slaveofconvention
09-16-2009, 01:23 PM
Just thought I'd share a dog story or two about the mad hound my wife and I call Taukus...
This is Taukus and Hemi - you might have seen them in my worklogs.
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/forums/taukushemi.jpg
Taukus got his name by never shutting up when he was a pup - my wife Beth thought he was trying to talk us to death - Hemi - well she purrs so loudly, it sounds like an engine....
You may think he looks pretty big - well your average German Shepherd Dog gets to about 38-43 kilos (84-95 pounds) - last time he was weighed, he was just over 60 (132 pounds) at 18 months and I swear he's bigger now than he was then - there's NO fat on him - well no unhealthy fat - the vet tells me he's in perfect shape etc so nothing to worry about - he's just bloody huge!
Apparently, the German Shepherd (and he's pure-breed - I have a 5 generation pedigree certificate for him) are the 3rd smartest breed of dog - behind only Border Collies and Poodles - Taukus bucks the trend - he's dumb as a post (unless he wants to be then you see flashes of intelligence).
Story 1 - the Delivery Man....
We were living in an annex to a big mansion style house - I looked after the place - and paid no rent in return. Our front door was actually on the back of the house, and we had a gated drive which went down the side and around the back to our door. I'd estimate the drive was probably 70 yards from the gate to the front door. Just inside the door were the stairs going up to our apartment - there was half a flight straight up from the door, then a horizontal section across, then the second half doubling back on the first half. You could lean down on the landing between the two half-flights and just peer under the ceiling and see the front door.
One morning when I was at work some poor guy came to deliver a package - knowing me it was probably some kind of puter/modding part - anyway - he let himself in the gate and walked around and knocked on the door. Taukus raced down the stairs, barking like he was possessed (which he still does if anyone knocks) followed relatively closely by my wife. Half way down, she leant over and took a look to see who it was, and saw the dog jumping at the door and this poor delivery guy with a look of sheer terror on his face pinned against the rail opposite the door (there was a disabled accessible ramp with a handrail along the front of the house). As she came a little further down the stairs, Taukus decided to show off his new trick, and turned his attention to the door handle - both paws on the handle and he can open the door by carefully shuffling back on his hind legs... doesn't matter if the door opens in or out - like I said once in a while, he's smart lol. The delivery guy took off like his worst nightmare was an inch from his heels, closely followed by Taukus - by the time my wife caught up with them, the delivery guy was outside the gate, still looking utterly terrified and the dog was running back and forth in front of the gates doing nothing at all to soothe his fears lol.
The funny thing is - he dog is as soft as they come - he loves people, doesn't care if you're a stranger or not and while he is verbally very territorial, if you were brave enough to actually enter the property, he'd just play with you - there's really no danger in him, other than when he's excited, he occasionally forgets he isn't allowed to jump... 60+ kilo of dog jumping up can knock you seriously off-balance...
Beth explained to the guy that he had nothing to worry about but I don't think he really cared about anything coming out of her mouth - he was way too concerned about bits of him ending up IN Taukus's....
This is Taukus and Hemi - you might have seen them in my worklogs.
http://www.slaveofconvention.com/imagestore/forums/taukushemi.jpg
Taukus got his name by never shutting up when he was a pup - my wife Beth thought he was trying to talk us to death - Hemi - well she purrs so loudly, it sounds like an engine....
You may think he looks pretty big - well your average German Shepherd Dog gets to about 38-43 kilos (84-95 pounds) - last time he was weighed, he was just over 60 (132 pounds) at 18 months and I swear he's bigger now than he was then - there's NO fat on him - well no unhealthy fat - the vet tells me he's in perfect shape etc so nothing to worry about - he's just bloody huge!
Apparently, the German Shepherd (and he's pure-breed - I have a 5 generation pedigree certificate for him) are the 3rd smartest breed of dog - behind only Border Collies and Poodles - Taukus bucks the trend - he's dumb as a post (unless he wants to be then you see flashes of intelligence).
Story 1 - the Delivery Man....
We were living in an annex to a big mansion style house - I looked after the place - and paid no rent in return. Our front door was actually on the back of the house, and we had a gated drive which went down the side and around the back to our door. I'd estimate the drive was probably 70 yards from the gate to the front door. Just inside the door were the stairs going up to our apartment - there was half a flight straight up from the door, then a horizontal section across, then the second half doubling back on the first half. You could lean down on the landing between the two half-flights and just peer under the ceiling and see the front door.
One morning when I was at work some poor guy came to deliver a package - knowing me it was probably some kind of puter/modding part - anyway - he let himself in the gate and walked around and knocked on the door. Taukus raced down the stairs, barking like he was possessed (which he still does if anyone knocks) followed relatively closely by my wife. Half way down, she leant over and took a look to see who it was, and saw the dog jumping at the door and this poor delivery guy with a look of sheer terror on his face pinned against the rail opposite the door (there was a disabled accessible ramp with a handrail along the front of the house). As she came a little further down the stairs, Taukus decided to show off his new trick, and turned his attention to the door handle - both paws on the handle and he can open the door by carefully shuffling back on his hind legs... doesn't matter if the door opens in or out - like I said once in a while, he's smart lol. The delivery guy took off like his worst nightmare was an inch from his heels, closely followed by Taukus - by the time my wife caught up with them, the delivery guy was outside the gate, still looking utterly terrified and the dog was running back and forth in front of the gates doing nothing at all to soothe his fears lol.
The funny thing is - he dog is as soft as they come - he loves people, doesn't care if you're a stranger or not and while he is verbally very territorial, if you were brave enough to actually enter the property, he'd just play with you - there's really no danger in him, other than when he's excited, he occasionally forgets he isn't allowed to jump... 60+ kilo of dog jumping up can knock you seriously off-balance...
Beth explained to the guy that he had nothing to worry about but I don't think he really cared about anything coming out of her mouth - he was way too concerned about bits of him ending up IN Taukus's....