Puppy-cam folks have some responsible things to say
By Gina Spadafori
November 23, 2008
Wow, talk about a “get”! The folks behind the Shiba Inu “puppy cam” talk to MSNBC.com … and you can tell from their answers they’re ethical, responsible and knowledgeable breeders.
And no, you can’t have a puppy. Neither can the Obamas:
Honestly, it is probably not my first recommendation as I have been told that the Obama daughters require a hypoallergenic dog. Additionally, most of Shiba Inus must be kept on leash or in a secured/fenced location due to their high prey drive. We do wish the Obamas the best in choosing the right dog for their family.
Um, except for one tiny detail:
There isn’t any such thing as a hypo-allergenic dog.
Since they’re not claiming that Shiba Inus are hypo-allergenic, you can’t blame them for not knowing that. Especially as often as this myth is tossed around these days, especially by all the “doodle”-hyping sellers. There are some breeds (and possibly, mixes) that seem to be better than others for allergy and asthma sufferers, and some things you can do to make living with any pet more tolerable to your allergies.
But they are still animals, and they cannot be made allergen-free.
Dr. Becker and I just interviewed experts at one of the top allergy and asthma centers in the world — National Jewish Health, in Denver — and got the low-down for an upcoming article. More after it’s published.
In the meantime, well, enjoy the puppy cam. Those cute little babies are six weeks old, and will be going to new homes soon.
Streaming .TV shows by Ustream
I’ve seen some great puppy-cams, but this one is fantastic. Are you taking notes, Gina, so that you’ll have a similar one for McKensie? :-D
(Please, please, please :-))
Comment by Dorene — November 23, 2008 @ 8:34 pm
There isn’t any such thing as a hypo-allergenic dog.
There are some breeds (and possibly, mixes) that seem to be better than others for allergy and asthma sufferers,
What “hypo-allergenic” means, duh. Lower probability of triggering allergic reactions.
But they are still animals, and they cannot be made allergen-free.
That would not be “hypo-allergenic.” That would be “non-allergenic.”
Sorry, but I’m just not buying the idea that, in order to fight the good fight against idiots, we have to dumb down the English language to a second-grade level.
There is nothing on this earth that it’s impossible for someone, somewhere to have an allergic reaction. There are things that are very common triggers for allergies, things that are less commonly triggers for allergies, things that it’s very, very rare to have an allergic reaction to. “Hypo-allergenic” is a valuable word with applicability to many things far beyond questions of which dog breeds you should look at if you have allergies and want a dog. In none of those other arenas is it defined as “no one anywhere will ever have an allergic reaction to this thing.” I see no reason why we should pretend it means that when talking about dogs.
And once you’ve conceded that there are, in fact, breeds and mixes that appear to be less likely to trigger allergies than other breeds and mixes, you’ve conceded that there’s something legitimate to talk about here, and a reason not to veto the use of the words we’d ordinarily use to talk about that issue.
The Obamas will have their best chance of success at getting a dog Malia can live with easily, if they look primarily at those breeds that are less likely to trigger an allergic reaction—i.e., the hypo-allergenic breeds. Within that category, they will still need to test her reaction to any breed they decide they’re seriously interested in—because “hypo-allergenic” does not mean “non-allergenic.”
Sorry, but this bugs me. Not as much as some other things bug me, like people claiming they “resuced” a puppy by buying it from a pet store, but it bugs me. More like it bugs me when people get all disapproving and defensive about using the word “bitch” to refer to their female dog.:)
Don’t surrender the language to those with second-grade intellects, Gina.
Comment by Lis — November 23, 2008 @ 8:43 pm
Thanks for posting this. The Shiba folks have been watching this puppy cam with great interest—and a little concern.
The puppy owners have done a pretty good education job about Shibas.
Comment by glock — November 23, 2008 @ 8:55 pm
What you say about the definition is absolutely true, Lis. Unfortunately, each and every person who has asked me about “hypo-allergenic” dogs and cats over the last 10 years has meant “non-allergenic.”
So I am suspecting this battle is lost. Well, at least I know that I stopped fighting it and started saying in response instead that there’s no such thing as furred animal that won’t trigger allergies in moderate to highly sensitive people.
And hey … I’m one of them. There’s NO WAY I should have pets, and I don’t currently have an allergist because the last one told me it was either him or the pets … and he got the boot. (My pulmonologist is a lot more understanding about the critters, and works very hard to keep my asthma mostly well-controlled.)
