Petfinder Post: A Dog Called Puppy and Others of His Kind

(This is a test of the system...how well Google's recovering from that bad case of innovations last winter.)

Some people keep asking for a follow-up post to this oldie: 

https://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2019/01/another-dog-blog-post.html

So why not find out whether the system can now handle another Petfinder post? It looks as if it can.

While staying in a nice, though almost catless, suburb in Maryland I met a dog called Puppy--a very big, strong, young, and fierce-looking dog. I was walking back from the grocery store and he rushed around a house in full threat display, roaring and growling and snarling and drooling. Though he could obviously have jumped over the fence that separated him from me, I took the chance that he either didn't know this yet, or didn't care, and said "Be quiet!" And immediately he was quiet, though still drooling over the smell of the fresh bagels from the Giant store. Everybody liked those bagels. 

I didn't give him one. He didn't really expect one, it seems, because after that he was my friend. He always ran out to the fence when I passed by, and I always said some silly thing like "Hello you great big beautiful dog," until I learned that he answered to the name of Puppy. So after that I said "Hello, Puppy." He always wagged his tail and looked pleased to be noticed. Some dogs really do care that much about a crumb of attention.

Puppy did indeed know how easily he could jump that fence. When he really wanted to go outside his humans' yard, he went. But he always came back soon, and mostly stayed in the yard. He was a very good dog who loved and protected his humans. Even and especially the children who had given him that silly name.

I only saw him do his threat display one other time. Once again I was walking back from the grocery store with a bag of groceries. This time the bag included chicken. There was another dog in the neighborhood who did not always obey the local law that dogs had to be on leashes, inside houses, or behind fences. That dog was following just a little too closely, sniffing and sniffing at the bag, obviously looking for a chance to steal that chicken. 

It had been eight years, and by now Puppy was quite an old dog, with a grey muzzle and a stiff leg. He leaped over the fence with a snarl that sent the stray dog home with its tail between its legs. His threat display looked as threatening as ever.

He sniffed at my hand. I let him sniff, and petted him, for the first and last time.

He never even tried to sniff at that chicken.

I don't know whether Puppy had ever actually been employed as a police dog. He wasn't employed when I met him, and he hadn't reached retirement age. He was that kind of dog, though, in breed and in character. Nature always intended him to be a friend and working partner to humans, as good in his way as a man, and better than some.

Not all big wolfish-looking dogs are as lovable as Puppy was, of course. Not just any family ought to keep one. Though German Shepherd, Alsatian, and related breeds are often trained to earn their living (which is not cheap) as police dogs, and sometimes even as service dogs for people with disabilities, not all of them complete training and qualify for jobs! Some of them will jump over fences, and develop even worse habits, if they're not well trained and given something to do that they find more interesting than just guarding an empty house all day. They need regular exercise, and if they have to remind humans about meals, walks, cleaning and suchlike they can be...well, not mortally dangerous. Though lighter than an adult human they're stronger and faster than most humans, so if they think they need to lead someone gently by the hand they can leave bleeding wounds. They are wonderful pets for strong, tough, active men and women. They are usually patient with children, but they're too much for a young child to handle alone. 

I've heard many times, "If you're going to walk alone, travel alone, work in that place, etc., you need a good dog," as someone recommended a police-type dog for me as a pet. It can be very easy to bond with these dogs, and since I like their look and manner I often have bonded with them, but I've never wanted to take the full responsibility...You cannot allow these dogs to run around on their own, although nobody ever seemed to complain when Puppy sneaked out alone. You cannot miss a meal or a day's walk. They are too close to being wolves. They're more intelligent than most dogs and, if they don't know they have a tough, reliable master to follow, they're dangerous. Other canines (except for real timber wolves) recognize them as leaders, and in my part of the world, such a pack of stray dogs is apt to start killing cattle.

Probably the worst thing about this type of dog, though, is that their lives are so short. Puppy lived almost ten years but he was exceptional. Five to seven years is average--with good care, these dogs can live about as long as feral or immune-compromised or glyphosate-poisoned cats, but almost never as long as pet cats or small dogs normally live. If you've been the leader this type of dog loves and needs to follow, you don't forget the dog easily. 

They can and do rescue people, like Rin-Tin-Tin, or guide blind people, or even learn to help people with other kinds of disabilities. Some of them can learn to protect smaller, more vulnerable animals, though they can also be tempted to kill other animals if they're hungry or if they're encouraged to be predators. All of them naturally look menacing enough to be good watchdogs; some police dogs have mild and gentle personalities, but evildoers can't tell which ones those are. Individual dogs of this type do all kinds of things for those who have what it takes to keep them as pets. Haul loads up to and including adult humans around on sleds or "dog carts." Search for stolen or illegal goods. Hunt for food in the woods. They've been known to adopt kittens as well as puppies, too. 

My feeling is that no dog of this type should ever be available for adoption from a shelter. The polite, lovable ones, who are the majority, should all be service animals or pets, and the few who behave badly should be shot, because trying to retrain them is too much of a risk. Nevertheless, because too many people think they want a police dog as a pet and are wrong, shelters actually have lots of them available for adoption. Of course, because the dogs become valuable to those who train and treat them well, shelters may ask outrageous amounts of money for them, which does not help.

