Here's something to make you ill if you have a dog in the top ten. AKC My breed has moved up to second and I cringe to think of what it means for them. They've already suffered enough from their popularity.

Gil.

I have a black lab and a German Shepherd/Border Collie Mix. Our off leash area has seen a surge in Boxers and Bernese Mountain Dogs. It seems like every fifth person is getting one.
We have always seen a lot of labs and German Shepherds here though, that isn't new.

No, it's not new, Ana, it's just worse. The more popular a dog is, the more you see them churned out by backyard breeders and mills. It's enough to make you cry. Friends with low-ranked breeds are exultant.

Gil.

Yep, Labbies have been #1 for 21 years (or at least so I read). These lists are one reason why I preach constantly to know your breeder well, talk with them often, get certifications from them before you buy or else get a dog from a rescue group or your local Humane Society.

I am a shelter or rescue advocate all the way. I do not want to encourage or support anyone breeding new puppies when the shelters are exploding with dogs that need love.

L4l, absolutely. I totally agree with you.

Ana, that'a another topic and one I won't get into.

Gil.

I'm with Ana. We have 3 dogs right now and every one was one that someone dumped out in the country. Buddy is a Lab, Meramec is a "dawg" as hubby calls her, and Charlie is Pit Bull/Australian Shepherd cross. Even our cat was thrown out of a car when she was just 6 weeks old. My problem with going to a shelter is that I want to take them ALL home! We have 3 of the sweetest, best dogs in the world that deserved to end up here, not with whoever had them first. Charlie is sleeping on my couch with her head on a pillow right now. Spoiled!

Coming from the state shamefully known as "the puppy mill capital of the world," I have to say that l4l is absolutely correct. If you buy a breed, KNOW your breeder.

Drac, 3 of our 4 doggies are rescues, or as I call them...God dogs cos He sent them here. I got Keoki one day when I walked to the mailbox and this totally adorable black puppy came running up to me. Jilly brought home Miss Seagan when the vet was going to put her down for being a biter (she is not) and Solo found Lil Soot in the park early one morning during a walk.

All of our cats have been God picks too.

I can't work at a shelter either cos I'd cry myself silly, become hysterical, and have 900 animals. But we do support them in other ways. My hat is off to those who can go there and work.

Every week our paper publishes a "Pet of the Week" and every week I have to talk myself down. It helps to come down and review our vet bills.

You have to talk yourself down with those "pet of the week" pictures and stories too! I'm a particular sucker for the black dogs as - for some unknown reason - they are they ones most difficult to adopt out. Our Charlie would have been one of the first to be put down because she's both black and part Pit Bull. But a sweeter dog was never born. We're so lucky she wandered up into our barn and not someone else's.

People are afraid of black dogs. I know, it makes no sense, but I've always owned black or bi-color GSDs and I could safely walk them through a robbery, I think, without being accosted.

Gil.

I love black German Shepherds. They look so handsome.

Ana

Traveler is suddenly very enamored of you, Ana. He sends you a big slurp.

Gil.

I won't ask what he licked last and will graciously accept the slurp.

The last thing I saw his muzzle on was green tripe. You're indeed a dog person if you can survive that.

Gil.

I can handle that better than some of the stuff my dogs get into.

Ana