come to think of it, and a Tele gets closer than a Les Paul to that sound..

  212. 212.

    J R in WV

    My favorite dog was named Step-aside Clyde for his habit as a puppy of being right beside your feet; he was Clyde for short. He was a 50 or 60 pound black dog with an unbelievably heavy long coat, and a dense gray undercoat. He loved snow, would roll in it and push his face along the floor of the back deck when a heavy snow fall started. Wouldn’t come inside in the winter, wouldn’t go outside in the summer until we got him shaved close.

    He was brilliant – and not for a dog, for anyone. When one of the other dogs caught something, he would take it from them and sit with it out front until I came home from work. He would show it to me, and I would tell him that was OK, and he would give it back to the dog he took it from.

    One day in early fall he was out back making a really strange bark. When I went out to look, he was beside a wounded 8 point buck deer, who had been attacked by coyotes, or perhaps some feral dogs. It was fatally damaged, so I called the game warden to ask about it. He was something like 90 minutes away.

    I offered to put the deer down and bury it with the farm tractor after he mentioned how long it would take for them to get there, and he agreed that would make sense. I called Clyde away, he was lying against the deer, which was calm. It was sad, a beautiful creature, looking me in the eyes as I aimed, but it had to be done. Clyde’s protective attitude with the injured deer was so un-dog like, but pretty typical for him.

    I called a neighbor to help me put it in the tractor bucket, and put it under the lower bottom about 4 or 5 feet.

    Clyde had a spinal injury and lost the use of his hind quarters, we don’t know how he was hurt, perhaps a fall off the back steps, but it could have happened anywhere on the boulders and cliffs. The local vet didn’t see anything on X-ray, so wife got his records and took him to a Vet Hospital in Columbus OH, where an MRI showed adhesions between his injured spinal cord and other bits outside his spine. A no doubt brilliant neurosurgeon operated on him the next day. After not very long, maybe a week, they decided he was good to come home. He had a very piercing bark when he was demanding, you see.

    After about a month of multiple daily walks with a support strap under his hind legs, he was OK, and good for several more years. One day he didn’t come back from up on the big ridge, which runs a couple of miles east and west, on the north edge of the farm. Some months later one of the other dogs brought a clean skull home, and I recognized a chipped front tooth as Clyde’s. Obviously I still have it.

    We have had 8 dogs, and I love all of them, have two lab mixes now, one 13 and one 3. All rescued. Good farm dogs, all of them. Protected the farm from sneak thieves all these years.

    Congratulations Betty, on your new family member. Best of luck with the pup, Badger. He looks like a really good dog, which is a high complement. I grew up with a boxer girl, a tall and leggy dog named Ginger. So much love, so much drool!

  213. 213.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Sab: Were you in the city proper? I lived in German Village and then the Discovery District (just east of the main library and a block from the art museum). It is vastly different than the suburban wastelands. OSU drew good bands to sleazy clubs. It was not a bad place.

  216. 216.

    Anne Laurie

    @Gretchen: My dog guru helped found one of the first prison dog-training programs (not in KS). What astonished her was how much the program helped the prisoners given the privilege of joining the training course. She started out pretty hard-core about anybody who ‘deserved to be in jail’, but she said she was eventually astonished how much criminal behavior came down to lousy social circumstances & bad luck. The trainees were, of course, not allowed to yell at or hit the dogs… and these grown-up men had no idea there was a way to learn or to teach that didn’t involve yelling or hitting, that being the only methods they’d ever known. It kinda broke her heart a little when one of her ‘graduates’ would come back to tell her, all excited & pleased, that their cellmates and outside family and even prison officials responded so much better to positive responses than to yelling & hitting…

  218. 218.

    Ruckus

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    I know that. I used to work in Westerville. Was trying not to actually type the name. BTW it was still dry when I left. But the company had moved years before that.

  220. 220.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Oh man, the Beltway schoolmarms are gonna hate this Michelle Wolf bit

    I love it.

    Conway looked like she wanted to feed her into a wood chipper

  223. 223.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Sab: @Sab: Cordray is from Grovetucky. Outside C-bus’s hipstervilles, it is a suburban wasteland. I lived in a couple of the hipstervilles. And hung out in the others.

  226. 226.

    Ruckus

    @raven:
    Met a youngish fellow at the VA who had cervical stenosis. Which I have a mild case of. This fellow had an operation. The back of his neck looked like he had a zipper installed. He said it helped a lot.