1. Zipcode 10101: John John from New York City

At first glance I didn't see a resemblance to the late President's late son, but maybe it's the attitude. Appearances can be deceiving. John John is described as always having been very nice to humans, but unfortunately intolerant of other dogs...hardly an appropriate namesake for an insider who was known for publishing a magazine for outsiders, I say. Anyway, this senior dog gets a glowing recommendation from his foster family. He is described as a well trained animal who knows all the standard command words, at the time of posting as healthy as a big dog can be at his advanced age of eight. 

2. Zipcode 20202: Terrific Turbo from Reston 

With apologies...The D.C. shelter pages are full of large dogs that they list as "German Shepherd Mix," and while I don't doubt that these dogs have a German Shepherd ancestor somewhere or that they are fine, and fine-looking, dogs, they look remarkably like coon hounds, which are also a nice breed, but different. This spring puppy, seven months old at the time of posting, edged out just one other competitor as being the most photogenic specimen of his type on the page. Demand for puppies is said to be high. The shelter lists this reportedly bright and lovable pup as having an "adoption fee" of $389, and urges people who want to rear a police-dog-type puppy to get into the competitive adoption process right away. And, you know...Reston. So many control freaks out there, they probably really mean it. And nobody names a dog "Turbo" unless he's either super-lazy, or ready to train his human to win a marathon.

Bonus: Dolly from Highland, Maryland 

There's a red flag on the other dog too. Dolly from Highland was a full year old at the time of posting and therefore available for a much more reasonable adoption fee of $150. She's said to be a good-natured, lovable dog but inclined to "herd" the children she's met, so not recommended to families that include young children. At one year old she weighed only fifty pounds, making her only about two-thirds the size of Turbo. And her web page has an extensive gallery of photos, in some of which her ears stand up with a classic German Shepherd look, but note the relaxed ear position plus her small size...uh-huh, uh-huh. Black-and-tan coon hounds are also excellent dogs. What raises my hackles about this dog's page is that she came to the Maryland shelter from South Carolina, but the shelter officially refuse to let her be adopted by anyone who lives more than three hours' drive from Highland. Even if you could overlook the question of Beltway traffic this seems deliberately to exclude anyone from this dog's original neighborhood. Given what seems to be the current market value for young police-type dogs, this could mean that someone knows she's been petnapped. Then again it could mean that there's a problem that's not mentioned on her web page, something that kept her from being adoptable in South Carolina...or it could merely mean that the shelter's had a lot of trouble with foreign spammers and hackers, and have set up the web page in hopes of scaring them off. Careful research is needed if you want to adopt this dog ethically.

3. Zipcode 30303: Sarge from Jackson 

According to the shelter, Sarge is a smart, lovable, good-natured, but untrained young dog who was in danger of growing up feral. They emphasize that the people who adopt him must show "breed knowledge" of how the big fellow needs good training, clear rules, and an interesting job. 

I should mention that, once again, when I searched for a type of shelter pet near zipcode 30303, Sarge edged out a lot of dogs who would probably be equally photogenic if the shelters had recruited more skilled photographers. Over and over again I check this zipcode, have to click through several pages of pet photos to find a good one, and realize that this can't possibly be the animals' fault. It looks as if central Georgia animal shelters are full of animals who are probably good specimens of their type, and adorable pets, if you actually went in and met them. They're just photographed in bad lights and/or at weird angles so, in these quick photo contests, I think "They're calling that a [whatever]...?" and my eye moves quickly on. In real life, when they see the actual animals wagging or purring, I imagine Georgia readers thinking "What's the matter with that web site? How could Priscilla King have overlooked this perfect, irresistible...?" 

Bonus #2: Zipcode 37662, Wallace from Greeneville 

Attention local lurkers. If you search for "zipcode 37662" and "German Shepherd Dog" on Petfinder, you'll find some amazing pictures and stories. There is at least one purebred show-quality dog with specific suggestions for which classes in a dog show adopters are advised to train her for, and one shelter has a whole sled-pulling pack of German Shepherd, Alaskan Malamute, and Siberian Husky crossbreeds, just in case some Southern good ol' boy wants to enter the Iditarod. There are sad stories, too, of dogs who are homeless because their humans are and the usual sort of shelter-pet tragedies. Wallace is not reported to be amazing. He's just a big police dog, typy-looking, trained to be a nice pet and available to anyone who has what it takes to keep him as one--for $250. 

I do not want any of these beautiful mini-wolves for Christmas. If you adopt them, adopt them for yourself, please, and thank you very much. I would have to have a human partner who was at least as hardy and healthy as I am (and preferably younger, not that I want any of The Nephews to pass up any opportunities in the cities where they have gone or are going to school) before I'd even want to let any of these dogs sniff my hand. 

Police-type dogs really need to be in homes with two or more humans, in case one human feels too fluzly to go out and run with the dog. Not that all of them will immediately run out into the street and start grabbing humans' hands and demanding that neighbors play with them...but I know a police office worker who had been adopting retired dogs from the department, and one day when the kids were away at school and the adults had too much work to do, I can show you where that dog gently and playfully grabbed my arm, years later. He wasn't a mean dog, or sick, or trying to hurt me; he was trying to get to know a new human to walk beside. Loving a big dog takes a commitment not to let this happen to your pet.