Dog Purity Test

Introduction

This is a "purity test" for those who are involved with their dogs. You should add one point to your score for each question you answer YES, and then divide that number by the total number of questions here to obtain your final score.

Please feel free to mail further questions for addition. Email to cindy@k9web.com.

This is still under construction, and does not actually return a score just yet. But the questions are still fun to go through :-)

Purity Test

Getting the Dog

You have gotten at least one dog from a shelter or rescue.
You used temperament testing to make your selection.
You talked with more than 3 breeders before purchasing your last dog.
Your dog was purchased on a co-ownership.
Your dog was purchased on a spay/neuter contract.
Your dog was purchased with provisions for money back for titles earned.
Your dog had his first CERF exam before he left his dam.
Your dog was examined by a cardiologist before he left his dam.
You buy an X-pen for your new puppy.
Who isn't born yet.
Who isn't conceived yet.
Health and Veterinary Matters
You go on a diet, not to be more attractive, but to be a better handler.
You know more about canine nutrition than human nutrition and it shows.
You have had your dogs joints xrayed to find any orthopedic problems
You have had your dogs eyes examined to find any visual problems.
You have the eyes examined annually.
You are on a first name basis with your vet.
Your dog's medical bills are higher than yours because you take better care of him than you.
You bring research articles of interest to your vet.
You educate your vet on the specific health problems common to your breed.
You have different specialty vets for your dogs.
You quit your previous career so you could go to vet school.
Do you know what coprophragy means?
Have you had a dog with this condition?
Have you solved this condition?
Have you ever considered feeding your dogs a homemade diet?
Done it?
You know what OFA means.
CERF
ACVO
OVC
Social Acceptability
Have you ever lectured an erring dog-owner on the importance of cleaning up after their dog?
Given them an extra baggie you had on hand?
Have you ever lobbied for dog-parks in your area?
Have you ever rented out property that explicitly allowed pets?
You evaluate a potential SO by how much your dog likes him.
You evaluate potential new jobs by whether the organization allows dogs at work.
You've taken your dogs with you to work.
More than once.
You would be more offended if they insulted your dog than your SO?
Being a totally calm and reasonable person have you ever lost it with some moron who has the nerve to insult your dog?
You refer to tails as "ugly tumors on the butt".
You refer to your own tailless dog as "bunny-butt".
Have you ever made the day for an owner of a rare-breed by correctly identifying his/her dog?
Have you ever had your own day so made?
Do you go out of your way to meet up with other people walking their dogs?
Especially if you don't recognize the breed offhand?
You sign cards with your dog's name as well as your own.
Your dog sends cards to other dogs.
Your dog sends cards to people.
Your dog has more human friends than you do.
Your dog sleeps with you.
Do you find it hard to understand why people think "bitch" is an insult?
Do you unblushingly talk about "gorgeous black bitches with wonderful rears" in restaurants?
Have you ever cleared out a restaurant talking about problem whelpings?
You don't care about strands of dog hair in the food.
You have a dozen different names for your dog -- most make no sense but your dog understands.
The 10 Reasons Why Dogs are Better than Children makes perfect sense to you...
Do you kiss your dogs on the mouth?
You don't care if you have dog hair on your clothes.
If you own a light colored dog you never wear black again even though it's very flattering on you.
Or you wear black anyway becase "what's a little hair?"
Most of your tshirts feature your favorite dog/breed.
Do you have empty baggies in your coat and pants pockets.
Do you have full baggies in your coat and/or pants pockets.
Do you have WARM full baggies in your coat/pants pockets.
Your husband does something nice for you and you say "good boy" and pat him on the head.
You pass up attractive social invitations because they'd conflict with your training schedule.
You don't even want to think about how your car would be paid for, your mortgage would be much smaller, and you might have some savings if you didn't do dog shows/obed/trials/agility/etc.
You have the class and show schedules in your head, but frequently miss the kid's piano lessons, girl scouts, or changing the oil in the car.
You hate posing for pictures unless you're with your dog.
