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Martin Clunes: A Man And His Dogs


dirtychicken

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Rudi, I didn't see it as a promoting the ways of JF sort of programme if that's what you were worried about? More an our wonderful dogs are descended from wolves, let's take a look at different dog/wolf things kinda way. That was my take on it anyway and I really enjoyed it.

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My take on it was the people have to realise this is a wild animal they are sharing their homes with, which for hundreds of years was bred to do a job - be it ratting or pulling or fighting, and you can't just turn it into a pet dog without recognising that it will have some deep seated breed traits.....

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I'm reading a book by Shaun Ellis at the moment. It's called The Wolf Talk.

My understanding is that wolves don't go their seperate ways and that they live in family groups unless individuals choose to leave the pack and start their own family groups. Is that not the case then?

 

Melp, if your interested in Wolf behaviour the guy to read is David Mech Way of the Wolf very highly regarded and much quoted by other behaviourists :flowers:

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Rudi, I feared it would be a bit like that, but it wasn't bad tbh with you, you should watch it, it is basically just one mans love for dogs, and it shines through all the way :flowers:

 

I thought it was going to annoy me too from seeing the trailers but it wasn't too bad, as you say.

It can't be denied that there are similarities between wolf and dog behaviour, just as there are between humans and apes, but it didn't make those similarities more important than they are.

The differences were also mentioned and it was reasonably balanced on the subject.

 

Pam

Edited by mum24dog
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Tony Fitzjohn "swoon" he is still very handsom!!!!, I remember drooling over his photos when as a very young man hw went to work at the side of George Adamson and the lions, wonder how he came to work with the wild dogs. Must go and read up about him and his life since then

 

gatfinmess.jpg

 

edit to add photo of a young Tony

Edited by Red Rotties
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oh yeah right the dogs :laugh:

 

the bulldogs, well I know a lot of breeders are doing a lot to inprove the breed, less wrinkles and more able for natural births, but very much like the old type that were shown

 

The wild dogs were beautiful, and Tony Fitzjohn, well ...................... :wub: quote..Tony Fitzjohn is one of those restless, swashbuckling Englishmen that only the wildness of Africa can satisfy. :wub:

 

Found a bit about his wild dog work

 

By 1995 Mkomazi was ready for its first rehabilitation programmes. The species Fitzjohn had chosen was the wild dog, the painted wolves of Africa. Twenty-five pups were removed from dens in the Masai Steppe and taken to compounds in the Mkomazi reserve.

 

Why wild dogs and not big cats? "For some reason their plight just caught my heart," he says. "They've been clobbered so badly as a species, but they are such smart little animals. I have enormous respect for them. They really do deserve one last chance - and that is what we are giving them. All our dogs are vaccinated against rabies, canine distemper and parvo virus, and so far the dawa [swahili for medicine] seems to be working."

 

Was it cruel to remove the pups from from their families? "We took them from an area where the Masai poison wild dogs because they were killing livestock. One pack had already been wiped out and these were the next in line." Since then the Mkomazi dogs have more than doubled their numbers

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Lesley - is that stuff about the bulldog's breeding true? :unsure: I thought the stuff about the shape of the jaw to aid breathing whilst holding the bull and the wrinkles to drain the bull's blood away were bull (scuse the pun :wink: ) as they said the same thing in the Pedigree Dogs programme but the original shape was completely different. So have "we" bred them to have that face shape for those reasons or is it all nonsense? :wacko: Bluddy luffly poopies though :wub:

 

I was impressed with the programme again and thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope it comes out on DVD because I could watch them again and again. Bit disappointed that he didn't spend more time on the breeding side of it as he looked amazed at the little he was told.

 

Lovely to see that Arthur was a typical norty young labby at the training class :laugh: :laugh:

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:wub: :wub: Really enjoyed it again, but I must say not as much as last week...Martin Clunes has REALLY grown on me, he is just so in love with dogs and not afraid to show it, LOVE this in a man :wub:

Those wild dogs were just THUD, my heart was in my mouth a bit though, thought they were going to rip that poor lpne older female to bits! :wacko:

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The bulldog breeders explanation of the bulldog was ( I think) a fairy story I'm afraid

This is a painting of Crib and Rosa from 1817, the bitch Rosa was used as an ideal example by the bulldog fraternity when they were creating the breed standard

Abraham-Cooper-Crib---Rosa--Restrik.jpg as you can see they bare little resemblance to the modern bulldog, there's another painting by Landseer, that unfortunately I can't find on the web, of a bull attacked by dogs, the dogs look very like Amercan Bulldogs.

The horrible truth of bull baiting was that the bulls used were transported round the country to various fairs and were used over and over again, these bulls very quickly learnt how to deal with the dogs, which were usually sent in a few at a time, spectators would then be invited to set their dogs against the bull,so in truth the original dogs were every shape and size you could imagine, the successful ones lived and were bred from, there are even many accounts of lurcher types being used, if the dog was tenacious and quick it would win, I can't imagine anything resembling the modern bulldog lasting five seconds against a bull.......poor buggers :(

 

But after saying all that, those bulldog puppies were just gorgeous :wub:

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Wasn't the rat killing used to show /demonstrate some of the natural instincts still in the domestic dogs?

 

 

I enjoyed all of both programs, and being a country boy have no problems with the jrt's killing rats.

 

If we all take a look at what kid of dogs/dogs we currently have, then maybe take a minute to

remember what was their original purpose, those with border collies, have you got any sheep, if not

why not, thats one of their main purpose's. Ridgebacks (got any lions to scare off), no, well they done a good job then :laugh:

 

one of my westies got very animated during the rat scene (she goes feral very quickly - typical terrier :rolleyes: )

my mini daxi went potty, tried to join in and catch a couple himself as well :laugh: :laugh:

 

Did anyone notice that the stuffed dog museum in Tring, was the same place that the BBC went to when

they did their expo on the KC and bad breeding practises the other week.

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