High Maintenance Dog Breeds?

Our friends over at Trupanion Pet Insurance blogged about this topic today:  High Maintenance Dog Breeds.   Evidently, the original story was done by Yahoo Shine and can be found here, including pictures.   Sadly, I can’t tell who was responsible for creating this list and their criteria is simply listed as high energy dogs with increased grooming needs and probably a short attention span.

So, here’s their list (in alphabetical, not “maintenance” order):

1. Australian Shepherd
2. King Charles Cavalier Spaniel
3. Border Collie
4. Brussels Griffon
5. Cocker Spaniel
6. German Shorthaired Pointer
7. Jack Russell Terrier
8. Poodle
9. Labrador
10. Yorkshire Terrier

What do you think? Did they get the list right?

link: http://www.vetnewsonline.com/?p=668

Nelson

Meet Nelson, a Baby Kea Parrot From Germany

He's so ugly, he's almost cute

This baby parrot is named Nelson, and he is arguably one of the ugliest birds in the world. His parents rejected him when he was born. But don't feel too badly -- he has around-the-clock care from staff at Bergzoo in Germany. And one day, he will grow into a Kea parrot, with beautiful green feathers and a flash of orange under his wings.

(Steffen Schellhorn/Imago Stock/Newscom)

Smartest Dog Breeds?

So the first thing I see this morning is yet another Top Ten list of dog breeds.  This one was generated by PetMD back in March and reports the Top Ten Smartest Dog Breeds (in their opinion).  Again, like yesterday’s list on High Maintenance dogs, there is no information as to the why or how they chose these breeds.

So, in order…here are the top ten smartest breeds:

1. Border Collie
2. Poodle
3. German Shepherd Dog
4. Golden Retriever
5. Doberman Pinscher
6. Shetland Sheepdog
7. Labrador Retriever
8. Papillon
9. Rottweiler
10. Australian Shepherd

So, I know that this list will make some people happy and some people mad.  My friend, Brenda T from Indy will be happy with the #8 pick and, obviously, a large number of dog owners in the US will be happy with the #7 pick (given that Labs have been the #1 registered breed for 21 years now!).

I guess I really can’t be too picky since I don’t know how the breeds were ranked, but I can tell you my opinion…I think most dog breeds exhibit a similar level of intelligence.  You will note that a vast majority of dogs on this list are either working or herding breeds, so it makes you wonder if their “jobs” have anything at all to do with their perceived higher level of smarts.

I want to hear your opinions…d you think these lists are accurate?  Any examples of a dog that you considered “super smart”?

Oh…and why isn’t anyone focusing on the top smartest CAT breeds???

source: http://www.vetnewsonline.com/?p=673