It’s actually totally standard for the type of librarian I am. You only notice it’s kind of weird when you’re trying to explain it to people not in this field. XD
Cloudiah, congrats on surviving your job interview ordeal! I recommend that whoever is in charge hire you at once. But I’m not sure my recommendation counts for much.
Katz, congrats on the book, and on adopting out the kitties!
Also, I’m with everyone here on the “killing puppies is wrong” thing. How can these people claim to be animal lovers if part of their “job” consists of killing perfectly healthy puppies that they themselves have bred?
My brain broke over the puppy-killing so-called breeders.
On a happier related note: the Australian Bulldog was developed to breed out the extreme features of the British Bulldog that do them so much harm – the terribly narrow hips, the very short nose, skin fold eczma and so on. Breeding programs to help the animals for a change.
Belladonna993
10 years ago
It’s actually totally standard for the type of librarian I am. You only notice it’s kind of weird when you’re trying to explain it to people not in this field.
Well, the important question after any interview, whether it’s fifteen minutes or 12 hours long, is did you come away from it still wanting the job? If you did, then I wish you the very best of luck obtaining it!
As for killing puppies, their own reasons don’t make any sense. They’re totally incoherent.
If your market for your desired pups is the breeding and showing group, obviously the non-complying pups are unwanted. So you have the opportunity to exploit a totally different market, pets. Instead of having to pay the vet to have them put down, you can Get Income. Bonus! And that income stream also has the potential to introduce a few pet owners into the showing and breeding aspects of your preferred breed, thus expanding your target market in the first place.
Really makes you wonder if they don’t just see dogs as things, doesn’t it?
marinerachel
10 years ago
Take a peek at what English bulldogs looked like 200 years ago. Lots of beautiful paintings of them. They had long legs and snouts and muscular bodies. What we call the English bulldog now looks nothing like it did when English bulldogs were being used for their intended purpose of bullbaiting. There’s lots of mythology modern bulldog owners and breeders will spout off about how their dogs look like they do because it makes them ideal for bullbaiting. They’re either liars or don’t know any better. In reality, when bulldogs were bullbaiting, they looked nothing like they do now. Those wrinkles on their face are not to direct blood away from their eyes. They’re the result of excessive selective breeding to exaggerate purely cosmetic features people have come to love in bulldogs. You know where all the soft tissue of their snout has now gone? The back of their throat. That’s why smoosh faced dogs have dreadful obstructive breathing problems and are so hard to safely intubate for general anaesthesia. It’s still perfectly OK to show and breed a dog who has had to undergo surgical excision of that excess tissue shoved to the back of it’s throat due to it’s inability to breath though as long as it looks the way people have decided it’s supposed to!
Another worthwhile case to take a look at is the German Shepard. See a show German Shepard bred for appearance (it’s not true that they’re trying to produce a dog that fulfills it’s intended role better than any other in it’s breed, they’re just trying to produce a dog within the breed that has a particular appearance currently sought after) and compare it to a picture of a German Shepard a hundred years ago when they were first produced. Skeletally they’re very different. Veterinary orthopaedic surgeons will tell you the show German shepards are unfit for herding. Then look at a modern German Shepard bred for police work. Looks a lot like the German shepards from 100 years ago…..
Basically, this idea show dogs are the epitome of their breed is nonsense. Show dogs fulfill appearance requirements that don’t even lineup with what the dog looked Iike when it was bred for it’s intended job. A lot of dog breeders don’t know that though and believe that’s what working bulldogs or shepards looked like.
Ridgeless Rhodesian ridgebacks ARE healthier than Rhodesian ridgebacks. At least 5% of dogs with the ridge have a dermoid sinus, a neural tube defect. That sinus may still be connected to the dog’s spinal cord. It will become infected and abscess at some point in the dog’s life if it’s not surgically removed. At best, it’s painful and recurrent. At worst, it leads to meningitis and death. 0% of ridgeless dogs have this defect. A show-ready dog has the ridge though and if that doesn’t justify continuing to produce this defect the excuse “Well, the ones with ridges are said to have been better at baying lions”. THAT DOESN’T EVEN MAKE SENSE.
marinerachel, you’re so right! I just looked at the Wiki article on bulldogs and saw this one from 1790. Looks more like a terrier type, doesn’t it? At least thats what comes to mind to me.
It squicks me out when I see Shepherds with those extremely sloping backs.
The whole show breeding thing has so many awful results. Look at the short-nosed dogs and cats, the Pekes and Persians who look like they’ve had their faces pushed in. Ugh, ugh, ugh.
