Anyone who knows me well knows I am not that into purebred dogs, but that I have a definite soft spot for pitties. I love how friendly and happy they are. I also find that they tend to be pretty stable tempermentally, despite being overbred. And they are easy dogs to read, the untrustworthy pit bulls don't hide their fearfulness or aggressiveness, they are open books behaviorally.
Last year, I surprised myself by falling for a stunning male Belgian Malinois one of our vets rescued. His name was Travis and were my life more stable, I would have adopted him in a heartbeat. Malinois are often used as police dogs, and can be quite high strung, but Travis, in his rescuer's words, was "very sensible."
This weekend, on the beach in Bolinas, I found myself instantly smitten with an Irish setter youngster, all of 18 months. Ru was lean and beautiful, a running machine, but it was her personality and not her looks that did me in. Soft and so gentle, there wasn't a mean bone in her body. I asked to have my picture taken with her (below), which the owners thought was a little weird. (Later my birding instructor explained to me that most people want their photos taken with the beach in the background, a significant other or friend etc but not someone else's dog).
I've never paid much attention to setters as a breed, but come to think of it I've always been a big fan of Dr. Triathlete's English setter, Ferris (right below and top, me taking a break to hang out with Ferris-- don't ask me what it means that I have a million pictures of me in cages). Like Ru, not only is she beautiful (just look at that perfectly spotted face), but she has a winner personality. Gentle and easy going. She's well-trained too. And, best of all, like Ru she is a runner, and can even keep up with Dr. Triathlete on his long training runs, which would be too much for most dogs.
I will have to consider having a setter in my distant future. I think it would make me happy.
6 comments:
The dog looks a little worried that she is about to have a new mom!!
I'm not sure which one you mean. Certainly Ferris looks a little worried to me, though she is not at all an anxious dog. It looks like she is thinking, "Why does she keep pointing that black box at me and why do I have to sit still when the cage door is open? Do I get to go out and run around yet?"
What's your experience with these breeds? Are you also enamored with them? Do you find they tend to be good long distance runners?
I'm not so much into the breeds as the personality. Like, we had a one eyed Great Dane in the shop a while back who was up for adoption. I wanted to keep him and name him "Stink Eye".
I certainly appreciate a beautiful dog, but I don't get hung up on them. I would spend days looking at Zrbrt though... I guess that I have more of a thing for Boxers and Bulldogs. I love the strong jaw thing on dogs. I also love them so ugly that they are cute. Aww... just like some of my exes!!
No matter what you think about setters, you must admit there is no dog more beautiful than me -Zrbrt
Zrbrt is quite a looker, for sure. But what about chunky, cutie Lilo?
The thing is these setters (Ru and Ferris) have some of the sweetest personalities of any dogs I've met and none of the exuberant bounce of a pit bull, which, I hope don't offend too many people, can be a bit much to handle day to day (and I live with one of the most exuberant and sensitive pit bulls ever, Peter, so it is hard to discipline him).
That's a great pic of Ferris!
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