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Melody wrote:
Just one of those lovely summer colds. I’m next, probably.
Ugh. I hope not–it’s no fun watching someone be miserable and sick and have that little voice in the back of your head saying, “Gee, I wonder if I’ll have that symptom too? Or that one? Or–wow, I hope I don’t end up doing that!“
Take some B complex and get extra rest, if you can! Good luck! 🙂
Oh that would be cool! Please consider it: having some glow-eyed Windstone beastie lurking in my garden would be the most fun ever! (I’d have to plant a garden for it to lurk in first, but details, details . . . ;))
I started painting my first PYO this last weekend. It’s the Muse. She is turning into one crazy little mixed-up patchwork beastie, but I’m really grateful for her: I would never have had the courage to start painting otherwise! All those different patches of fur, feathers, scales, etc. pretty much mean that it’s OK if she turns out looking like a Discworld Igor. Which is a good thing, because there were a lot of techniques I wanted to try, and she’s getting hit with most of them. I should order another Muse for the leftovers. 😛
Now for the funny. Want to guess how long I’ve had PYOs sitting around? Since they were first issued! I bought some griffins back then and have been afraid to try anything with them ever since! 😆 Maybe I can start now that the Muse has tested the waters for me. 😛
ruffian wrote:Barrdwing I think you and I will get along really well, what do you think of pet shops selling dogs and puppy mills?
Puppy mills: SNARL! 👿 A dog is a living thing, not a commodity to mass-produce. When it starts coming to “How many pups can we get out of this one before she’s all used up?” I just want to wade in with a big stick with a nail in it. Major hot button. I’ll stop now.
Pet shops selling dogs (heck, pet shops selling anything!): depends entirely on how discerning they are regarding who they sell to, and their buyer education program, and the conditions the animals are kept in, and their veterinary care program in-shop, and whether they take the trouble to screen their suppliers. In other words, are the pet shops taking care for the well-being of their “living merchandise”, or are they just out to make money by whatever means available?
Case in point. Early this year, it came to light that some pet shops in Southern California were buying dogs from suppliers in Mexico; in particular, a certain valley in Mexico. Guess what. There is no rabies vaccination enforcement in Mexico. Guess what disease was endemic in that valley. Can you imagine buying a puppy from a pet shop and having it go rabid in a few weeks? And the reason the pet shops were buying from Mexico was, you guessed it, because the pups were even cheaper there. Needless to say the US authorities cracked down on those shops good and hard. But when profit margin becomes more important than anything else, things go to hell. And the thought of having some poor dogs–or any other living thing, for that matter–caught in the middle is enough to get me frothing mad myself.
Phoo. Another major hot button.
It really does come down to how the dog is raised (you’ve just got to socialize a puppy!) and being able to read canine body language/understanding canine social structure. I work with a lot of dogs. The biters are in three groups: first and largest, the spoiled or untrained dogs who bite in order to show dominance over the human. (The dog believes that they’re the alpha.) Second group, thankfully smaller, would be the fear/stress biters. (Unsocialized, most of these; a few are just highly spooky dogs by nature, or dogs pushed beyond their tolerance by pain.) Third and smallest group, the genuinely human-aggressive dogs, who see humans as modified prey items. This last is the fear behind all the media noise. It’s also an unacceptable thing.
This is going to sound egotistical and humanocentric, but dogs were bred to be companions, assistants . . . and tools . . . of humans. The first two categories are fine. The third one gets hazy because it depends on how the tool is being used. It’s wonderful to develop a breed that will guard your flocks, fetch your shot duck, clear out the rats in the barn, be a lifeguard for the kids. It’s inexcusable to develop a dog–I don’t say a breed–for the purpose of being a weapon against people in general or some kind of ain’t-I-tough symbol.