The only way you would spend a lot of money on a trip to Europe was to go to Crufts.
The only thing your friends, colleagues, passing acquaintances can think of when they see you is "How are the dogs?" or "How many dogs do you have now?" or "How did you do at the last show?"
Your vacation days are all allotted toward dog shows, trials, or other activities with your dogs.
In the Car
Do you have crates permanently set up in your car?
Does your car always contain:
Crate(s)
decoys
bumpers
whistle
gates
jumps
thermos of water,
space blanket
Rain gear, including muck boots
poop bags
extra leashes and collars including a slip leash (for dogs you MUST rescue)
dog treats (or the dregs) in at least three places
digging into the seat cushions will usually reveal something the dog will appreciate
Have you ever bought a bumper sticker for your parents that says "Ask me about my granddogs!"
You have a personalized license plate reflecting your interest in dogs
Or licence plate frame.
Or bumper stickers.
You can't see out of the passenger window because of the dog snot art.
You CAN see out the passenger window because your dogs are all crated when in the car.
You have a second car so they have one to transport people without getting them dusty and furry
Have you purchased a larger car to accomodate your dogs.
You have photocopies of your dogs' rabies certificates in the glove compartment.
At Home
Have you purchased a larger house to accomodate your dogs.
Have you built kennels for your dogs.
Have you replumbed your backyard so that you could put lixits on a faucet always available to your dogs.
You make sure new carpeting doesn't show dog fur too badly.
Your furniture matches the dog.
The trash baskets are all permanently installed under sinks or in cabinets to keep the dogs out.
You've put a cute sign in your bathroom that tells guests to put the seat down so the dogs don't deal with their thirst THERE.
You discover that tweed is the perfect fabric: it hides hair from the black/tan dog, the blue/white dog, the brown/black/gray/white tabby cat, and yourself.
You find that a multicolored tapestry upholstry is great for the furniture because it hides the hair AND holds up to the dogs.
You pick your next kitchen floor based on what will hold up best to the dogs running over it but not be slippery.
You pick your next carpet for color and texture to hold up to the dogs.
You appreciate architectural features of houses that allow you to easily block off portions of the house from the dogs.
You get a house with a mudroom so you can clean the dogs up when coming in from a walk.
You train your dog to come in and sit on a towel to be cleand off of snow (salt) or mud when you come back in from a walk.
You install a bathtub in the garage so you can wash your dog standing up.
The baby gates in your home are really for dogs.
You use crates as furniture in your home.
You have a sign that says "This (home/car/RV) is maintained for the comfort of the dogs -- if you have a problem with that, LEAVE"
You have a sign that says "(your breed) Crossing" where you live.
It's visible from the street.
You have a sign up with your kennel name on it.
You have a door mat with your dog breed illustrated on it.
Merchandise
You save dog hair to be spun into yarn.
You knit or crochet articles of clothing from your own dog.
You learn how to spin your own dog hair.
You've purchased breed-specific paraphenalia (mugs, key chains, t-shirts).
You've hired an artist to draw/paint your own dog.
Your dog has been a model for breed-specific paraphenalia. (sp?)
Most of the artwork in your house features your breed.
You've done dog-related needlework or cross stitch patterns.
You have every book published on your breed.
You can spot mistakes (mislabelled pictures) in these books.
You have been known to go back and pencil in the names of the dogs of unlabelled pictures.
You buy books on breeds you'll never own, just because you think they're interesting.
You looked at more than 3 books before choosing your last breed.
You've read anything by:
Susan Conant
James Herriot
Desmond Morris
Even though you don't speak a certain foreign language, you get several dog magazines in that language. And you have spent so much time looking at them, they are starting to make sense to you.
You read "30,000 names for your baby" books to choose the name for your next dog.
when you haven't even gotten him yet.
You get kicked out of the bookstore b/c you've spent too much time looking at baby name books without buying anything.
On the Internet
Your dog woofchats.
You know what the UDRR is.
Your dog has an official position with the UDRR.
You know what TED means.
You refer to your TED as TED to his face.
You've talked about your dogs on the Internet.
