Gwangi's Collection (Group Shots pg. 7)

[Gwangi]

Yes Takama, it is certainly kinda creepy looking. It doesn't really look like anything familiar at first guess. If you want to see some really creepy skulls look at some from the various brachycephalic dog breeds like bulldogs.

Not only is it creepy, it's saddening how deformed these animals have become over the centuries. Pedigree Dogs Exposed did a good job showing how crippled pugs have become, they're so messed up and inbred that they can't even breathe properly :-\U

I agree. I'll have to check out "Pedigree Dogs Exposed". Is it a documentary? Me and my wife have been talking about this topic a lot lately because we were planning on getting a dog. I stressed that I didn't want any brachycephalic breeds not because I don't like the dogs themselves (Boston  terriers are great) but because I just felt damn sorry for their condition and didn't want to live with that. You can literally pop the eyes out of some of those dogs if they get hit in the back of the head hard enough.

We ended up getting a chihuahua despite it not at all being what we wanted (we actually wanted a larger dog) but it was the dog we attached to the most at the shelter. He's a great dog but I feel sorry that he has to live with those giant watery eyes. Still, chihuahuas are at least somewhat proportionate.

Nature perfected the canine design in the wolf (and foxes, coyotes etc.). While some dog breeds fair better than others it really is tragic to see us basically undoing those millions of years of hard work. We've selective bred for some really useful and interesting breeds but almost all the purebred dogs have some kind of handicap, if not physical than something health related. You really have to feel bad for these dogs who have to suffer because of our selective breeding.

Sorry for the long rant, this topic has been on my mind since I started researching dog breeds several months ago.

This all actually makes me feel alot better about asking what the thing was...I admit I was truly puzzled. I also am glad to learn more and be shown what a pig skull truly looks like. Thanks again for your efforts Gwangi.

No problem. I should note that the pig skull I have is from a domestic pig. Wild pig skulls look a bit different. Domestication and selective breeding play their part here like with the dogs.

Here is a wild boar skull (the ancestor of the domestic hog).


And for something really wild, the babirusa pig.

[tyrantqueen]

I agree. I'll have to check out "Pedigree Dogs Exposed". Is it a documentary? Me and my wife have been talking about this topic a lot lately because we were planning on getting a dog. I stressed that I didn't want any brachycephalic breeds not because I don't like the dogs themselves (Boston  terriers are great) but because I just felt damn sorry for their condition and didn't want to live with that. You can literally pop the eyes out of some of those dogs if they get hit in the back of the head hard enough.

We ended up getting a chihuahua despite it not at all being what we wanted (we actually wanted a larger dog) but it was the dog we attached to the most at the shelter. He's a great dog but I feel sorry that he has to live with those giant watery eyes. Still, chihuahuas are at least somewhat proportionate.

Nature perfected the canine design in the wolf (and foxes, coyotes etc.). While some dog breeds fair better than others it really is tragic to see us basically undoing those millions of years of hard work. We've selective bred for some really useful and interesting breeds but almost all the purebred dogs have some kind of handicap, if not physical than something health related. You really have to feel bad for these dogs who have to suffer because of our selective breeding.

Sorry for the long rant, this topic has been on my mind since I started researching dog breeds several months ago.

No problem, I'm a dog lover

Pedigree Dogs Exposed was a documentary by the BBC, showing how badly pedigree dogs have degenerated over the years. I think you'll find it very interesting and eye opening. There are a couple of upsetting scenes though, with the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZMegQH1SPg

Also check out the sequel, Pedigree Dogs Exposed Three Years On, which talks a lot about brachycephalic breeds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7RTsVfMHQk

I own a mongrel dog, but I wouldn't trade him for anything <3

[Gwangi]

Thanks, I'm very interested in watching this. I'm sure my wife will be too.

[Takama]

on the subject of Dogs. (sorry to contiue it on whats supposed to be someones collection thread) I had Two Boxers in the past, and both died from Tumers.  Not good . Turns out its one of the health proplems that are shared with the breed.  Chyna and Pepper were my Two Boxers, We boght Chyna when she was a pup in 2001, and we took Pepper (who was already an old one) for free in 2003.  Sad thing was, Peper was free because of the Tumers, it wasent until 2008 that we had to put her down. After seeing that happen, i prayed that My youngest would not suffer th same fate. Alas, in 2012 a bunch of tiny lumps appeard on her chest region and quckly grew into what i was hopping wouldent happen to her. We had to put her down that same year  all because of the tumers.

Its that sitiation that made me wish dogs were not made from selective breeding, and we just had Domestic Wolves or Huskys.

