Tiny Dogs

[dana_leigh]

hello,

does anyone have ideas about where to buy very small (and healthy) dogs in chiang mai? i don't know one breed from the next (i grew up with labs) but am searching for a miniature housemate (the sort you might see thais carrying around in cute outfits at the sunday market). cheers, dana

[Dustoff]

~

Hi Dana,

I grew up with a Scotch Collie and have mostly had/still have Golden Retrievers.

I had heard many, many times that the King of Thailand strongly promotes Thai dogs as opposed to the common "specialty" breeds and I have to admit that after seeing many of the dogs here initially, I was surprised.

A couple of months ago a friend called in fluster over a 2/mo old street puppy she had been sorta taking care of that had been hit by a pickup truck and she could not afford his medical care.

What the hey, eh?

Da Dustoff to the rescue.

Broken rear femur, surgery, steel rod inserted..

healing, rod removed..

When we brought him home my wife asked what we should name him..

"Outa Here!" I insisted. "He gets a few weeks to heal and off he goes..."

(I am am a really tough kinda guy, ya know)..

Well, it has been almost 3 months and I have to admit, once again,

that I have never met a more intelligent and loving dog.

Wow...

We are in a quandry in that we have plans to travel extensively and what to do with Donkey?

(My wife calls him that after the Donkey in the movie Shrek. I call him Hopalong..)

Let it happen. If you shop for a "breed" over here you will most likely get a very poorly bred dog no matter WHAT the seller tells you! When we got our Golden from a highly recommended breeder it wasn't long before I started noticing defects.. hair, intelligence, the self-control that Goldens usually and naturally display. He is now in an intense boarding/training school for 3 months and time will tell.

PMail me and come see this little Thai pup (we are near Hang Dong) of our's to get an idea what is available everywhere in this country. If I can say this again, I gotta admit that I have not laughed this much in many years; he is such a little delight!

[SamSipEt]

I watched a TV program many years ago with some well renowned vets looking at various pure bred dogs. All of them without exception had genetic faults (the dogs not the vets) as a result of too much in breeding. I don’t know if the Thai dog is a breed or not but those that don’t limp seem to be healthy enough – at least their vocal cords work well most nights all night!

[dana_leigh]

thanks for the advice dustoff--your puppy is lucky to have found you!

i'm not searching for a particular breed or the right papers or whatever, but i do absolutely want a dog that is very, very tiny. my house and i are both on the small side.

thanks again, dana

[jomama]

You might take a look at what the Thais call simply the "miniture," which is a miniture Doberman, I think, but reminds me more of a chuahua. They also remind me of deer; their legs are absolutely chopstick-like.

We have a Pug dog (pictured in my avatar), which is the largest of the "toy" breeds. He's a pretty stout guy, so I wouldn't call him tiny. Now he owns us, we don't own him. And he doesn't smoke; I did that in Photoshop.

Anyway the miniture might suit you well. They don't yap all the time if they have a good owner.

[...Ken]

Mutts are better than dogs of a more similar 'recognized' breed....hmmm. It could be you are just not familiar will the appearances of your average soi dog.

I am sure you have a great dog.....help it obtain it's potential of being 'user friendly'. The dog certainly has that potential.

Your criticisms of pure bred dogs in Thailand rings hollow with me when I think of my old, close friend, 'Mad Mike' (deceased) who would go to Australia and 'shop' for pure bred German Shepherds. He would politely ask for a photo copy of a dogs pedigree. Once obtained he would go to several dog pounds and buy the cheapest half dozen German Shepherd looking dogs available. A few more photo copies and a plane ticket back to Thailand and .....there was a few baht in yer pocket.

All done to insure a multidiscipined gene pool, of course.

.....Ken

[meadish_sweetball]

Find a comfortable spot near the rubbish bins around the moat at night. Stand by with a piece of cheese and a cage. With a little luck you'll have the cutest little dog imaginable. Nasty front teeth though, and their tails might require some docking.

...oh, and you might want to take a tetanus and a rabies shot in advance.

[SamSipEt]

I’ve heard that the black ones are popular because they taste the best which explains why there are not that many black dogs around.

[dana_leigh]

With a little luck you'll have the cutest little dog imaginable. Nasty front teeth though, and their tails might require some docking.

...oh, and you might want to take a tetanus and a rabies shot in advance.

just finished my course of rabies shots about a month ago...after a pack of strays attacked me on a scary chiang mai morning. not so fun:) dana