Most of the dogs I used to meet in the park on the way to work were mixed breeds. The owners generally knew what they were, too (yes I’d go up and talk to strangers about their puppehs). Lovely dogs, all of ’em.
marinerachel
10 years ago
Australian bulldogs are so freaking cute and, yeah, they’ve moved away from the features that cause health complications.
A friend who is a respiratory therapist has an American bulldog. He’s got some breathing issues which makes everyone laugh because she’s an RT and her dog should be on CPAP. Anyways, he’s healthy by most accounts but still will develop hip dysplasia with age and become increasingly disabled. Unfortunately, he LOVES sports. It’s a tough call because he wants to play hard. That’s what brings him pleasure. It’s what he lives for. He wants to go cycling and skiing with his lady and he runs HARD. We all know he’s one step closer to disability and eventually euthanasia every time he goes for a hard run but he just loves it. It’s how he wants to live. When I’m with him I try to spend as much time in the water as possible because swimming is great for his hips and he’s just as enthusiastic about leaping off the boat. I see him having an awesome time and know I’m not harming him. I can’t blame his family for letting him do what he pleases though. It’s his life. He won’t live as long but, gosh, he’s enjoying himself while he’s here.
And that’s what working English bulldogs looked like.
With the cow testicals to nom on and everything.
cassandrakitty
10 years ago
What’s the health status with those dogs that look like someone shrank a Malamute? They’re awfully cute but I can’t help worrying about what harm in might have done to them, making them that small.
We Hunted The Mammoth
You’re still making more sense than any troll ever did! 😀
Spooty frugulences sound quite interesting. Like some sort of fruit scent with added weird.
Oh God, I hope everything went well! I hope you get some good sleep tonight, and that you get the job. 🙂
I’m exhausted, but also too keyed up to sleep. It’s hard being “on” for nearly 12 hours straight.
Especially when you’re basically an introvert.
Also, good job hunting karma to anyone who needs it.
That’s the weirdest interview I’ve ever heard of, Cloudiah. What is this field you’re trying to get a job in?
Oo! I’ll take job-hunting karma; I have a job fair to go to tomorrow. 🙂
Nearly twelve hours?
What kind of world do these characters live in?
Now that is a feeling I’m familiar with. Here’s to hoping you got the job!
It’s actually totally standard for the type of librarian I am. You only notice it’s kind of weird when you’re trying to explain it to people not in this field. XD
Cripes! That’s scary.
Hey, katz, SO happy about your book! What happens now?
Cloudiah, congrats on surviving your job interview ordeal! I recommend that whoever is in charge hire you at once. But I’m not sure my recommendation counts for much.
Katz, congrats on the book, and on adopting out the kitties!
Also, I’m with everyone here on the “killing puppies is wrong” thing. How can these people claim to be animal lovers if part of their “job” consists of killing perfectly healthy puppies that they themselves have bred?
My brain broke over the puppy-killing so-called breeders.
On a happier related note: the Australian Bulldog was developed to breed out the extreme features of the British Bulldog that do them so much harm – the terribly narrow hips, the very short nose, skin fold eczma and so on. Breeding programs to help the animals for a change.
Well, the important question after any interview, whether it’s fifteen minutes or 12 hours long, is did you come away from it still wanting the job? If you did, then I wish you the very best of luck obtaining it!
Also, congratulations Katz!
As for killing puppies, their own reasons don’t make any sense. They’re totally incoherent.
If your market for your desired pups is the breeding and showing group, obviously the non-complying pups are unwanted. So you have the opportunity to exploit a totally different market, pets. Instead of having to pay the vet to have them put down, you can Get Income. Bonus! And that income stream also has the potential to introduce a few pet owners into the showing and breeding aspects of your preferred breed, thus expanding your target market in the first place.
What’s not to like?
Really makes you wonder if they don’t just see dogs as things, doesn’t it?
Take a peek at what English bulldogs looked like 200 years ago. Lots of beautiful paintings of them. They had long legs and snouts and muscular bodies. What we call the English bulldog now looks nothing like it did when English bulldogs were being used for their intended purpose of bullbaiting. There’s lots of mythology modern bulldog owners and breeders will spout off about how their dogs look like they do because it makes them ideal for bullbaiting. They’re either liars or don’t know any better. In reality, when bulldogs were bullbaiting, they looked nothing like they do now. Those wrinkles on their face are not to direct blood away from their eyes. They’re the result of excessive selective breeding to exaggerate purely cosmetic features people have come to love in bulldogs. You know where all the soft tissue of their snout has now gone? The back of their throat. That’s why smoosh faced dogs have dreadful obstructive breathing problems and are so hard to safely intubate for general anaesthesia. It’s still perfectly OK to show and breed a dog who has had to undergo surgical excision of that excess tissue shoved to the back of it’s throat due to it’s inability to breath though as long as it looks the way people have decided it’s supposed to!