I get by with a list of strategies that make life possible and even comfortable, for the most part. That, and a lot of really good Rx.
***
No web cam for McKutie. She has already put the kibosh on that, and so has her co-owner, whose own personal feelings on privacy are so different from mine that the very presence of this blog has no doubt had her rethinking her decision to ever co-own dogs with me in the first place!
Comment by Gina Spadafori — November 23, 2008 @ 9:03 pm
The majority of voters don’t seem to mind Obama’s short resume, but it’s clear he knows nothing about owning a dog, and being the “leader of the free world” and trying to get on the job training for a dog just don’t mix.
Despite all the other people who want Obama to pick their breed, I greatly hope that he stays far away from Border Collies. We’ve already had our “101 Dalmations” effect with the movie Babe, and any breed that the Charismatic President picks will likely get the same attention.
While I’m the guy who’s written “Buy From a Breeder, Never Adopt” … I hope Obama picks a mature shelter dog, preferably black in color (he’s broken one color barrier, why not another?) and which has no discernible breed except mutt.
If it’s not a mutt, I hope it’s a designer dog… because although there is a lot of snobbery against them, it is the truth that the _well planned_ new mix breeds are a wonderful addition to maintaining the diversity of the doggy gene pool and avoiding the severe and lengthy inbreeding that we’ve run into with our established breeds.
Most other news stories about Presidential dogs have been negative (bribe dogs, dog abuse, bad temperaments, questionable decisions, etc), so I hope the best for the Obama dog only because the ramifications are pretty huge given the excessive coverage of the issue.
Comment by Christopher — November 23, 2008 @ 11:44 pm
My girlfriend and I are obsessed with these puppies. We made this forum to talk with all the other people out there who love them too:
http://www.puppycamtalk.com
if you want to say something, but don’t want to sign in, use this login and password:
username: olderorder
password: spamiscruel
but sign your name so people don’t get confused.
Comment by Donny — November 24, 2008 @ 12:02 am
Obama seems a good bit better prepared than the average first-time dog own, including understanding that research and forethought are necessary. My mom was a first-time dog owner when my dad took me to get a border collie puppy from someone who’d had an oops litter and then, less than a month later, left on another sea trip. (He was a merchant marine navigator.) With a ten-year-old, a six-month-old, no help, and no dog experience, my mother took the puppy’s needs seriously, and made sure I did, and we had a first-dog experience that made us all dog lovers for life. (And yes, this was decades before Babe.)
There’s really no reason to think the Obamas won’t do well with the dog.
The girls want a puppy. There’s no earthly reason why the girls should not have a puppy just because it would better serve someone else’s political agenda. I had puppies, starting with that border collie pup; most dog lovers I know have had puppies; I’m pretty sure every regular reader of this blog has had a puppy at some point. I would not again have a puppy, but I wouldn’t for anything give up the experiences I had raising puppies when I was younger. The girls are real girls and not political playthings, and there’s no reason why they should be treated as political playthings—regardless of how you may or may not feel about their dad.
Well-planned “designer breeds” are rare as hen’s teeth, with the partial exception that there actually are responsible breeders of labradoodles and goldendoodles. And those are so “fashionable” that no matter how careful they are in choosing their ‘doodle breeder, they could hardly avoid giving a boost to the puppy millers. [N.B.: Not a reason to reject ‘doodles if that’s what’s right for them.]
A lot of stories about presidential dogs have been negative because well-behaved, well-cared-for dogs rarely make the news.
Gina, my allergist, who is also my primary care physician, asked questions and did tests to see how well-controlled my asthma and allergies are, and then cheered my decision to add a dog to the household. Too many health benefits to pass up if you like them and can live with them, he says.
I think there are enough people who would benefit from learning the difference between “hypo-allergenic” and “non-allergenic”—and are perfectly capable of learning that difference—that I don’t see any reason to compound the confusion.
Comment by Lis — November 24, 2008 @ 6:13 am
Lis, here’s a funny thing: You have well and truly BUSTED me.
A couple weeks ago, Christie and I were having an animated discussion on the phone — OK, a fight :) — over whether the cause was utterly lost over the use of the third person plural pronoun “their” as a gender-neutral stand in for the third person singular “his” or “her,” since English doesn’t offer a third person gender-neutral singular pronoun for people (“it” doesn’t cut it). (“Everyone should get the pet of their dreams” vs. “Everyone should get the pet of his or her dreams” vs. “Everyone should get the pet of its dreams.”)
