What do you like/dislike about your breed?

[lanwhite]

What are the characteristics of your dog or cat that you like or dislike most that is also typical of the breed?

I have a 7-year-old female border collie and, true to breed, she is very energetic. This is both an advantage and disadvantage. She absolutely MUST have at least one good walk and some play time every day or she will be climbing the walls. On the other hand, it is fun to watch her sheer joy of living. Her favorite activity is running free like the wind, and she highly resents a leash. I understand the males are more mellow, and this is true of my sister's male border collies. They have awesome endurance and are probably one of the smartest dogs there are. Also very stubborn and must see the reason for doing anything, otherwise she will not do it willingly. Also, true to the sheep herders instinct, she will try to "herd" anything at all, whether they want to be herded or not! She also must feel she has a "job" to do. Since I don't have any sheep, she has taken on the job of protecting me, sometimes a little too zealously. It doesn't matter whether it is my best friend or relative, she "guards" me against them if she is in our yard, but then acts very friendly if outside of the yard. She will stop acting like a terrorist if I tell her to, but very reluctantly. Seems like border collies take their "jobs" very seriously, and if you don't give them one, they will find one themselves.

I know a lot of problems can be corrected with training, but these seem to be natural characteristics of a border collie. She is very sweet natured and likes to make friends when not in her yard, both of people and other dogs. She is also very gentle with most other animals we encounter...touching noses with frogs to see them jump, etc. Border collies are a challenge and arn't for those who don't or can't take walks or play often.

[crazydays]

IanWhite- I absolutely love border collies when I am out. It is always obvious to me that they are working. I had such a laugh at a border pup down at the waterfront. There were 5 other dogs all barking and running and swimming. This pup was fixated on the bubbles produced by the water coming in. He would chase the waves coming in and bite at the bubbles. The whole world around him could have stopped and he wouldn't have seen it--very intense little pup!!

[luckypenny]

Lucky (Chow/Shep/Shiba ??? cross): Definitely uncomfortable with his extremely high prey drive.

Penny (Black Lab): I am often told that female Labs are very protective. Penny often guards excessively, both me and Lucky. And, it is true, Labs will attempt to eat anything including mice, poop, roadkill, etc., etc..

But I love them nevertheless .

[crazydays]

I got so excited talking about the Borders, i forgot about my own breed.

Love my Standard Schnauzer- medium built,virtually shedfree, "the look" these dogs have a presence about them. Devoted to family, very intelligent, gentle-more than i ever expected, sweet to those she knows, excellent watchdog, very saucy-makes her irresistibly cute, extremely athletic

Traits I live with- smart enough to be stubborn- protects her territory; relentlessly, she will bark to alert someone coming ,can be shy with strangers.

[clm]

Well, my breed is Keeshonden. I just love their colouring and their thick double coats. I love that they don't have doggie odor. I love that they don't shed like regular dogs, it comes out in handfuls when they do blow their coats. I love their size, not too big, but not small either. I love how smart the breed is and I love that they're a happy, friendly breed. I like that being a spitz type, they tend to be a little aloof, almost cat like sometimes, and like a cat they love to shower you with affection when they want to, but always want to know where you are, even if they pretend they don't care. I love that they don't like to sleep on the beds or the couch, cold bare floor is what they love best.

I don't like how stubborn they can be sometimes, very stubborn breed. I don't like that they don't like walks in summer.

I guess my list of likes far outweighs my dislikes. I guess I chose the right breed for me.

[Lukka'sma]

Well lets see, Lukka is a Caucasian Ovcharka, and I can't think of one darn thing about this breed that I don't like and admire. She's my bestest doggie ever

[Purpledomino]

Abby my Dane...Goofball, athletic, love me attitude, big leaner, scaredycat.

Ruben my Bullmastiff...Super friendly to people and dogs, stoic, sneaky but adorable doing it, lazy...and will only get off the bed for a cookie.

Emmy my Minpin....omg, where do I start? Hyper, busybody, notices everything, usually on the go, and if not...curled up under a blanket.

All my dogs follow the breed standard in temperament pretty much to a "T", and I've got to say I honestly appreciate their differences...well most of them. I think if I had to change anything about them, the Minpin would quit barking so darn much, the Dane wouldn't be so scared of the vaccuum cleaner...and the Bullmastiff would get his big arse off the bed when I asked!

Gotta love them!

[CyberKitten]

I have two breeds of cat - Siamese and Sphynx. I love all 4 of them. I am partial to meezers but love my Sphynx Girls just as much!!

I love everything about meezers- they love attention, love to talk to you, are sooo intelligent, love to play and are demanding (a patient wrote a wrote a poem for me saying meezers never say please and that's prob true, lol) Siamese have short hair so there is not too much hair around but even if there was, that would not concern me.

Sphynx can be a challenge since they need as much care as say a Persian with long hair. They have no hair and get oily and need to be washed more ioften - it's sort of like having infants in away. They like their baths though so all is well.

I love their energy and their playfulness. They also have more sweaters than I do,

[JanM]

What do I love about my Goldens? everything - even though my two are polar opposites

What do I not like about my Goldens? hmmm - if I think hard enough, long enough, I'm sure I'll come up with something... maybe...

What do I love about Manx cats? everything, particularly that they are somewhat dog-like more than cat-like..

What do I not like about Manx - nothing! They are a fantastic cat - smart, active, loving, loyal, I could go on and on and on..

[joeysmama]

I had no desire to have a shih tzu. That was my daughter's choice, but oh boy----I love this breed. I love the friendliness. I love that he doesn't shed. I love that he doesn't get the doggie odor. I love that he likes a cuddle and I love the he loves to play. I love that he's small enough to just pick up and toss in the tub or the car or just pick up and cuddle.