Another worthwhile case to take a look at is the German Shepard. See a show German Shepard bred for appearance (it’s not true that they’re trying to produce a dog that fulfills it’s intended role better than any other in it’s breed, they’re just trying to produce a dog within the breed that has a particular appearance currently sought after) and compare it to a picture of a German Shepard a hundred years ago when they were first produced. Skeletally they’re very different. Veterinary orthopaedic surgeons will tell you the show German shepards are unfit for herding. Then look at a modern German Shepard bred for police work. Looks a lot like the German shepards from 100 years ago…..
Basically, this idea show dogs are the epitome of their breed is nonsense. Show dogs fulfill appearance requirements that don’t even lineup with what the dog looked Iike when it was bred for it’s intended job. A lot of dog breeders don’t know that though and believe that’s what working bulldogs or shepards looked like.
Ridgeless Rhodesian ridgebacks ARE healthier than Rhodesian ridgebacks. At least 5% of dogs with the ridge have a dermoid sinus, a neural tube defect. That sinus may still be connected to the dog’s spinal cord. It will become infected and abscess at some point in the dog’s life if it’s not surgically removed. At best, it’s painful and recurrent. At worst, it leads to meningitis and death. 0% of ridgeless dogs have this defect. A show-ready dog has the ridge though and if that doesn’t justify continuing to produce this defect the excuse “Well, the ones with ridges are said to have been better at baying lions”. THAT DOESN’T EVEN MAKE SENSE.
Love my mutts. I. Love. My. Mutts.
marinerachel, you’re so right! I just looked at the Wiki article on bulldogs and saw this one from 1790. Looks more like a terrier type, doesn’t it? At least thats what comes to mind to me.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulldog#mediaviewer/File:Philip_Reinagle_-_Bulldog.jpg
It squicks me out when I see Shepherds with those extremely sloping backs.
The whole show breeding thing has so many awful results. Look at the short-nosed dogs and cats, the Pekes and Persians who look like they’ve had their faces pushed in. Ugh, ugh, ugh.
Most of the dogs I used to meet in the park on the way to work were mixed breeds. The owners generally knew what they were, too (yes I’d go up and talk to strangers about their puppehs). Lovely dogs, all of ’em.
Australian bulldogs are so freaking cute and, yeah, they’ve moved away from the features that cause health complications.
A friend who is a respiratory therapist has an American bulldog. He’s got some breathing issues which makes everyone laugh because she’s an RT and her dog should be on CPAP. Anyways, he’s healthy by most accounts but still will develop hip dysplasia with age and become increasingly disabled. Unfortunately, he LOVES sports. It’s a tough call because he wants to play hard. That’s what brings him pleasure. It’s what he lives for. He wants to go cycling and skiing with his lady and he runs HARD. We all know he’s one step closer to disability and eventually euthanasia every time he goes for a hard run but he just loves it. It’s how he wants to live. When I’m with him I try to spend as much time in the water as possible because swimming is great for his hips and he’s just as enthusiastic about leaping off the boat. I see him having an awesome time and know I’m not harming him. I can’t blame his family for letting him do what he pleases though. It’s his life. He won’t live as long but, gosh, he’s enjoying himself while he’s here.
Well, that’s weird … the picture didn’t load. Try again:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Philip_Reinagle_-_Bulldog.jpg
And that’s what working English bulldogs looked like.
With the cow testicals to nom on and everything.
What’s the health status with those dogs that look like someone shrank a Malamute? They’re awfully cute but I can’t help worrying about what harm in might have done to them, making them that small.
marinerachel, that’s so sad about your friend’s dog’s future. Almost makes you wish his family lived on a boat, doesn’t it?
I thought that was a leg bone!
MISANDRY!
cassandra, are those the Alaskan Klee Kai? I’m just googling miniature malamute here.
Maybe? That sounds right. There’s someone local who has one that I see around sometimes.
There’s a Pet MD page on them here:
http://www.petmd.com/dog/breeds/c_dg_alaskan_klee_kai
So. Much. Cute.