Neither Christie nor I will use the standard “his” — “Everyone should get the pet of his dreams” — because it cuts out more than half the population. In real life, I usually re-cast the sentence to make the subject plural and avoid the awkward “his or her,” but in theory we were arguing over whether the language had changed to accept the common “Everyone … their” construction.
I got on my high horse at one point and declared that I didn’t care if everyone, her sister and the dean of Oxford said it was now OK, it was still BAD GRAMMAR and it was MORALLY WRONG to encourage people to think it’s OK.
So … yow, talk about hoisted on my own petard. I will now vow to use “hypo-allergenic” and “non-allergenic” correctly and make the distinctions clear.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — November 24, 2008 @ 7:34 am
It’s clear [Obama] knows nothing about owning a dog, and being the “leader of the free world” and trying to get on the job training for a dog just don’t mix.
Comment by Christopher — November 23, 2008
Well, if studies show anything, it’s that Barack Obama, like most husbands, will have almost no responsibility whatsoever for the dog, and that would be true if he were Barack the Plumber.
Women make the majority of pet-care decisions and handle the majority of pet-care responsibilities. So, it really doesn’t matter if Barack Obama doesn’t know a Chihuahua from a Whippet, since chances are Michelle Obama is the Decider and the Care-Giver.
And in any case, it doesn’t worry me that neither of them seem to have little dog-owning experience. I mean, hey, it’s not as if the POTUS can’t get good help.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — November 24, 2008 @ 7:42 am
Christopher, try to keep your Obama-hate in check. OF COURSE President Obama is NOT going to be raising this puppy. Mrs Obama and the girls (and possibly Grandma), with the help of the very experienced White House staff ( who are just finishing the ordeal of raising apparently bad tempered Scotties) will be raising it.
You have NO IDEA what knowledge/experience Michelle or for that matter Obama himself has. Unlike you, MY assumption is that being as smart as they are, they will learn as much as they can before they take on a puppy. With people like you just waiting for them to fail, they are also smart enough to do whatever they can to do it right.
The way some people on these boards talk, NO ONE who has never had a puppy already should ever get a puppy…
Comment by EmilyS — November 24, 2008 @ 8:28 am
Emily, given the level of Christopher’s contempt I thought he was actually pretty restrained. :)
In any case, please let’s not head further down this particular partisan road. Discuss the potential presidential dog, fine. The politics … I am so not in the mood, so let’s stop now.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — November 24, 2008 @ 8:39 am
I am intrigued by the amount of “doodle” type mixes being tossed around as possibly hypoallergenic—and I get also a little bit squinty-eyed by the use of “doodle” as a mix suffix…
I think for the most part educating people that allergies from animal presence are controllable but cannot be eliminated without eliminating the animal will indeed help people learn that hypoallergenic stuff is just less-allergenic. Including breeds: this one sheds less, this one has less-fine hair, et cetera.
I have asthma. It does suck. Of course, I’ve also lived with cats all my life and even with my asthma I wouldn’t give up that experience. It’s a balancing act and I hope that people choose to talk to their vets and doctors about the interface between people and pets when respiratory issues are in play.
All that said, the puppies are very cute.
Comment by Kyt Dotson — November 24, 2008 @ 9:58 am
May I without annoying our hosts speak a word in defense of Barney and Miss Beazley? Available video and verbal accounts make it pretty clear that they were under more stress than usual and typically are much friendlier and accommodating to visitors. In the case of Barney, in particular, several other reporters had commented on the fact that he was stressed and didn’t want to be touched—and the one idiot went ahead and tried to put him anyway.
They’re getting ready to move in a couple of months, out of what’s been their home, in Miss Beazley’s case, her whole life. That’s stress, even you’re human, know what’s going on, and WANT to move!
Comment by Lis — November 24, 2008 @ 11:45 am
I was thinking the same thing. Barney was doing everything except writing in red crayons that he didn’t want to be annoyed.
If the reporter didn’t know better, the person at the other end of the leash should have noticed and taken the dog away.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — November 24, 2008 @ 11:51 am
Actually, whoever mentioned that the grandmother was going to be living in the WH too makes the best point. She’s the one person who is not political, not working, and can look after the kids and the dog. WISE decision to move her in.
See, I can be fair.
Comment by Christopher — November 24, 2008 @ 6:49 pm
I can’t get enough of these guys! I swore that I wasn’t going to get another dog (I already have two) but this is making me change my mind… but I’m glad that the controversy over the breeders has been settled. :)
Comment by Stylepup — December 2, 2008 @ 10:16 am