What I don't like is that he's also small enough to be prey if he should be outside without a leash. We had a big coyote in the yard last night so we have to be extra vigilant. We used to be able to drop the leash while we cleaned the poop up from the yard, or we could drop the leash and have a little race or a chase around the house. But now we won't dare give him that kind of freedom unless we can fence in the yard.

[luvntzus]

The only things that I dislike about Shih Tzu are their grooming requirements and their tendency to eat poop. It's something that I work on from puppyhood and I'd say Gingerbread is about 99% reformed. Fudge.... maybe 80%, but still working on it because he's only 7 months old.

[lanwhite]

I love carrying on a conversation with a Siamese cat. You say something, they answer, say something again, they answer!

That's my experience with border collies too, that they are very intense in anything they do. I would have loved to see that pup with his bubbles! I understand that border collies stare down sheep, and mine does that to me when she wants something! She'll just stare me down, I can ignore her for only so long...that stare is so LOUD! And like sheep, I usually obey! I get rewarded by a happy dance.

[Love4himies]

I love that my Himalayan is a gentle, non agressive kitty that loves human attention. I don't like that she prefers to be the only kitty, because I can't live with just one and I don't like knowing that I have made her unhappy by getting a second cat.

I love my Ragdoll because he has NO agressive tendencies, not even a hiss when a strange cat comes close to him. I love that he loves to please me, making it extremely easy to train him to walk on a harness when I got him at five years old. He is just a little too active and vocal after being used to a quieter Himalayan. He likes to wake us up at 4AM with his calls and I have to run him like a small dog in the back yard every night to tire him out.

[luvntzus]

Oops! When I read the title last night I only noticed the "dislike" part. Here's what I like about Shih Tzu:
Their sweet, affectionate nature with some independence. They're normally very friendly with other people an animals, but are good watchdogs. They're generally quiet and they're non shedding. They have adorable little faces and I love all the different colors that they come in.

[Ford Girl]

Dazy, my golden girl - I am absolutly smitten with her and all her golden traits, she's a clown, forever looking for love and laughs, super smart, eager to learn and please, friendly and gentle, affectionate, vocal and sensitive. BUT, I could do without the drool, mouthing everything in sight, eating anything and everything and the barking. All of which are things I can live with and work on with training (except the drool), the shedding doesn't even bother me as much as I thought it would...just give me my golden love. I love the breed, for those of you who have one or had one know exactly what I mean!!

Pubert - well, not sure what breed he is, but he sure loves to cuddle and he's very vocal, I love him to bits too.

[Kristin7]

Let's see... my dog Guinness is Border collie primarily, with some Akita and Shar pei mixed in (had him genetically tested, these were the results). I like that he seems like a big dog in a medium dog's body, and that he is super friendly to everyone, including my cats, quiet/calm in the house and rarely barks - but when he does he sounds like a large dog! I love his coat, dirt just falls out of it and it rarely tangles, plus he only seems to shed once a year. He loves swimming which is fun to watch. Dislikes are few and some are no doubt my fault - he doesn't have the best recall and I don't trust him off-leash to not run off, he loves pulling on his leash on walks, and gets carsick so is not easy to travel with. Oh, and his feet stink.

The dog I had growing up was a Keeshond - likes for that breed were that she was very friendly, always happy and of course beautiful. Dislikes were that she barked A LOT, wasn't the most obedient dog being a northern breed w/ a mind of her own, and since we lived in the country her coat often got lots of burrs in it which were difficult to brush out.

Last but not least, my last dog, Sydney, another Border Collie mix.. likes for her: she had a beautiful short merle coat that was easy to clean, no doggie odor at all, she was super sweet, loved to play and played well with other dogs. She only barked when necessary, was great off-leash, loved to travel in the car, never went in my garden or perennial beds (non-destructive). It was fun to watch her play as she would do that Border Collie thing and lay flat and still on the ground, stare at the dog she was playing with, and then would pop up and charge at the last minute. Both of my BC mixes love(d) running around in circles. Dislikes: Only one, that she had chronic kidney disease... she was only 3 when she died and I miss her! We could have had so many more years together...

[Frenchy]

My 2 goldens , I love that they are velcro to me, eager to please all the time, goofy , they have a super good attitude , Bailey likes to talk to me (roorooos) and they are very tuff dogs (even when injured , they just never show you they are in pain :sad

Dislike: vet bills

My "long term" foster great dane (who may not be the bext exemple for the breed considering where she comes from) extremely goofy and excited but do come down after a while. Loves to cudle and I mean cudle like if she could get under my shirt she would ! Protective of me and "her" goldens.

Dislike : her separation anxiety :sad:

My 2 cats , ex strays , most easy cats ever ! They adapted to my family so fast ! they are the best and they will confront ANY dogs that comes in their path

[Ford Girl]

Originally Posted by Frenchy

they are very tuff dogs (even when injured , they just never show you they are in pain :sad

Dislike: vet bills

Agreed Frenchy! 100% Dazy gets hurt while wrestling and she yelps, and keeps going - never stops, and if I accidently hit or bump her or she gets stepped on, she looks to me like shes sorry, like its her fault. Make me feel even worse!

Ahhh, vet bills, forgot about that...how could I? If there is something to be caught or developed, you can bet Dazy will have it..ear infections, kennel cough, cold water tail...growing pains, corn allergy, bacterial infection, stomach pumping from eating things she shouldn't, toxic ingestion...you name it. Oh well, she makes up for it with golden smiles and BIG kisses!

[Frenchy]

Originally Posted by Ford Girl

Oh well, she makes up for it with golden smiles and BIG kisses!

That is exactly why god made them so darn cute , to make up for the expenses