[joolie]

Hi! Late last year I caught the end of a kids show probably `Totally Wild ` or something like that, they were profiling a breed of dog, some sort of terrier, they said it prefers a vegetarian diet though can tolerate white meat. Does anyone know the name of this breed or where I could find one???

Cheers!

Joolie

 

[DLS]

Hi joolie,

I am not sure what breed that would be, I would assume that it must come from an area of the world where for generations its human owners have lived as vegetarians. So maybe Tibet, there is a Tibetan terrier, I will check it out and let you know if I can find any information on them for you.

 

[MEM]

This is the only thing I've been able to find: http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/hawaiianpoidog.htm and it looks like they're extinct.

DLS: I doubt that Tibetian Terriers are naturally vegetarian, from what I understand much of the population of Tibet eats meat at least part of the year due to the harsh winters and the difficulty in growing veggies.

 

[DLS]

Ahhhhhhhhhh Soooooooooo Thanks MEM, I had not taken weather conditions under consideration. Hmmmmmmmmm I am going to have to check out some terrier breeds from more consistently warmer areas of the world.

 

[Thalia]

to buy one, though, if they do exist, would require supporting dog breeding, as opposed to going to a shelter, wouldn't it?

I think if you do a search, you can find a lot of threads on here about feeding dogs vegan diets.

 

[joolie]

Thanks Mem

I looked through the breeds on that link and found the xoloitzcuintli or mexican hairless naturally vegetarian! Now just need to locate one, am in Australia.

Cheers Joolie

 

[kpickell]

That's interesting. I didn't realize the Mexican Hairless were vegetarian. I've never seen one come through our shelter though, they're fairly rare. You could look into Xoloitzcuintli Rescue Groups in Australia. Not sure how much luck you'll have though, and I should warn you that some "rescue groups" are really breeders in disguise

 

[jeezycreezy]

Ah! This is clearly a trick question. Since no breed of dog arose "naturally" no dog is a natural vegetarian. Nice try.

Cheers!

TJ

 

[nigel]

wait! what definition of "natural" are you using?!

 

[nigel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kpickell

That's interesting. I didn't realize the Mexican Hairless were vegetarian.

Me either. Very cool. They were bred for food by pre-Columbian cultures, so I wonder if their diet was controlled to improve how they taste.

 

[jeezycreezy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nigel

wait! what definition of "natural" are you using?!

The subjective and arbitrary one.

Cheers!

TJ

 

[livethroughthis]

If there is such a dog, like stated above you'd be supporting breeders and not only that, I can imagine it's probally an extremely expensive breed.

 

[nigel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by livethroughthis

If there is such a dog, like stated above you'd be supporting breeders and not only that, I can imagine it's probally an extremely expensive breed.

Well, that's true of all "breeds" of dogs.

 

[Gita]

Breeders allow different species not to go extinct, and to remain viable as a type. I really dont see what is wrong with producing the best animals of a type. All non breeding pets should be spayed or neutered. That would help a lot with the population in the pound-- and you find a good amound of pure-bred animals in the pound as well. Its not all "mutts."

Xolos can be found by going to a reputable Xolo breeder.

 

[Ayrlin]

Try and Australian Shepard, seems mine ate more of the veggies and fruit out of my gardens this year than I did

 

[Thalia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gita

Breeders allow different species not to go extinct, and to remain viable as a type.

they are allowing different breeds (not species) not to go extinct, and if not wrong in and of itself, it is done at the cost of millions of mutts in shelters who are euthanized every year. It's a matter of what is more important, preserving a millions of a particular breed or not euthanizing millions of unwanted animals. I don't think most breeders are just trying to create the best of a particular type. Maybe those at the highest level of competition, but most are hobbyists or trying to make a buck and just like that particular breed. I think it's possible if everyone spayed and neutered their pets to still have pure breds and greatly reduce the animals in shelters, however, we are far from achieving that, and most people really don't have any compelling reason to support a breeder instead of going to the shelter. And as you mentioned, there are pure breds at shelters and many rescue groups. Just go to www.petfinder.com It's rather depressing the hundreds of animals availabel just within a few miles of one's own zip code.

 

[kpickell]

What Thalia said.

1 + 1 = 67,000.

One female dog obtained from a responsible breeder and one male dog and their offspring could produce 67,000 puppies in 6 years.

Coincidentally,

67,000 = than the number of dogs euthanized every WEEK in the United States.

 

[Ayrlin]

Look at your local shelter like others mentioned, you can find pure breds there quite a bit.

I adopted both my Aussie Shepard and my Aussie cattle dog one from a sanctuary and one from the pound.

Our pound has loads of pure breds commign in every week, mostly due to people buying from breeders and not understanding what that breed needs are.

Working dogs end up at the pound quite a bit because people are ignorant and think they can be treated like a dog bred to be calm and live inside.