You belong to an email list about dogs.
More than one.
You run an email list about dogs.
More than one.
You've scanned your dog's picture in and uploaded it for Internet folks to see.
You purchased a computer system so you could do this.
All you do is look up dogs on the Internet.
Your dog is the star of your WWW site.
You maintain a web page about dogs (your breed or dogs in general).
You have contributed a FAQ to rpd.info
More than one.
Rescue and Welfare Activity
You have volunteered at a shelter or rescue organization.
You have found, rehabilitated, and placed a stray dog.
More than one such dog.
You have fostered several dogs.
You know that rescued greyhounds can make wonderful pets.
You've done referral -- passing names of people trying to find dogs to adopt along to people trying to find new homes for their dogs.
You've bailed dogs out of the shelters just to keep them from being put down and then made your own efforts to place the dog.
You've donated money, items, your time to the local shelter or rescue organization.
You dissuade ignorant people from randomly breeding their dogs.
You encourage people to spay or neuter their pets.
You encourage people to learn more about dogs in general and their breed in particular.
You take the time out to help people with the common problems -- housetraining, barking, digging, etc -- personally or by helping them find materials on these subjects
You know what Animal Welfare is.
You know what Animal Rights is.
You prefer Animal Welfare over Animal Rights.
You know that despite it's name the Humane Society of the US is unaffiliated with any local humane society.
Training
Do you know what crates are?
Do you have one for your dog?
One for each dog?
Do you have more crates than dogs?
You have more collars or leashes than dogs.
You know what a choke chain is.
You have or have used a choke chain.
You know what a prong collar is.
You have or have used a prong collar.
You know what a halti/promise/halter-style collar is.
You have or have used one.
You know what a martingale collar is.
You have or have used one.
You know what an e-collar is.
You have or have used one.
Have you trained your dogs to eliminate on command?
Have you trained your dog to come on command?
Sit?
Down?
Heel?
Have you trained your dogs to do cute tricks such as dancing, begging, spinning?
Knowledge of Breeding
You happily help people figure out what questions to ask before getting
You have neutered a dog because you knew you did not know enough to make a =good= breeding decision.
You have spayed or neutered all dogs that you won't be breeding.
You know what the gestation period of a bitch is.
You've read books about whelping.
You own a book about whelping.
You've witnessed a whelping.
You know what ocytocin is used for.
You know what uterine inertia is.
You've had it happen to a bitch of yours.
You've had it happen to a bitch of yours.
You've tried to discourage others from breeding who were not not done any of the health checks of the dogs before breeding them.
You've been successful!
You were someone like this who changed her mind when presented with the facts.
You have neutered a dog because you felt it had a poor temperament.
You have neutered a dog because it did not display the abilities a dog of its breed should.
Does "AI" make you think of insemination rather than intelligence?
Experience in Breeding
You have bred a bitch.
More than once.
More than one bitch.
You've bred a bitch that you yourself bred (that is, the bitch is also of your breeding).
You have whelped a litter.
More than one.
You've lost puppies from a litter.
You've had to make that emergency trip to the vet during whelping.
You've had to do emergency cesarians on the bitch
You've had to make the choice between the bitch or the puppies.
You've lost all the puppies in a litter.
You've lost the bitch in whelping.
You've raised a litter of puppies by hand, nursing them around the clock.
You've managed to find another bitch in the area & an owner willing to help nurse orphaned puppies.
You've had your own nursing bitch nurse an orphaned litter.
You have put a male dog out to stud.
More than once.
More than one stud.
A stud dog that you yourself bred.
You only breed dogs you have thoroughly checked for suitability to be bred.
If you had no dogs or puppies to place, you cheerfully referred callers to others that you knew had dogs available.
You are not afraid to tell people you don't think they will be happy with one of your puppies.
You are happy to take one of your puppies back if the home you found for it doesn't work out.
You have taken such a puppy back.
You sell all your puppies not intended for breeding on spay/neuter contracts and/or with Limited Registration / Non Breeding papers.
