Two Mongrels and a Mutt (Cross Breeds)

Member Name: Plumptious

Product:	Cross Breeds
Date:	06/05/01 (565 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheaper, Lower probability of congenital defects

Disadvantages: Temperament and ability less easy to predict

I was nine years old, and months of petitioning had finally paid off. My mother had just agreed that I could have a dog. Wahey!

Enquiries were made, and we received news of a lady who had two available. A car had been abandoned near her house, and a stray dog had had a litter under it. Passersby had pulled out two of the pups and played with them. Fun over, they'd returned the pups to the shelter of the car and gone away.

Unfortnuately, the pups now smelt of these strangers, and the mother would not accept them again. They were only a couple of weeks old, and the lady had handreared them rather than see them starve.


The smaller one had difficulty using the bottle's teat, and splattered it everywhere. The plumper one supped enthusiastically, and did his level best to have both his share and his brother's.

They were adorable little things, and even my mother found herself unable to choose between them.
And this is how we ended up with two dogs.


They were true mongrels. Black and white, their genes were of so many diverse sources that we were hard put to guess at half their ancestors.

The decision to have both dogs was a good one. They played happily together, and fought well as a team. A badly trained alsation once broke away from its owner and tried to attack us. Even though my dogs were only six months old, and less than half the size of this fully grown agressor, they trounced it soundly and saw it off.
There was lots of blood. I was very proud.


I would come home from school, have a snack, and do my homework. I always dealt with all paperwork whilst lying on the floor. This habit stemmed from the fact that my mother only subscribed to broadsheet newspapers, which I liked reading, but couldn't hold up properly. My solution was to place the newspaper on the floor, and sit on it to read the top half.

Thinking back, my dogs were very good abou
t it, and I never had them trying to extend their wrestling matches to any of my scattered paperwork.

My mother made three identical large floor cushions, and would often come home to find that I'd completed my homework and fallen asleep on my cushion. The dogs would doing likewise on their cushions beside me.


If she came home late, we would be outside playing. They could discern the sound of her car's engine ages before it was visible, and run to the top of a nearby hill to meet her. She would stop to greet them. They would then scramble into the back seat, through the windows if necessary, and then sit there, enjoying the 30 second trip back to the house.


Years later, I find myself in possession of another dog. She's a cross breed, her mother a border collie and her sire a labrador. Cross breed she may be, but the original name for this category could have been made for her, for she really and truly is a real mutt.


At first glance, she might pass for being well trained. For instance, she will come when called. Unfortunately, she will also come when anyone or anything else is called.

All the positive and negative reinforcement in the world does no good. I have praised, hugged, rewarded, growled, smacked, and ignored her. Nothing works. The concept of her being an entity seperate by herself is not one she has grasped.

Hours of iterated reinforcement have come to nowt.

She is also an errant coward, and will flee from any dogs approaching us in the park. The only two dogs I can remember her growling at were extremely small and decrepit. One was so old that it was actually wobbling as it walked. I was so ashamed!

If there is any display of affection happenning, she'll be there in a flash, edging in, hoping for a share of the action. The only thing stopping her from pushing the other dog/cat/young human out of the way is knowing that I wouldn't stand
for it.


Mind you, I do think that she would be an absolute asset if burglars ever visited. She's been trained not to jump at visitors, but knowing her, she would hover complaintly and persistently about their feet, hoping for strokes and hugs. Being a black dog, she would be virtually invisible in the dark, and thus stand a very good chance of tripping them up.


And that, in my opinion, is the difference between a mongrel and a mutt.

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