Like it or not, humans are social creatures. We all need to get along. Keeping a dog that is an active threat to other people is No Good. Banning a breed won’t do any good. We need a way of getting to the unspeakable idiots who create the truly dangerous dogs. (I have some ideas, mostly involving a blunt spoon. 👿 )
There’s a complicating factor in that there’s a real language barrier between humans and dogs. We don’t fully understand their body language, and this is where a lot of fear bites come from. The dog is saying one thing. The human misinterprets what is being said and does something that frightens, confuses, or angers the dog. This happens enough, and a human will get bitten. Humans and dogs get along properly when there’s enough mutual comprehension.
There are rogue dogs, just like there are psychopathic humans. But how do you tell the rare rogue from the hundreds of unsocialized fear biters or spoiled dogs? How do you tell a human psychopath from the merely unsocial or the perpetually crabby? It’s very hard. They may pop up more often in certain family lines, but unless an entire breed should happen to come from an extremely small and nasty gene pool, rogues are not going to be decided by breed either.
I’m really glad to see so many people agreeing that a dog’s breed is not the problem. I think the consensus is that it’s the human elements in the equation that decide how things turn out. Humans need to behave responsibly.
Thanks for everyone’s patience. 😳 This was a hot button for me too.
Choosing a favorite was tough! I finally went with Black and Tan, but Tan and Pearl would be really cool too. And so would Wolf and Pearl. I think you could find interest in any of these. 🙂
I’m kind of assuming that the Black X Tan chicks would use the Black Sunset colors, but does anyone else have a preference between Black Sunset and Black Peacock for this cross?
Well I think the Muse is as cute as the dickens. 🙂 She certainly has a friendly expression! Her eyes are a little different, but I just figure she’s a kindly little critter who’s just been subjected to thirty minutes of undeserved, beak-clenching terror on Highway 99 during rush hour. 😉 Commuting can be such a bugger.
Besides, look at all of her wonderful textures! There’s a Muse with bags of inspiration to share. Who wouldn’t love a Muse like that? 8)
Numbers 4 and 5. I love the muted silver and gray on number 4, but it would look keen sitting next to number 5!
And, of course, any Poad color after that. Black and orange? Sounds good to me too! Would it work to do black with a watered-silk dappling (like a black leopard) and orange eyes?
That Red Gold (Red Flame?) SK was the most spectacular piece I’ve ever seen and I had one heck of a time chaining down my wallet when I saw her. (It’s really not a good time to be spending over $3,000. That doesn’t mean she isn’t worth every penny! I’m still sorry I didn’t bid on her.) If that color comes out in regular release, I will be doing silly backflips of delight! 😀
I’d certainly buy a mother coiled. She’s a wonderful dragon! 🙂 I don’t mind waiting a bit but I would love to see her back in production, or as direct sale.
Oh rats, I’ve already mortgaged July so that I can go to Comic-Con in San Diego. Phooey! I hope this year’s get-together is so much fun that there’ll be another next year.
Dracomancer, I can’t believe it: I lived in Ridgecrest for eight years, hardly any distance from Lancaster! Well, speaking relatively . . . and considering population density out there. If I’d known, we could have met at Round Table or something! 😛 I was taking regular trips down to Palmdale for a while, partly to enjoy the restaurants. (There ain’t much in Ridgecrest. Once you get used to the local eateries, it starts to pall a little.)
Greater Basilisk wrote:Barrdwing wrote:Greater Basilisk wrote:They went really fast.
I’m imagining Poads wearing rocket packs . . . . 😛
😆 😆 Okay – they were sold really fast. How about that?
Whoops, didn’t mean to twit what you’d said! 😳 I meant that they were flying out of the store so fast that they must be wearing rocket packs. But I think you figured that out anyway. 😆
One flew here. I love these little critters! 😀I’m really looking forward to all of the griffins, but especially the old tan! It’s wonderful that there’ll be another production griffin family color (gee, I held out for a whole day after they hit the market before caving and ordering a Wolf mother and chicks). And now I can be curious about the prototype baby ki-rin, too! 🙂