As of now i Have Three dogs, two of them are mixes and one a pure bred Pomeranian 

[Gwangi]

It's fine that we're discussing this here, it doesn't bother me. It is hard to watch these dogs undergo pain that we humans have essentially caused. Many of these breeds do make great pets but it is painful to watch them suffer be it from tumors, breathing issues, hip problems, blindness or even neurological disorders. I have a chihuahua now and though they don't have a long list of health problems they do have a few. Hopefully I don't run into any of them.

[tyrantqueen]

It really makes me sick how the situation is here in the UK as well. It seems to me as though the breeders don't care about the dog's health or welfare, they only make excuses. They treat the dog as though its looks only matter, and if its health is suffering they don't care at all 

I think there is some snobbery involved. A lot of them are stuck in the past and don't want to make positive changes.

Btw, if you check out this http://pedigreedogsexposed.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/parade-of-mutants.html looks like the dog is melting :/ And some of the comments made by people trying to defend this abomination

[Gwangi]

Those pictures are horrifying. That poor dog and all others like it must suffer in order to be a human status symbol. Without knowing much about the topic it does seem to me that the situation is worse in the UK. Kind of strange because in some cases they have much stricter laws regarding animal welfare than say here in the U.S.A.

Historically a lot of these dogs were bred the way they were to provide some sort of function or usefulness. Australian cattle dogs for herding, beagles for hunting, Newfoundland for water rescue. It seems these days people are more focused on pure aesthetics and stretching breeds to their limits. So sad.

Don't even get me started on docking tails and ears.

[Patrx]

Thanks for posting that documentary. I watched it some years ago and learned quite a lot, but haven't been able to show it to others I know who are interested.

[Gwangi]

Patrx, love that quote in your signature. I do not study dinosaurs professionally but I am a dinosaur watcher that both feeds and houses dinosaurs in his yard and I have a couple pet dinosaurs. I actually work with dinosaurs and just last week was bitten by a dinosaur. I also had dinosaur for dinner last night. Pretty bad a** right? 

[tyrantqueen]

This was an interesting conversation. Gwangi, I know we've had a couple of disagreements in the past, but it was nice to find some common ground. So thanks

[Gwangi]

This was an interesting conversation. Gwangi, I know we've had a couple of disagreements in the past, but it was nice to find some common ground. So Ithanks

Indeed, it certainly is nice when we can "all get along". I know I can come across as pretty confrontational but I don't really mean anything negative by it, that's just the way I come across. I'm very opinionated and yes, even a bit "know-it-allish" but I am increasingly trying to work on that. So yes, thank you as well for the insightful conversation and especially thanks for sharing those documentaries which I totally intend on watching.

[Patrx]

Patrx, love that quote in your signature. I do not study dinosaurs professionally but I am a dinosaur watcher that both feeds and houses dinosaurs in his yard and I have a couple pet dinosaurs. I actually work with dinosaurs and just last week was bitten by a dinosaur. I also had dinosaur for dinner last night. Pretty bad a** right? 

Bada**, indeed! Why, at this very moment, there's a dinosaur trying to climb down my arm to the keyboard, where he no doubt hopes to pluck out the keys.

This was an interesting conversation. Gwangi, I know we've had a couple of disagreements in the past, but it was nice to find some common ground. So Ithanks

Indeed, it certainly is nice when we can "all get along". I know I can come across as pretty confrontational but I don't really mean anything negative by it, that's just the way I come across. I'm very opinionated and yes, even a bit "know-it-allish" but I am increasingly trying to work on that. So yes, thank you as well for the insightful conversation and especially thanks for sharing those documentaries which I totally intend on watching.

As (for the most part) an observer, I must say it was nice to see a discussion regarding as potentially volatile as dog breeding that did not give way to the sort of irrational fighting one normally sees online. This forum is an uncommonly civil one, thankfully

[Zhuchengotyrant]

Hi, I noticed the DOC Yangchuanosaurus. Where did you get it? I want one.

[Gwangi]

Hi, I noticed the DOC Yangchuanosaurus. Where did you get it? I want one.

They can be kind of hard to find but they show up on eBay once in awhile. If you're lucky you'll find one with the fossil background it is supposed to come with.

[Zhuchengotyrant]

Thanks ill check eBay every week. *orthocone*

[Zhuchengotyrant]

Do you want to trade for the Yangchuanosaurus? I've always wanted it.

[Gwangi]

Do you want to trade for the Yangchuanosaurus? I've always wanted it.

Afraid not. It is one of my favorites and it took me awhile to find it. I don't want to get rid of anything in my collection thread. Everything that I don't want is in its own thread.

[Zhuchengotyrant]

Okay, I don't blame you, it is awesome

[Gwangi]

Okay, I don't blame you, it is awesome

And I don't blame you for wanting it! 

[tyrantqueen]

Sorry for hijacking the thread, but the DOC Yangchuano is actually here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/The-Carnegie-Collection-from-Safari-ltd-dinosaur-Yangchuanosaurus-w-base-/380697760914?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58a35ad492