Knowledge of Conformation Shows
You know what conformation is.
You don't misspell it as confirmation.
You know what a specialty is.
What sweeps are.
What High In Trial means.
What a JAM is.
You know what Westminister is.
You've watched it on TV.
You've been present as a spectator.
You know what Indefinite Listing Privilege means.
You have a dog with ILP.
Do you know the meanings of the following acronyms:
AKC
RPD
CD
CERF
OFA
GSD
JH
UDX
VWD
FCI
GS-29466G33M-T
OTD-scd
You know what BOB, BOS, WD, and WB mean.
You know what major points means.
You know how many points (and majors) it takes to finish a show CH.
You know how many points it is to do so in Canada.
Experience in Conformation Shows
You consider a golf course as a waste of a good show site.
Dog show vendors know you by name, and ask after your dogs.
You have three kinds of clothes--from worst to best: dog training clothes; work clothes; dog showing clothes.
You've attended more than 10 dog shows.
More than 50.
Over 100.
You've worked as a ring steward.
As a Judge.
You've helped set up/take down the rings.
You plan your pregnancy around the show season so you won't miss shows or trials during the eighth and ninth months.
You try to plan your bitches litters similarly.
You know that's futile by now.
You have memorized the pedigrees of your dogs.
You have memorized the pedigrees of prominent dogs in your breed.
You have a database containing the pedigrees of several (hundred if common, dozen if rare) dogs
You have a database containing several (thousand if common, hundred if rare) dogs.
Most of which you typed in.
You've shared your database with others.
Over the Internet.
If your dog is in obedience, you go to great lengths to find a pair of pants which blends with the coat color.
If your dog is in conformation, you buy clothes to complement the coat color. You wouldn't be caught dead wearing a bright red dress behind a liver colored dog.
You've gone to a dog show when there were hurricane warnings because you didn't want to be the one to break a major. :)
You start out on the 300 mile trip for an outdoor dog trial even though there is a threat of rain.
Do you look all over town to find fancy dresses with pockets?
Have you learned to sew just to have dresses with pockets?
Have the folks at the laundromat ever commented on your keeping liver in the pockets of your best suit?
You have the point schedule for your breed and region memorized.
For your breed in all regions.
For more than one breed.
For all breeds.
Your dog has been wicketed.
You've wicketed other dogs.
You know what sparring involves.
You've been asked to spar your dog with another.
You've said to someone standing next to you "Too bad they a-framed the dog".
"That one paddles."
"That one is close in the rear"
"This one throws its elbows out"
"This one has lovely side movement"
"That handler is stringing the dog up".
"An english lead would be better for that dog."
You've stacked your dog.
You've shown someone else how to stack their dog.
You've had the judge correct your stack.
Knowledge of Agility
You don't think of miners in trouble when you hear the phrase "collapsed tunnel"
You know what a T obstacle discrimintion game is.
You can describe the backchaining method of teaching contacts even if you don't use the method yourself.
Experience in Agility
You arrive at the agility site and wait around for the judges briefing even though the rain is actually falling.
You continue with the competition even though your feet get soaked just walking to the start line.
You accept the offer to try to do two days worth of agility in one day rather than accept a refund for the runs cancelled because of heavy rain.
You go into every toy store you can find to look for practice agility equipment that can be used in the house, hallway, local park, rest stops and any other spare moment.
You have at least two toy tunnels.
You keep your weave poles in the living room, or den to work on while watching TV
You can tell someone which method of teaching weave poles you used weave-o-matic, off-sets, wires, bump, or ???
This sentence makes sense to you: "My dog got faulted for a fly-off."
The guys in the hardware store run when they see you drive up because they know you're going to want to build something weird for your dogs.
You've begged construction workers for pieces of tunnel.
You've stolen things from a construction site for your agility course.
You build a piece of agility equipment.
You build an entire course of agility equipment.
In the process, you decide that mineral spirits are a good skin conditioner (for yourself, of course)
You've bought more than one can of "Easy Cheez" at a time.
You describe your dog in terms of body magnets -- "my dog pushes/pulls".