  228. 228.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Ruckus: I remember. Most of the C-bus area residents and former residents seem to live or have lived in the suburbs. Downtown C-bus is a different place. The indie rock clubs have as nasty a bathroom and as any city could produce. My friends and I staked out a spot at the Newport that all of the young punks and newbies to the scene would immediately cede to us when we came in. I hated the weather there. I am a Wisconsin boy; I need a real winter.

  230. 230.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Sab: Have you ever met him? His wife was my Evidence prof. He was my first actual political donation. He is still boyishly charming.

  231. 231.

    Elizabelle

    A boxer puppy. Wow. What does Daisy M think of her new project?

    I thought he was a Boston terrier at first too. Look forward to watching him grow up, and get into things. Look out, chickens.

  232. 232.

    scott alloway

    Beautiful pup. But I am a sucker for animals. The dog brings to mind a French Bulldog, one that I care for M-F as a caregiver (aside from my work doing a website for a client, a newsletter for a business association and old home restoration in Philly. The joy of SS and doing what you want).

  237. 237.

    Aleta

    @J R in WV: Thanks for the story. Clyde sounds like an incredible fellow. His empathy is amazing.

    Dogs are such responsible good citizens. I like how they create their own jobs and stay self-employed.

  238. 238.

    Anne Laurie

    @scott alloway:

    The dog brings to mind a French Bulldog, one that I care for M-F

    But Frenchies have those adorable bat ears, even as young puppies, don’t they?

  239. 239.

    seaboogie

    Congrats, Betty – so happy for your new addition and looking forward to the posts and pics. And Happy Anniversary to you and Mr. C, whenever that date should be!

  247. 247.

    Ruckus

    @Sab:
    My experience was that the winters are quite variable. My second month there I had to leave my car at the airport for a 1 week business trip, in January. Came back to find a snow bank about 2 ft deep blocking the back, from the plowing, had to be removed to back out and about a 1/2 inch of ice over the entire car. Had to get that off before I could open the door and get the engine started but the scraper was in the car. I moved there from southern CA, where winter is a sweat shirt over a tee shirt for the cold. Some other winters weren’t all that bad. A couple were worse.

  248. 248.

    Sab

    My Nook just ate my huge Mary Taylor running for Ohio gov is a monster rant. Too bad . She is. She doesn’t have any policy positions other than that she is a “true conservative” and Mike deWine isn’t. (Has she ever seen his position on anything?) She tossed all of her children under the bus for the slight chance that she might win this. She is lagging by twenty points. She has very few known policy positions ( she is in it for ego, not policy).

    Both of her kids are heroin addicts in various stages of rehab in their twenties. They might recover, but her broadcasting their addiction to advance her career means they will never have a clear future. Anyone who ever Googles them will get the addiction part. Thanks Mom.

  249. 249.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Ruckus: Here’s a discussion my wife and I had last week after my trip up to the mountains to take Milky Way pics:
    Me: It was really cold up there.
    Madame: Why didn’t you wear the jacket I bought for you?
    Me: I did; I was wearing a sweatshirt, a hoodie, and the jacket you bought me. It was still fucking cold!

    ETA: It was 28 degrees when I left my photo location.

  250. 250.

    Princess Leia

    @Mary G: I think you are in the So Cal area- you might try the Victor Valley Animal protection league. I have 2 dogs from their shelter and they always have a variety. A bit of a drive, but worth it. They are on FB and twitter.

  252. 252.

    Sab

    @Omnes Omnibus: I loved Michigan. Columbus not so much.

    Akron is often underwhelming but at least we had winter and summer. I do not like our post climate change three month drought pattern. A drought used to be two weeks without rain. Now it is four months. Four hundred year old trees are dying. But that’s now “normal “.

  254. 254.

    Ruckus

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:
    25 deg is my minimum motorcycle riding temp. 19 is cold enough that your breath freezes on the inside of your face shield. So you have to open it, at which time you are very susceptible to frostbite. This is personal experience, in case you hadn’t figured that out. 28 is nothing special. Of course I walk around at 60 deg in shorts and a sweat shirt and feel warm.

  256. 256.

    debbie

    @Sab:

    Monster, definitely. But the GOP establishment are not with her and she doesn’t have the cash to do much of anything. She’s gone.

  257. 257.

    Sab

    @debbie: I am just worried that voters might believe her
    lying ass . She is a nut case but she lies well and she has that sort of midrange voice that people believe even if
    she is saying nothing.

    I love Ohio, but mostly we are morons.

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