The Furry Paws Chronicles

The speculation swirled and the search for the First Dog soon ensued. I think President Elect Obama have been receiving hundreds of emails, suggesting a potential candidate for the position of First Dog (as he promised in his speech that his daughters will get a puppy when they move to the White House)

I have been following the story too. So far, there have been 2 suggested candidates that have emerged in the headlines today.

Karina Encarnacion and the Coton de Tulear

In my other blog, The Liberal Chronicles (http://ansatsu29.wordpress.com/), Karina Encarnacion, an 8 year old Filipina girl suggested this particular breed from Madagascar called Coton de Tulear which is said to be hypoallergenic dog.

Coton de Tulear from Madagascar / Photo by Wikipedia

Mallia, the First Daughter is said to be allergic to dander or sheddings of dogs. This breed may seem hairy and all-furry enough, but Karina (and Wikipedia too) says it has little to no shedding at all. Perfect and cute candidate for a potential First Dog.

Information about the breed:

• The Coton is a playful, affectionate, intelligent breed. Some people consider it as a completely non-aggressive breed when given the proper love and care it deserves. It loves people and as a result can have separation anxiety. It loves life and is enthusiastic and lively. It is a very vocal breed, grunting and making other noises when having fun. Some Cotons have a habit of jumping up and walking on their hind legs to please people.

• Most Cotons love meeting new people and are very curious in new situations. The dogs are very trainable with praise, instead of punishment. They are great with other dogs.

• The Coton has a long coat which needs a thorough grooming everyday, and a bath about once a month. Cotons like Poodles are hypoallergenic so they have hair (a lot like human hair), this making them very popular and compatible with people who have allergies. Because they have hair, they don’t shed. Instead, they lose a small amount of hair.

• The most serious of these would be heart problems, liver shunts, back (disc) problems or eye problems. Luckily these are still relatively uncommon in the breed but are becoming more so as puppy mills and pet shops in the US and Europe have discovered the breed. Many “Cotons” being sold on the internet are actually mixed breeds from puppy mills.

The Peruvians and their Hairless Dog

Taking the Obama fever to the max, the Peruvians went gaga over their own (and ancient) Peruvian Hairless Dog. It has a history of being the royal pet of the Incan kings in the ancient times. Despite its hairless appearance (and to some people, they call that dog ‘ugly’), it has a reputation of being clean.

The Peruvian Hairless Dog / Photo by Wikipedia

Information about the breed:

• Reputation of being clean

• Peruvian Hairless dogs are affectionate with family but wary of strangers. They are typically lively, alert and friendly with other dogs but can be protective as well. These dogs do not like to be alone, but when trained, can do well. These dogs are intolerant of extreme temperatures and are agile and fast.
• The lack of hair leads to a reputation for being clean, for being easy to wash with a sponge, and for a natural lack of fleas or other parasites.

• The skin should be taken care of frequently. Almost all of this breed tend to have acne or at least blackheads. The skin often becomes too dry and can be treated with some kind of moisturing cream.

• Protection against sunlight may be necessary, depending on the season and the color of the dog’s skin. The dark-colored dogs get used to direct sunlight and need to be looked after only in spring when sunlight gets stronger. The light-colored dogs (copper) and spotted ones have to be protected always, in summer. They tend to quickly sunburn.

• Like all breeds there are some health problems. There include IBD, seizures, stroke, and skin lesions. They are very sensitive to toxins and care should be taken in use of insecticides. Insecticides are absorbed through the skin and body fat keeps these toxins from entering the liver too quickly. Since these dogs have very low body fat toxins are absorbed too quickly and cause severe damage to the nervous system and GI tract

For full article on Peruvians and their hairless dog, check this URL:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUKTRE4A97H820081110?rpc=64&pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0

Anyways, whatever the breed of the First Dog, I am sure that Obama will take a shelter dog – which is good (and his quip, “Mutts like me”) since shelter dogs are vaccinated and have other vet  records which can help the Obamas get their potential candidate for their First Dog. Aside from that, it helps promote adopting pets since most of the shelter dogs have been abused in their past, been left dying and sickly, or found wandering in the streets – these dogs deserve care and love. And it’s good to know too that the First Family have opted to choose a shelter dog than go for the pure breeds (no offense to the breeders out there) – which promotes the ideals of adopting a shelter animal and giving the love and care they deserve.

Blogger’s note: Information about the dogs came from Wikipedia.com