You've used more than one method to teach your dog(s) to weave.
You own more than one type of weave poles.
You've learned to hate the color yellow.
You covet burgundy (USDAA) or green (UKC?, AKC) or purple (NADAC/ASCA) ribbons. tunnel".
Knowledge of Obedience Tests
You know what a front is.
You know what a finish is.
You know what a swing finish is.
You know what a flip finish is.
You know what an english finish is.
You know what a continental finish is.
You know what a military finish is.
Do you know what articles are?
You know what the difference between AKC and CKC articles are.
You know which registry, the AKC or CKC, requires the dog be on lead when doing the stand for examination.
You know what the point schedule is out of the Open B and Novice B classes.
You can recite the exercises required in the AKC CD class (or for your registry's equivalent)
You can state the exercises required for the AKC CDX title (or your registry's equivalent).
You know what exercises are required for the AKC UD title (or your registry's equivalent).
Experience in Obedience Tests
You've put a CD (or equivalent) on your dog.
You've put a CDX (or equivalent) on your dog.
You've put a UD (or equivalent) on your dog.
You've put a UDX (or equivalent) on your dog.
You have OTCH points (or equivalent) on your dog.
You've put an OTCH (or equivalent, excluding CKC OTCH) on your dog.
You've put an OTCH on a dog from the Novice A class.
Do you have a set of articles?
Do you have more than one set of articles?
Can your dog do articles?
Can your dog do more than one set of articles simultaneously?
Have you ever used live animals for proofing articles?
Does the phrase "rescent, reheat, recheese" mean anything to you?
You have a pretty ordinary braided leash from Max 200 but people at Petsmart have never seen anything like it.
You know who Max 200 is.
Joe Feist.
J&J
Paul's
Pipe Dreams.
Have your pants pockets gotten holes nibbled in them because you forgot and left the pants with treats in the pockets on the floor?
Have you ever picked up your coat at the cleaners and they handed you a bag which contains the leashes and tennis balls you forgot to take out of the coat pockets?
Or been charged extra for the amount of dog hair present?
You've purchased video tapes for training your dogs.
You've hired a private trainer to work with.
Have you trained inside?
Outside?
After dark?
Before dawn?
In the rain?
In the snow?
You've trained your dog outside or in an unheated barn when it's below freezing?
Knowledge of Hunt Tests and Field Trials
You know what bumpers are
You know what titles the AKC offers for field trials and hunt tests.
You know what a mark is.
You know what a blind is.
You know what a double (and triple) is.
You know what the line is
You knwo what is required of a dog to honor.
You know what a walk up is.
You know what hardmouth is.
You knwo what blinking is.
You know waht popping is.
Experience in Hunt Tests and Field Trials
You have a dummy launcher?
Have you ever purchased pigeons? Duck?
Killed a pigeon? Duck?
Kept frozen birds in your freezer to train your dogs with?
Gone into the water after your dog to enforce a recall?
Found blank shells in your pockets?
Have a blank firing gun (with a sealed barrel)?
Have bumpers?
White?
Orange?
Black?
Grey?
Do you have a duck vest? Whistle? Waterproof boots?
Do you wear white jackets when traiing in the field?
Add in one point for each whistle you have hanging off your neck
You have a slip leash for the field.
You have a really cool lanyard for your whistles and people that you hang out with know who made it because she is THE lanyard person.
Knowledge of Herding

Experience in Herding
Have you ever kept ducks in the city, however illegal it may be?
Do you research sheep husbandry just in case you ever get some?
Have you moved out to the sticks so you could keep sheep for your dogs?

(Disabled at the moment)

Contributors

Bob Alman
Emily Bassman
Diane Blackman
Andrea Dec
Ann Greenberg
Mary Healey
Amy Hendrix
Lynn Kosmakos
Robin Nuttall
Lynda Oleksuk
Cindy Moore
Dianne Schoenberg
Mark Shaw
Mary Jo Sminkey
Holly Stowe

Dog Purity Test
Cindy Moore, cindy@k9web.com Hosted by

Dog Purity Test

Introduction

Purity Test

Getting the Dog

Health and Veterinary Matters

Social Acceptability

In the Car

At Home

Merchandise

On the Internet

Rescue and Welfare Activity

Training

Knowledge of Breeding

Experience in Breeding

Knowledge of Conformation Shows

Experience in Conformation Shows

Knowledge of Agility

Experience in Agility

Knowledge of Obedience Tests

Experience in Obedience Tests

Knowledge of Hunt Tests and Field Trials

Experience in Hunt Tests and Field Trials

Knowledge of Herding

Experience in Herding

Contributors